Thursday, September 10, 2015
Lawrenceburg Leaders Moving Toward Expansion Of Demolition Landfill
Lawrenceburg Now
Leaders of the City of Lawrenceburg took the first step Thursday toward expanding the city’s demolition landfill.
Members of the Lawrenceburg Board of Mayor and Council hope to obtain a 160.77 acre parcel of land adjacent to the current demo dump near Adkins Lane on Wildcat Ridge. The property was owned by the former Murray, Inc., company, which no longer exists. The entire parcel is classified as a Superfund and is closely monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency. As such, the land is rendered ineligible for any use other than a landfill.
During their regular bi-monthly business meeting, council members voted unanimously to approve a resolution to initiate condemnation proceedings. Under the planned action council members plan to pay $160,000 for the property, or approximately $1,000 per acre.
Council members questioned how an appraiser determined the value of the land, as the use of the property is completely limited. City Attorney Alan Betz explained that the figure was based upon a 2013 appraisal that was recently updated. “This is just the opinion of the expert that we hired as to the value and that’s what we’ve got to go on,” he explained. “If somebody with an ownership interest can convince the court that the ownership interest is theirs, they can get their own appraiser to come in and say ‘no this property is worth significantly more’ or a different price or whatever.”
“This is an unusual procedure, gentlemen,” explained Betz. “We’re proceeding against the property because the ownership of the property is unknown. This property was owned by Murray. Murray doesn’t exist anymore. There’ve been some other efforts for individuals to claim title to this property. But by proceeding against the property the procedure is that we pay the money into court. If nobody contests our ability to take it, we’ll receive an order from the court after thirty days pass from filing the lawsuit to grant us possession of the property. It’ll be up to the court to determine who will be entitled to the money or if more money is owed.”
The matter is somewhat pressing because the current landfill is nearing capacity and the certification process is quite lengthy. Council member Robin Williams pointed out, “We’ve got to do something because we’re running out of time.”
Mayor Keith Durham commented, “Anybody who would contest that – they’re not going to get any more money for it anywhere else. You can’t build on it. You can’t do anything on it.” He also told council members, “I’d say for the purpose we want to use, it’s a bargain because this will serve the City of Lawrenceburg well after we’re gone.” Other council members agreed.
Betz added, “I’ll say this, if it’s holding the world together it’s worth a thousand dollars an acre in Lawrence County, Tennessee.”
Now that the resolution has been approved, Betz said he will proceed with filing the lawsuit and will keep the board abreast of any progress in the matter.
