Clatsop County Seeks More Than $60,000 In Attorney Fees From Oregon LNG/Pipeline

Monday, June 20, 2011

COUNTY SEEKS ATTORNEY FEES FROM OREGON PIPELINE

Clatsop County filed a motion in circuit court Monday seeking reimbursement for more than $60,000 in attorney fees incurred in the legal dispute over the county’s jurisdiction of the Oregon Pipeline LLC land-use application.
The motion claims the county should not be liable for the fees, which total $61,758, due to several legal maneuvers by Oregon Pipeline that resulted in unnecessary delays in the proceedings.
The county and Oregon Pipeline recently went to court on a “writ of mandamus” motion by the company. The motion claimed the county had exceeded the legal deadline for issuing a final decision on the company’s consolidated land-use application for construction of 41 miles of natural gas pipeline.
Following a hearing in Clatsop County Circuit Court last month, Judge Phil Nelson denied Oregon Pipeline’s mandamus motion. The company has appealed that ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners originally approved the Oregon Pipeline application in November 2010. That ruling was appealed by project opponents, and in January the board, with three new members, voted to withdraw the November decision, and in March gave preliminary approval to findings denying the application.
The county’s motion seeks the reimbursement under state law allowing a judge to award legal fees to the prevailing party in a mandamus action.
In a letter in support of the county’s motion, attorney Harlan Jones of Jordan Ramis PC of Portland, Clatsop County’s legal counsel for the Oregon Pipeline application, argues that the company’s own actions are the cause of the county’s high legal bills for the mandamus proceedings. The company, Harlan states, waited almost two months to file the mandamus petition, opposed an expedited hearing on its request, and sought a change of venue, among other actions.
“Oregon Pipeline has for quite some time itself been the main cause of unnecessary delay and complexity in this case,” his letter states.
The board of commissioners was scheduled to finalize its denial of the company’s application on March 30, but was blocked by a temporary stay issued by the Oregon Supreme Court on a motion from Oregon Pipeline. The board is awaiting the outcome of the mandamus issue, including the appeal to the Court of Appeals, before taking further action on the application.

Released by:
Tom Bennett
Community Relations Coordinator
(503) 325-1000

Legal Counsel Advises Clatsop County Board Of Commissioners To Await Outcome Of LUBA Appeal On Oregon LNG/Pipeline Petition Of Mandamus Dismissal

Thursday, June 9, 2011

NO QUICK ACTION FROM BOARD PENDING ON PIPELINE APPLICATION

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners will not move immediately to finalize its reconsideration decision rejecting the land-use application from Oregon Pipeline LLC, despite a recent legal ruling in its favor.
On the advice of legal counsel, the board will instead await the outcome of a challenge to that ruling, a process that will likely take several months.
The advice is based on a ruling from the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), issued in April and re-confirmed last month, that effectively suspended the county’s review process.
On May 16 Circuit Court Judge Phil Nelson dismissed a request for a writ of mandamus from Oregon Pipeline, which argued that Clatsop County exceeded the mandated deadline to review and act on its consolidated application to build 41 miles of natural gas pipeline.
Following Judge Nelson’s ruling, on May 24 LUBA issued an order denying Oregon Pipeline’s motion to dismiss the LUBA proceeding concerning the county’s first decision approving the pipeline application in November 2010, and suspending the appeal process until the mandamus issue is fully resolved. This includes any appeals of Nelson’s ruling.
On June 6 Oregon Pipeline filed an appeal of Nelson’s decision with the Oregon Court of Appeals.
In a June 1 letter to the board of commissioners, one of the project opponents, Columbia Riverkeeper, argued that Nelson’s mandamus ruling confirms the county’s jurisdiction over the application, and urged the board to move forward and adopt the proposed findings rejecting the application.
According to attorney Jeff Bennett, Clatsop County’s legal counsel on the Oregon Pipeline issue, the county’s review process is frozen until the mandamus issue is settled, including any appeals.
The board of commissioners originally approved the Oregon Pipeline application in November 2010. That ruling was appealed by Columbia Riverkeeper and other project opponents, and in January the board, with three new members, voted to withdraw that approval in order to reconsider the application.
On March 9 the board of commissioners gave preliminary approval to findings rejecting the application. The board was scheduled to adopt the findings March 30, but on March 29 the Oregon Supreme Court, on a motion from Oregon Pipeline, issued a stay on the county blocking further action until the mandamus issue was resolved in the circuit court.
LUBA’s May 24 ruling reads “The Circuit Court’s May 16, 2011 letter opinion has no immediate effect on the reasoning that leads us to conclude that we should (1) deny Oregon Pipeline’s motion to dismiss this appeal and (2) continue the suspension that we ordered on April 8, 2011.”

Released by:
Tom Bennett
Community Relations Coordinator
(503) 325-1000

Circuit Court Judge, Cindee Matyas Vacates Oregon LNG/Pipeline Writ Of Mandamus Motion, Cancels Friday Hearing!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, March 17, 2011

JUDGE VACATES OREGON PIPELINE MOTION

A Clatsop County Circuit Court judge on Thursday vacated a writ of mandamus motion filed by Oregon Pipeline LLC against Clatsop County.

The action by Judge Cindee Matyas effectively puts an end to the company’s motion, which sought immediate approval for its consolidated land-use application for the construction of 41 miles of natural gas pipeline. A hearing scheduled for Friday morning in front of Matyas on the motion has been cancelled.

At the March 9 hearing the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners gave preliminary approval to a new set of findings that would result in the application’s denial. The board is currently scheduled to review the draft findings and possibly approve them at a special meeting March 30.
The board of commissioners originally voted in November to approve the application. The ruling was appealed to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals by project opponents, and in January the board, with three new members, elected to withdraw the November decision in order to reconsider the application.

On March 4 Oregon Pipeline filed a request for a writ of mandamus with the court seeking immediate approval of its application. The motion argues that the county has missed the legal deadline for taking final action on the application. If local jurisdictions fail to act on an application within the required timeframe, applicants can seek to have a circuit court order the application to be approved.

Matyas signed the writ and set a hearing for March 18 to hear from attorneys for the county and the applicant. On Thursday, she rescinded her signature and cancelled the hearing.

Oregon Pipeline also claims that, once Matyas signed the writ on March 4, the application came under the official jurisdiction of the court, and that the county had no authority to hold its hearing March 9. No representative from the company attended that hearing.

At this point, Clatsop County is proceeding with the review process, including the March 30 meeting, until it receives direction to do otherwise from its legal counsel, according to County Manager Duane Cole.

Released by:
Tom Bennett
Community Relations Coordinator
(503) 325-1000