Dougherty County officials upset over Sabal Trail ‘threat’

ALBANY — Dougherty County commissioners weren’t exactly pleased by what some called an implied “threat” from Sabal Trail Transmission officials during discussion of a right-of-way easement Monday morning.

Sabal Trail, the company set to build the 465-mile natural gas pipeline that will pass through parts of southern Dougherty County, sent the county its “final offer” for 0.14-acre of land that the company needs for a right-of-way easement to cross the Percosin Canal located along Percosin Lane. The land is near the site of a planned compressor station that will be used to help push up to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas through the pipeline daily.

Sabal Trail officials upped their offer on the land, which is owned by the county, from $800 to $3,001, saying that amount was a final offer. Officials with the Houston-based company said their appraisal of the property indicated it was worth $600.

But the language of Sabal Trail’s offer rankled commissioners, who were told their refusal to accept the $3,001 would trigger eminent domain proceedings.

“They’re, in effect, using eminent domain as a threat to move this process forward, but they’re asking us to accept their proposal without supplying us with critical information,” District 5 Commissioner Harry James said after the meeting. James questioned Sabal Trail Construction Specialist Bob Grantham extensively about details of the company’s plans for the property.

“Read this,” James said, indicating a proposed grant of easement provided by Sabal Trail officials. He’d highlighted a passage that read: “After the pipeline facilities have been constructed hereunder, grantee (Sabal Trail) shall not be liable for such damages in the future caused by keeping the right-of-way clear.”

“What they’re saying is that even if there is something wrong with the work they do on the pipeline in that area, the county taxpayers will be responsible,” James continued. “If they pour faulty concrete, there is a crack, and 100 people end up dying from the results, the county taxpayers will be held liable. My concern is making sure this work meets our standards before our taxpayers are liable.”

County Public Works Engineer Jeremy Brown told commissioners that Sabal Trail had initially wanted to prohibit county maintenance personnel from coming onto the property once the pipeline work was completed, but Brown said he and County Attorney Spencer Lee had squelched that request by pointing out that the county is responsible for maintenance of the canal.

“My issue with this is that Sabal Trail knows there is a lot of heavy equipment that comes onto that land,” James said. “And that area is also subject to sinkholes. And they’re asking us to approve this — and assume liability — without even presenting engineering specs. They did a piss-poor job of presenting this to the commission, especially when you consider that it’s a safety issue.

“I’m not comfortable voting on this without further information.”

Sabal Trail officials said their deadline for completing rights-of-way acquisition was Friday but that they had moved up their deadline to March 21 to account for the County Commission’s next meeting. Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas asked if an extension of “two or three weeks” might be granted to allow more time for study, but Sabal Trail officials did not respond.

The natural gas company requested a 50-foot-wide permanent easement to cross under the canal and an additional 50-foot temporary easement during the construction process.

Also at Monday’s commission meeting, Association County Commissioners of Georgia Communications Manager Schuyler Harding offered a presentation on ACCG’s “You Are Why We’re Here” public outreach campaign. The county received a $2,500 grant from ACCG in 2014 to fund the campaign.