Albany city commissioners agree to Sabal Trail easement payment

ALBANY — The Albany City Commission voted 4-3 at a called meeting Tuesday morning to accept a $165,000 payment from Sabal Trail Transmissions for five easements on city-owned property.

Ward IV City Commissioner Roger Marietta suggested the city seek an extension to discuss the proposed agreement, but his motion to that affect died for lack of a second. The board voted to accept the settlement with Marietta and Commissioners Jon Howard and Bobby Coleman, who represent Ward I and II respectively, voting against.

Noting City Attorney Nathan Davis’ assessment that voting against the settlement would land the city in court to battle an eminent domain suit, which would require the testimony of paid experts, Mayor Dorothy Hubbard said, “Even if we went to court, we’d be in for a long, drawn-out battle that would end the same way.”

Hubbard’s comments mirrored those of Ward VI Commissioner Tommie Postell, who told the board, “When this first started, I made the statement that we were not going to beat the federal government. We might as well face the music and move on.”

Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher addressed Marietta’s concerns directly, saying, “Roger, we have discussed this more than just a day. I think a question we need to ask is what it would cost our taxpayers if we delay this.”

Bringing up new elements of arguments used by anti-pipeline activists before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Houston-based Sabal Trail’s certificate of necessity that allowed for construction of the 465-mile, $3.2 billion pipeline, Marietta said he was concerned about insurance needed by the city to cover the residents of a nearby trailer park in the event of an explosion at a planned compressor station that Sabal Trail will build.

“In the event of a disaster of that nature, the city would have no liability,” Davis said. “Granting an easement does not shift liability to the city.”

Marietta then said taxpayers would have to pay the cost to train firefighters to handle the kinds of emergencies that arose from construction of the pipeline and compressor station, but City Manager Sharon Subadan noted that Sabal Trail had “early in this process told us that they will provide training” at no charge to the city.

The Ward IV commissioner also asked if Sabal Trail would tear up part of city-maintained roads that it planned to run the pipeline under, but City Engineering Director Bruce Maples told Marietta the city is requiring the natural gas company to bore under the road.

“We just got this information yesterday,” Marietta said. “I’d like to ask for an extension like a story in today’s Albany Herald said the county did.”

Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff noted that Sabal Trail did not grant the extension requested by Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas and called for a motion to accept the Sabal Trail offer. The board approved the settlement, which includes payment for easements on city-owned rail trail property in Terrell County and at the city’s Lily Pond Road utilities site, among other locations.

At a work session that followed the called meeting, the commission:

— Gave initial approval to an alcohol license application for Albany Store Inc. at 1701 E. Oglethorpe Blvd.;

— OK’d the purchase of a credit collection contract with Union Credit Corp. of Albany for uncollected utilities fees;

— Agreed to the purchase of two frontloader refuse trucks recommended by the Albany Utility Board;

— Heard a report on rezoning applications at 235 E. Oglethorpe Blvd., 2901 W. Oakridge Drive at 901 Lockette Station Road; and 2816 and 2818 Nottingham Way.

While discussing the rezoning requests, city/county Planning Services Director Paul Forgey pointed out that the requests had been approved by the Planning Commission at its meeting earlier this month.

“You can’t go by the Planning Board, they do a shoddy job anyway,” Postell said. “If one raises their hand, they all raise their hand.”

The City Commission also got an “unmodified, clean” audit report from Meredith Lipson with the Mauldin and Jenkins CPA firm. Lipson said the audit accounted for “two significant events” during 2015: the merger of the Albany Utility Board into the city government and the state-required listing of potential pension payout as a liability. She said the city’s pension plan is 70 percent funded.

Lipson also noted that the city’s fund balance, after collecting $64 million in revenue in its general fund with only $60 million in expenditures, had increased to $21.5 million.