Eminent domain an unusual step

By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK Register Reporter
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“... nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
This segment of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States establishes the basis for eminent domain, a government’s ability to purchase private property for the public good.

Iola will soon see an extension of the Prairie Spirit Trail, from Madison Ave. (Hwy. 54 W) to Riverside Park. Iola is using eminent domain to acquire land adjacent to the trial which is owned by Jack McFadden and currently leased by Johnny Womack and Tohoff Construction to store industrial vehicles.
Using eminent domain to acquire the property is an unusual step, said City Administrator Judy Brigham.
“Normally when the city acquires land, it is through mutual agreement” with the property owner, Brigham said. “Most any time we’ve acquired, it’s been at the citizen’s request.”
This time, however, it was determined the property should be secured for the greater good of all Iolans.
Brigham said the last use of eminent domain by the city was about 12 years ago, when the Kentucky Street Improvement Project had some errors in measurement and a piece of private land was required to finish the project.
“It was not an intended eminent domain,” Brigham said.
“I’ve been here 30 years and don’t remember the last time we’ve used (intentional) eminent domain,” Brigham said.
In the case of the land near the rail trial, the city has exhausted every other means of acquiring the property, Brigham said.
“We’ve been working on it since the first of the year.”
“There’s still a lot of procedures that have to take place,” she said.
City Attorney Chuck Apt explained.
First, a petition must be filed in district court, he said.
Next, the land must be surveyed, appraised, and an ordinance passed.
“Hopefully the survey will be completed by Sept. 22, then we’ll file a petition close at hand with that; then a time line will be established by the court,” for completion of the appraisal, he said.
The land owner is then paid for the property.
Once acquired by the city, the land will be converted to public park and the trail extended to the entrance of Riverside Park.
“It’s been the commission’s intent to do it for a long time,” Brigham said.
The rail bed itself is already city property, she said.
“It’s already being utilized as a trial,” Brigham said. However, improvements to the surrounding area require the adjacent land.
Once completed, the project will offer a western gateway into Iola.
“Hopefully, it will attract people off the highway,” Brigham said. “I think it will be a nice public amenity.”