Seven landowners filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the Village of Mount Pleasant---claiming they should be paid MORE money for their combined 18 acres of land---mostly on Highway KR---involved in the Foxconn project. Village officials have been paying about $50,000 an acre for farmland needed for siting the project. The landowners involved in the suit claim they have been offered just a fraction of that amount because their land would only be needed to expand roads that would service the site. An attorney representing Mount Pleasant told the Milwaukee Business Journal “We don’t believe there is any merit to this lawsuit and we will provide an appropriate response through the legal system.
Also---last night---the Racine County Board approved a new revolving loan fund designed to assist business affected by the Foxconn project. Supervisors did add agriculture to the list of businesses eligible to apply for the loans. The loans---which can range from $50 to 250-thousand dollars---are designed to help businesses compete with Foxconn. The loan program will be administered by the Racine County Economic Development Corporation---and---is in addition to other assistance available to local businesses. After being assured that placing agriculture on the list of eligible businesses would not be a problem, the board unanimously approved the new loan program.
