TEXAS CENTRAL IS NOT A RAILROAD, NO EMINENT DOMAIN MAJOR HSR OPPOSITION VICTORY

Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure’s motion to be declared a railroad with eminent domain authority denied by Harris County judge.

Jewett, Texas – Last Friday, landowner Calvin House and Texans Against High-Speed Rail delivered another devastating blow to Texas Central’s ill-advised Dallas Houston High-Speed Rail project. In Harris County – on Texas Central’s homecourt where it has sued more than 20 landowners – the Court denied Texas Central’s motion for summary judgment “in its entirety.”

In doing so, the Court ruled against Texas Central on its claim that it is a railroad with eminent domain authority and the right to survey private property. As it stands, Texas Central has no legal right to enter onto private property, nor does it have the right to force landowners to sell their property under the threat of eminent domain. In short, everything Texas Central has been telling landowners for the past year has been completely false. Hopefully now, after having lost twice in its own backyard, Texas Central will finally realize that – in Texas – merely saying you’re a railroad doesn’t mean that you are a railroad.

Landowner Calvin House said he is pleased with the ruling, but the whole experience has taken a toll on both his family and his business. “Texas Central came to my property six different times asking for a survey. Every time they told me they had eminent domain. Then, they sued me, and I had to hire a lawyer. Now I see why they never could show me a piece of paper saying they had eminent domain like condemning authorities are required to do. It’s because they never had it to begin with. I’m glad the court ruled in my favor, but I sure didn’t like being harassed for months, sued, and forced into court.”

Our legal team, led by Blake Beckham, Patrick McShan and Alec Pedigo of The Beckham Group, along with Glenn Sodd, Jason Sodd, and Jody McSpadden of the Dawson Sodd law firm, worked countless hours to protect Mr. House’s and all Texans’ private property rights.

Beckham said, “Texas Central picked Harris County, the court, and the landowner. They brought in every bit of legal firepower money could buy. And they lost. Again. This is a landmark victory for all Texas landowners. The ruling makes it crystal clear that Texas Central is not a railroad and does not have eminent domain authority. With no legal authority, no money, and no approval to construct, the project is on a train to nowhere.”

Kyle Workman, president of Texans Against High-Speed Rail, said, “We are not surprised by this decisive ruling, given that Texas Central has never produced proper documentation of eminent domain authority. They knew this issue was before the courts, but that hasn’t stopped them from bullying their way onto property while misrepresenting themselves as a railroad with the power of eminent domain. We call for Texas Central to immediately cease their underhanded tactics to gain access to private property, as they have no right to demand access or coerce option contracts with private property owners.”

Texans Against High-Speed Rail Chairman and Grimes County Judge Ben Leman commented, “Look, this ruling is a smoking gun. This company has been threatening and suing landowners, sending harassing letters, trespassing, and pushing option contracts with the threat of eminent domain for over a year, and they have been doing so without any proof of eminent domain. This is not only egregious, but counter to the way we operate in this great state. The Japanese should reconsider where they implement their train, because in Texas we respect private property rights and will not tolerate this type of behavior.”

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HIGH-SPEED RAIL COMPANY WITHDRAWS REQUEST FOR SURVEY ACCESS

Texans Against High-Speed Rail Calls for Texas Central to Drop Remaining Lawsuits

Jewett, Texas – On Friday, Texas landowners achieved a landmark victory in Houston, where Texas Central withdrew its request for a temporary injunction to survey a Harris County property owned by Calvin House. Texas Central’s lawsuit claimed eminent domain power as a railroad, with the right to survey private property for its ill-conceived high-speed rail project. At the hearing, the judge first wanted to hear from Texas Central representative Shaun McCabe, a vice president with the company. After a skillful cross-examination by Blake Beckham, TAHSR Special Litigation Counsel, the judge questioned Texas Central’s attorney repeatedly about its claim that Texas Central will suffer “imminent harm” if not allowed an immediate survey. The judge also wanted to know why there hasn’t been a hearing in Jim Miles’ suit in Leon County, which was filed back in March. He wondered why – three months ago – Mr. McCabe swore Texas Central needed to survey Jim’s property immediately or it would cause great harm to the project, but Texas Central still hasn’t asked for a hearing in Leon County. The writing was on the wall. The judge was not going to grant an injunction, so Texas Central tucked tail, folded, and withdrew its request.

This was the first hearing held in any Texas court on the issue of whether Texas Central has eminent domain power and the right to get an injunction to survey property. Texas Central picked the county, the defendant, and the court, but still came away empty-handed.

We would like to thank Calvin House for standing up to Texas Central and its bully tactics. Texas landowners have a right to refuse access to their private property, which is exactly what Mr. House did. We also want to thank Blake Beckham and Patrick McShan of The Beckham Group, and Glenn Sodd, Jason Sodd, and Jody McSpadden of the Dawson & Sodd law firm in Corsicana. All five attorneys attended the hearing and have been working tirelessly to defend Mr. House’s and other landowners’ private property rights. Here is the brief our attorneys filed in response to Texas Central’s lawsuit against Mr. House: https://goo.gl/jLDu30

Texas Central still has a number of pending cases against landowners alleging the right to survey, including in Harris County where it just folded in its hearing against Mr. House. Many of Texas Central’s cases target small tracts of land in hopes that these landowners will be financially unable to fight back. Texas Central had its chance and lost. Texans Against High-Speed Rail calls on Texas Central and its affiliates to do the right thing and immediately dismiss these other cases, and stop trying to threaten and bully Texas landowners into giving up their private property rights. We will not back down, and we encourage all Texas property owners not to either.

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HIGH-SPEED RAIL HITS ROADBLOCK IN GRIMES COUNTY

HSR Entities or Facilities Must Show Proof of Eminent Domain Prior to Receiving Authorization to Cross Grimes County Roads

Anderson, Texas – From the steps of the historic Grimes County Courthouse steps, Grimes County Judge Ben Leman announced today an action taken by the county’s Commissioners Court will restrict authorization for high-speed rail projects crossing county roads to only those projects with proof of eminent domain authority. This Grimes County regulation, the only high-speed rail regulation at either local or state levels, will force Texas Central and any affiliate of the proposed Dallas Houston HSR to show proof of their eminent domain authority before they can move forward with their project through Grimes County.

Referencing Texas Central’s public response after the recent Surface Transportation Board ruling, Judge Leman said, “Texas Central now claims that without federal jurisdiction, they do not need any sort of approval from the State of Texas to use eminent domain or to begin construction. It is unfathomable to think any entity, could ever self-declare they are a railroad, give themselves eminent domain authority, and start bullying landowners, using scare tactics and issuing legal threats against our citizens…without any governmental body granting them this authority, approving this project, or regulating this endeavor.”

Judge Leman went on to say, “I stand here today to announce Grimes County will not let that happen… Grimes County will require a permit to be approved by Commissioners Court before construction can begin on any high-speed rail project where it crosses a county road. Included in this permit, among other regulations, will be a requirement for any high-speed rail entity to provide sufficient proof that they have been granted the power of eminent domain by the federal or state government. Without such proof, the permit will be denied and that high-speed rail project would not be able to come through Grimes County.” Noting, “I will be reaching out to all of the eight pass-through counties in the path of this project to coordinate our efforts for them to pass similar regulations.”

Texans Against High-Speed Rail President Kyle Workman was on hand to offer words of caution directly to Texas Central and its investors, “Texas Central…hear me when I say…we, the landowners you are intimidating and harassing, are prepared to challenge you at every available juncture, with unparalleled passion and commitment. Your dishonest and disingenuous business tactics…from the bullying of landowners to the lengths undertaken to hide information from the citizens of this state…will not be tolerated.”

Workman reinforced our state leadership’s commitment to private property rights. Adding, “Although the Texas Legislature could potentially provide Texas Central some relief, it would only do so after abandoning the private property rights of not only Texas landowners who stood together to protect their land, but ALL Texans. However, we know that both Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Patrick are champions of private property rights and wouldn’t tolerate any relinquishing of those rights, especially for foreign gain…Any support for this project is an affront to private property rights and endorsement of taxpayer subsidies.”

This Grimes County regulation is commensurate with previous requests for proof of eminent domain authority from private entities requesting to cross county rights-of-way. However, today’s measure will likely be the first of many at the local level to address the regulatory issues surrounding the Dallas Houston HSR.

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***MEDIA ALERT***MEDIA ALERT***MEDIA ALERT***

TEXANS AGAINST HIGH-SPEED RAIL TO HOST PRESS CONFERENCE FOLLOWING GRIMES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT DECISION

 WHAT: Texans Against High-Speed Rail (TAHSR) will host a press conference immediately following tomorrow’s Grimes County Commissioners Court to announce the outcome and impact of proposed regulation on high-speed rail.

WHO: Grimes County Judge Ben Leman, TAHSR President Kyle Workman. (Updates will be posted to TAHSR social media accounts.)

WHEN: TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2016; 1:00 PM

WHERE: GRIMES COUNTY COURTHOUSE STEPS, 100 Main Street Anderson, Texas 77830

WHY: Grimes County Commissioners will review, consider and vote on regulation for high-speed rail that will likely have a major impact on the high-speed rail project currently proposed to pass through Grimes County. The proposed regulation is not only precedent-setting but could be the beginning of a ripple effect that will place the Dallas Houston HSR in serious jeopardy.

For more information on Texans Against High-Speed Rail, please visit www.texansagainsthsr.com.

To review the Grimes County Commissioners Court agenda, please visit http://tools.cira.state.tx.us/users/0057/docs/Agendas/ccagenda08-09-16.pdf

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