SUBJECT
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Approve Offer of Judgment with This Land of Acres, Inc., for parcel 133 in the case of Polk County v. Sean Daniel Freeman, et al (2024CA-2048), an eminent domain lawsuit filed to acquire needed rights-of-way for the County Road 557 Project. ($27,982 one time expense).
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DESCRIPTION
The County has a Community Investment Project to improve County Road 557 to a four-lane corridor from north of US Highway 17/92 in Lake Alfred, to south of the I-4 Interchange. To allow construction of the new roadway, the County will need to acquire additional right-of-way for the corridor from impacted property owners. The Board previously adopted a resolution authorizing negotiations and written offers to be made on this project. Parcel 133 is a triangular shaped fee parcel, containing approximately 4,234 square feet, needed as mainline right-of-way for the project.
The property owner, This Land of Acres, LLC., retained an attorney to represent their interests in this case. The property owner through its attorney has made an Offer of Judgment in the amount of $32,500 for its property interests. The property owner would be entitled to $5,082 in attorney's fees and $7,500 in costs for a total amount of $45,082.
RECOMMENDATION
(1) Approve the Offer of Judgment made by This Land of Acres, LLC, in the total amount of $32,500; (2) authorize payment of the amount of $15,400 representing the difference between the amount of the deposit in the Court Registry($17,100) and the offer amount($32,500), to Sharma Eminent Domain Lawyers Trust Account; (3) authorize the payment of attorney's fees in the amount $5,082 and costs of $7,500 for a total amount of $12,582 to Sharma Eminent Domain Lawyers Trust Account, and (4) authorize the County Attorney's Office or outside counsel to bring this litigation to a close with the entry of a Stipulated Final Judgment.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds are budgeted and available in the amount of $27,982 for the payment of the settlement amount wi...
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