| OCR Text |
Show By GARY R. BLODGETT CENTERV1LLE City Administrator Kenner Kill-pack Kill-pack told the Centerville City Council Tuesday night that "every attempt possible is being made to improve conditions condi-tions for residents of Pitford Acres Subdivision." "WE HAVE met with officials offi-cials of the lending institution holding an escrow for the developers de-velopers in an attempt to use this money for improvements of storm drain and roads in the subdivision," said Mr. Kill-pack. Kill-pack. "But we find there are some problems with a shortage of funds. Apparently some ot the money put into escrow for future fu-ture improvements has already been spent. And 1 don't know who gave the loan company authority to disperse the money." MAYOR GOLDEN Allen and the council agreed. They said they were not aware ot anyone giving the loan company com-pany permission to spend the escrow money that was set aside, by order of the city, to be used in the event the development de-velopment was not completer to the satisfaction of the city. "It sounds to me like a continuation con-tinuation of the runaround we have been getting from the developers," de-velopers," said Councilman Kenneth Holman. Other coun- cilmen agreed. COUNCILMAN Robert Arbuckle told the council that he knows of a couple of developers de-velopers that would hke to step in and make the improvements and further develop the subdivision subdi-vision (six lots) if the situation reaches that point. "That's the best news I ve heard in a long time, sail Councilman Norman Wright. "Now we know that someone besides the city had compassion compas-sion for these people and are willing to help." . , PITFORD ACRES has had storm drain problems for more than a year and a portion of the subdivision has been without a paved road for several months. Residents of the four-year-old subdivision which now consists of 17 homes have complained several times to city officials of the "deplorable" "deplor-able" conditions. THE UNPAVED road has been impassable at times and residents of at least three homes have been forced on occasion to walk through the mud to their homes, according to the residents. "We're paying taxes tor what is classified as developed lots whereas the lots are not developed," the residents told the council. THEY SAID a storm drain ditch at least two feet deep is filled with stagnant water and for several days following a rain the ground is covered with water because of improper drainage facilities. Residents told the council that developers of the subdivision subdivi-sion have repeatedly promised to complete the improvements "but nothing has been done." THEY HAVE threatened to take the developers to court if improvements are not soon completed and city officials said they, too, would consider involving the city in a law suit if that becomes necessary. First, however, city officials decided to work with the developers de-velopers to improve the conditions, condi-tions, perhaps using money in escrow for this purpose. CITY OFFICIALS explained ex-plained that at the time the subdivision sub-division plat was approved, the city accepted a "letter of credit" from the developer, instead in-stead of a performance bond that is usually accepted by cities. The nayor noted that this letter specifies that "a certain amount of money will be placed in escrow to assure the city that all improvements in the project will be completed by the developer." "IF THIS is not completed, then I think the city should step in and use the money to finish the job," the mayor said. |
