The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Officials help sort out local disagreement
By Ed Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2008
Sylvan Township officials were called on to referee a growing dispute between homeowners and builders of the Chelsea Springs subdivision.
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Sylvan Township officials met in special session Feb. 18 with representatives of the Chelsea Springs homeowner association, developer Rene Papo and builder Ron Cook of R. Cook Properties to work out their differences.
"We feel it's best to work with folks than to get confrontational," Township Supervisor Michael Williams said.
Residents brought a long list of concerns to the board on Jan. 8, and were told a revised development agreement was being crafted.
Significant progress has been made since then, Williams pointed out.
"We signed a development agreement extension on Jan. 31," he said.
The agreement was "a compromise," he noted, because "Cook didn't want to do anything this year on it."
The extension contains a timeline of specific dates to complete unfinished items:
†By May 15, the detention pond;
†By June 15, the retaining wall brick and fencing;
†By July 15, a wide variety of small items such as a gate box and landscaping;
†By fall 2008, the cul-de-sac at the end of Coliseum Drive;
†By fall 2009, the paving of Coliseum Drive.
Cook reminded residents that he wanted to make things right with them.
"We care about you, we care about the project, and that's why we're here tonight," he said.
Resident Barb Deppner repeated some of the concerns she raised at the January meeting, which visibly angered Cook.
He demanded to know who wrote the six-page complaint against the company and the township presented at that meeting.
"Who wrote this letter?" Cook almost shouted. "I'm not going to tolerate slander - I'll just walk out of this place.
"I'm in a lawsuit with (Deppner) right now," Cook continued. "I'm an honorable man, I've got a good reputation."
Williams quickly regained control of the situation.
"I'm chairing this meeting — I'm not going to let this degenerate," he said firmly.
"If you want rancor, go somewhere else. We're here to focus on issues!"
With civility restored, the meeting continued with a list of residents' public safety concerns: house numbers, a walking path, streetlights, fire alarms; and each was answered by Langs, Papo or Cook.
Deppner lamented that the situation had gone so far.
"All we wanted to do as move in and be happy," she said.
"I'll grant you the economy has played a part, but I got only one person to call me back when I started calling about the problems."
John Langs, secretary for Magellan Development apologized for disappointing her and other residents.
"Our backs have been against the wall, we've been distracted with other things, but you folks deserve attention too," he said.
"We need to do a better job of communicating with you, and I apologize for that."
That lack of communication caused Township Trustee David Solo to rebuke Langs, Papo and Cook.
"I don't know if you're just offering platitudes tonight, but if you had made yourself available to them before, we never would have reached this point," Solo said.
Solo suggested that each of the parties around the table exchange contact information with each other, and stay in touch.
Cook explained that the difficulties he and Papo are facing were the result of a downturn in the economy and the building trades.
"We have no money, the bank has cut off our funds, and we're out here on a shoestring trying to take care of things," Cook said.
"I've built a thousand homes," he added. "I had 53 people when I started and I'm down to four. I had to lay off everybody."
The builder and developer summed up their viewpoints after the meeting.
"We're looking forward to completing the project and making things beautiful," said Cook.
Papo agreed: "We are standing by the project and we will finish the project," he stated. "It's the economy, the 'Michigan flu.'"
Subdivision resident Judy Anthony was happy that progress was being made.
"I'm glad to see we're finally getting somewhere," she said.
Williams said he was pleased with the give-and-take, but the township will continue to monitor the situation.
"I think we've made some progress," he declared.
"Any time we get people to sit down and talk instead of exchanging angry recriminations, we're ahead of the game."
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