Holes in roads fixed at Lake Village
Oregon contractor smoothes pavement at Hayden subdivision
The Steamboat Pilot & Today, September 24, 2008
Blythe Terrell
Steamboat Springs — Crumpled pavement has been repaired at the Lake Village subdivision in Hayden.
The five houses in the neighborhood still are unoccupied, but holes around manholes no longer make the roads risky. Robinson Construction out of Oregon handled the work, project executive Kirk Moisan said.
"We went and completed all the repairs," Moisan said. "We did what we said we'd do. We're still negotiating, still trying to get paid, still trying to move forward."
Robinson Construction, which is not affiliated with RN Robinson & Son of Hayden, filed liens last year against the subdivision's developer, Mountain Adventure Property Investments LLC. Robinson Construction says it has not been paid for work it did as the project contractor.
The company has not worked on the site since making repairs, Moisan said.
Lake Village is the first filing of a larger development, the Villages at Hayden. Nearly 100 homes were planned for the 40-acre subdivision, which sits south of town off Routt County Road 53.
Another Oregon company, Robinson and Sons, is a member of the partnership building Lake Village. Mountain Adventure Property Investments also consists of local company Grassy Creek Holding; local company 4-S Development; and Oasis Development, an Oklahoma subsidiary of FSB Bancorp.
Grassy Creek and 4-S are locally owned and control 61 percent of the company's stock. Mountain Adventure and 4-S have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The partners have been negotiating for months, trying to resolve the lien and bankruptcy issues. Those talks are ongoing, said Ron Sills, who owns 4-S.
"I can't give anything out," Sills said, referring to information about the conversation.
Last month, the Hayden Town Board voted to move toward calling the letter of credit and the bond for the project. That would allow the town to use funds — at the expense of developers, not taxpayers — to complete infrastructure work on Lake Village.
The letter of credit is worth nearly $502,000, and the bonds are worth more than $1.3 million.
Vectra Bank issued the letter of credit, and Safeco Insurance is the bonding company.
Town Manager Russ Martin has indicated that Hayden is pushing forward on calling the letter and bonds. Neither he nor the town's lawyer returned calls seeking comment Tuesday.