this farmer just east of madison wisconsin leaves no doubt where he stands on the building of the highway through his farm just east of the US-12/US-18 interchange – a strech of highway that was completed in 1961. and, just in case you had any doubts, he’s a big fan of the second amendment.
My homestead just became the sister property called I-94 mutilated acres. How long is too hold a grudge…until I die. New 6 lane I-94 is literally 45′ from the side of my house. Exit 244 east direction Sun Prairie/Cottage Grove. Profile is same elevation as house so it’ll be a matter of time before the house is hit and/or somebody killed. The DOT reps were down right nasty and we’ve been put in debt for the rest of our lives because of them, for we now have a worthless piece of property that was once valued at $415,000. Protest art work will be visible from interstate and will be coming within the next month.
i’ve always wondered how “eminent domain” negotiations transpire. did they offer any compensation?
DOT performed an appraisal for land they took and said there would be no adverse impact on property value because they were only taking a small piece of land and only coming several feet closer. They also added it was our fault for buying the house 13 yrs ago and nobody else was complaining. We had a $5,000 narrative appraisal that showed $20,000 worth of property damage, but couldn’t pursue further without huge legal fees. DOT gave us a 1/200″ project scale and used deceptive wording. Yes the 6 lane hwy is only coming several feet closer, however the double lane off ramp came 50′ closer as well as same elevation as our property. They have purchase reps that are trained in belittlement and convincing homeowners they have no rights, which unless you can afford a lawyer, you really have very few options available. DOT sent us a check certified mail for $2300. If they were to view the certified return slip from the USPS, they would see it was accepted and signed at the door by Mickey Mouse. Although we refused to sign title agreement papers, the bank(lien holder) did. We have been ignored by Anchor Bank when informing them about a possible foreclosure. DOT will take your property via e domain no matter what. They sent a friendly letter saying how gracious their payment was for the land they took and that we should be honored that they will improve our property by their hwy improvements. Really! It’s all in writing! We will be consulting with a lawyer this week about foreclosure due to DOT ramifications. Major depressing and stressful. Tammy Baldwin said she can’t help unless it’s a federal issue, although it’s a federal funded hwy project. State Rep. Gary Hebl “I sympathize with all you are going through and I’m sorry I don’t have more information to offer”. Never been anti government until now. Now I understand the meaning “going postal”, although I’ll choose to protest in a creative non violent way. God Bless the USA & DOT.