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Public cost of moving one more home out of the way of the Crosstown: more than 250K

Posted on June 17th, 2009 – 10:34 AM
By James Shiffer

vanslooten-009.jpgCrosstown construction refugee Mary VanSlooten is moving across the highway to Richfield, after reaching an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation in April that committed the agency to buying her south Minneapolis home and paying her moving and closing costs on her new place, according to my report today. MnDOT’s West Area Manager, John Griffith, wasn’t able to track down the agency’s cost until this morning. Here’s what Griffith told me in an email:

MnDOT paid $225,000 for house and lot

$29,900 was offered as a housing supplement, meaning if Mary found a home more than $225,000 she could increase the amount up to $254,900 and have MnDOT cover the costs with the supplement.

MnDOT paid Mary’s closing costs of $2,416. We will also be paying for moving expenses and rental fee for a dumpster (if she needs one). In addition MnDOT will pay for what is reasonable, actual and necessary to relocate her to her new home.

It is unfortunate that Mn/DOT has to purchase homes but we are fair and reasonable, and try very hard to make the transition to a new home as smooth as possible. In Mary’s situation, I am glad that it worked out.

VanSlooten first contacted Whistleblower back in February to tell her story. Reporters from two TV stations had already broadcast her story, but after it was published in the Star Tribune, an attorney offered pro bono assistance to VanSlooten and helped her negotiate a favorable deal with MnDOT.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 10:34 am and is filed under Complaint sagas, Government spends your money, Neighborhood nuisances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

9 Responses to “Public cost of moving one more home out of the way of the Crosstown: more than 250K”

  1. melissa Says:
    June 17th, 2009 at 10:50 am

    The Strib reported in their story that the house was appraised at $160,000…???

  2. James Shiffer Says:
    June 17th, 2009 at 10:52 am

    That’s true. I reported that, lacking the info from this morning. I will update the online story.

  3. melissa Says:
    June 17th, 2009 at 11:34 am

    You updated it to EXCLUDE that tidy tidbit??? So much for whistle blowing

  4. James Shiffer Says:
    June 17th, 2009 at 11:51 am

    It wasn’t appraised at $160,000 - it was assessed at $160,000, and obviously any assessment or appraisal would be significantly affected by the disappearance of the neighborhood.

  5. Wendy Says:
    June 18th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    It doesn’t matter what her home was worth. She deserved a new house at any cost to the state.

  6. Mark Says:
    June 18th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    Boy Wendy, you sure are fast to spend any amount of my money arn’t you.

  7. Brian Says:
    June 21st, 2009 at 11:50 pm

    Growing up very close to that site, I remember how many years of struggle went into initially building the crosstown, and it seems like a road project that will never end, because its initial design places crosstown in a complex mix of poor engineering and even worse design, kinda like the Hiawatha project that took over 40 years to complete, while homeowners were uprooted 4o years before the avenue changes even became a reality. To may people under the table always being satisfied by hypocritical politicians in a socialistic State of voters. Thats why I moved to breath some fresh voter air in the Rockies. in summary, you get back what you put in, and votoers make bad choices all the time in Minnesota and always wiil. Its the origin of there ethnic background, where there forefathers came from. Ya you betcha !

  8. Rob Says:
    June 25th, 2009 at 10:06 am

    As an appraiser myself I highly doubt the property is worth $225,000. Values have crashed in Richfield.

  9. James Shiffer Says:
    June 25th, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    Rob, as Mary’s lawyer explained to me, the price reflects the market value at the time of the start of construction, when the state should have bought her house. — James Shiffer

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