Property owners opposed to a planned network of transmission towers and power lines that would carry wind-generated electricity from western Kansas to Indiana through a portion of southern Randolph County fear the possibility of eminent domain, while Grain Belt Express promoters say the project is climate-friendly and a source of significant economic development.

Wayne Wilcox, Eastern District Randolph County commissioner, said he sees the project as an answer for the financially-strapped county health department and library district, as well as a boon for county school districts. The project could bring an estimated $800,000 in property tax revenue to the county.

"Everybody in Randolph County expects me to keep the taxes as low as possible and yet get the county government work done," Wilcox said. "So why should I as a county commissioner trying to keep tax rates as low as possible turn down a project that would bring the dollars into the county?"

Grain Belt Express, a project of Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners, expects the $2 billion project, which still needs regulatory approval in Missouri and Illinois, to create 5,000 construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs.

But opposition is growing, and a bill introduced in the General Assembly would block Grain Belt Express from gaining eminent domain status, which would happen if the Public Service Commission recognizes the need for the project and designates it as a public utility.

The possibility of eminent domain � forcing a property owner to accept fair market value in exchange for property or easements � is driving much of the opposition.

The three-member Randolph County Commission has expressed its support for the project, while commissioners in at least three other counties have rescinded their support. Diane Ragsdale, who lives east of Rennick, said the transmission line would come within 275 feet of her property. Unlike a property owner that would be compensated for easements for the transmission towers, "I get no compensation," she said, "but I get to look at them."

She is concerned about other property owners who won't want the 200-foot-tall towers and transmission lines on their property. Ragsdale said many residents "don't even know where it runs."

Ragsdale attended a recent meeting organized by Block Grain Belt Express, a group that originated in Caldwell County, one of the eight counties in the proposed electricity transmission line's route. The Randolph County Commission will meet with landowners and representatives from the opposition group at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Randolph County Justice Center, 372 Route JJ in Huntsville.

Grain Belt Express also hosts a public meeting for landowners and county residents at 6:30 p.m. May 20 at the James Youth Center in Moberly's Rothwell Park.

Mark Lawlor, Grain Belt Express director of development, said the issue of eminent domain "is something that we take very seriously, and we understand the concern that can raise with people. Our aim is to not have to use it."

Grain Belt Express already is selling capacity rights to other utility providers and negotiating with landowners in Kansas and Missouri for property easements.

Wilcox said Randolph County has some 26,000 residents and that the transmission route would affect from 50 to 60 properties.

"Vocal minorities have a tendency to drive things the wrong direction at times," he said. "Not everybody on the route is opposed to it. Some are clamoring to get the checks."

Wilcox said that even some of his own family members are opposed to the project, which would run across a portion of his property west of Rennick.

This article was published in the Saturday, May 10, 2014 edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Power line plan stirs up opposition:�Randolph is in path of project."