Conaway Ranch JPA meetings postponed, February 23, 2005

By Elisabeth Sherwin/Enterprise staff writer

Tonight's public meeting of the Conaway Ranch Joint Powers Authority and all future monthly meetings have been canceled until the county learns the outcome of its eminent domain case.

The Yolo County public information officer released a memo Tuesday announcing the postponement of all Conaway Ranch Joint Powers Authority meetings for the immediate future.

The JPA had been meeting monthly but little action could be taken while the county is involved in eminent domain proceedings to buy the 17,300-acre Conaway Ranch property in eastern Yolo County for the public good. The matter is due to be heard before the Yolo County Superior Court this summer.

JPA members include Yolo County, the cities of Davis, Woodland, Winters and West Sacramento, UC Davis, and the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The JPA was set up to manage the property, but the county is attempting to buy the property.

"The county's involvement in eminent domain proceedings have, for the short term, made it practically impossible for the county to fully utilize the technical expertise of the authority members in developing a long-term management plan for the ranch," said Suzanne Mikesell, public information officer.

"If and when the county becomes the owner of the ranch, it will be in a much better position to work with JPA members to develop a long-term management plan for the ranch," she added.

For this reason, Supervisor Mike McGowan, chairman of the JPA board, requested that meetings be postponed.

"Upon the successful conclusion by the county of its eminent domain proceedings, JPA board meetings will reconvene and the county and the JPA board will seek public input and participation into the development of an effective long-range management plan for the ranch," she added.

Questions about the postponement are being referred to McGowan at (916) 375-6640 or County Administrative Officer Vic Singh at 666-8150.

Questions or comments regarding the county's actions, including the eminent domain process, should be directed to Helen Thomson, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, at 666-8622.

Mikesell said the county still intends for the JPA to provide assistance in developing a long-term management plan for the ranch upon the successful conclusion of the eminent domain proceedings.

The JPA will be disbanded only in the event that the county's eminent domain proceedings are unsuccessful.

She added that the JPA is not suspending its meetings because the county lacks the means to purchase the ranch following the eminent domain proceedings.

"Because of eminent domain proceedings, county staff must focus their efforts on acquiring the ranch and to do so cannot effectively share with the JPA the information the county learns in the course of preparing its eminent domain case," she said.

As a result, she said, JPA board members and their respective staffs do not have all of the information necessary to engage in the full range of discussion at JPA board meetings necessary to provide effective assistance to the county in the development of a long-term management plan for the Conaway Ranch.

The Jan. 26 meeting was marked by a number of questions from the public that could not be answered by JPA members. Therefore, the meetings were postponed until the county owns the ranch.

In July, Yolo County supervisors reluctantly moved to initiate legal eminent domain proceedings to acquire the ranch property in the Yolo Bypass for public benefit.

In mid-December, the property, which includes farmland and 50,000 acre-feet of water rights, was quietly purchased by a group of Sacramento developers from the National Energy and Gas Transmission Inc., formerly known as PG&E Properties. The purchase price is believed to be about $60 million.

Attorney Stuart Somach said the property's purchase doesn't make any difference in terms of the eminent domain proceedings, which are moving forward and may be heard in Yolo County Superior Court in June.

The move to buy the property has been questioned by the Yolo County Farm Bureau and the Yolo County Taxpayers Association.

For updates on meeting schedules, phone 666-8724. Public documents relating to the Conaway Ranch can be found at the county's Web site, www.yolocounty.org

- Reach Elisabeth Sherwin at gizmo@dcn.org

Wednesday, February 23, 2005