Nearly a couple of years after C-VILLE first started asking questions about a tract of land owned by Wendell Wood that was at the center of a land-use designation controversy in Albemarle County, the Army Corps of Engineers has revealed the secret assessment of the property: $9.7 million. While it’s not the $14 million that Wood hinted was the land’s true value, it is more than the $7 million the army paid to purchase land for its NGIC expansion in Albemarle County.
Read about former staff writer Jayson Whitehead’s original filing of the Freedom of Information Act suit here.
And read the story that got the whole investigation started here.
Also of interest, the Department of Justice ruling itself, sent on Whitehead’s and C-VILLE’s behalf to attorney Steven Rosenfield, who stands to get a $4,200 fee paid, too.
Finally, here’s this afternoon’s post on this suit from The Daily Progress, which gets a chagrined nod of appreciation from us for being there to report on the disposition of the lawsuit first. Hey, it’s in the public record—why not?
Wood justified his demand for the County’s rare redesignation of another piece of his property by claiming that the Army had grossly underpaid him for the 47 acres slotted for NGIC expansion. He got $7 million and the assessment was $9.7 million, a C-VILLE FOIA suit reveals.
