|
Lawsuit filed against city of Eagle Lake
By Jacob Truchard, Staff Writer
A lawsuit has recently been filed against the city of Eagle Lake which has been taken to the District Court in Colorado County.
Plaintiffs, Richard Lyle Anderson, trustee; Dana Anderson and Robbie Gay Anderson have accused the defendant, the city of Eagle Lake, of inverse condemnation, trespass without valid easement and declaratory judgment.
The Andersons are the owners of the fee simple estate in the following land located in Colorado County: 1.897 acres in Block 2C, Part of Lot 1E, Eagle Lake.
According to the facts presented, from approximately Jan. 1, 1968 to approximately or if not before May 2007, the defendant construed and maintained a water line through the plaintiff's property to service the city's municipal golf course. Neither the Andersons nor any predecessor in title have ever granted an easement to the city of Eagle Lake for this water line to cross the property.
During the summer of 2005, the water line was discovered to be leaking. The land in the vicinity of this leak has been easily flooded for many prior years during rainfall and has often had standing water. The plaintiffs thought it was low lying land and that nothing could be done with it and constructed a pond nearby.
The plaintiffs now say the land was saturated due to a leak in the water line that may have continued for a number of years.
On Dec. 1, 2005, the defendant admitted it had been unable to verify that it had obtained a written easement for the water line, but had continued to maintain the water line on plaintiff's property until May of 2007.
Because of this, the Andersons have asked the District Court to enter judgment against the city of Eagle Lake for the plaintiffs for all actual, consequential and special damages for the taking or damaging of plaintiff's property by defendant; a declaration that no valid easement exists to authorize or justify the conduct of the defendant as described in the petition; prejudgment interest as provided by law; attorneys' fees and legal expenses; postjudgment interest; costs of court; such other and further relief, both general and special, legal and equitable, to which plaintiffs may show themselves to be justly entitled; and plaintiffs pray for general relief.
The suit was filed on Thursday, June 21, 2007 at the Colorado County Courthouse.
| 
