A year of unfinished condominiums, unplowed roads, unmaintained lawns and unpaid expenses by developer Gulf Atwater LLC have been its undoing.
The village finally called upon the Atwater Commons developer’s letter of credit after several letters of default and deadline extensions so it can arrange to have the work done.
‘We certify that Gulf Atwater has failed to satisfactorily complete the site improvements for the project commonly known as Atwater Commons,? said Village Manager Paul Zelenak in a letter to Gulf Atwater’s bank. ‘Therefore the amount of $150,000 is now due and payable.?
The money will fund completion of eight original deficient projects in the development, such as laying sod, as well as needed maintenance, like repairing dilapidated steps.
‘The maintenance has been let go since the very beginning,? Atwater Commons Homeowners Association President Emily Prybys. ‘Now we currently face over $100,000 in repairs needed because of rotting dormers, because of crumbling steps and other things that were not properly maintained while the developer had control of our association.?
In an effort to keep involvement with the planned unit development (PUD), Gulf Atwater representative John Schandevel attended the council’s July 13 meeting and asked that the developer be allowed to take over administrative and project development roles.
‘We’d be doing a bid-work administration, project management, contacting and keeping the homeowners association informed?, making sure that there’s proper follow-up with sub-contractors, reviewing the site and making sure everything’s complete, working with the municipality to get the proper sign-offs, ensuring that the vendors get paid and following up on final approvals with the municipalities,? Schandevel proposed.
The Gulf Atwater representative said that funding has been the reason for the developer’s delinquency, not lack of ability.
‘We haven’t had any luck and it’s led us to this point, unfortunately. So it’s not that we don’t want to do work. It’s been a funding issue,? he said.
The council unanimously voted against letting Gulf Atwater serve in a management role.
The developer’s offer to manage Atwater Commons construction was met with a flurry of frustration from homeowners in the development.
‘For someone who says they want to stay involved in this project, they have absolutely not taken those actions to show that that’s their intent,? said Prybys. ‘I would not trust them to make any improvements or to complete any of these requirements, nor do I think that if they were allowed to complete these requirements that they would do it with any kind quality or in any kind of interest to the community.?
Brenda Gannon has a condominium up for sale in Atwater and said an interested buyer was unable to purchase it because of the development’s deficiencies.
‘The mortgage was no problem, the appraisal was no problem–it went quickly,? she said. ‘But as soon as they checked into the developers, and the under-writers saw what was going on in our complex, they said ‘no.??
Village council members were equally incensed at the developer’s proposal.
‘I actually thought it was pretty brassy,? said councilman Ken Van Portfliet.
Addressing Atwater homeowners, President Rob Reetz said: ‘The irony that [the developer’s] willingness to get involved is directly related to fact that we took their money is not lost upon this council. As we’ve said in the past, the residents are our concern. We’re here to take care of you. I think you’re going to find the village is going to move more quickly than the developer did .?
The village’s consulting engineering firm, Hubbel, Roth and Clark, will take over bidding remaining projects.