Dear Editor,

I would like to publicly express my deep gratitude to each Caldwell County Commissioner for their support for landowners and property rights in general with regards to Grain Belt.  As you may have recently read, the Missouri Landowners Alliance (MLA) filed a Petition in Circuit Court in August of last year, asking the Court to declare that the permission supposedly given by the Commission to Grain Belt in 2012 to use the county roads for its transmission line "is invalid and void."  The Commission, as well as each individual Commissioner asked that the Court rule in the plaintiffs' favor.

That support for the landowners was likely very valuable as the Judge did issue an order on last month in favor of landowners and ruled the document “invalid”.  And, the time for filing an appeal has now passed.  This ruling will be extremely important if Grain Belt re-applies since state law requires that a franchise (or permission) is obtained from each county. Since Grain Belt has stated that the proposed route is the best alternative, bypassing Caldwell County will be problematic.

In July, the Mo. Public Service Commission denied the certificate to the company for its 780 mile long transmission line proposal that would carry electricity to the cities in the Northeast U.S. on the grounds that it did not prove the line was necessary and beneficial to Missouri ratepayers.  However, it was recently approved in Illinois making it likely that the company will be applying again soon.

I highly encourage everyone to contact each of the Caldwell County Commissioners to thank them for their ongoing support for property owners and property rights as it will prove to be invaluable to the ultimate outcome of the proposal.

Thank you,

Russ Pisciotta

Kidder, Mo

Block Grain Belt Express- Mo 

The Caldwell County News

101 South Davis
P.O. Box 218
Hamilton, MO 64644
Phone: 816-583-2116
news@mycaldwellcounty.com

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