By Lori Ehde
After more than 15 years of haggling with the state over a fair price for his property by the Blue Mounds State Park, Dennis DeJongh, Jasper, brought negotiations to a grinding halt last week.
In a move that prevents any legal action on the land for 30 to 40 years, DeJongh has placed the property in an irrevocable trust until the death of his wife, Carolyn.
"I'm not bitter about it ... I don't really care. They (DNR) had 15 years of opportunity, and they let it go," DeJongh said Tuesday from his home in Jasper. "Maybe the next generation will be more intelligent."
The land in question is a 236-acre piece between the cliff line of the Blue Mounds State Park and the curve of County Road 8 from the quarry parking lot north to the tree line.
According to Assistant Park Manager Tom Sawtelle, the park's been interested in the property because it allows a contiguous piece of prairie along the cliff line of the park.
Negotiations, however, have stalled over estimated worth of potential gravel extraction.
DeJongh said tests indicate 3 to 4 million yards of gravel could be excavated from the site. He said the going rate for average grade gravel is 75 cents to $1 per yard.
His gravel, he said, contains a high percentage of 1 to 2-inch rock, which is worth even more than standard sandy gravel.
So, when he considers selling the property, he builds in the estimated value of the gravel on top of the land worth.
"They offered more money than the land is worth," DeJongh said, "but they did not offer whatÕs in the farm land, which is gravel."
When the state officials made offers on the land, they said they did factor in the value of the gravel, but because of the quantities involved, a small disagreement in gravel price resulted in a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A last-ditch effort by the Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota to purchase the land for the park resulted in an offer that was significantly higher than the state's.
But that offer was also turned down, said Dorian Grilley, executive director of the non-profit organization.
DeJongh has applied for conditional use permits through the years to mine the gravel, but the local zoning board has denied those requests due to its proximity to the park.
While it's all beside the point now, DeJongh said if he were allowed a 20-year permit to extract the gravel, there would be a 110-acre lake there today.
"They couldn't see the noses on their faces ... It could have made Rock County a lot of money in recreation uses," he said. "It'd been a hell of a lot prettier."
DeJongh said the irrevocable trust wasn't initiated out of spite, but he admits it will be nice to not have to discuss the issue anymore.
"It makes me feel better that they can't screw it up for at least that long," he said. "They can't touch, can't sell it, can't trade it. Nothing."
DeJongh was born in the Hills-Beaver Creek area and graduated from high school in Jasper. He lived in California from 1955 until 1985, but has been in Rock County since then.
The document stipulates that when Carolyn, his second wife, dies, decisions on the land will made by his four children.
Meanwhile, the family continues to rent it out as farm land. The current renter is Lloyd Vanden Bussche, Beaver Creek.