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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FEDERAL FILINGS REVEAL JAPANESE-FUNDED RAILROAD CONSORTIUM PLANS EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE AND NEAR WHOLESALE EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL RULES

TCR Proposes to Acquire Land it Ultimately Won’t Use to Satisfy Investors

Jewett, Texas – Texas Central Railway (TCR), Central Japan Railway’s main US partner for the proposed Texas rail line, submitted two petitions on April 19 with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) – the independent federal commission charged by Congress to oversee railroads nationwide. These filings raise serious questions about the rail company’s commitment to transparency and the rule of law.

The filings, made available by the STB, reveal that Texas Central is requesting an exemption from 49 U.S.C § 10901, which governs the authority to construct and operate a railroad in the United States. In a second filing, Texas Central is seeking a “clarification” that its project will be exempt from SB 18, the Texas landmark law limiting Eminent Domain abuse.

The filings further reveal that the consortium plans to take land from Texas private property owners “in locations not ultimately identified” on its final route because “its construction schedule is central to its business model.”

Blake Beckham, special litigation counsel for TAHSR, said, “In other words, Texas Central has no problem taking private property it does not even need for its project so long as the steady stream of funds from its Japanese partners keep flowing in. This is a clear concession that Texas Central does not have its financing in place, and yet it is asking for expedited consideration of its petitions in hopes that it can begin taking private property from Texas landowners immediately.”

Kyle Workman, president of TAHSR, said, “The people of Texas fought long and hard to protect our property rights after the Kelo decision. Governor Perry and the Texas legislature worked together to enact SB18 specifically to provide Texans with protections against the abuse of Eminent Domain for private gain. TCR’s filing is an attempted end run around Texas law.”

Workman added, “Brazen doesn’t come close to describing these petitions. If they are granted, TCR could confiscate the property of landowners – even those not in the pathway of the track – as well as be exempt from most federal requirements for railroad construction. That’s a lose-lose situation for Texas landowners.”

“Notably absent from the petitions is any mention of the fact that this project will be funded almost entirely through government-backed loans and Japanese investors,” Workman concluded.

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OPPOSITION GROWING OUTSIDE PROPOSED HSR CORRIDOR

Heart of Texas Council of Governments Passes Resolution Opposing Dallas Houston HSR

Jewett, Texas – Joining the Brazos Valley Council of Governments, the Heart of Texas Council of Governments (HOTCOG) has also passed a resolution opposing the Dallas Houston High-Speed Rail. Counties making up the membership of HOTCOG are Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill, Limestone and McLennan Counties. Despite having only a very small section of the currently proposed route clip the corner of just one of the member counties, the HOTCOG overwhelmingly voted to oppose this project, highlighting that concern about this HSR project is spreading outside of areas impacted by the proposed route.

The resolution details the negative impact the proposed HSR would have on the counties between Dallas and Houston, but also the wider threats of taxpayer subsidies and precedent setting use of eminent domain that would affect all Texans.

Also emphasized in the resolution are the questionable cost and ridership estimates shared by Texas Central, the company backing the HSR project. The council even called on the state and federal governments to halt support for the project until it could be determined that only existing rights-of-way would be used for the project and no public subsidies would be made available to the private company.

Kyle Workman, president of Texans Against High-Speed Rail, said, “If losing the support of one of their key markets in the Brazos Valley wasn’t enough, the mere passage of the Heart of Texas COG’s resolution should have Texas Central’s investors very nervous. This has been a statewide issue from the very start, but now we see official opposition to the project growing throughout the state in spite of the rail’s proposed route location. This isn’t just an issue of taking specific properties for their proposed HSR, but one of property rights and taxpayer subsidies that impact the entirety of our State.”

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