Staff is seeking Council’s authorization to convey a 20-foot-wide relocatable ingress & egress access easement along the Savannah & Ogeechee Canal (SOC) right-of-way to LTI Properties, LLC (LTI). LTI is the owner of a landlocked property at 159 Telfair Road (PIN 20714 01014) and no other practical access to this property exists. Total area of this proposed access easement is +/-16,600 square feet (SF), subject to survey. In exchange, LTI has agreed to convey to the City a 45-foot-wide stormwater drainage easement over and across their parcel north of the SOC canal at 151 Telfair Road (PIN 20629 05001). This drainage easement, with a proposed area of +/-19,769 SF, and subject to survey, would allow the City’s Stormwater Department to improve and widen an existing, but severely undersized stormwater ditch.

Georgia Code OCGA 36-37-6(c) provides the City the authority to exchange real property with private entities, provided the property received is equal to or greater in value than the property being exchanged as established by appraisal. Therefore, staff procured an appraisal from a third-party MAI-designated appraiser and the appraiser determines fair markets values are as follows:

Drainage Easement (from LTI to City) - $88,000
Access Easement (from City to LTI) - $50,000

As part of the agreement, LTI has also agreed to demolish an existing and unauthorized land bridge spanning the width of the SOC. The land bridge currently connects both LTI-owned properties and effectively serves as a dam inhibiting stormwater flow. Both widening of the ditch and removal of the land bridge would have a positive impact on residents of the Woodville neighborhood downstream.

If approved, both parties would still retain ownership to their underlying lands, as only conveyance of easements are being proposed. Further request authorization for the City Manager to execute Real Property Trade Agreement and any associated closing documents.

Approval