“That's just an initial sum,” said the Polks' attorney Steve Tervooren, adding that a judge will hear testimony from experts and the Polks on what the land is worth before determining a final amount. “And it's quite common that the final compensation is well in excess of that original deposit."
The Alaska Department of Transportation wants to pave a road that passes through a native allotment owned by the Polk brothers: Warren Polk, Earl Polk III, Vincent Polk, and Jason Blaine Polk.
The DOT said that it made offers to purchase the land from the Polks at least seven times since 2005. Their most recent offer was $99,400 for 2.396 acres, which is the amount that the Polks would receive if the state took the land by eminent domain. Warren Polk, one of the landowners, said that the amount is too low to be a respectable offer. The DOT claims that it never received a formal counteroffer.