Landowners, state remain at odds over property prices Times Daily
After all, they spent 30 years making improvements to their house and paying off their mortgage.
"We only want what's coming to us," Hargrove said. "We want to be able to replace what we have. We're not looking to make any money off it."
The Hargroves are among 14 landowners who have been unable to reach settlement agreements with the Alabama Department of Transportation for the purchase of right of way needed to widen a portion of Wilson Dam Road from two to seven lanes.
The sticking point has been the difference between the state's offer and the offer determined by a three-member panel appointed by Colbert County's probate judge.
In some cases, the amounts differ by $27,000 - in others, as much as nearly $1 million.
State transportation officials have repeatedly said the problem is with the disparity in the values and placed the project on hold.
"That kind of variance in that county you don't see in the other 66," transportation department spokesman Tony Harris said. "For us to allow that kind of escalation means bridge and road projects in other parts of the state don't get built, and we can't allow that to happen."




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