The developer’s lawyer called early Monday morning. His first words were simple. We have a problem. He had built shopping centers, subdivisions, and commercial parks for 14 years. He was not the kind of man who panicked.
But he was panicking now. The entire $30 million project is blocked. Blocked by what? A strip of land 12 ft wide, half a mile long. Silence. Who owns it? A farmer.
How much does he want? He hasn’t called back. Then came the part nobody could believe. The farmer had bought that land in 2001 for $8,000. $30 million was now sitting still because of 12 ft of land.
And one man who had waited 23 years for this call. His name was Gerald Marsh. And it all began at a bank auction almost nobody attended. March 2001, Callaway County Bank.
