TO SOME, RELOCATION CAN MEAN A WINDFALL

Merlin Mouser doesn't view himself as a victim of relocation from the Mississippi River bridge project. In fact, he says getting paid to move from his rented house was like winning the lottery.

"Who else would walk up to you and hand you $13,000?" Mouser said. "It's like winning the lottery and not even paying for the ticket."

Mouser used to live with his mother in a rented two-bedroom house on South Sprigg. It is along the planned Cape Girardeau bridge route.

Mouser earns a modest living as a cook at Southeast Missouri Hospital and his mother gets Social Security. The family had always lived paycheck to paycheck and never thought there would be enough money saved for a down payment on a home.

Then the state offered them $13,000 to move out of the rented house, and they saw their chance.

"As far as I'm concerned, I think they gave us a great deal," he said.

The two had lived at the rented home for two years. Mouser used the $13,000 to make a down payment on a house on West End Boulevard. Now, for the first time in their lives, the Mousers are homeowners.

The state also gave the Mousers $650 to cover moving expenses. Because friends helped them move, they were able to use most of that money to remodel the kitchen in their new home.

Daisy Mouser, his mother, said: "I love it here. It's my home."

The Mousers' financial situation has changed dramatically since Feb. 14, the day they moved into the house on West End Boulevard.

Instead of rent payments of $250 a month, they pay $107 a month on a bank loan of $5,000, the amount they borrowed to buy the $18,000 home.

Mouser has worked as a cook at the hospital for 23 years. He does not own a car, but because the hospital is now just a 15-minute walk from his home, he saves the $4.70 a day he used to spend on taxi fare to take him to and from work from his house on Sprigg.

"I think we got an awfully good deal," Mouser said. "It's a better house and a better neighborhood. If it weren't for this, we would have never owned a home."

State officials say Mouser is just one of the people who lived in rented homes along the bridge route who have experienced a "windfall." The owners of the rented homes are also paid market value for their home.

In fact, many of the renters have fared better than homeowners who live along the bridge route, said Leroy Nunn, district right-of-way agent for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department in Sikeston.

"We try to find the closest thing possible to rent; otherwise, we are required to pay the difference," Nunn said. "They can take that in one lump sum."

Though few have received $13,000, other former renters stand to get thousands for relocating.

State and federal highway improvement funds have been earmarked to cover the cost of relocating people displaced because of the bridge and highway construction. The relocation costs are estimated at $6 million.

Nunn said the size of the family and the total family income have to be taken into account when figuring how much relocation money renters are entitled to. Like the homeowners, renters are in most cases entitled to receive 42 months of living expenses from the state, he said.

"Say there is a family of seven living in a four-room house," he said. "According to state law, we can't put them in a four-room house; we have to put them in a six- or seven-room house."

He said the department is audited to make sure federal and state guidelines concerning relocation are followed.

But do renters like Mouser end up better off than homeowners because of federal requirements? Nunn said yes.

"There are instances where it looks like we're being taken advantage of, but there's nothing we can do about it," Nunn said.

"It is a windfall in some instances. But don't think we haven't heard about it; we hear about it constantly."

Nunn said state officials are happy to see a renter use the relocation money to improve their standard of living. But because they can't predict how renters will use the money, many may abuse it.

"There is no way we can tell them where they can spend this money," he said. "No doubt, there are some horror stories."

On Tuesday: Uncertainty still exists on how Illinois will fund its portion of the bridge construction.