Post on 04-Jun-2018
Page 1 North Texas News
INTERNATIONAL RIGHT-OF-WAY ASSOCIATION
DALLAS-FORT WORTH, TEXAS
January 2018
In This Issue
January Luncheon 1
President’s Message 2
Director’s Message 3
Young Professionals 4
Ask the Attorney 5 - 6
Membership Committee 7
Education Committee News 8
Note from the Editor 9
North Texas News
Since 1960
President
KIM HIEBERT, SR/WA, R/W-NAC, R/W-
RAC
817.798.8398
Vice President
KRISTEN BENNETT, R/W-RAC
972.971.8660
Treasurer
LORA GUNTER, SR/WA
817.370.3682
Secretary
DALTON VANN, MAI, RWA, R/W-AC
817.962.2371
Director/ 2 YR KAREN STEARMAN, SR/WA
214.794.1014
Director/ 1YR MARCUS BOYD, SR/WA, R/W-RAC
972.979.2850
Chapter Officers 2017-18
January Meeting Lunch Date and Location:
January 9, 2018; 11:30 a.m.
Texas Star Golf Course— Conference Center
1400 Texas Star Parkway
Euless, Texas 76040
$20.00 before the registration deadline.
No-shows will be billed.
January Luncheon: January 9, 2018
Julia Ryan, AICP, Senior Planner for the City of Fort Worth
Julia has a Bachelor’s Degree from Iowa State
University in Political Science and Environmen-
tal Studies and a Master’s Degree from East-
ern Michigan University in Urban and Regional
Planning. Julia has been with the City for over
10 years and has worked extensively on trans-
portation policy issues such as Complete
Streets, Master Thoroughfare Plan, pedestrian
access, and planning, design, and implementation of on-street
bike lanes.
Sponsored by:
Luncheon Menu
Italian buffet and assorted cheese cakes
Julia Ryan
Page 2 North Texas News
Kim Hiebert, SR/WA, R/W-RAC, R/W-NAC
President’s Message
Kim Hiebert
HDR Engineering, Inc.
600 W. Sixth Street, Suite 200
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
817.798.8398
kimberly.hiebert@hdrinc.com
Our event planners, Leighton Gambill and John
Bennett, sure knocked the Chapter 36 End of
the Year Event out of the park and into 2018!
Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did. The
food was delish and the Bucket List Band was
so enjoyable and unique. THANK YOU to the Auction Sponsors who
generously donated great items which raised more than $2,500 for
the Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital. Here’s some exciting news! Be-
cause the ―member initiation fee‖ to the Petroleum Club has been
paid (thanks to the sponsor CBRE), we can have our lunches at the
Petroleum Club whenever we like. The current plan is to continue al-
ternating locations between Dallas and Fort Worth or somewhere in
the middle. This month’s luncheon will be sponsored by JLL Valuation
and Advisory Services and will be at the Texas Star Golf Club in Bed-
ford.
I also want to give my sincere appreciation to Andy Cox, the Chap-
ter’s Newsletter Editor, for his outstanding editing skills and his dili-
gence in gathering content each month. It’s not an easy job!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE 2018 IRWA EVENTS:
April 4 – 6, 2018 Region 2 Spring Forum, San Antonio
April 19 – 20, 2018 Ch 36 Hot Topics in Real Estate and
Eminent Domain, Walnut Creek, Mansfield
June 24 - 27, 2018 IRWA 64th Annual International Education
Conference in Edmonton, AB, Canada
August 1 - 3, 2018 Region 2 Refresher Course,
College Station
May this year bring new happiness, new goals, new achievements
and a lot of new inspirations to your life.
My best to you,
Kim Hiebert
Kim Hiebert, SR/WA, R/W-RAC,
R/W-NAC
Page 3 North Texas News
Karen Stearman, SR/WA
Director’s Message
Dear Chapter 36 Members:
I am pleased to announce the annual Chapter 36 Donald J.
Sherwood scholarship program. Each year the chapter awards
scholarships to deserving college students. This year we are ex-
tremely excited that Chapter 36 will have ten scholarships in
the amount of $1,000.00 each. To qualify, the applicant should
be enrolled, in an accredited college or university as a full-time
student (12 semester hours or more), studying a discipline that is
related to right-of-way, be a member of Chapter 36 or a family
member of a Chapter member, and meet the qualifications
contained in the official scholarship application form. The appli-
cation will be available on the Chapter 36 web later this month.
Scholarship Committee:
Karen Stearman, SR/WA, Director
Jim Thomas, SR/WA, Education Chair
Professional Dev. Chair
Karen Stearman, SR/WA
Karen Stearman, SR/WA
Real Estate Broker 972.221.9918
kgnuse@tx.rr.com
Page 4 North Texas News
Hello YP’s:
A big Thank You to everyone who came out
to the White Elephant Gift Exchange dinner.
It was a great time and congrats to our big
winners!
I want to thank everyone that has attended
our events this past year. It’s good to see the
continued support that we have received. We have three
events planned for this coming year with a Lunch and Learn,
Whirly Ball and then back to the Rustic. As details become avail-
able we will send out the updates.
Thank you again and I look forward to a great 2018!
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
JIMMY THOMAS, SR/WA
Education Committee
817.215.6639
TOMMY MATTHEWS, R/W-AC
Education Committee (2YR)
214.924.4550
ROBERT ―WILL‖ SNIDER
Education Committee (3YR)
817.332.5522
MICHAEL HALE, SR/WA, R/W-NAC,
R/W-RAC, R/W-URAC
Professional Development
Committee Chair
817.709.6978
SARAH RIEBE
Professional Development
Committee (2YR)
817.304.2051
JACE WHATLEY, MAI
Professional Development
Committee (3YR)
214.340.5880
DENISE LOPEZ, SR/WA, R/W-RAC
Membership Chair
817.459.6537
LEIGHTON GAMBILL
Programs Co-Chair
214.340.5880
JOHN BENNETT
Programs Co-Chair
972.971.8661
MARGARET LEIN, SR/WA
PR & Marketing Committee
214.486.2206
SHERRY SMITH
PR & Marketing Committee
817.215.6588
JUAN SALAZAR
Young Professionals Chair
817.371.9428
TJ SMITH
Webmaster
469.337.4413
ANDY COX
Newsletter Editor
214.740.3154
DORRIEN HIMES
Historian
214.202.1471
Juan Salazar
Juan Salazar
Page 5 North Texas News
Scott Moran
Ask the Attorney
Submit Questions About
Right-of-Way Matters to
Scott Moran
Baker Moran Doggett Ma & Dobbs
1400 Preston Road, Suite 350
Plano, Texas 75093
469.351.3495
smoran@bakermoran.com
Question: Do entities with the power to condemn property
though the use of eminent domain have the right to enter a
landowner’s property for surveying purposes prior to the actual
taking of the property?
Answer: Generally, Yes. Texas courts have held that a con-
demning authority has the right to seek a temporary restraining
order or a temporary injunction to access and enter a private
landowner’s property to make a preliminary survey or for sur-
veying purposes. I.P. Farms v. Exxon Pipeline Co., 646 S.W.2d 544,
545 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1982, no writ); Coastal Marine
Serv. of Texas, Inc. v. City of Port Neches, 11 S.W.3d 509, 513-14
(Tex. App.—Beaumont 2000, no pet.). Further, Section 181.001, et
seq., of the Texas Utilities Code grants condemnor’s the legal
right to enter the property and conduct surveys.
Texas courts have held that business disruptions may re-
sult in irreparable harm for which a temporary injunction is ap-
propriate, and therefore that injunctive relief is appropriate to
allow an entity with the right to access land to conduct survey
work on that land before instituting a condemnation proceed-
ing. In Occidental Chem. Corp. v. ETC NGL Transp., LLC, 425
S.W.3d 354, 361-62 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2011, pet. dis-
m’d).
In Hicks v. Texas Municipal Power Agency, the condemn-
ing authority, an association of cities formed for the purpose of
developing facilities to be used in generating and transmitting
power, was seeking to enjoin certain landowners from interfering
with their proposed survey of their property. 548 S.W.2d 949, 951
(Tex. Civ. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1977, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The
Court stated that even though the specific statutes granting the
Power Agency the right of eminent domain did not expressly
grant the right to a preliminary survey prior to condemnation, its
right to build necessarily implied the right to survey. Id. at 959.
Page 6 North Texas News
Scott Moran
Ask the Attorney
In the case of Lewis v. Texas Power & Light Co., a Tempo-
rary Injunction was issued to allow Texas Power & Light Co. engi-
neers and surveyors to go upon the Lewis’s farm to establish field
notes for an easement right-of-way to subsequently be con-
demned. 276 S.W.2d 950, 952 (Tex. Civ. App.—Dallas 1955, writ
ref'd n.r.e.). The Court held that the statute that gave the power
company the right to enter upon, condemn, and appropriate
lands also granted authority to enter upon privately owned land
for the purposes of making preliminary surveys with a view to later
acquisition of easements rights for construction of its lines. Id.
There are limits to this right, as most courts have refused to
recognize condemning authorities’ rights, prior to condemning,
to enter the land to conduct certain activities such as core drill-
ing. See Coastal Marine Serv. of Tex., Inc. v. City of Port Neches,
11 S.W.3d 509, 513 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2000, no pet.)
Courts have also held that an injunction granting this
right of early entry is only wrongful if its issuance was wrongful at
its inception or if it was continued in effect due to some wrong
on the part of the party seeking the injunction. Craddock v.
Overstreet, 435 S.W.2d 607, 609 (Tex. Civ. App.—Tyler 1968, writ
ref'd n.r.e.). Unless an injunction has been wrongfully issued,
damages (except actual damages to property) are precluded
as a matter of law. I.P. Farms, 646 S.W.2d at 555.
In conclusion, courts generally have upheld the right of a
condemning authority and surveyors to enter onto lands for the
purpose of preliminary surveys prior to condemnation. See
Hicks, 548 S.W.2d at 955; I.P. Farms, 646 S.W.2d at 544; Hailey v.
Tex.-N.M. Power Co., 757 S.W.2d 833, 835 (Tex. App.—Waco
1988, writ dism'd w.o.j.).
IRWA on the Web
Page 7 North Texas News
Please join me in welcoming the following new members that
were approved at our December board meeting to become
part of the IRWA Chapter 36 family.
Angel Estefes Crossroads ROW Group LLC
Matthew Crosby Crossroads ROW Group LLC
Jennifer Malone City of Longview
Esmeralda Pyle Wheelhouse Land & Field Services, LLC
Anne Palermo Atmos Energy
Leticia Delgado DART
Nancy Canahuati G&P Land
Shawna Helterbrand Pinnacle Consulting Management Group Inc.
Charles Wilson Baker Moran Doggett Ma & Dobbs, LLP
A huge thank you to everyone who has paid their dues and re-
newed their membership. Please take the time to check the
Chapter website and view your contact information. Each mem-
ber has their own unique username and password to edit/
update their contact information. If you have membership ques-
tions please email Member Chair, Denise Lopez at mem-
berhip@irwachapter36.org.
Membership Committee News
Denise Lopez, SR/WA, R/W-RAC
Denise Lopez, SR/WA, R/W-RAC
Committee Chair
City of Arlington
817-459-6537
denise.lopez@arlingtontx.gov
Page 8 North Texas News
Happy New Year Chapter 36 members!
Looking ahead at 2018, please see our Education Schedule below for upcoming education opportunities that our Chapter has put to-gether. Please remember that in order to qualify for the Chapter 36 member discount and the Region 2 YP discount, you MUST register through the course coordinator listed on the registration brochure!
Don’t forget to check the websites of other chapters in the region for upcoming classes that may not be posted to IRWAOnLine yet.
For a complete list of registration forms, fees and all discounts of-fered by the Chapter, please visit www.irwachapter36.org/education.htm
Jim Thomas, SR/WA, Chair
Jim Thomas, SR/WA
Committee Chair
Will Snyder
Member (3 YR)
JLL Valuation & Advisory Services
will.snider@am.jll.com
Tommy Matthews, R/W-AC
Member (2 YR)
Edgestone Realty Valuation
tommy@edgestonerealty.com
Jim Thomas, SR/WA
Oncor Electric Delivery Company
1600 Bryan Street, EP 28
Dallas, Texas 75201
(214) 486-3208
jimmy.thomas3@oncor.com
Education Committee News
Education Committee
IRWA Chapter 36 Education Schedule - 2018
Course Date Location Instructor
701 - Property/Asset Manage-
ment: Leasing January 25-26, 2018
Halff-
Richardson
Georgia
Snodgrass
504 - Computing Replacement
Housing Payments February 14-15, 2018
Oncor -
Fort Worth Tami Benson
505 - Advanced Residential Re-
location Assistance February 2018
Oncor-
Fort Worth Tami Benson
804 - Skills of Expert Testimony March 2, 2018 TNP—Fort Worth John Baker/
Scott Moran
218- Right -of-Way Acquisition for
Electrical Transmission Projects March 21-22, 2018
Oncor -
Fort Worth Wayne Wright
Course 102/Spring Seminar April 19, 2018 Walnut Creek
CC Lora Gunter
SRWA Study Session April 30– May 2, 2018 TNP—Fort Worth Donnie
Sherwood
501– Residential Relocation Assis-
tance May 15-16, 2018
Oncor-
Fort Worth
Kristen
Bennett
Which Courses Do I Need?
Only the PDC can tell you which class you need to complete the education
requirements for designation and certification. If you are planning to get
your RWA, RWP or SR/WA the list of courses you need to complete your cre-
dentialing are located at www.irwaonline.org. Just visit the "Credentialing"
tab. You can also download an Excel file that allows you to check on your
course progress as you go and see how many classes you have left. That
download is available on the IRWA Chapter 36 Education page or http://www.irwachapter36.org/pdf/credential.xlsx.
Page 9 North Texas News
Happy New Year, Chapter 36!
I take this opportunity to highlight Director Karen
Stearman’s message in this month’s newsletter, (see page 3),
regarding the Donald J. Sherwood scholarship program. This
annual scholarship program is a true blessing to our Chapter
and a distinct honor to the recipients of these scholarships. I
have always considered this scholarship program as indicative
of the very best of our Chapter’s commitment to service, our
membership, and investment in the right-of-way industry. The
program is named for a true giant in that industry, and is a fit-
ting tribute to his many talents and contributions to our Chap-
ter and the right-of-way industry as a whole over many years.
As Director Stearman states, this year Chapter 36 is
pleased to have the ability to award ten (10) scholarships in
the amount of $1,000.00 each. I encourage all Chapter 36
members to consider those deserving students they know who
are currently pursuing or will be pursuing a course of study re-
lated to the right-of-way field and to encourage those students
to apply for a Donald J. Sherwood Chapter 36 IRWA scholar-
ship. There are many disciplines of study that could relate to
the right-of-way field in some way, and many of us know one
or more deserving college students who could use additional
scholarship assistance.
I wish each of our members a prosperous and blessed
New Year and I look forward to continue bringing this Newslet-
ter to our readership in 2018.
Andy Cox, Partner Burford & Ryburn, LLP
Note from the Editor
Newsletter editor, Andy Cox is a lawyer
and partner at Burford & Ryburn, LLP in
Dallas. He practices in the areas of gen-
eral civil litigation, including matters involv-
ing easements, property rights, and emi-
nent domain. He can be reached by
phone at 214-740-3100 or by email at
acox@brlaw.com
Andy Cox
Burford & Ryburn, LLP
3100 N. Akard Street, Suite 3100
Dallas, Texas 75201
214.740.3154
acox@brlaw.com
IRWA on the Web
Don’t put off advanc-
ing your career. Visit
the classes section of
Online Learning Cen-
ter at
www.irwaonline.org