More 9-11 Victims
Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:16 am
Flight 93 Memorial Land Plucked From Owners
Eminent domain has been invoked to secure some 500 acres of in Somerset Country, Pa., from seven owners, for a memorial to United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 that crashed there September 11, 2001, after passengers heeded the call "Let's roll" and attempted to retake the flight from its hijackers. The memorial for the 40 passengers and crew will encompass 1,400 acres, and the Department of Justice has a paperwork deadline at the end of the month. Flight 93 Federal Advisory Commission members, Somerset County Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes and Stonycreek Township Supervisor Gregory Walker, have stepped down in protest of the land grab. Replacements are being sought from a pool of area residents. The National Park Service, which will own the land and could have negotiated for its purchase, was defended by the U.S. Department of Interior. Associate director Steve Whitesell told a local news station "we're at the deadline. We need to start proceeding with construction" to make an opening date of September 11, 2011. Vocal property owners are stating that they were willing to make a less forceful transfer of ownership, but were never engaged in negotiations for the land.
Among those who will lose property is a man whose father had purchased land there during the great depression and a pastor who owns a cottage there where he planned to retire. Landowner Randall Musser told the Associated Press he served on the committee that helped establish the memorial's boundaries and said that back in 2002 landowners were promised that eminent domain wouldn't be used. A spokesman for the park service said of the latest plans, "It's just fitting and right that we get this done in time for the 10th anniversary." Eminent domain eliminates the potential for title challenges, liens and other claims that could delay the project.
Eminent domain has been invoked to secure some 500 acres of in Somerset Country, Pa., from seven owners, for a memorial to United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 that crashed there September 11, 2001, after passengers heeded the call "Let's roll" and attempted to retake the flight from its hijackers. The memorial for the 40 passengers and crew will encompass 1,400 acres, and the Department of Justice has a paperwork deadline at the end of the month. Flight 93 Federal Advisory Commission members, Somerset County Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes and Stonycreek Township Supervisor Gregory Walker, have stepped down in protest of the land grab. Replacements are being sought from a pool of area residents. The National Park Service, which will own the land and could have negotiated for its purchase, was defended by the U.S. Department of Interior. Associate director Steve Whitesell told a local news station "we're at the deadline. We need to start proceeding with construction" to make an opening date of September 11, 2011. Vocal property owners are stating that they were willing to make a less forceful transfer of ownership, but were never engaged in negotiations for the land.
Among those who will lose property is a man whose father had purchased land there during the great depression and a pastor who owns a cottage there where he planned to retire. Landowner Randall Musser told the Associated Press he served on the committee that helped establish the memorial's boundaries and said that back in 2002 landowners were promised that eminent domain wouldn't be used. A spokesman for the park service said of the latest plans, "It's just fitting and right that we get this done in time for the 10th anniversary." Eminent domain eliminates the potential for title challenges, liens and other claims that could delay the project.
Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:48 am
Eminent domain needs to end NOW... I've been following that story, too, and frankly it makes me sick.
Ryan
Ryan
Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:50 am
RyanShort1 wrote:Eminent domain needs to end NOW... I've been following that story, too, and frankly it makes me sick. Why they "need" 500 acres is a mystery to me. Surely they could've figured out a less abusive way to do that.
Ryan
Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:13 am
..."It's just fitting and right that we get this done in time for the 10th anniversary."...
Something has to be done on this site by the tenth anniversary? The Pentagon got rebuilt fast to show the terrorists could not change things, and they are still feuding about the site in NYC.
The whole memorial makes less and less sense every time I read something new about it. Not that there doesn't need to be one, just the way it has been done.
Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:48 am
As one who has gone thru emminant domain, I agreee, it has to end. To take property for a road or legit use is one thing, to take land for a memorial is another, and esp to take 500 acres when the impact site was prob a acre or 2 is crazy.
To those that have not gone thru it, and believe they have to give you fair market value are sadly mistaken. The city of Phx tried to steal my house with such a low offer, I made a counter offer and was threatened with court action. It took almost 2 yrs to conclude the deal, but it was 2 yrs of hell.
To those that have not gone thru it, and believe they have to give you fair market value are sadly mistaken. The city of Phx tried to steal my house with such a low offer, I made a counter offer and was threatened with court action. It took almost 2 yrs to conclude the deal, but it was 2 yrs of hell.
Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:52 pm
Matt Gunsch wrote:As one who has gone thru emminant domain, I agreee, it has to end. To take property for a road or legit use is one thing, to take land for a memorial is another, and esp to take 500 acres when the impact site was prob a acre or 2 is crazy.
To those that have not gone thru it, and believe they have to give you fair market value are sadly mistaken. The city of Phx tried to steal my house with such a low offer, I made a counter offer and was threatened with court action. It took almost 2 yrs to conclude the deal, but it was 2 yrs of heck.
Even if they give you fair market value, they still don't compensate you for lost time, the fact that you had no intention of moving, and if you're a business owner - things like having to replace or put in new infrastructure (like T1 lines or cables - not cheap), moving (that can be a HUGE expense), loss of customers due to services being unavailable, having to redo all of your contact information, driving customers to a new location, etc... It's not right.
Ryan
Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:45 pm
I think it is time for the American people to set up and put an end to an out of control government. VOTE every one in office out! Every single one. That will send a message.
I guess this post will put me on a watch list!
Tim
I guess this post will put me on a watch list!
Tim
Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:54 pm
Please, please don't get me wrong, I deeply respect and appreciate what those people accomplished on that flight. But, 500 ACRES for a memorial site? Wouldn't 2 acres around the crash site be more appropriate and possibly the site of an intimate chapel for remembrance?
This is something I lifted from the web site for the Cambridge American cemetery:
The Cambridge American Cemetery, 30.5 acres in extent, is one of fourteen permanent American World War II military cemetery memorials erected on foreign soil by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Notice that it is only 30.5 acres, I think a little perspective is in order here.
However, these are my thoughts and my thoughts only.
JMC
This is something I lifted from the web site for the Cambridge American cemetery:
The Cambridge American Cemetery, 30.5 acres in extent, is one of fourteen permanent American World War II military cemetery memorials erected on foreign soil by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Notice that it is only 30.5 acres, I think a little perspective is in order here.
However, these are my thoughts and my thoughts only.
JMC
Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:17 am
How many acres for the WWII memorial in Washington D.C?
How many years did it take them to complete that?
How many years did it take them to complete that?
Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:55 am
Just to update this a little bit; from June 12th:
Maybe lots of other people thought the same way.
Got it here:
Government close to land deals for Shanksville 9-11 memorial
Since that is the latest news story, maybe there was a better ending than the one we were thinking about earlier.
Several landowners said Friday that negotiations with the National Park Service in the past week have been more productive than the years of talks since Flight 93 plunged into a western Pennsylvania field in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Maybe lots of other people thought the same way.
Got it here:
Government close to land deals for Shanksville 9-11 memorial
Since that is the latest news story, maybe there was a better ending than the one we were thinking about earlier.