LaSalle town council authorized administration Tuesday night to use the Expropriations Act in order to obtain parcels of land from just over 50 owners along a stretch of Malden Road.
The Malden Road reconstruction project is being divided into two phases, with phase one covering the stretch of Malden Road between Normandy Street and Rosati Drive.
Last spring, the town surveyed the area to determine which lands would be required in order to proceed with the project, and found that 10 feet of land on each side of Malden Road would be required.
According to the report that went to council, 11 property owners were approached with appraisals in an effort to speed up the process, however Mayor Crystal Meloche says negotiations were unsuccessful.
"Council has decided just to take the next step and send out expropriation letters to all of those land owners to be able to move this construction project along," she said. "It's a really important project for the Town of LaSalle. It's something that our residents have been asking for for many years, and so we want to get this going as quickly as we can."
Meloche says the over 50 affected residents will receive a registered letter from the town giving them 30 days to request a hearing if they object.
She says she's not expecting a big push back from residents.
"I'm not sure it's necessarily about the property we're looking to acquire as much as the amount people are hoping to get for that property," said Meloche. "I think that's where the final conversation is more surrounded."
Meloche was unaware how much the expropriation would cost the town in the end.
She says construction is not expected to begin this year.
"After the properties [are] acquired, we'll start seeing utility work, so utility will have to be moved," Meloche said. "Once utilities are moved, then we'll see shovels in the ground. So I'm really not expecting the town to start the actual construction project until 2026.
The town's legal counsel believes it would be successful in the event of a landowner requesting a hearing, pointing to the strength of the 2009 Malden Road Environmental Assessment (EA) and 2021 Malden Road EA Addendum Study that showed the land is necessary for the town to acquire.