Cassandra Burton of Durham spoke to the Henderson City Council on Monday evening on behalf of her mother who resides at 643 Ransom Street regarding an offer to purchase her house for redevelopment.
According to Burton, her 81 year-old mother was offered $25,000 for her house. Burton said that a counter-offer of $60,000 was made which she eventually lowered to $45,000 plus relocation costs.
The Redevelopment Commission which is mentoring the administration of a concentrated needs development grant on Ransom Street could, in theory, obtain the house by eminent domain.
Burton told the council that $25,000 is not enough money for her mother to buy a new house to live in. She went on to say that her mother is “being forcibly uprooted from the house her father built”.
Burton asked the council to urge the Redevelopment Commission to accept the counter-offer or to make another offer, to find grant money, and to make it a priority to expedite the process.
Henderson Mayor Pete O’Geary turned the matter over to City Manager Ray Griffin for investigation.