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Board adopts resolution (effective June 4) allowing condemnation option for Newsom drainage easement after heated public hearing
Summary
After a public hearing and debate, the Southampton County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution authorizing acquisition of easements (including condemnation if necessary) for the Thomaston East Community Drainage Improvement Project in Newsom; the adoption is effective June 4 to give the landowner time to seek counsel while preserving the county's option amid endangered-species timing constraints.
The Southampton County Board of Supervisors on May 28 adopted a resolution that authorizes the county to acquire permanent and temporary easements needed to build the Thomaston East Community Drainage Improvement Project in Newsom, including the option to pursue condemnation if negotiations fail. The board set the resolution's effective date for June 4 to give the affected landowner additional time to obtain counsel while keeping the county's legal option intact.
The public hearing centered on property owned by Russell S. Drake Jr. (tax map 102A-2-130), who told the board he had agreed five years ago to allow a contractor to clean an existing ditch but said the county's working plan would instead widen and move the ditch, remove trees he described as family heritage and impose a permanent easement across his 15-acre parcel. Drake asked the board to table action so he could secure legal representation and receive…
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