College Place council authorizes $75,000 for Maja Road right-of-way settlement

City Attorney Troy Harper told the College Place City Council on June 9 that staff had negotiated a settlement with the McCarron(s) to acquire the last portion of right-of-way needed for the Maja Road project and recommended the council authorize payment to complete the agreement. He said the city had filed an eminent-domain suit in Walaw Wala County Superior Court earlier but reached a negotiated outcome after the property owner appeared with counsel.

"We believed that at that time that it was necessary to file an imminent domain lawsuit," Harper said, and later that the negotiated settlement "would provide assurances to the city regarding the quality of title that we need to be able to certify right of way" and would provide "fair and just compensation" to the property owners.

Harper described the settlement as the final step to secure the title needed to move forward with the road project. Council members asked no substantive questions during the presentation. The council voted to authorize a financial expenditure of $75,000 to proceed with the road and pedestrian improvements related to Maja Road; the motion passed.

The transcript does not identify the motion mover or seconder by name for this specific authorization, and no roll-call vote tally was provided in the record. The council proceeded after the vote and thanked the city attorney for his work.

The action authorizes the city to expend funds to resolve the right-of-way issue; the transcript records the council's approval but does not include further implementation steps or a timetable for recorded transfer of title.