Posted on 05/20/2010 1:42:40 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
"It's a perverse use of eminent domain," says Brian Rainville. “There is no public good here."
He stood on a green field, filled with alfalfa and grass, on the gentle rolling hills of his family's Franklin, Vermont farm… just steps from the Canadian border. He says the barn dates back to 1800, and the land is on the national registry of historic places. But Brian’s family, who have been dairy farmers here since 1946, may not have the land much longer. The United States Government says it needs 4.9 acres of the family’s property to help protect national security.
The Rainville farm sits on the Morses Line border crossing, a sparsely used two lane blacktop with an aging Customs and Border Protection building that the Department of Homeland Security wants to modernize and expand.
(Excerpt) Read more at liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com ...
Pathetic!
Peasants have no right to question the king or the king’s agents.
“Hey now, we got 862 gabizillion federal stimulus dollars, and by golly, we’re going to spend every penny of it...”
From what I understand, there are other, more heavily used crossings nearby that could be upgraded just as well and this one could be closed, permanently, and solve everyone’s problem.
Why this isn’t being considered makes as much sense as choosing Janet Napolatano to head DHS in the first place.
WE’RE ALL GONNA’ DIE!!!
Where I live I see massive amounts of construction. I live in Pasco county Florida, an area where all growth has stopped yet all these projects continue as if the growth was massive. Gotta spend all that stimulus money — you are right.
They just want to spend the $8M...(and throw their weight around)
$39,000 for 5 acres of an operating farm. The farmers claim the land is necessary for hay to feed their cows. If I lived there, I’d claim that the land is necessary for my peace of mind.
I don’t know the price of acreage in the area, but if the farmer is using it he’s taking far better care of it than the govt. will.
Close the crossing and improve one of the others.
We should just close that border crossing.
This is a proper use of eminent domain and completely constitutional. It is not a wise policy move if there are bigger crossings nearby.
More than likely Rainville Pee’d off some A-hole Leftist politician by supporting someone else, or whatever, and this is retaliation.
It makes no sense to proceed as they are proceeding with a little used border crossing that hasn’t required those almost five acres they want to confiscate for seventy years. Why all of a sudden does the little used facility all of a sudden need Rainville’s five acres?
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