A Clay Township "pond" that doubles as a development's stormwater-retention basin has become a point of contention for homeowners and the developer.

The pond at Wildflower Pond is, in fact, the development's stormwater-retention basin, and now the homeowners are being told they will have to care for and maintain it.

A Nov. 26 letter from attorneys for the developer, Dr. Carlton Busco, and received by the Wildflower Pond residents announced that a meeting will be held Thursday at the Clay Township offices.

At the meeting, the letter states, a homeowners' association will be established and members elected. The association will then take over care and maintenance of the stormwater basin.

That doesn't sit well with David Martin and some of his neighbors.

"This really should go to Clay Township, and they should be responsible," said Martin, whose Foggy Bottom Road home is a stone's throw from the basin. "We pay them through our taxes to take care of property like this."

Usually.

But in the case of Wildflower Pond, buyers purchasing houses in the development signed an agreement that a homeowners' association would be formed.

The association's job would be to tend the basin, assessing homeowners for 66 percent of the cost and billing the remaining 34 percent to the owner of an adjacent Two Cousin's Italian restaurant, which fronts on Route 322. The exact cost has yet to be determined.

But in many cases, that agreement was signed by residents almost 10 years ago, and no association has been formed to date.

"That's why it has gotten messy," said Clay Township manager Bruce Leisey. "The developer dragged his feet on it for so long."

In the interim, the Italian restaurant has paid its one-third share of maintenance costs, but Busco has footed the residents' two-thirds.

The lack of a homeowners' association also is the reason Clay Township has yet to accept dedication of the streets in the development. Consequently, Busco has paid to have the streets plowed of snow in winter.

In addition, sinkholes have begun appearing in the basin.

"There have been four sinkholes in the basin just this year," Martin said. "The developer wants to pass all the cost on to the homeowners here."

Leisey believes the sinkhole problem will most likely resolve itself, saying the same thing occurred in basins at other developments in the township. But the holes soon stopped appearing, he said.

That's small comfort to Martin and others who oppose assuming financial responsibility for the basin after living in their homes for nearly a decade.

"I feel the agreement is way past due," Martin said. "It's null and void."

It's unlikely that Busco and his attorneys will agree.

Thursday's meeting starts at 7 p.m.
lalexander@lnpnews.com