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Federal government negotiating price for Mt. Soledad

The Federal government has offered to pay a price - yet to be negotiated - for the Mount Soledad War Memorial. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says he has no idea what the memorial is worth, but the Mou

The Federal government has offered to pay a price - yet to be negotiated - for the Mount Soledad War Memorial. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says he has no idea what the memorial is worth, but the Mount Soledad Memorial Association has a specific sum in mind. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The Mount Soleded Memorial was transferred to the federal government this week to prevent the 30 foot cross being removed.

However, Bill Kellog of the Memorial Association says the Association paid the city $100,000 for the land in 1998. Though the courts ruled the sale unconstitutional, the city never paid the money back.

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Kellog says the Association has invested over a million dollars in improvements to the memorial. He has an estimate for the federal government.

Kellog: "If you take into account the fact that the city has had out $106,000 for not quite ten years plus the improvement that we've made -- we feel that somewhere in neighborhood of a million and a half dollars would be a reasonable reimbursement to the Association."

Kellog says he's negotiating with the U.S. Department of Budget. The law requires a deal within a year. Alison St John, KPBS News.

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