DOT will relocate some owners

June 3, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - With expressions of exasperation on their faces, homeowners Lee and Barbara Gavitt approached a state right-of-way agent.

They pointed at the map of a proposed route for the Seward Meridian Parkway, which reveals a roundabout, or traffic circle, slated for construction at the corner of Bogard Road and Seward Meridian.

"A four-way intersection would have missed our house. The roundabout design brings the road right through our home," Lee Gavitt said during an Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities public meeting at Teeland Middle School on Wednesday.

The Seward Meridian Parkway design being favored by DOT places about a dozen property owners in the path of a proposed four-lane highway with a center turning lane and a pedestrian-bike path.

By August, once the project's environmental assessment document has been OK'd by the Federal Highway Administration, DOT employees will be negotiating with those residents.

"It's a project with a short deadline," DOT right-of-way agent Mary Jane Sutliff said.

A few homeowners will be relocated to another residential structure of equal market value, while other property owners might have a well or septic moved. Some people living along the busy traffic artery may lose only a strip of land, but all will be reimbursed by the state, according to Sutliff.

"We can't go into detail because anything you say will be wrong for someone," Sutliff said.

When entering into rights-of-way negotiations, DOT personnel review each situation individually, but all cases will be handled according to guidelines provided by the federal program, Sutliff explained.

The Gavitts live on a 1-1/2-acre lot off Santa Cruz Court. Obscured from Bogard Road by trees, they've cultivated their home for the past 20 years.

"If my property is appraised by someone wanting to buy it, how do I know the appraisal is fair?" Lee Gavitt asked.

"We hire DOT appraisers," Sutliff answered.

"We have a hot tub that won't come out without removing a wall," Barbara Gavitt said.

"We can reimburse you for it," Sutliff said.

"I want to know if I can move to Talkeetna or Arizona," Lee Gavitt said.

Sutliff explained displaced homeowners can move five miles or thousands of miles away as long as the new home is "a decent, safe and sanitary dwelling."

The Gavitts' attitude evolved into one of acceptance. However, they expressed concern over the 18-month timeline for rights-of-way acquisitions, scheduled to begin around August 2005.

Lee Gavitt, an Elmendorf Air Force Base traffic management officer, said he's eligible to retire two summers from now, and relocating before then may disrupt that plan. Sutliff said they could elect to rent until they decide on a permanent dwelling.

Most, if not all, of the homeowners and business owners have attended meetings and are aware of the upcoming negotiations, Sutliff said.

"We will keep in close contact with them to help provide benefits under the program," Sutliff said.

For more information outlining right-of-way relocation services for residential property, check out the Web site www.dot.state.ak.us.

Dawn De Busk can be reached at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.