Sevier County being sued for $3 million

Sylvia Cate is upset. Sevier County built an industrial park adjacent to her property by I-40 and Douglas Dam Road, and covered her right of way exit with 15 to 30 feet of dirt. Cate says she called the Economic Development Department of Sevier County and was told that they would meet her over at the property and explain everything, and that her right of way was going back in the same way and in the same place it was originally. Cate said she waited one week, then she waited another week. No one called back to arrange a meeting. Finally, after two weeks, she called and asked about her property. She said she told them that when it rains her land floods. (It didn’t do that before the Industrial park was built, and now there was a steep incline where there had once been flat land.) Cate was again reassured that her exit would be just like it was before the park was built. Instead the workers just covered the road over. Cate said she saw construction trucks pulling out one day, asked them about the road, and was told that it was done. She felt that the County just did what they wanted to. She looked around and saw a mess, and feels her land has depreciated in value. She is suing Sevier County for the amount of $3 million and has asked for a jury trial. According to the legal document in the Sevier County courthouse the charges against Sevier County are the agents, servants, etc. of the county are guilty of trespass and improper taking of the plaintiff’s property, also of willful and wanton misconduct. The Herald Newspapers contacted Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters for comment. Waters said that he has not yet received the legal documents notifying the county of the case, but even so, it was against policy to discuss any issues such as these, without consulting with the county’s legal officers.