The farm bureaus of Kane, DeKalb, DuPage and Ogle counties will hold a joint meeting in early December to help farmers who own land in the path of the Grand Prairie Gateway Project understand their property rights as Commonwealth Edison begins acquiring easements for the 60-mile string of electric transmission lines through those four counties.

Kane County Board member Michael Kenyon, who is also vice chairman of the Kane County Agriculture Committee and the treasurer of the Kane County Farm Bureau, said Monday that the meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, 1350 W. Prairie St., Sycamore.

Commonwealth Edison recently received approval to build a transmission line that will extend from Byron in Ogle County to Wayne in DuPage County. Construction work for the $251 million project is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of next year, and the line is expected to be in service in 2017.

Kenyon said a company hired by ComEd is contacting landowners to acquire easement rights. ComEd “does not have eminent domain authority and can’t seek to condemn an easement unless and until the Illinois Commerce Commission grants it that authority,” according to the ComEd website.

“One of our big things is private property rights,” Kenyon said of the farm bureaus. “We’re always concerned with what you can and can’t do.”

Kenyon said it’s important for property owners to be open-minded during the negotiation of easement rights, but they also should be informed about the value of their property, not just for that moment in time but for crops their property might produce in the future.

“In my opinion, you listen to what they say — they’ll make an offer of some kind. If you feel a need, you can hire a lawyer, but whether you do or not, it’s always advisable to do some negotiating,” Kenyon said.

As an example, Kenyon said he owned some property in DeKalb County that was sought for a sewer easement. He was able to negotiate a price that included not only the assessed value of the property but the estimated value of four years of crops that would be produced on that property. He also was able to convince the land buyer to route the sewer line along the edge of the farm property rather than the middle of it.

Kenyon said a farmer also should consider the impact of compaction caused by heavy machinery compressing the soil, which can cause harm to crops located near a construction site.

Kenyon underlined that the purpose of the Dec. 2 meeting is to share information and advice that can be a win-win for all involved.

“(ComEd’s) job is to get everything done as quickly as possible, but you have to consider what’s going to happen to the land,” Kenyon said. “In my experience, if you’re cooperative, they’re also likely to accept something reasonable.”

ComEd’s website says basically the same thing:

“It is important for landowners to make ComEd aware of all issues that are pertinent to the landowner’s property and to discuss how the proposed easement and transmission line influence the property,” it says. “During the negotiations, ComEd will follow all required processes, provide information and answer questions about easement terms and conditions.”