Hennepin County In Land Dispute With School Over Construction Project
RICHFIELD, Minn. (WCCO) -- A private school is concerned about a road construction project that will take a piece of their land.
Hennepin County is adding a round-about to the intersection of 66th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Richfield. In order to complete it, the county needs, and can take, the corner of the property owned by the Academy of Holy Angels. The school believes they aren't getting enough for the land
"There was a day I had an offer of $70 a square foot for the front lawn. The offer from the county is more like $13 a square foot," AHA President Tom Shipley said.
Shipley is concerned about the fallout from Hennepin County taking 5,700 square feet of their property to build a round-about.
"It all boils down to the value of this land before, the value of the land afterwards, and how's that asset going to be available later on should we wish to use it," Shipley said.
A few years ago the school entertained a multi-million dollar deal for a larger portion of the front lawn.
It was met with some controversy before falling through, but Shipley says selling is part of a long-range master plan.
"That's the big concern. What will the future plans, how will they be affected by what happens here," Shipley said.
The project manager says the pavement along 66th has deteriorated in the half century since it's been fully reconstructed, and calls the roundabouts a necessary part of the project.
"They're a big safety improvement over a traffic signal in that they slow vehicle speeds down," Maury Hooper said.
And they want to work with their land partners.
"They didn't ask for this to happen to them but it was decided that it's necessary so we're trying to treat them with respect and give them the opportunity to say these are the things that are important to us and that we feel we should be compensated fairly for," land acquisition manager Eric Drager said.
"I'd rather be remembered for the guy who sold the front lawn for a great asset that moved the school along rather than the guy who gave it away," Shipley said.
The deadline to acquire all of the property needed for the project is June first, but negotiations can go past then. The county also bought out 19 homeowners as part of the project.