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Displaced owners won’t fight AMED takeover

The two men whose lots AMED plans to acquire by eminent domain for construction of a substation and headquarters in Lake­mont have accepted that there’s nothing they can do to prevent the taking.

“We can’t stop it,” said Tom Bennett, whose property on Shand Avenue is occupied by a tenant family. Speaking also for his brother, Victor, owner-occupant of a property next door, Bennett said, “The best thing we can do now is to go after a fair settlement.”

The brothers have hired an attorney who told them that attempting to fight the taking would be “beating a dead horse,” said Victor, who last month — unlike his brother — was fired up and ready to contest the condemnation.

Victor has already ar­ranged to move into a double-wide on a foundation in Lakemont whose occupant is planning to relocate to North Carolina.

Victor grew up in Lake­mont and is glad to be able to remain in the neighborhood, 90 percent of whose residents he knows, he said.

He’s also confident he will be compensated for a billboard on his property for which he has a 20-year leasing contract that would otherwise pay him $3,600 a year, he said.

The sides can negotiate a settlement, one that typically is based on appraisals, AMED officials said last month.

AMED recently advertised for bids on the $2 million project.

The board should be able to award contracts at its April meeting, Executive Director Gary Watters said Monday.

One portion of the project, however, wasn’t included among the advertised work — construction of a gated driveway from the parking lot of the facility to Park Avenue, for use only when ambulances leave on emergency calls, so responses are quicker and disturbance to the neighborhood is minimized.

Because the proposed egress driveway will cross the walkway along Park Avenue, across from Peoples Natural Gas Field and Lakemont Park, and because that walkway and linear park were constructed using federal money when PennDOT widened Park Avenue several years ago, PennDOT will take comments on the walkway impingement at the next Logan Township supervisors meeting — 6 p.m. March 28, at the township building.

“It’s one of those hoops,” Watters said.

PennDOT has determined already, however, that the driveway would “not permanently or adversely im­pact the activities, features and attributes of this recreational area,” according to a PennDOT statement on the township website.

Contrary to expectations, AMED can keep its temporary Lakemont station of­fice at Lakemont Park during construction, according to Watters.

However, park management would prefer that the organization find a different place to park the ambulance it has been keeping near the front entrance in a place that would not create anxiety for visitors after the amusement park reopens Memorial Day, Watters said.

Ambulances in front of amusement parks carry a “stigma,” Watters said.

It could symbolize the availability of quick help, a board member quipped.

AMED will probably finance the Lakemont project with a commercial loan, Watters said.

The Finance Committee expects to meet with candidate lenders soon, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.

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