Landowners, province settle on price for Cornwall land expropriation

A Cornwall couple has settled theirland-expropriation claim with the province.

Brian and Dora MacKinley will receive $268,920.That ismore than double what they were originally paid for about eight hectares (21.77 acres) of farm land they owned on Cornwall Road.

The increasedpayment was based on a negotiated settlement that placed the value of the land, located within the Town of Cornwall,at $6,000 per acre, according to court documents.

The MacKinleys had obtained a third-party evaluation that estimated the land to be worth $8,000per acre.

The agreed amount also compensates theMacKinleysfor the loss of income from the farm land, as well as loss of apotentialone-acre buildinglot, among other costs, which totals another $138,300.

The court also ordered the province to pay the MacKinleys$38,222.75 to cover theircourt costs.

Details of the negotiated settlement were filed Thursday in Charlottetown Supreme Court.

The province has agreed to built an access road for farm equipment to land in the area still owned by the MacKinleys. The province will also repair any water-flow damage caused by road construction.

Province says it expects no further expropriations

The Department of Transportation expropriated the land in October 2017for construction of the Cornwall bypass.

At that time, the MacKinleys were paid $134,100. They began legal action under the Expropriation Actto have a judge determinethe amount of compensation to be paid. The MacKinleys askedfor $340,664 according to court documents.

The MacKinleys are one of two propertyowners the province expropriated land from for extension ofthe Trans-CanadaHighway around Cornwall.The other land owner also received additional compensation through legal action.

The province also purchased land, without expropriation, from 31 other property owners.

The province expects no further expropriations will be required to complete construction of the bypass, according to a spokesperson for the transportation department.

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