St. Joseph County want to use its eminent domain power to acquire this farmland on Edison Road near New Carlisle, next to the natural gas-fired power plant under construction. Staff file photo by Santiago Flores
NEW CARLISLE — St. Joseph County is suing a farmer to try to force him to sell property next to a power plant that is under construction near here.
The county Board of Commissioners recently filed a lawsuit in St. Joseph Circuit Court after deadlocking with the owner, Kenneth Huston, over a price for the vacant 37-acre property on Edison Road.
The county made an offer of $344,000 — about $9,300 per acre — for the land, based on appraisals that factored in sales of similar farmland.
But Huston rejected that and made a counter offer of $1.8 million — nearly $50,000 per acre. He said his offer was based on the property’s proximity to the St. Joseph Energy Center, a natural gas-fired power plant that is expected to open next summer.
The county needs the property to build a rail spur that would serve an industrial park planned in the area, and it hopes an eminent domain proceeding will force Huston to sell the land for a price decided in court.
County officials are also trying to buy a handful of other properties in the area, and they think paying too much for Huston’s property could set a bad precedent.
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