the farmer who may or may not be planning to do a hog lot in VC wants more than $2675/acre for his land, which is probably excessive:
** today's Fairfield Ledger http://tinyurl.com/ysmoq5 "A public hearing and Vedic City city council meeting are set for noon Sunday at 1973 Grand Drive. The public will be able to give input during the hearing, and the council could make a decision on whether or not to move forward with acquiring the land during the following council meeting. "We're trying to get the city and county and Iowa basically together just to stand up and be heard," said Robert Palm, who operates the 148.95-acre farm. "I think this directly affects every property owner in the state of Iowa." "They're going to see that when times are important, the people here won't stand for injustice," his brother Ron said. Besides talking to concerned individuals, Robert brought the issue to the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors. While the supervisors have no authority over the proceedings, they did pass a non-binding resolution Monday morning opposing the use of eminent domain outside city limits to develop a city park. The resolution opposes the land acquisition on the grounds that Vedic City has at least 1,500 acres of undeveloped land within its city limits and has continued to expand through annexation since its incorporation. It also states "city parks are exempt from property taxes and the county property taxpayers will have to make up for the lost revenues." Following a meeting of the Vedic City city council Saturday afternoon, city attorney Maureen Wynne explained the public hearing is just the first step in the process. If after listening to public comments, the council does decide go forward with acquiring the land, the next step is to negotiate with the property owners, she said. "If that doesn't work, then the next step is to move forward with condemnation, and there's a decision that would be made by the city to do that," Wynne said. The process also gives the owners the ability to appeal to a sheriff's jury and district court, she said. "I think that from the beginning of Maharishi Vedic City ... there was very clearly a plan for a significant park area that would be themed in a conservation manner," councilman Chris Johnson said. He believes the park would enhance the city, as well as the surrounding area. "Most of the land in the city right now is privately held and is slated for development," Mayor Bob Wynne said. Still, the Palms find their situation hard to understand when there is so much land currently undeveloped within the city limits.
