Section 6117.39. Acquisition or purchase of property

(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, whenever, in the opinion of the board of county commissioners, it is necessary to acquire real estate or any interest in real estate for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, or operation of any sewer, drainage, or other improvement authorized by this chapter, or to acquire the right to construct, maintain, and operate the sewer, drainage, or other improvement in and upon any property within or outside of a county sewer district, it may purchase the real estate, interest in real estate, or right by negotiation. If the board and the owner of the real estate, interest in real estate, or right are unable to agree upon its purchase and sale, or the amount of damages to be awarded for it, the board may appropriate the real estate, interest, or right in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code, except that the board, in the exercise of the powers granted by this section or any other section of this chapter, may not appropriate real estate or personal property owned by a municipal corporation.

(B)

(1) For the purposes of division (B) of this section, any of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(a) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(b) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance that is caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions and compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(c) With respect to an affected parcel of property, an improvement required as a result of a federally imposed or state-imposed consent decree that prohibits future sewer inflows, combined sewer overflows, or sewer back-ups.

(2) If the board of county commissioners is unable to purchase property for the purpose of addressing a public exigency pursuant to division (B) of this section, the board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the board of county commissioners considers needed for that purpose. The resolution shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owners of the property to be appropriated.

The board of county commissioners shall fix in its resolution what it considers to be the value of the property to be appropriated, which shall be the board's determination of the compensation for the property and shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with any damages to the residue. The board shall deposit the compensation so determined, together with an amount for the damages to the residue, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. Except as otherwise provided in this division, the power to appropriate property for the purposes of this division shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code for an appropriation in the time of public exigency. The board's resolution and a written copy of the independent appraisal shall accompany the petition filed under section 163.05 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.127, HB 487, §101.01, eff. 9/10/2012.

Effective Date: 03-12-2001; 05-06-2005