Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BHan on October 15, 2011 at 12:26pm

Thank you for your replies.  My land is actually in Washington County, but I live in Belmont County. I have not been able to find information on any groups in W. County except for the one I  asked about.  I would also like to have information on a reputable and knowledgable attorney.  After reading many posts I am very reluctant to sign anything.

Permalink Reply by 09bp5t05myjl3 on October 16, 2011 at 3:39pm

she is an atty in Marrietta, Just getting into the play in the last 30 days, Here are the issues I had and just my opinion. (there are other posts on here on Southeastern Ohio Land Assos. & Jennifer Garrison)

1. as an individul she wants 4 1/2% of the bonus,

2. she wants you to sign a 12 month comitment with a 24 moth tail and will not let you see her lease unless you sign the 12 month agreement (tying your property up for 12 mos make no sense & not seeing the lease is like buying a used car blindfolded without even being allowed to start or test drive it)

3. As far as I could tell She has never closed a lease deal

On the other hand she has a respected geoligist that is a professor at Marietta college and I would hope he has the knowledge & contacts to get a deal closed

 

If you are in Monroe County there is a non profit Landowners group (they will be using an Atty group to market & negotiate the lease and the fee will be very competitive. if you accept commitment is 30 to 45 days & you can quit the group or rejest the offer at any time at no cost to you) the group is the eastern Monroe county landowners group, John Lusk is the chairman & the group is only landowners & have been together since June & are quicly moving toward a lease by year end & finalization within 45 days of accepting an offer.

Permalink Reply by Matt Warnock on October 16, 2011 at 10:14am

My name is Matt Warnock and I am an attorney at the Ohio law firm of Bricker & Eckler. The Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association is an Ohio non-profit that Jennifer Garrison organized with the help of Bricker & Eckler.  The group was formed in August 2011 and is focusing its efforts in five southeastern Ohio counties (Monroe, Noble, Guernsey, Washington and Morgan).  To bolster the team, Ms. Garrison partnered with Bricker & Eckler and Dr. Bob Chase (head of the petroleum engineering program at Marietta College) to create a deep and knowledgeable team.  The Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association has been holding educational meetings and walk-in legal clinics in the five counties mentioned above, including regular clinics in Monroe County (Woodsfied, Ohio). 

To clear up some confusion, there are no up-front costs or fees to join the Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association.  The attorneys representing the Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association are fronting the costs of meetings, copies, advertisements, travel, etc.  The only time the lawyers or consultant get paid is if the landowner signs a lease.  And, in the event a lease is signed, there is only a one-time fee equal to 4.5% of the landowner's up-front, per acre bonus payment.  (NOTE: The Association does not take any part of the royalty or any renewal payment).  More specifically, the 4.5% does not go directly to Ms. Garrison.  Instead, it is split among Jennifer Garrison (2%), Bricker & Eckler (2%) and Dr. Bob Chase (0.5%) for a total fee of 4.5% of the up-front, per acre bonus payment.  This is all explained in the landowner agreement provided to interested landowners, and explained at the Association's educational meetings.  Any landowner that joins the Association will have full access to the Association's form lease agreement on the Association's website. 

The post above is correct that the landowner agreement does include a 12 month commitment to the Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association to allow the attorneys enough time to provide information to oil and gas companies, accept bids on the up-front bonus payment and royalty percentage, and negotiate a landowner friendly lease.  The commitment, however, does not bind the landowner to sign the lease form ultimately negotiated.  At the end of the day, the landowner will be presented with the Association's negotiated lease along with the choice of whether or not to sign it.  If the landowner chooses not to sign the Association's form of lease, the landowner is free to walk away at no cost and without a lease. 

The only "tail" on joining the Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association occurs if a landowner decides not to sign the Association's lease and then, within a 24 month time period, signs an oil and gas lease with the same company selected by the Association.  For example, if the Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association selects Company A, the landowner decides not to sign a lease with Company A, and then the landowner signs a separate lease with Company A within the next 24 months, that landowner would still owe the 4.5% fee.  If the landowner chooses not to sign the Association's form lease with Company A, and then signs a lease with Company B or any other oil and gas company at any time, there is no fee owed to the Association.  This "tail" is simply designed to prevent an oil and gas company from circumventing the Association's efforts.

The Southeastern Ohio Landowners Association team appreciated the opportunity to present to Mr. Lusk's landowner group and wishes that group the best of luck in its ongoing efforts in Monroe County.  At the presentation, a question was asked about the location of the Queenston formation relative to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, and the answer was that the Queenstion formation is above the Utica Shale and below the Marcellus Shale.  Additional information about the geology in southeastern Ohio is available on the Ohio Geological Survey's website at http://dnr.ohio.gov/Portals/10/pdf/stratcol.pdf. 

Permalink Reply by ShaleAdvice (Steven C. Townsend) on October 17, 2011 at 2:52am

I understand your concerns with joining a landowner group.  The upfront money is always one of the first things people look at before signing a lease.  The most important factor is the lease and addendum.  The money is no good if your land is worthless, unmarketable, or you have to sell it for pennies on the dollar.  The leases were not written to protect the mineral or landowner.  There are organizations out there who will do more than market your lease.  They can represent you when the drillers have come and gone while provide you with the expert advice you need.  You should get some bang for your buck!!

Permalink Reply by frank ellis on October 17, 2011 at 4:29am

BHan,
If you want to know about the Jennifer Garrison Group come down to Sardis tonight at the resturant called Marv's Place. She is putting on her professional presentation along with Dr. Chase from Marietta College. The only way to make a factual judgement is to come to a meeting and hear for yourself. The meeting tonight is at 7:00pm. They will go over the lease and the groups options. Dr. Chase will give an overview of the shale plays in and around the Sardis area. There will also be an accountant there to answer tax implication questions. The Riverfront Landowners Group is nonprofit. We are a group of people educating ourselves and looking out for one another. In a group there is always more negotiating influence

Permalink Reply by Mark Allen on October 20, 2011 at 7:10am

If you are in Noble county or Guernsey, I believe the SEOLA has united with ECOL and the EOL groups and they are currently working with several drilling companies all north of 5K,excellent terms and excellent teamwork.

  I was at Eastern Ohio Landowners meeting and JRM was talking about a joint effort to pull in all acreage not yet leased.  They are signing now with scattered acres and looking at finalizing groups next week.

Stay tuned.

   

Permalink Reply by 09bp5t05myjl3 on October 20, 2011 at 7:21am

Just want to clarify Mark is not talking about the Eastern Monroe landowners Non Profit Group meeting which is chaired by John Lusk

Permalink Reply by Mark Allen on October 20, 2011 at 10:03am

Tom,

Sorry about that. I was refering to east ohio landowners and east central ohio landowners,two of the many groups that Jim Milleson heads up.

I believe they are working with several groups to unite the supply of acres.

It is great to see the cooperation of these leaders as they continue to help the local landowners.

Permalink Reply by 09bp5t05myjl3 on October 20, 2011 at 10:07am

Mark. No problem just wanted to clarify


Thanks

Permalink Reply by frank ellis on October 21, 2011 at 1:07am

Jennifer Garrison and her team are working very hard for the Riverfront Landowners group. She opened her board to one of our members. The only fee her team charges is 2.25% if we have 5k acres. We are gaining every week in obtaining that goal. There will be a meeting next week in Sardis. Details later today.

Permalink Reply by 09bp5t05myjl3 on October 21, 2011 at 3:17am

Frank, I am a member of John Lusks Eastern Monroe Landowner group, we met last night & engaged Lensman & Associates out of Canton Ohio to represent us, We negotiated a rate of 2.75%, If you go to their website (FO-FM.com) I think you will agree that they have the expierience & team that is needed to negotiate a good lease at a good price, They have already closed deals in Carroll county in the Marcellus/Utica, Have geoligists & Oil engineers that have worked in Oil field over 30 years on their team. 

  You know the old saying to many cooks can spoil the broth, It may make sense for your group to combine with the Eastern Monroe group which at present is 12,000 acres plus and growing, We expect to have a good lease consumated by year end, without tying up our property for 12 months & having a very larger 24 month tail.

I think the combined groups will enhance ourselves & our neighbors by becoming stronger as 1 group.

Permalink Reply by frank ellis on October 21, 2011 at 2:28pm

Tom,
I appreciate the offer but we are working hard down on the riverfront to get people to sign with Jennifer Garrison and her team. The percentage is a half percent lower than what you have negotiated and you don't have to tie up the property 12 months, it's only 3 months. The tail is correct but that protects the group by not having these O/G companies picking off the members. We are very happy with Jennifer and her team that includes "a local boy" Greg Lestini. We know where Jennifer lives, we know Greg's parents and Dr. Bob Chase from Marietta College is well known all over the country not to mention all of the contacts he has in the O/G industry. We have people joining the Riverfront Landowners Group just because Dr. Chase is on the team and we have people joining because Jennifer, Greg and Dr. Chase are local people not to mention the lowest fees (2.25%) in the business. Jennifer and her team are close to closing deals in Noble and Guernsey counties. I think there is room for two groups in the county especially with us focusing on the riverfront where the Marcellus is the thickest in the county. We want to have the rifle effect with our acres not the shotgun effect. With that said we welcome all landowners. John should be commended for all the hard work he has done with your group. He has put countless hours of hard work into this process and will end up helping hundreds of people by the time this is all over. We wish you all the best always. We are shooting for a meeting on Tuesday Nov.1 in Sardis. The meeting will be open to all landowners.
Very respectfully, Frank

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