(WGTD)---The Mt. Pleasant Village Board voted Monday to abandon the forced purchase of a piece of property for Highway 11 expansion and Foxconn purposes, admitting that it lacked the authority.
The vote gave a small victory to those who say the village has been too heavy-handed in the land acquisition process.
It came after village attorney Alan Marcuvitz said he only recently determined that the state—not the village—has the sole authority over any Highway 11 dealings that private property owners along either side of the road may have with government.
For one thing, the vote means that the village will move to acquire only a small strip of land from the Creuziger family, owners of the pumpkin farm. Kim Mahoney, a homeowner who’s been fighting the village on eminent domain issues, alleged last night that Marcuvitz either knew or should’ve known what the story was in advance. "You're paying attorney Marcuvitz over $100,000 per month to know the law," Mahoney said. "Yet he somehow just figured out the village doesn't have authority? I call B.S," she said.
Village President Dave DeGroot bristled. "I reject the notion that some are intoning that there's something nefarious going on here because there certainly isn't," he said.
Mahoney, and community activist Kelly Gallaher, charged that the village’s false assumption of authority may have intimidated at least two Highway 11 property owners into selling.
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