SHANKSVILLE — The federal government has handshake agreements with half of the holdout landowners of properties
that are to become part of the Flight 93 National Memorial, The Tribune-Democrat learned Friday.
And the National Park Service extended its self-imposed Friday deadline through the weekend to try to reach deals with the remaining few landowners.
If agreements on those properties can't be reached, the government said it would pursue eminent domain Monday to take the remaining acreage.
Dan Wenk, acting director of the National Park Service, said in a release that “remarkable progress” has been made in talks with landowners during the past week.
The negotiations have been stalled for years.
“I am extremely encouraged by how the negotiations have gone, and I appreciate the spirit of these negotiations,” Wenk said.
“The National Park Service, the landowners and the Families of Flight 93 will continue to work together throughout the weekend, and we hope to have a more definitive announcement in the coming days.”
Landowners blamed the nuts and bolts of negotiations – not any stubbornness on price – as the reason they couldn’t come to terms with the government for years on end.
That all changed within the past week after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited the area and met with the property owners.
“I think they finally sent somebody to us who had the authority to sign papers,” said Christine Williams of Ruffs Dale. “It was always, ‘Yes, we can/No, we can’t.’ ”
Williams and her husband, Dale, own
6 acres and a summer place near the crash site. She termed the offer acceptable, though her husband wanted a higher price.
Landowner Randy Musser said that Wednesday was the first day he had a concrete proposal before him. He came back Thursday with a counter offer, and that was it.
Fellow property owner Tim Lambert of central Pennsylvania agreed the government changed its tactics.
“I would say that somebody just sat down and talked to us, and they were serious about getting something done. Before, it was trading e-mails, trading phone calls. Now, it was about trading appraisals,” he said Friday.
“I left some money on the table, a little bit, but that’s what negotiations are all about,” Lambert said.
“I know this (memorial) needs to move forward, and I wanted to get out of the way. The most important thing is to honor the passengers and crew.”
Williams concurred.
“We knew it was going to happen,” she said. “We knew we couldn’t stay no matter how much we wanted to.
“A memorial needs to be built – I don’t think anybody’s ever argued that. It was just the process.”
Landowner Larry Hoover said his family expected to reach a deal with the government within days. An attorney for Anthony Kordell and recycler Rollock Inc., owned by the Kordell family, likewise said the talks were turning out positive but that a few sticking points remained on relocating the business.
Several other property owners could not be reached Friday.
United Flight 93 from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco crashed Sept. 11, 2001, after passengers stormed the cockpit, which had been taken over by Islamic terrorists. The crash claimed 44 people: The 40 innocent passengers and crew and four hijackers.
The terrorists were rerouting the jetliner to Washington, D.C., on a suicide mission to crash into a national landmark, likely the Capitol.
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