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Right of Way Acquisition& UTILITY COORDINATION
The LPAs who will be actively involved in
right of way acquisition and relocation
must comply with the “Uniform Relocation
Assistance and Real Property Acquisition
Policies Act of 1970,” as amended. The
Uniform Act must be followed for all
locally administered Federal-aid projects
even if Federal funds are not used for the
acquisition of right of way for the project.
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Laws and Regulations:
•ORC 163.51 to 163.62 and OAC 5501.2-5-01 to 06
• 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution
• Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Under Section 302 of Title 23 USC, when Federal funding is used
in any phase of a locally administered project, the FHWA places
overall responsibility for the acquisition of right of way and the
relocation of individuals, businesses and utilities with ODOT.
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As part of the overall responsibility assigned to ODOT
by FHWA, the ODOT District Real Estate Administer
(REA) is required to monitor the LPA right of way
appraisal, acquisition and relocation activities on all
locally administered projects for compliance with
applicable laws and regulations.
This does not exempt the responsibility of the LPA from
following all laws and regulations.
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If the LPA does not have the qualified staff to perform any or
all of the respective right of way functions, the LPA must hire an
ODOT Pre-qualified Consultant.
The pre-qualified list is available on the ODOT web page at:
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Engineering/Consultant/Consultant/prequal-row.pdf
If the LPA hires a Pre-qualified Consultant, the LPA has the
responsibility to monitor the Consultant and his/her activities.
The LPA must be kept informed during all phases of the right of way
process.
It is the LPA’s responsibility to ensure that the Consultant is
following all Federal and State laws, regulations, policies, and
the ODOT Real Estate Policies and Procedures Manual.
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LPA Agreement
Right of Way Plans
• Follow ODOT Plan Manual for ODOT LET
• Local Let-Recommended but not required.
• Notify Designers to be cognizant of impacts to Right of
Way:
• Parking, Access, Trees
• Improvements (signs, fencing, lighting, etc.)
• Grade Changes
• Look at the construction limits.
Auditor Parcels are not the same as Right of Way Parcels.
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Waiting for a R/W Services consultant to be under contract to
address impacts to the right of way is costly and time
consuming.
• Plan/Design Changes
• Appraisal Revisions and/or re-scoping
• Revised Offers to property owners
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Right of Way Acquisition Letter
Consultant Contracts for R/W Acquisition Services(if Federal
funding in right of way)
• Selection Process – 23 CFR 172.7(a)(1)
The Programmatic and Technical proposal selection processes
(QBS) are competitivequalifications based processes which require
solicitation, evaluation, ranking, selection,and negotiation.
• Threshold is $50,000
Follow the ODOT QBS process through Consultant Services for each
discipline (titles,appraisal, etc.), if expected to be 50K or
higher
• Services less than $50,000
LPA may be directly select, but must review qualifications of at
least three consultantsprior to selection, and the reasons for
selecting the most qualified consultant must bedocumented.
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Kick-Off Meeting
•An appraisal scoping/acquisition kick off meeting must be held
with the R/W LPA Coordinator prior to beginning work on the
project
Basic Acquisition Process
• Titles
• Appraisals
• Appraisal Review
• Relocation
• Negotiations
• Closing/Recording
Pre-qualified Consultants are available for all functions.
And this applies to Safe Route to School projects also.
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Monthly Progress Meetings
A detailed project schedule for the right of way phase and
project kick off meeting will include setting a schedule for
monthly progress meetings to assure delivery of the phase on
schedule and resolution of any problems in appraisal, appraisal
review, titles, acquisition, relocation or closings.
Monthly Reports/Meetings Are Required.
• Spreadsheet Format
• All Pertinent Information
• Begin at Authorization
• Received at the end of each month
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Monthly Reports
Acquisition Issues
Work Agreement (by Permit or Release): An agreement for the use
and occupancy of
property by permission of the owner. Obtained when agency’s use
of the property is
temporary and the work to be performed is solely for the benefit
of the property owner and
is not essential to the project (i.e., minor grading,
landscaping, re-connection of utilities,
etc.). This type of acquisition is voluntary and if the owner is
not willing to sign the
agreement, the work will not be performed. For these reasons,
this type of acquisition is not
obtainable through the use of Eminent Domain.
Litmus Test-Can you build the project without it?
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Work Agreements and Temporary Easements are often
misunderstood.
They are not the same thing!
Temporary Easements are right of way acquisition takes requiring
full follow through with the acquisition process discussed
earlier.
Warranty Deed vs Highway Easement
• 23 CFR; 1.23 (a)
Interest to be acquired. The State shall acquire rights-of-way
of such nature andextent as are adequate for the construction,
operation and maintenance of a project.
• ORC 5511.07
Requires vacation of easements to the underlying fee owner at no
charge.
If an LPA chooses to vacate easement held rights, acquired with
federal funds, theLPA must pay back FHWA utilizing it’s own
funds
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COMPLIANCE REVIEW
Authorization
No work is to be done prior to receiving
acquisitionauthorization from ODOT, District 8.
• If Federal money in Right of Way, Environmental Documentmust
be completed before acquisition can be authorized.
• The LPA may request authorization to start acquisition up
tomaking offers.
• If no Federal money, then LPA can be authorized to begin
attheir own risk.
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Certification
• The Local is to submit a r/w certification letter, known as
the “LPA Certification ofRight of Way Control Letter 1” (no ROE –
rights of entry obtained) or “LPACertification of Right of Way
Control Letter 2” (at least one ROE – right of entryobtained on the
project)
• NO CONDITIONAL RIGHT OF WAY CERTIFICATION ARE PERMISSABLE.
• The r/w certification letter is to include a utility note if
there is relocation of utilitiesas a result of the project
• The r/w certification letter is to include information as to
how any encroachmentshave been addressed
• Once the r/w is certified, a compliance review will be
scheduled
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Railroad Coordination- Takes time.
Acquisition of railroad property where there is an active rail
line:
• Generally involves the execution of a Railroad Construction
Agreement which provides Right of Entry
Acquisition where there is no active rail line:
• No Construction Agreement is executed
• Thus, no Right of Entry
• Completed acquisition transaction is necessary
ODOT LET– State will prepare
LOCAL LET– Local will prepare
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Bottom Line
TO INSURE FUNDING IS NOT AT RISK DUE TO NON-COMPLIANCE IN
ACQUISITION
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Utility Coordination
Utility Notes
•Are part of the project Right of Way Certification
•Are part of the bid proposal
•Alert the contractor to utilities within the construction
limits •To what utilities will be relocated/stay in place•Where
they will be relocated to •When they will be relocated by
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Detailed Information to include in Utility Notes
•Disposition of Utility Facilities
•Station and Offset of Existing and Proposed Location
•Date for Start/Completion of Relocation Work
•Length of Time Needed for Relocation
•Which Utility will relocate next
Additional Information to Add to a Utility Note
• When utility facilities are not cleared from construction area
by the sale of the project.
• When utility facilities will remain in place within the
construction limits.
• When utility facilities will be relocated, but within the
construction limits.
• When utility facilities are shown incorrectly on highway
construction plans and the plan sheet cannot be updated.
• When utility relocations are included in the bid proposal (to
alert highway contractor)
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Examples of Utility Notes
Examples of Utility Notes
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Examples of Utility Notes
UTILITY REIMBURSEMENT
WHEN ARE UTILITIES ELIGIBLE?Reimbursing Private or Publicly Held
Utilities
Private or publicly held utilities are eligible for
reimbursement when existing facilities are affected by the project
and located on property where the utility has a compensable
property right as follows:
• On property owned by the utility
• On private property where the utility has a valid easement
from the owner
• On private property where the utility has a valid prescriptive
right (affidavit required)
• On public road right of way where the utility has a valid
easement which predates the rights held by the city/state
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Example: Private waterline within easement
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Things to consider:
• Utility potentially could have an easement that pre-dates the
right of way. In these cases, we use the recorded date for both the
utility easement and the right of way to determine who pre-dates
who.
• Utility could have an easement that their facilities are not
currently in (which would make the relocation non-reimbursable)
• Check if the easement has a width or if it allows for the
facilities to be relocated for a road widening project
• Utility could be partially reimbursable for perpendicular
crossings when proposed/new right of way has been purchased
• Only the portions within the proposed/new right of way are
eligible for reimbursement
UTILITY REIMBURSEMENT
WHEN ARE UTILITIES ELIGIBLE?Reimbursing Public Utilities
Reimbursement eligibility of a public water line, sanitary sewer
line, electric, steam or other facilities owned by a governmental
agency is established when the existing facilities are affected by
the highway project and located on property where the public
utility has a compensable property right as follows:
• On property owned by the governmental agency that owns the
public utility
• On private property where the public utility has a valid
easement
• On public road right of way (including state road right of
way) that is within the corporation limits of the government agency
that owns the public utility
• On public road right of way outside the jurisdiction of the
governmental agency that owns the public utility where the utility
has a compensable agreement with the governmental agency having
jurisdiction
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When there are federal or state funds in Utility Reimbursement•
The utility will need to provide the Local with an estimate,
using
ODOT’s RE 75-1 form.
• Based on the approved estimate, ODOT will encumber the funds
for the reimbursable portion of the relocation costs
• The Local should then enter into an Utility Agreement with the
utility and provide ODOT a copy of this agreement
• Upon completion of the utility work, the utility would submit
the documentation of the actual relocation expenses using ODOT’s RE
75-2 form.
• ODOT would reimburse the Local for the reimbursable portion of
the relocation expenses.
ODOT’s Reimbursable FormsRE 75-1 – Preliminary Estimate
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ODOT’s Reimbursable FormsRE 75-1 – Preliminary Estimate
Preliminary Estimate Approval & Utility Agreement
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Preliminary Estimate Approval & Utility Agreement
ODOT’s Reimbursable FormsRE 75-2 - Final Billing
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ODOT’s Local Let – Utilities Page
•https://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/LocalPrograms/Pages/LocalLetProcesses.aspx
Any questions?Suzanne E. Enders, P.E.
Ohio Department of Transportation
District 8 – Office of Real Estate
Assistant Real Estate Engineer/Utilities Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (513) 933-6186
Benjamin Miller
Ohio Department of Transportation
District 8 Planning and Engineering
LPA Right of Way Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 513-933-6655
Doug E Raters, P.E
Ohio Department of Transportation
District 8 – Office of Real Estate
Real Estate Engineer
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 513-933-6629
