The owners of condominium units at the Edgecomb Development property on Davis Island have been speaking with town selectmen and the court-appointed receiver of the property to determine exactly who owns what and whether or not they can expect some financial assistance for the development’s sewer system.
Mike Hynes, president of the Sheepscot Harbor View Condominium group (known informally as “the View”), addressed selectmen Monday offering an explanation about forming two separate condominium owner organizations within the same development.
Hynes joined Jane Price, President of the Sheepscot Harbor Resort Village Condominium Homeowner Association (also known informally as “the Village”), at a Jan. 4 meeting in Edgecomb to speak with selectmen about the sewer issue.
All View and Village members said the cost of routine pump maintenance for the sewer system averages about $5000 per year. The call-out cost for an electrician to come and check the pumps is roughly $200 each time.
Hynes said the pumps are maintained daily and they are doing their best to keep the pumps operating. All members, concerned about pump maintenance and associated costs, seek financial assistance from the town.
The town does not own the pumps, but does own the sewer line running under the Eddy Road and across the river to Wiscasset. Selectmen said Monday night they wanted to wait on further discussion of the matter until after the sale of the property, Sheepscot Harbour Village and Resort.
“I’d rather the town not be in the water and sewer business,” Selectman Stuart Smith said, agreeing with Selectman John Johnson that they should wait to see what a new owner plans for the property.
Johnson said the Utility Committee and town attorney are aware of the sewer situation and have been in contact with the parties involved. He suggested Hynes contact the court-appointed receiver, Priority Group, LLC, to see what they think about helping with the sewer system costs.
Priority Group, LLC, has been managing the property and will sell it at auction on Fri., Jan. 29 at 10 a.m.
The resort and grounds formerly owned by [Roger Bintliff’s] Edgecomb Development include nine condominium units, an inn, a restaurant, commercial property including the Chef’s Kitchen, a lobster shack and 16 acres of undeveloped land, the pier, and pool house. The sale will also include the development rights to 11 empty lots on the resort project.
Existing owners of condominium units and cottages will continue to have the access rights of common property afforded them through their purchases.
Selectmen collectively said at the Monday night meeting the Village area of the development property belongs in the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, while the View portion of the property is not. Hynes brought a map indicating where the Village and View condominium units are located on the property.
He said the View group formed on Nov. 11, 2008 after the Financial Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) made changes to the financial requirements associated with the down payments on second homes. Down payments for second homes increased nationwide, Hynes said, especially those that included rental and commercial features.
Hynes said the Village area included an “opt out” rental program and the restaurant. Condominium property owners formed the View group, deleting references to the restaurant and rental program, to bring back conventional financing. Hynes said condo owners could still rent their units, but no formal requirements were formulated. He said four properties closed shortly afterward, but none have sold since last spring.
“As long as the restaurant and rental program as currently defined remain in the village condominium, the need for two associations on one property will continue,” Hynes stated in a Jan. 4 letter to the board.
He said the condo unit owners and affiliated associations would continue to maintain the property as a whole, with respect to such tasks as garbage removal and snowplowing, but questions remain about who owns the resort dock that stretches out along the Davey Bridge and the foundation for an unfinished event center.
Whether or not the property will include the sale of the foundation as an event center or some other project would be up to Priority Group, Hynes said. Both groups agree the foundation, where it is located deep in the center of the property, would not be a practical location for an event center. Hynes said people would have to drive through much of the property in order to get to it.
