Attorneys for Greg Vital are asking Federal Judge Sandy Mattice to set aside his earlier order giving TVA right to possess a portion of his Meigs County farm relating to the construction of a high-voltage power line leading to a new $300 million power control center.
Mr. Vital said, “TVA continues to trample the rights of individual property owners in Georgetown to its advantage, It has chosen to buy some property and condemn others. They are abusing their power of eminent domain.”
The motion by Mr. Vital’s lawyers said that TVA went to court for the order of possession “before Mr. Vital entered the case and had an opportunity to respond, and they are vague, overbroad, and the order seems to grant to the TVA a property right that is more than what the TVA is presently entitled to and is worth more than $1.00.”
The Vital lawyers contend in the motion that the TVA filings are so broad that “TVA’s careless use of power has in this instance resulted - possibly inadvertently - in an actual taking which the TVA’s deposit of $1.00 in nominal compensation is inadequate.” Additionally, the motion says that the case has resulted “in an actual taking that is far more expansive than simply the right to enter onto private land to perform surveying activities.”
The motion says, "Mr. Vital requests that the Court set aside its Order of Possession (Doc. 5) and require the Tennessee Valley Authority to (i) file appropriately-specific documentation to establish a true “temporary” right to enter Mr. Vital’s land, rather than divest him entirely of possession of his property for an indeterminate time and scope, (ii) define the activities the TVA may perform on the property and the times they may perform these activities, and (iii) define the property rights Mr. Vital retains during this “temporary” taking.
"Alternatively, Mr. Vital asks that the Court set aside the Order of Possession due to the TVA’s failure to estimate and deposit just compensation for the actual taking."
Attorneys for Mr. Vital are Crews Townsend, Roger Dickson and Heith Frost.