How many landowners has Sabal Trail sent final notices like this?

Update 2015-03-23: Added transcription; see more background here and you can write to the Clerk of Superior Court in Leesburg, GA against a possible summary judgement for surveying eminent domain in a hearing Tuesday morning 11:30 AM March 24th 2015.

It is imperative that Sabal Trail begin performing the remaining surveys. Please consider this letter as Sabal Trail’s final request for permission to conduct the surveys on a portion of your property…. Please note that Georgia statute O.C.G.A. 22-3-88, sets forth survey authority as related to this Project which has been affirmed in Georgia Court.

Imperative for a company from Houston to profit by gouging through local land and under our rivers and maybe into our aquifer. Not imperative for those of us who live here.

And the only Georgia court decision I’ve heard of is the one in Stewart County that Sabal Trail has previously used explicitly to threaten landowners in Brooks County and Colquitt County.

Nobody showed up to contest that Stewart County case, which only applies to that one case in that one county, as I remember the judge in the Leesburg courthouse saying.

I am not a lawyer, but it would appear that Sabal Trail is trying to scare local landowners with a court decision that has nothing to do with the county they live in.

The letter ends “Please do not hesitate to call”. Maybe we should take Sabal Trail up on that offer. And we should not hesitate to contact FERC about this, and local news media, and elected and appointed officials.

-jsq

SABAL TRAIL TRANSMISION, LLC
400 Colonial Center Parkway. Suite 300
Lake Mary, FL 32746

March 9, 2015

Mrs Elizabeth Cothron & Mr. William C. Cothron, Jr.
5325 Phillips Rd.
Valdosta. Georgia 31601

Re: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC Project: FERC Docket No. CP15~17-OOO
Parcel #: 0039 040, Survey Permission
Lowndes County, GA

Dear Mrs. Elizabeth Cothron & Mr. William C. Cothron, Jr.:

Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC (“Sabal Trail”) has communicated to all landowners along the proposed route the importance and need to perform civil, environmental and cultural resource surveys (“survey activities”). To date you have declined to allow Sabal Trail to perform the necessary survey activities on a portion of your property. Because this fieldwork is necessary for FERC’s continuing evaluation, we must complete the collection of data that is outstanding We continue to encourage a collaborative approach and ask you to reconsider your prior decision not to give permission for the necessary survey work. As we have informed landowners who have previously declined to grant survey permission, granting survey permission provides us only access to your property to complete the necessary survey activities; it does not authorize us to put a pipeline on your land and will not be used by Sabal Trail at any time to imply that you support or agree with the Project.

It is imperative that Sabal Trail begin performing the remaining surveys. Please consider this letter as Sabal Trail’s final request for permission to conduct the surveys on a portion of your property. Please respond to this letter or return the enclosed Survey Authorization Form no later than Monday, March 16, 2015. Sabal Trail welcomes the opportunity to respond to your concerns and request reasonable conditions for the necessary survey activities across a portion of your property.

The FERC produced brochure entitled “An Interstate Natural Gas Facility on My Land? What Do I Need to Know?” which was mailed to each landowner, available at each of our public meetings and can be found on the FERC and Sabal Trail web sites, discusses the need for the applicant (Sabal Trail) to perform various surveys and states that “[t]he company may ask you for permission to access your land to conduct civil and environmental survevs.” The brochure also specifically notes that “some states have laws that allow a company to get access to property for survey purposes.” Please note that Georgia statute O.C.G,A. 22-3-88, sets forth survey authority as related to this Project which has been affirmed in Georgia court.

We are making this final request in an effort to avoid any formal legal process available to the company limited to onlv survey activities. Please remember that whether voluntarily or through the legal system, our access to your property to conduct these necessary surveys does not authorize Sabal Trail to build a pipeline on your property.

Please do not hesitate to call our lacal office at 229-326-3211 should you have any questions or would like to receive any additional information. sincerely,

Sincerely,
[signed]
Kitty Maidens
Right-of~Way Manager, Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC

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