VBT board wants to fill Cobblestone basements

In a June 5 closed-door session, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees discussed the ongoing problems with the six open condominium basements at Cobblestone Ridge.
The basements have been open since 2007 and the board was considering removing the basements at township expense to make the area safe for children, among other concerns.
As a last chance for the builders, the township issued a building permit on Nov. 18, 2016 after one of the basements, long open to the weather, was certified by an engineer as being safe. The permit expired May 18 after no work at all was done at the site. After 30 days, the township had not heard from the builders.
At this point a six-month extension of the permit was not possible because it had not been sought.
Township attorney Angela Mannarino pointed out the 2011 and 2015 agreements with Sheldon Acquisitions, LLC, provided a safety net for VBT if Sheldon did not complete the buildings. Sheldon and VBT agreed that the basement foundations would be removed, either by Sheldon or at Sheldon’s expense.
Mannarino said since Sheldon does not have a building permit and is not in compliance with some of the requirements, under the agreement, it is up to the board to decide how to proceed.
On June 19, VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara sought board support for a resolution that would order the township to start removing the six basements and filling them with clean sand at a cost of $111,000 to the township plus $2,000 for fencing repair.
A lien would then be put on the property.
But during Monday’s work/study session where the resolution was discussed in open session, board members disagreed on how to move forward, although they all wanted the basements taken care of. They were concerned about a law suit and large attorney fees.
Mannarino said several messages have been sent to Sheldon over the past few months, with no replies.
Matthew Best, deputy director of planning and economic development, said Mr. Randazzo called earlier that day and said he didn’t know what was going on.
Attorneys wanted to wait until after the work/study meeting on the issue before returning the call.
After a lengthy board discussion, township attorneys were directed to call Randazzo back and tell him the township is going to start taking out basements, beginning with the worst one, called #9.
They were to report to the board about the contact with the builder.