Appraisals vex landfill neighbors

Several property owners whose land is targeted for future county landfill expansion say they’re upset with recent appraisals they believe don’t reflect the true value of their property.

The Solid Waste District is wrapping up the appraisals for 14 parcels that one day could become part of the landfill.

Expansion is still a long way off, though. Existing land already owned by the county will handle disposal needs for about 60 years.

Property owners testifying at Monday’s Solid Waste Board meeting said having their land appraised for landfill use essentially makes it impossible for them to sell to anyone but the county.

“When you guys made this public, no one will look at us. We can’t get a Realtor,” Marty Puryer Jr. said, explaining that public knowledge of future landfill expansion has tainted the home and property he has owned for a decade on Prairie View Road. “We can’t sell to anyone but you guys.”

Because the county likely will be the only taker for those parcels, it’s crucial to have fair appraisals, Puryer said. His appraisal showed $83,000 in “negative equity,” he added.

Puryer’s wife, Heidi, said the appraisal on their home is comparable to that of a short sale, a transaction in which a homeowner sells his house for less than the amount owed on the property.

“We’re not in a short-sale situation,” she said, adding that she feels the county’s appraisals deliberately “low-balled” property owners. “You need to show comparable value, not distressed value.”

Solid Waste Board Chairman Hank Olson said the appraisals are only a preliminary step “to see if it’s feasible for you guys to sell to us.

“We aren’t chasing anyone out of anywhere,” Olson said. “Let’s look at the whole picture before we go crazy.”

Board member Wayne Miller reminded the audience that the county is obligated to conduct the appraisals in a public arena and make the information available.

Kim Schwegel, another Prairie View Road resident, said there weren’t enough parcels appraised to determine fair market values. Schwegel also favored a comparable approach that would look at a cross-section of similar properties.

Dia Sullivan said she believes the appraiser gave limited value to the land surrounding the landfill. Her appraisal was more than $100,000 off from the last tax assessment.

Sullivan wondered if the board would consider another roundtable discussion with affected property owners. The board took no action on that request.

County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said the Solid Waste Board should have all of the appraisal figures in hand by its January meeting and will decide at that point how to proceed.

“The whole point is that these appraisals are preliminary,” he said. “We wouldn’t buy off these appraisals, but we assume they’re close” to what the ultimate appraisals would be on the parcels.

There will be another round of appraisals done eventually. At that point both the property owners and the county would have to jointly agree on who would conduct those assessments, Prunty said.

“I don’t believe the Solid Waste Board or the county commissioners have any interest in doing condemnation, and given the time we have I fully support that,” Prunty said.

The Solid Waste Board’s goal is to own enough land to dispose of garbage for 100 years.

As the board mulls future expansion, several ideas are being bounced around in the process, Prunty said. One idea is to shrink the footprint of the landfill, which would require garbage to be piled higher but would reduce the amount of expensive liner material needed.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.