The following article discusses Minnesota's "Buy The Farm" legislation that was enacted in 1973 which basically stated that if power transmission line companies needed access to property, the land owner could demand they purchase the entire property instead of simply buying an easement. This protected the land owner. The transmission line companies were concerned it would be too costly, but in this recent project it was not.
My opinion is that maybe it is time for Illinois to enact similar legislation to protect landowners, homeowners, and neighboring homeowners from the Wind and Transmission Line Industries.
CapX2020 transmission line changed lives, laws
Credit: Kirsti Marohn | St. Cloud Times | May 9, 2015 | www.sctimes.com ~~
SOUTH HAVEN – In many ways, Bradley and Linda Lindberg’s life has improved since a high-voltage transmission line project caused them to leave their beloved home and hobby farm near Clearwater.
They’ve relocated to a new place 6 miles to the southwest, in a sprawling farmhouse with a wrap-around front porch and barns for their cattle, goats, horses and chickens. A peaceful spot overlooking rolling pastures and far from major highways, it’s unlikely to be on the route of any new power lines.
But Brad Lindberg still has trouble driving by their old farm, where he and Linda had planned to stay the rest of their lives. And although things have improved, the Lindbergs look back at the past few years as a stressful time they wouldn’t wish on anyone.
“It was a lot of being in limbo, not knowing how it was going to end up,” Linda Lindberg said. “You just felt like you weren’t settled for a long time.”
The Lindbergs are one of the last affected landowners along the route of the transmission line known as CapX2020 with an unresolved legal case. They’re still waiting to find out if the utility companies will pay their legal bills, which they say total six figures.
The two longest sections of CapX2020, part of one of the biggest public infrastructure projects in Minnesota, are now complete. Last week, supporters of the project gathered at a new substation in St. Cloud for a dedication ceremony of the lines that run from Monticello to Fargo and from Hampton to Brookings, South Dakota, about 500 miles. Both lines were energized within the last two months.
Costing more than $1 billion — as much as the new Vikings stadium — the two CapX2020 lines involved a...
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Posted at 08:26h, 14 MayIt is time for Illinois to enact “Buy The Farm” legislation to protect homeowners… http://t.co/jgrcEWwvSs