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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Wednesday, October 08, 2008 11:16 AM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

LouAnn Lowe and Jeffrey Coble stand in their old driveway near Riley Terrace on U.S. 59. A new bridge is being built in what used to be their backyard.

‘Progress has a price’ for landowners

By CLEON RICKEL, Herald Senior Writer

To see a detailed map of properties and landowners affected by the new U.S. 59 route, go to http://www.ottawaherald.com//images/news/us59frco.pdf

Jeffrey Coble and LouAnn Lowe lost their house to U.S. 59.

Lowe will tell you that they’re mostly better off since then.

Coble disagrees.

“The state didn’t do us any favors,” he said.

They used the money they received for their house, shop and five acres along U.S. 59 as a down payment for a another house on 50 acres nearby.

“We actually did better as far as the acreage and the size of the house,” Lowe said. “I guess things are like that.”

But financially, they have a new mortgage, time and effort to find a suitable place for a house and their excavating business and the expense of moving the business and equipment at a time when the economy has turned sour, he said.

They owned their original house and shop free and clear, he said.

“You always hear these people who say that everyone along the highway got rich,” Coble said. “I don’t know where that’s coming from because I sure didn’t.

“I talked to a lot of other people in the same situation.

“Nobody got rich.”

Lowe still doesn’t remember the time or the process too fondly.

At the same time the couple was dealing with KDOT, Lowe’s son was murdered in Topeka.

“There was a lot of heavy stress at that time,” Lowe said. “Dealing with that and dealing with moving.

“A lot of stress.”

The crime remains unsolved but police have a suspect, she said. The suspect now is in prison doing time for another crime, she said.

They also lost income from a billboard they owned along the highway, she said.

Moving business

Kenneth Jackson said his Jackson Welding shop on north U.S. 59 was paid for when KDOT sought his land.

He moved his shop to the northeast side of the I-35 and K-68 interchange.

“I liked where I was,” Jackson said. “It was paid for.

“Now we’ve got more debt than we ever had.

“ ... I had hoped to slow down and back off a little bit, but I guess I’m working harder than I have in 20 or 30 years to pay off the debt.”

Most of the people he knew and also had to move weren’t happy with losing their property, he said.

“If their land was already for sale or they were looking to sell, they did pretty good,” Jackson said.

Price of progress

Ed and Nancy Ferguson, 4281 N. U.S. 59, didn’t lose their house, but they lost 25 acres of their farmstead land and other acreage they owned or leased because of the new highway.

Once the new highway is built, the Fergusons will have to travel an additional mile to get to Ottawa, she said.

But despite that, Nancy Ferguson said they realize that progress has a price and they’ve moved on with their lives.

“It’s water under the bridge,” she said.

The construction crews working on the new highway have treated the Fergusons well and have been most accommodating to them, she said.

“Whenever Ed has talked to them about something, they’ve taken care of it,” she said.

Acquired property

In all, KDOT bought 46 tracts and six billboards in Franklin County for U.S. 59 right of way, Ron Kaufman, chief of KDOT’s Bureau of Public Involvement, said.

Thirteen properties were totally acquired and 13 residences were relocated, he said.

By law, KDOT — and any other public agency — must offer owners of an property it wants land “ just compensation.”

Most of the owners of the 46 tracts taken by KDOT in Franklin County agreed to settlements, Kaufman said.

If KDOT and the property owner can’t settle on a price, KDOT can still take the property in a process called “condemnation.”

Four properties were the subject of condemnation proceedings in Franklin County District Court, he said.

Three were zoned A-1 for agricultural purposes and the other was zoned A-2 Transitional Agriculture, he said.

Gene Ramsey, Ottawa mayor who helped push for a new highway, heard the opposition from landowners whose land was targeted.

Taking land for the highway caused much distress to the property owners but the highway will benefit the public, Ramsey said.

For the most part, landowners have appeared to have put the matter behind them, he said.

“It’s progress,” he said. “But sometimes, progress has a price.”