T.U.D. Eyes PG&E Land

Sonora, CA — At Tuesday’s meeting the T.U.D Board will talk about acquiring land from PG&E in hopes of eventually constructing a water storage reservoir.

PG&E owns 40 acres of land northeast of T.U.D.’s Sugar Pine property. The land must be donated for public benefit as part of PG&E’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy settlement. T.U.D. had applied to receive the property, but the intended use did not fit the Land Stewardship Council’s conservation plan when it comes to “public benefit.”

That said, T.U.D. may still be able to acquire the property. A report from T.U.D. states, “Consequently, the Land Stewardship Council has agreed to not place a conservation easement on the property. However, the Land Stewardship Council and PG&E have indicated that condemnation proceedings will be required to acquire the property.”

The T.U.D. Board of Directors will talk on Tuesday about moving forward with the needed environmental documentation required to support eminent domain of the parcel. T.U.D.’s proposed reservoir would have a capacity of 350 acre ft., and nearly 26 acres of the 40 available would be needed. The land is valued at $140,000. Tuesday’s meeting begins at 5:30pm.