IFB Offers Advice for Utility Easement

When facing utility easement agreements, landowners may help themselves by learning about the proposed project and working with fellow landowners, says an Illinois Farm Bureau attorney.

"Landowners need to get involved as soon as possible and to get the county Farm Bureau staff involved," Ryan Gammelgard said. Gammelgard gave general advice gained through work with landowners on proposed utility projects across Illinois. However, he encourages all farmers to meet with their own qualified attorney before signing any easement agreement.

Tip #1 - Learn about the proposed project.
Frequently, the utility company posts online information, including maps. "The time you take to get well-versed on the project will pay for itself," he said.

Tip #2 - Work with other landowners who have been approached.
"We found that landowners who work together tend to get better terms in the settlement," he explained.

Tip #3 - Focus on the impact on your farm.
Your first concern shouldn't be your compensation. Instead, focus on the short- and long-term impact the project will have on your farm. Those include:

• actions to minimize long-term impact on the farm and
• restoring the land's condition as close as possible to pre-construction conditions.

Make sure your easement agreement is specific and contains, in detail, your expectations for the utility company's responsibilities.

Tip #4 - Include compaction and more in compensation.
In determining the compensation amount, consider the loss of the use of the land before and during construction when the company will want a temporary staging area. Consider possible compaction problems and the easement's impact on a possible future sale of the property. Seek advice from a farm manager or appraiser about the impact on future sales.

Those facts should be used to negotiate compensation with the utility company, Gammelgard said. "If you take solid, supportable information, the company may meet you -- maybe not all the way, but halfway," he added.