Greenbriar Apartments lien still in dispute

Clark County

SO YOU KNOW

• The Sellersburg Town Council’s next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at Sellersburg Town Hall, 316 E. Utica St.

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February 15, 2012

Lien on property to be brought back to next Sellersburg council meeting

By BRADEN LAMMERS Braden.Lammers@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Wed Feb 15, 2012, 10:58 PM EST

SELLERSBURG — A number of issues came before the Sellersburg Town Council this week, but nearly all were tabled until the council’s next meeting.

A recurring issue that has come before the council, and will be back, was a lien placed on Greenbriar Apartments totaling $46,733. The town placed a lien against the property for violations of the town’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System ordinance, which were filed with the Clark County Auditor’s office Oct. 10.

Municipal Works Director Ken Alexander said the penalties imposed were set at $500 per day and the stop-work order was issued in November 2010. According to town officials, a violation carries a minimum fine of $100 per day to a maximum of $2,500 per day.

But John Kraft, attorney for Sprigler Family Limited Partnership, said notice of the violation was never given to the proper entity. All of the notices, he said, were addressed to Sprigler Builders. However, he said the property was owned, and is still owned, by ZS Developers LLC.

“They never gave notice of this at any time to ZS Developers,” Kraft said.

Sonny Sprigler, principal of Sprigler Family Limited Partnership, became involved when the family partnership bought out the membership interest of ZS Developers and took over the development.

However, as Sprigler explained at Sellersburg’s January meeting, his involvement began Oct. 1, after the violation had occurred. He added that he paid $15,000 to replace a silt fence and for excavation work to bring the development into compliance with the storm sewer requirements and subsequently asked for the lien against the property to be waived. However, the council was hesitant to waive the penalty, as it is the first time the council has issued and attempted to enforce such a violation.

And Sprigler was resistant to paying any fine for the alleged violations, threatening at the January meeting to shut down the development if the council attempted to impose the fine.

“It was a matter that Mr. Sprigler never received notice,” Kraft said. “The lien shouldn’t even be there to begin with.”

The council agreed to allow Kraft and Sellersburg Attorney Perry McCall to work out a deal and bring it back to the council at its next meeting. The development has three buildings with 28 units, and once completed is set to total 12 buildings with 128 units.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

• Matt Tool and Nathan Grimes, engineer with Infinity Homes, sought a voluntary annexation of part of a new subdivision, Stonegate Manor, that is being developed near Ind. 60. The initial request was to have Sellersburg annex 5.4 acres of the subdivision, which totals about one-third of the development, Alexander said.

He added developers wanted to annex the development in stages.

The subdivision, once completed, is expected to total 42 lots, and the homes will be in the low $200,000 price range, Grimes said at a previous meeting. No action was taken at Monday’s meeting and the issue is expected to be brought to the council’s Feb. 27 meeting.

• Sellersburg entered into a contract with 39 Degrees North to help develop GIS mapping for the town. Alexander said the initial cost to develop Sellersburg’s mapping projection totals $14,000 and an annual maintenance fee will run about $5,400. He added the town’s layer will be added on top of Clark County’s GIS system, which is also run by 39 Degrees North.

• Sellersburg accepted a bid from EZ Contracting to rebuild a lift station near Silver Creek High School. The price of the contract was $58,100 and work is expected to begin in two to three weeks when the materials arrive, Alexander said.