The Century Council approved a right-of-way easement to Gulf Power to run natural gas at a location on Tedder Road west of the Century Correctional Institute work camp.
According to Town Manager Buz Eddy, the area of the easement the company wants will allow Gulf Power to install and perpetually maintain a natural gas pipeline within the 50 foot easement, but they want to use 95 feet during the construction phase, to bring in pipe and materials.
“They want to put a gas line in to run from the Florida Gas Pipeline down to the Plant Crist,” said Eddy. “They want to be able to operate the Plant Crist plant totally off natural gas. It's much more economical and safer.”
Originally, they offered $6,500, which is the appraised value of the property, but he said that if the town will approve it this week, they increased the fee to $28,000, Eddy said.
He said Gulf Power does not require the town to do a title search.
The depth of the pipeline was originally 18 inches below grade, but they agreed to drop it to 36 inches, which allows the town to develop a road or driveway across the easement easier, he said.
“I think it's a good deal for the town,” said Eddy. “The amount they are offering is quite a bit more than the property appraises out. Its just a 1.4 or 1.5-acre incumbrance on what we think is about a 20-acre parcel.”
In a motion made by Councilman Ben Boutwell and seconded by Councilman Luis Gomez, the motion carried unanimously.
In other business, the council also:
-Discussed meeting with Internal Bilateral Transaction (IBT), a company that makes meter readers, to implement a more efficient way to read the town's meters
-Discussed a letter received from a law firm representing City Services asking for $12,000 for an early termination of their services by the town and the possibility of a negotiation to avoid litigation
