Village Board Unanimously Votes to Blight Local Business for Foxconn
“With no discussion or public comment, the Mount Pleasant Village Board rams through action to blight the property of a local business in Foxconn Area One, after barricading entrance and charging owners with trespassing.”
Mount Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot rearranged the order of business on the meeting’s agenda to immediately vote on a motion to blight the property of Jack and Colleen Erickson, delaying public comments, and then moving directly into closed session. Forcing the Ericksons to wait nearly an hour before they were allowed to address village trustees about a vote they had already taken.
In early 2021 the Erickson’s licensed scrap yard was cited by Mount Pleasant for public nuisance. The Village never provided a reason or plan for compliance. When Jack Erickson tried to access his property after the Village barricaded his business entrance, he was met by a Mount Pleasant police officer who ticketed him with trespassing – on his own property.
Jack and Colleen Erickson were never opposed to selling their property for the Foxconn development. They only asked the Village to locate comparable property for them along the I-94 corridor and give them ample time to relocate their business. Village officials promised them they would and then let them sit for nearly three years, refusing to return the Erickson’s calls for updates.
However, internal emails discovered by A Better Mt. Pleasant show that the Village intended to landlock the Erickson property as early as 2017. Information which was never shared with them.
“Jack and Colleen Erickson’s property is easily worth ten to twelve million dollars in today’s market,” said Gallaher. “The Village didn’t want to pay them that much, so they barricaded the entrance to their business and then sent them a citation demanding they clean it up – knowing it was impossible for the Ericksons to comply. When Jack Erickson tried, they used the Village police to ticket him with trespass and rushed through a vote to condemn his property.”
The Village of Mount Pleasant has conveyed nearly 1800 square acres of land to Foxconn. The Erickson property remains the last outstanding parcel of land not conveyed to Foxconn in Area I – apart from the Mahoney home which is now located within the gates of the failed development.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
More about the Foxconn Facility
- Mount Pleasant, Racine in Legal Battle Over Water After Foxconn Failure - Evan Casey - Sep 18th, 2024
- Biden Hails ‘Transformative’ Microsoft Project in Mount Pleasant - Sophie Bolich - May 8th, 2024
- Microsoft’s Wisconsin Data Center Now A $3.3 Billion Project - Jeramey Jannene - May 8th, 2024
- We Energies Will Spend $335 Million on Microsoft Development - Evan Casey - Mar 6th, 2024
- Foxconn Will Get State Subsidy For 2022 - Joe Schulz - Dec 11th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Approves Microsoft Deal on Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Nov 28th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Deal With Microsoft Has No Public Subsidies - Evan Casey - Nov 14th, 2023
- Microsoft, State Announce Massive Data Center Expansion, Land Purchase - Joe Schulz - Nov 11th, 2023
- Gov. Evers Announces Microsoft Makes Major Investment in Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - Nov 10th, 2023
- State Can’t Regulate We Energies $100 Million Project for Microsoft - Joe Schulz - Sep 20th, 2023
Read more about Foxconn Facility here
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