It Ain't Over Til It's Over

In a journal entry dated 4-28-10:

Another eminent domain story was upon Kat and I. Instead of heading to Auburn, we drove to the Village of Cayuga, but we quickly learned this was a much different story from what was happening in Auburn.

The NY Dept. of Conservation (DEC) has been pushing the village to construct a waste water treatment plant that would replace its current lagoon system and further protect Cayuga Lake. The DEC carefully studied the village and came up with three potential sites for the plant. They ultimately picked the one least likely to contain archaeological remnants or have environmental issues...and that land was on the 18-acre property of Jeffrey and Kim Walker.

Kat and I attended tonight's public hearing, at which the village board decided to start on paperwork that would go toward declaring eminent domain on the property. But the village still had high hopes of negotiating with the Walkers and working out some sort of deal.

Jeffrey Walker was late to the meeting, but when he finally arrived, we got a chance to talk with him about what was going on with his land. Surprisingly he was very amenable and willing to let the village use close to 3 acres of his land for the waste water plant. He said he understood why eminent domain would be considered in terms of public service projects and was okay with that. The mayor stressed that eminent domain would be a last ditch effort.

The main reason the village board decided to start on eminent domain paperwork is because they are on a strict deadline.

Initially, they were not planning on coming to any sort of agreement or vote about the eminent domain issue, but as reporters, Kat and I were glad they did. It made for a more interesting and informative story. We also learned it ain't over til it's over since it took the board three times to open and close the meeting until they finally made a decision about what to do.