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Indianapolis-based Citizens Energy Group reached agreements in recent weeks with over 30 property owners who initially sought to block the utility from using their land for its new water supply project.
The agreements broadly allow Citizens to begin construction on those parcels while some other issues are still pending in court.
Citizens had not reached an agreement with every landowner as of Thursday, but the movements signal an end to some potential legal roadblocks to the development of the Citizens-Lebanon Water Supply Program.
The project includes water main extensions, construction of booster stations and water storage provisions, and the expansion of two water treatment plants. It would enable the delivery of 25 million gallons of water per day to Lebanon Utilities by 2031.
The water supply project would serve Lebanon on a wholesale basis, largely providing the water needs of the LEAP Research and Innovation District, though it would also increase supply for other local developments.
LEAP stands for Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace. The district is set to house a manufacturing complex for drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. and a data center hosted by Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook.
The $560 million water supply program is funded through Indiana’s Drinking Water Revolving Fund. The loans will be repaid by the companies that take root in the LEAP District, IBJ previously reported. Construction began on a water treatment plant in January and some water main upgrades started in May, according to Citizens’ website.
Citizens has filed over 40 eminent domain cases related to the project since August, according to court records.
Eminent domain allows the government or utility companies to take private property for public use with just compensation if they cannot come to a voluntary agreement with a landowner.
Landowners can challenge both the use of eminent domain and proposed compensation.
Attorneys Alan Townsend and Jacob Antrim— who represent landowners in about three dozen eminent domain complaints from Citizens — initially filed to have every case they were involved in dismissed.
The attorneys argued that Citizens did not have the authority to use eminent domain in this instance because portions of the project are located more than 5 miles outside of Indianapolis’s corporate limits.
Townsend and Antrim also argued that there were multiple issues with the eminent domain complaints that should lead to their dismissal. These issues included what the attorneys describe as discrepancies between the complaints and initial land easements that Citizens sought, arguments that the utility should have specified a specific use for the easements and failure to properly notice the complaints.
Citizens disputed all of those claims. The utility filed to have the landowners’ objections overruled and for the court to appoint independent appraisers who would determine compensation.
Attorneys for Citizens pointed to agreements it signed with Boone County, Zionsville and Lebanon which they said gave it the authority to use eminent domain in those locations.
Citizens also argued that its easement acquisition process — and subsequent eminent domain complaint — had been conducted properly.
Many of these cases were set for evidentiary hearings on the objections of landowners along with Citizens’ motions to overrule for June 10.
Last week, Citizens notified the court that it had reached either full or partial agreements with all but four of the landowners represented by Townsend and Antrim.
The agreements grant Citizens easements to the property and revoke the landowners’ ability to file further objections. Compensation is still being determined, according to the filings.
The four landowners represented by Townsend and Antrim that had not reached agreements still had hearing dates set for June 10 as of Thursday, though in filings on June 3, Citizens said settlement negotiations are ongoing in those cases, too.
Townsend declined to comment.
Citizens Spokesman Ben Easley said the utility could not comment on pending litigation.
“The [Citizens-Lebanon Water Supply Program] requires approximately 475 easements on private property to accommodate water mains,” he said in a written statement. “No new parcels or easements are needed for water treatment plant expansions. Citizens uses a third-party licensed appraising team to contact property owners and ensure that purchase prices are completed to national standards in a fair and equitable way.”
Citizens has about 10 other pending eminent domain cases related to the LEAP project on file in state courts.
Many of those are in the process of the property being evaluated by a court-appointed appraiser because no objections were filed in time. Some landowners did not have a listed attorney on file.
Citizens recently filed agreements to begin construction on the property of a landowner near Eagle Creek Reservoir. That landowner is represented by attorney Russel Sipes, who did not file objections.
Sipes told IBJ that he did not see any viable paths to challenge Citizens’ ability to use eminent domain.
“We basically agreed with the condemnation and we’re going to fuss with them about how much it is worth,” he said.
Meanwhile, there are two pending cases related to eminent domain complaints against Eagles Nest Homeowners Association. There have not been new filings in those since September 2025 or January, respectively. Eagles Nest Attorney Bob Roache said he could not comment because the matter has not been resolved.
Citizens also filed three new eminent domain cases between May and June. There were no listed attorneys for the landowners as of Thursday.
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