8/30/18 – 5:26 A.M.

Putnam County has spent around $1.2 million on legal fees related to the widening of Road 5. The Lima News reports the price tag doesn’t include salary costs and manpower for courthouse employees working on the case. Auditor Robert Benroth tells the newspaper it’s difficult to account for those costs.

13 property owners have refused payment for land used to widen the road south of Leipsic. Visiting Judge Dale Crawford recently ordered the county to pay $37,000 in legal fees for the residents protesting the expansion.

The fees will likely continue to mount. Three attempts at mediation have failed. A jury at an October trial will hear both sides argue about the value of the property used for the road expansion.

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