Kimberton Meadows Residents Go Before Board Again

The East Pikeland Board of Supervisors took several steps to ensure residents in the Kimberton Meadows development that the township will do what it can to help get the issues in the development fixed.

First, at the Sept. 6 meeting, the board voted unanimously to deny a building permit for the site. While three permits were applied for, one will be denied until site grading is performed to the township engineer’s standards. Though The Benson Companies is the developer of the site, NVHomes has bought up lots in the unfinished development and was the entity applying for the building permit.

Residents came before the board at to ask for help with conditions on the site, which, according to the Benson website, it set to have 67 homes on it. Kimberton Meadows homeowners complained of unfinished streets, piles of dirt and asphalt, incomplete public improvements, issues with erosion and storm water, safety issues and general sluggishness on building.

At its September meeting, the board invited Township Engineer Ed Latshaw to speak directly with residents on their worries about the state of the development. Latshaw read from a list of 21 questions formally posed by residents regarding escrow money and other concerns.

An escrow account for Kimberton Meadows has $960,000 remaining for construction, $280,000 as contingency and $60,000 for legal, inspection and engineering costs, according to Latshaw. He said when the escrow process began, the township negotiated costs with the developer.

“We try to be as conservative as we can within the legal framework,” Latshaw said.

Following the discussion with the 21 questions, answered by Latshaw and an inspector who works for the township engineer and is familiar with the site, a plan of action was devised.

Residents will form a committee to interface directly with Latshaw, and it’s likely that another meeting will be scheduled to address outstanding or very specific issues.

Latshaw was tasked with looking to re-evaluate the pricing of the remaining items that need to be completed by the developer. As the development is several years old, prices may have changed, so Latshaw will come up with more timely and accurate estimates.

Safety issues, like an open foundation on one of the lots, were to be addressed immediately. Chairman Ronald Graham asked residents to work with the township right away with specific direction on any safety concerns about the site.

The engineer and his staff were also asked to contact the county conservation district regarding concerns about erosion and erosion fencing on the site. While the engineer’s inspector can make recommendations, the ultimate force in getting erosion issues resolved is the county, according to Latshaw.

The inspector was asked to look at possible water issues, where water was perhaps flowing into basements on unsold lots.

Finally, the solicitor and engineer have been tasked with working together to come up with a list of possible default items that should have been done in a timely fashion. Solicitor Bill Lincke stressed that the township would have to tread carefully when seeing what could and could not be required. Contract language lists that things must be done in a “timely fashion,” but that term is not defined.

“We have to be 100 percent correct,” Lincke told the board.

Graham told the residents in attendance that the township was happy to help.

“We’re eager to do this,” he said. “We’d like to get it resolved.”

He also said the various steps would be necessary to bring about a resolution.

“It’s time that we all work on this thing pretty diligently,” Graham said.

The next meeting of the East Pikeland Board of Supervisors is set for Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.