Roundabout in Keene

[Lloyd Danforth]

Well...ya gotta unnerstand!.......sometimes the public is un-informed......or wrong

[NC2NH]

In and around the lake....Mama's come out of the sky...

He got to you didn't he?!!!

You bastard HOLLYWOOD!

Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!

[Tom Sawyer]

Damn dude, looking at your avatar, you aged a little since I saw you last.

Of course looking at mine you can see I have regressed.

[NC2NH]

Damn dude, looking at your avatar, you aged a little since I saw you last.

Of course looking at mine you can see I have regressed.

It's because I'm so far away from the "cradle" of liberty.

The fountain of youth is in Cheshire County. Who'da thunk it?

[error]

What's the point of holding a public hearing AFTER voting to move forward with eminent domain proceedings?

[Russell Kanning]

to tell us what to think

[Dreepa]

I still find it interesting that 'roundabouts' are so expensive.. I mean.. come on.

[error]

Bribes are expensive.

[Russell Kanning]

this one is expensive because there is no room for it .... the other part they forget to talk about ... is that they have to tear out working lights ... and it will be crummy for pedestrians.

[Lloyd Danforth]

If this is where Marlboro, Winchester and Main Sts.meet, I don't remember ever having a problem coming from any direction at that intersection.

[Kat Kanning]

Lloyd, you're bringing far too much logic to this situation.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Sorry , I'll try to watch that

[Kat Kanning]

Eaton land vote back to council Eminent domain key to roundabout plan
   

Freeman Klopott
Sentinel Staff


The decision to take a strip of land on Marlboro Street in Keene owned by former state Senate president Thomas R. Eaton for a planned roundabout is back in the city council's hands.

A 3-2 vote by the council's municipal services, facilities and infrastructure committee Monday night in favor of using eminent domain to take 4,227 square feet of Eaton's 33 Marlboro St. property sends the issue back to the council for a vote on Thursday.

City officials say the property is necessary for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Main, Marlboro and Winchester streets.

Eminent domain is the power of the government to take private property for public use, paying market value in return.


      


Last week, the council failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority to take up the issue at a special meeting. That sent it to the committee.

When the council meets Thursday it needs only a simple majority to set a public hearing, the next step in the eminent domain procedure.

The council would not cast a final vote on using eminent domain until after the public hearing, slated for March 19.

The city has been working on the roundabout project for the last three years and has already purchased land from the U.S. Postal Service, B&N Investors and Keene State College.

That leaves only Eaton's property, a narrow strip of land from the corner of Marlboro and Main streets along the north edge of the Keene Book Exchange, heading east down Marlboro Street to the sign for Fletcher Funeral Home.

Eaton leases the property to the funeral home, and while the roundabout project won't directly impact that building, it could affect the lease, which has Eaton concerned, he said.

Last week, City Manager John A. MacLean told councilors that, at one point, Eaton was offered $18,000 and a land swap in exchange for the Marlboro Street land and was ready to go through with the sale.

However, around December, negotiations broke down and Eaton told city officials he was not going to sell the property, MacLean said. So they began examining eminent domain procedures.

The city needs the property to add a slip lane off the 160-foot-wide roundabout, Public Works Director Kurt D. Blomquist told The Sentinel. That slip lane, he said, widens Marlboro Street by one-and-a-half lanes.

At Monday night's committee meeting, Eaton said, "I am sorry we are at this point. I do think the cost of the project is way too high."

The city has already spent $600,000 of the $4.2 million project on engineering studies and property acquisition.

The lowest recent bid for the project, from S.U.R. Construction West Inc. of Winchester, was $3,049,129, which doesn't include $200,000 for further engineering studies.

A $489,000 plan to bury overhead wires at the site has been put off for now. That leaves the project about $380,000 under budget.

Eaton described a public sentiment that opposes using eminent domain, pointing to an amendment passed by more than two-thirds of New Hampshire voters in November that limits the government's power to seize property. While that amendment does not apply in these circumstances, Eaton said, the overwhelming support it received is indicative of opposition to using eminent domain.

Councilor Nathaniel M. Stout agreed there is a cultural phenomenon of opposition to eminent domain in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court case. But, "if we didn't have eminent domain we wouldn't have the national highway system. It's not pleasant, but sometimes we have to do what's unpleasant," Stout said.

And this project is necessary, Stout said. In personal finance terms, "We're not talking about getting a flat-screen TV; we're talking about redoing the basement plumbing," he said.

Councilors Arnold H. Bailey and Kendall W. Lane voted against the measure Monday night. Councilors David C. Richards, Robert H. Farrar and Ruth R. Venezia voted in favor.

The city council will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall.

[error]

Councilor Nathaniel M. Stout agreed there is a cultural phenomenon of opposition to eminent domain in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court case. But, "if we didn't have eminent domain we wouldn't have the national highway system. It's not pleasant, but sometimes we have to do what's unpleasant," Stout said.

I'm not as shocked that the bureaucrat said that as I am that the newspaper printed it. People are NOT supposed to even get a HINT as to the truth, that government is evil, and that's a pretty big hint.

[Russell Kanning]

he is willing to make those tough decisions .... like taking other people's land and paying for it with other people's money. He is courageous.