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Wednesday, August 08, 2012

No Donation Was Ever Intended For The Westside Collector

RE: "Roadwork, sprinklers on Wicomico agenda," Aug. 6

I wish to correct a few inaccuracies in the story that concern Wicomico County's acquisition across the Homestead farm. The cost of acquisition includes not only the cost of the land, but also costs related to the damage that will be done to our irrigation equipment and well on the property.

It was also never our intention to donate the right of way. Several years ago, we discussed future plans to develop the farm and at the time, the county inquired about not only the right of way but also a county park on the property. We did discuss certain opportunities where E.S. Adkins and the county might be able to coordinate efforts, but the county's timeline was different than ours.

An exchange of land for certain development rights was discussed, but a donation of the right of way was never contemplated. Those discussions never went beyond a preliminary stage, as our needs and the county's were too different.

We would rather not sell the right of way to the county, but our options were limited due to the West Side Collector's path across our property. We agreed to settle for less than fair value rather than pursue our limited options.

William K. Turner

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some things never change.

E. S. Adkins & Co. is still screwing us long after Lowes and Home Depot ran them out of business.

Anonymous said...

Amazing how greedy people can be...especially those that are already rich. This means that you and I will have to pay because of the demands of Mr. Turner. The building of the road alone will make these properties much more valuable simply because of the access it creates.

Anonymous said...

Guarantee you it was not "less" than fair market value. Atleast not a local appraisal.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mr. Turner for clarifying this issue to us. Land is valuable to al of us--and I own several acres. Once it is gone, you can not replace it. I believe you and the county made a fair agreement. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

7:14pm & 7:15pm should not be so critical of E.S. Adkins. For many years they provided loads of jobs in the community in the construction industry. Especially through offering CREDIT to small building contractors who employed many. These small builders built many homes on the Lower Eastern Shore while providing employment for many SKILLED contruction workers! Give them a break. if you were fortunate enough to have been successful with your real estate holdings, you would want to be treated fairly also!