By Amy Stark~Correspondent
Last month, several residents of the Red Oak Estates subdivision spoke out at a Spring Grove Village Board meeting asking that the moratorium on issuing new residential building permits in their subdivision be lifted.
The developer of the subdivision, Dai Bui, lost his letter of credit when his bank failed, however he is still obligated to put the final layer on the roads in the subdivision once it is 75 percent completed.
He currently owes more on the property than it is worth and cannot obtain another letter of credit. The village then imposed the moratorium in 2009 in an attempt to have some bargaining power with Bui and insure that the roads would be finished at his expense and not the taxpayers of Spring Grove.
The homeowners were concerned that prospective buyers in Red Oak Estates were being turned away by the village because of the moratorium. Village staff reported at the July meeting that only seven building permits had been issued in Spring Grove in the past two and a half years.
Trustee Pat Mazzanti has been in conversation with Bui to come to an agreement which will allow the roads to be properly maintained and the finishing touches on the subdivision completed without Bui obtaining a letter of credit. After some discussion, the consensus of the board was to have Bui go forward with the improvements to the subdivision, such as paving the road, even though the development is not 75 percent full, and then provide a maintenance bond of approximately $167,000, which would be considerably cheaper than a letter of credit, yet still allow the village to have funds to address any future issues with the road.
The proposal will be drafted and presented to Bui and the board hopes to vote on it at the next village board meeting in two weeks. Some trustees wanted the moratorium lifted immediately, however under the advisement of Village Attorney Scott Puma, the board agreed to wait until the agreement is finalized and then vote on lifting the moratorium.
In other news, progress on the Winn Road Bridge continues and it is hoped that the bridge will re-open in October.
Public Works Supervisor Matt Wittum reported that his crew has been working on landscaping at the Fish Hatchery so it will be ready for the Grand Opening on Sept. 15.
The celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a ribbon cutting at 2:30 p.m. There will be food, music, the visitor center will be open, and of course, fishing available.
If residents haven’t had a chance to see the park, this is a great opportunity to enjoy nature at its finest. For more information, contact the Municipal Center at 675.2121.