MARQUETTE ? Some people who received free land in Marquette as part of a program to spur population and economic growth contend that assessments to build gravel roads and water systems mean the land isn’t really free.

Owners of 27 homes that have been built as a part of the giveaway learned last week that they will have to pay about $4,000 in assessments, catching most of them by surprise.

“It’s entrapment,” said Tracy Unruh, whose family was among the first to move into the free land development. “They promised us free land, got us here and now we’re stuck there.”

Unruh said she was never told of the assessments, although Mayor Steve Piper said each person was given notification through a line item in their title insurance policies. He also said notices ran in the newspaper.

“There’s no story here,” said Piper, a local grocer who helped initiate the land giveaway. “It’s on their title policy that there’s going to be assessments for street and water improvements.”

Piper said such assessments are common in new subdivisions in towns across Kansas.

Free land giveaways are offered in several Kansas communities, including Ellsworth County, where Economic Development Director Anita Hoffhines said lots that are offered already have infrastructure in place.

That’s what folks in Marquette thought, too.

“We were told it was going to cost absolutely nothing,” said Sara Seiler, one of the landowners. “They’re just changing things as they go, and that’s not how it’s supposed to be.”

Despite an uproar at a public hearing of the Marquette City Council, Piper said he still expects the council to pass the ordinance at its next meeting.

“We have no reason not to,” he said. “Everyone was properly notified.”