County returning to court over Seven Falls improvements

Published: Sunday, November 9, 2014 at 4:30 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, November 7, 2014 at 5:20 p.m.

Henderson County's attorney filed a motion Friday asking for permission to move forward with bidding out improvements at the defunct Seven Falls subdivision in Etowah.

The motion is part of a civil lawsuit the county filed in March against jailed Seven Falls developer Keith Vinson, along with roughly 100 lot owners, banks and lienholders involved with the idled Etowah development.

To insulate the county from lawsuits, County Attorney Russ Burrell is asking a Superior Court judge to decide how Henderson County should spend bond money it was awarded after Vinson failed to complete roads, water lines and other infrastructure.

Schematic plans for installing the incomplete infrastructure have been finalized by WGLA Engineering and are ready to go out for bid, Burrell said. Along with drawings, the plans include rough construction estimates.

But Burrell said the county needs to nail down more precise costs for installing water, sewer, electricity and roads along with required environmental work so a judge can choose which elements it can afford with roughly $5.6 million in remaining bond money.

That can only happen with firm construction bids in hand, Burrell said.

"Then we'll have real numbers to show the court 'this person has committed to do this job at this price,'" Burrell said. "We're going to break out the bidding process into smaller projects, so the judge can recombine them in a way they find to be the most efficient way to get the most work done."

It's a legal strategy born out of necessity: Engineers estimated last year that it would cost around $8.1 million to install bonded infrastructure within Seven Falls, about $2.5 million less than is available to perform the work after $410,686 in court-sanctioned erosion control work was completed in the autumn of 2013.

The list of bonded improvements includes building 4.65 miles of road, installing water and sewer (plus wastewater treatment), running electrical lines and performing about $1.13 million in stream restoration and mitigation required by the N.C. Division of Water Quality and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Read more here:
County returning to court over Seven Falls improvements