60-day notice for Cutler work

Board: Developer directed to finish improvements, or township will

Local officials have taken the next step toward finishing two long-discussed development projects, one way or another.

Montgomery Township’s supervisors approved a 60-day notice to cure, directing developer David Cutler to finish public improvements including road and sidewalk repairs in several developments around Enclave Boulevard, or the township will pull their letters of credit to do the work themselves.

“We told his attorney on Friday that we are done. Those are my words: We are done,” said supervisors’ Chairwoman Candyce Fluehr Chimera.

“If we can get the whole job done, we will. That is our goal. But if we can’t, if we’re forced to go out to bid, we can’t get it done until the spring,” she said.

For much of the 2010s, Cutler has been constructing several hundred houses in developments east of Hartman Road, north of Bethlehem Pike, and around Enclave Boulevard, with most of them now occupied. As those have come online, residents in several of the communities have asked the township to help make sure the developer finishing public improvements like the roads and sidewalks running through the communities. Last month the board voted to call two letters of credit already on file for finish-

ing that work, and the notice-to-cure warning issued Monday now sets a 60-day timeline for him to do so.

“When a developer comes in and buys a property, and he makes agreement after agreement, he is supposed to develop the property, and finish it. The township isn’t supposed to assist the developer,” said Supervisor Robert Birch.

“However, we’ve gotten to a point where we are going to take this over ourselves, and I have had enough of Mr. Cutler and his promises. Mr. Cutler has given us promise after promise to finish that project, and he’s not doing it,” he said.

Cutler said Wednesday his company plans to finish the work as soon as possible, but each of the four phases has had different difficulties since the projects began.

“Our firm is committed to completing this project as fast as possible, but we can’t jump in there prior to the completion of construction, like at Montgomery Preserve,” he said.

Final paving is finished for Enclave Boulevard and for the 169 lots in the Montgomery Walk community, according to Cutler, and an additional 109 lots in the Montgomery Pointe section were originally started by a different construction company and have only recently been taken over by Cutler. In Montgomery Knoll, work on roads connecting the roughly 35 houses there will begin “immediately after Montgomery Pointe” is paved, according to Cutler.

“We didn’t want to finish paving and then have construction activity over that road, but the township wants it completed, so we’ll complete it right away,” he said.

Settlement on the final house of the 35 in Montgomery Preserve was scheduled for Wednesday, according to the developer, which should allow work to be finished within the 60-day window, weather permitting.

“We’ll start working on the completion of that (Preserve section) as well, but we had to wait to settle the last house,” he said.

“We’ve settled the last three (houses) in the last month, and it’s still under construction. The last one settles today, and then we’ll go in there and complete the road,” Cutler said.

Chimera and Township Solicitor Frank Bartle said during the supervisors’ Monday night meeting that the board has held numerous executive sessions in recent weeks to discuss the ongoing problems and possible legal action, including a meeting at the site last week, and said the notice to cure is meant to spur the developer to finish the project before winter weather arrives.

“We were out there with our engineers, we have a letter saying that the conditions are unsafe, and that it is an emergency that some of this work gets done,” Chimera said.

“At the very least, emergency work will be done to fix the potholes, so that a snow plow will be able to get through this year,” she said.

A package of three resolutions was approved by the board after discussion in executive session: one directing the township’s solicitor “to pursue all legal and equitable remedies” for failing to complete the public improvements in the Montgomery Walk and Montgomery Pointe developments; a second authorizing a 60-day cure notice for failure to finish improvements in the Montgomery Knoll development; and a third, similar notice for the Montgomery Preserve development.

“Essentially, the way the board looked at this thing is that we have three obligations, effectively, in this order: Number one, make the project safe. Number two: finish it, and then number three, him pay us what he then will owe us,” Bartle said.

Resident Jeff McGrath of Montgomery Pointe asked questions about several details, including whether the amounts currently held in various escrows would be enough to finish the work. Bartle said “we think we do, at this time,” have enough funds in the letters of credit to finish the projects, but the developer could finish the improvements at less cost than the township due to public bidding requirements.

As of Monday, according to Bartle, the securities and letters of credit held for improvements to Montgomery Pointe total roughly $306,000; for Montgomery Walk, roughly $1.26 million; for Montgomery Knoll, roughly $236,000 and for Montgomery Preserve, $237,000.

McGrath also asked if a recent name change of the developer’s company from

“The David Cutler Group” to “Hudson Palmer Homes” would somehow impact the proceedings, and Bartle said they would not.

“The securities that we have, with respect to the letters of credit, the bonds, and the cash that’s been posted, are all in the appropriate name of ‘The Cutler Group Incorporated,’” Bartle said.

Bartle and Township Manager Larry Gregan said they hope to meet with representatives from Cutler by the end of the week to discuss next steps, and said staff are still evaluating how much of the necessary work could be done inhouse by township staff and what must be bid out.

“There is no effort we haven’t taken, that we feel would be in the best interests of the residents. I know there continues to be some frustration there, but I hope you can appreciate that we’ve done everything within the capabilities of the township to address the concerns,” said Supervisor Michael Fox.

Chimera and Birch said

the vote Monday was the first time since either has been on the board that such an action has been taken, and Chimera said she hopes

the notice “wakes (Cutler) up a little bit,” and thanked the residents for their patience.

“This is very important to us, and we are going to move

ahead and do everything we can to get what we need to out of the Cutler group, and just resolve this once and for all,” Chimera said.