Rainbow adopts Resolution of Necessity for 7 parcels

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The Rainbow Municipal Water District adopted a Resolution of Necessity for seven legal parcels which will be needed for Rainbow’s Lift Station No. 1 replacement project including temporary construction easements.

Rainbow’s board voted 4-0 Dec. 7, with Pam Moss absent, to adopt a Resolution of Necessity for the seven parcels with three different ownerships and to authorize Rainbow General Manager Tom Kennedy to proceed with actions necessary to acquire the interests in the properties.

“What we are doing is continuing the negotiation process but starting a six-month clock,” Kennedy said.

A Resolution of Necessity allows a public agency to initiate eminent domain action if negotiations have not been completed before the project schedule necessitates the acquisition. The Dec. 7 action does not initiate eminent domain but allows subsequent action if negotiations are unsuccessful.

The project will replace Lift Station No. 1, which was constructed in 1974, with a newer lift station whose capacity can handle Rainbow’s projected growth. The project will build a new lift station on a Thoroughbred Lane parcel the district has purchased, construct an equalization basin near Thoroughbred Road and State Route 76, build a force main from the Thoroughbred Lift Station to Old River Road, upsize the existing sewer line along Highway 76, and construct a gravity main from Olive Hill Road to the Thoroughbred Lift Station.

The construction will require various easements. A California licensed surveyor was hired in May 2021 to prepare legal descriptions and plat maps for the permanent easements and temporary construction easements Rainbow needs. The permanent easements are each 20 feet wide and the temporary construction easements are on average approximately 30 feet wide. The temporary construction easements are needed for necessary and convenient activities associated with the construction, including to maneuver equipment and store materials.

A 7,352 square foot permanent easement and a 12,132 square foot temporary construction easement will be needed for the three parcels comprising 5555 Mission Road and owned by Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company, LLC. The parcel north of State Route 76 and west of South Mission Road is owned by the County of San Diego (which means that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will be required to approve the transaction in closed session), and Rainbow will require a 1,821 square foot permanent easement and a 2,273 square foot temporary construction easement.

The other three parcels are at 5256 Mission Road and currently owned by Mission Road Partners, LP, whose trustees are William R. Buster, Mark W. Buster, Harold Alles, and Patricia Alles; Rainbow will need to acquire a 7,221 square foot permanent easement and a 41,059 square foot temporary construction easement.

Rainbow will also need a 387 square foot permanent easement on the two parcels covering 5517 Mission Road and 5527 Mission Road, although Prosperous Real Estate, LLC, has reached an agreement with the district and the Resolution of Necessity doesn’t cover that land. “We have come to a deal with that landowner and are proceeding accordingly,” Kennedy said.

An appraiser was hired to value the easement interests. The fair market value is $35,450 for the 5555 Mission Road property, $1,400 for the 5517 Mission Road and 5527 Mission Road easements, $1,700 for the county-owned land north of Highway 76 and west of South Mission Road, and $389,000 for the parcels at 5256 Mission Road.

Rainbow sent the four property owners offer letters on Oct. 13. The full fair market value based on the appraisals was offered, but Rainbow staff has not been able to reach an agreement with three of the ownerships. Rainbow will use eminent domain only as a last resort and will continue to negotiate with the property owners.

The Resolution of Necessity makes the findings that the public interest and necessity require the project for which the property is sought, that the project is planned or located in the manner that will be most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury, that the property sought is necessary for the project, and that an offer has been made to the property owner.