Louisburg city officials reached an agreement with the owners of a nearly 150-acre farm to pay for the installation of a sewer line more than a decade ago.
Larry Barker, Teresa Barker Sturm and Bill Barker own LTB Farm, 147.8 acres that stretch from Metcalf Road on the west close to Summerfield Drive on the east and 274th Street on the north to the United Methodist Church property on the south. The farm was passed down to the siblings after their mother died in 1988.
In 2005, the housing market was booming and it looked like a good time to try to sell the property, so the Barkers and other surrounding property owners, including the Louisburg school district, petitioned the city to establish a benefit district to install a sewer line. The work on the sewer line was completed in 2008, right in time for the collapse of the housing market. With the recession hitting in 2008, the city granted LTB Farm a 10-year deferment on its share of the sewer line, which comes to more than $575,000 or about $193,000 for each sibling, according to Nathan Law, city administrator. Figures provided by Sturm were slightly lower.
Law said the total cost of the sewer line project was $1,364,969, shared by LTB Farm, other property owners such as the Summerfield Farms and Harvest Glen developments, and the school district for the Rockville Elementary School property. All the other parties have paid their share, leaving the amount owed by LTB Farm, which includes interest.
(Read more: The Miami County Republic)