Looking for Eminent Domain advice

[John Neshiem]

Hi,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on Eminent Domain.

I bought my house in Inver Grove in 1998 along 70th street.  Dakota county sent notice about possible eminent domain to my family and 3 others. They had meetings a few months ago and said they would talk to us and our closest 3 neighbors in about what would happen in March. They have not sent us any more info yet.

We haven't heard anything back yet but they said they want the project to be completed in 2020. They are turning 70th into a 4 lane divied road with walking paths on both sides.

They said they may be able to move the road one way or the other but not by much. It looks like they will either take at least part of our yard or the whole house.

Our lot is .83/acre so I asked at the open house in December if we could move our house further into into lot. They started arguing and I never got an answer.

Our neighbors and I are wondering if we would be better off pressing the county for a meeting asap on this or if we should start getting appraisals now or start checking into eminent domain lawyers now?

We would really appreciate any advice at all.

Thanks!