Agenda Information Sheet
DEPARTMENT: Engineering Services
CM/ ACM: Jon Fortune
Date: September 20, 2016
SUBJECT
Title
Consider adoption of an ordinance authorizing the settlement of litigation styled City of Denton, Texas v. 551 Mayhill Joint Venture and American National Bank, Cause No. PR-2014-00309, currently pending in the Probate Court of Denton County, Texas, regarding the acquisition of a 2.115 acre fee tract and a 0.202 acre slope easement tract for the Mayhill Widening and Improvements project in settlement amount of Four Hundred and Forty Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($440,000.00), authorizing the City Attorney to effectuate an Agreed Final Judgment in Condemnation and any such documents as necessary and appropriate for settlement, authorizing the expenditure of funds therefor; providing a savings clause; and providing an effective date. (Mayhill Road Widening and Improvements project - Parcel M070 - 551 Mayhill Joint Venture)
Body
BACKGROUND
In March 2014, staff requested City Council authorize acquisition of the captioned tracts by eminent domain, since negotiations for purchase had reached an outright impasse. That authorization was granted via Ordinance 2014-071.
A Special Commissioner's Hearing was conducted on February 5, 2015. The landowner did not appear and an Award of the Special Commissioners on that date was determined to be $175,607, based on the expert witness testimony of the City's land appraisal consultant. Thereafter, the landowner filed an Objection to the Award of the Special Commissioners within the statutory time period allowed, on February 13, 2015, praying for a civil trial to be set for determination of damages, which the Court granted.
Since that time, the parties have been preparing for trial in due course for such matters, including a recent mediation event, as routinely prescribed by the Court to foster candid communications between the parties, possibly hasten settlements and eliminate the need for a cour...
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