By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

POSSUM KINGDOM – With a flood of questions swirling in the room, an estimated crowd of 375 people filled the PK Lake Chamber of Commerce in an energetic, two-hour Possum Kingdom Lake Association annual meeting.

Words like “serf” and “dictatorship” were spoken in question and answer sessions.

Calling this “round two” with the Brazos River Authority over the divestiture of leased land, PKLA members and board representatives updated lessees on recent legislative and legal actions.

Their bottom line – “Send money; communicate with your senator and state representative; send money; tell other lessees who are not here to get involved; send money; volunteer to help in the effort.”

Several speakers took the stage. First up was PKLA board member Greg Fitzgerald of Bedford, Texas. Fitzgerald, a personal injury trial and business litigation lawyer, offered an update on a suit he and attorney Robert Aldrich of Fort Worth filed against the Palo Pinto County Appraisal District on behalf of four BRA lessees.

“We can’t fix it all with one fix,” he told attendees. “We must recognize we are in a long battle.”

“The cart has been in the ditch as far as the Palo Pinto County Appraisal District. There are multitudes of problems,” said Fitzgerald referring to the way leased property was appraised in the past and how it is currently appraised.

When answering questions Saturday, Fitzgerald told members, “We appreciate your support for this continued battle. Until they are doing the right thing, we’ll force them to do it through the courts.”

“Our goals are for the PPCAD to properly appraise the leasehold interests of the BRA lessees in a manner that is consistent with the Tax Code and the applicable case law,” he later explained. “We also want to see the homes at PK appraised properly and without adding value to the homes that should be considered part of the land value.”

“The cart in the ditch refers to the fact that in the past few years the PPCAD has raised land values at PK to very high levels while at the same time the BRA is attempting to raise rental rates based upon a percentage of the appraised values, in essence whipsawing the homeowners,” he added on Monday.

Although his recent battle was against the PPCAD, Fitzgerald told Saturday’s audience members, “Let me assure you, the big fight is getting the right result with the BRA. We have to make sure our property rights are treated fairly by Legislature.”

“It’s a long process. It’s a war; every one of these is a battle,” added Fitzgerald, who said he expects The Court of Appeals in Eastland to consider the lawsuit against the PPCAD quickly.

“By forcing the BRA to do the right thing we will ultimately get the cart out of the ditch,” he concluded his address. “If the lessees own the land outright the problem goes away.”

Aldrich, a BRA lessee and civil and personal injury trial lawyer, spoke next, updating attendees on the recent attorney general opinion that sided with the PKLA’s position on valuing land in a potential BRA sale.

“When we began the argument [of divestiture], the BRA would be owed full fair market fee value of the land in the face of absolute legal proof it was wrong,” he said.

After the 2007 legislative session, when State Sen. Craig Estes’ bill on BRA divestiture failed in the State House of Representatives, Aldrich said the BRA “asked [Sen.] Kip Averett – their pet senator – for the AG opinion.”

He said that attorney Joe Staley, a Dallas attorney specializing in condemnation and eminent domain, wrote a brief on determining the land value by factoring in lease rates.

Although Aldrich said the AG agreed with Staley’s brief, he told those present Saturday, “This is far from a guarantee. What it doesn’t tell you is the formula. [We need to] get on paper the way it needs to get down.”

He said the AG’s recent favorable opinion “blessed our methodology and blessed 200 years of law.”

Lessee Jim Lattimore from Fort Worth presented an update on the BRA’s consideration of a third-party sale. He said that the BRA moved at lightning speed when they got an offer from Houston-based Americus.

He discussed lessee Mike Patterson’s recent proposal, in his absence, to “gather a group of interested people at the lake to purchase the leased land. In my opinion, if there’s going to be a [third party] sale, I’d rather it be a group of us.”

When asked for clarification on any past or present discussions or negotiations between the BRA and the Houston-based commercial real estate company, BRA Government and Customer Relations Manager Matt Phillips said, “Any assertion that the BRA is working with Americus Crosswell is untrue.”

“The board was briefed on the unsolicited offer but since that time, there has been no communication. [The BRA] board instructed staff to look into a third party sale via a public bid process and therefore there have not been any exclusive negotiations with anyone,” Phillips added.