In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 12, Rebecca Coward rides back to her Winlock home after showing a portion of her property that she was in jeopardy of losing to Lewis County because of eminent domain laws. She eventually settled with the county.
One more landowner who lives along Highway 603 outside of Winlock has reached an acquisition agreement with Lewis County.
Two others have had condemnation cases filed against them in Lewis County Superior Court.
The county is seeking parts of their properties to straighten and widen 1.7 miles of Highway 603.
David Fine, an attorney for Lewis County, said the settled case is with Rebecca Coward, who told The Chronicle in August she didn’t think the county’s offer was adequate.
Coward previously said that she didn’t want to sell her property to the county with one of the primary reasons being she didn’t want to lose two trees that help provide a buffer between her home and the highway.
The county had offered her $1,700 for 0.09 acres of land and the trees.
Fine said the agreement is for $2,700 to Coward and $700 for her attorney; the final paperwork still needed to be completed as of Thursday.
“I’m very pleased to say that that case is settled,” Fine said.
Condemnation proceedings have also been filed against Roy and Sara Fenstermaker and Miguel Sanchez.
“They’re working their way through the court,” Fine said about the two cases.
The county is seeking a total of 0.23 acres of land from two different properties owned by the Fenstermakers, who had been offered $2,400.
From Sanchez, the county is hoping to acquire 0.47 acres. With landscaping improvements and proximity damage, it offered Sanchez $20,400.
Fine was unaware of the status of the county’s attempt to acquire 0.58 acres of property from a fourth landowner, who had been offered $10,600 prior to the eminent domain process being initiated.
Lewis County Public Works Director Tim Elsea previously said crash data from 2005 to 2007 shows multiple crashes, including a fatality, are why the project was submitted for funding.
The county acquired right of way from 17 other property owners prior to moving to the eminent domain process.
The Washington State County Road Administration Board is funding the project, which was preliminarily estimated to cost $2.5 million.
