LAGRANGE TWP. — The Pheasant Run Association is facing financial woes and is contemplating bankruptcy as a possible solution.

The 540 homeowners in the privately owned Pheasant Run Village recently received a newsletter discussing the money problems and suggesting potential solutions, of which bankruptcy was one. Others include raising the monthly $35.90 homeowner fees — perhaps by as much as $20 a month — or dissolving the association and allowing the development to be governed by LaGrange Township.

How serious is the fiscal crisis?

General Manager Floyd Peaco, who used to be mayor of North Ridgeville, said the association is current on payments of its debt of about $1.1 million, but it has no money to pave streets or build up any reserves to cover an emergency such as equipment failure. While not at crisis stage just yet, “I think we will be in five or six months,” he said.

“We have three miles of roads here, and probably two miles are falling apart,” Peaco said.

A group of Pheasant Run residents was appointed to a committee to explore the various options, each of which comes with its own set of problems, said Bill Davis, a resident and committee member.

The logical choice — raising fees — won’t be easy to sell, he said.

“People are complaining about the fees — they don’t want to pay any more, because people are paying township taxes, too,” said Davis, a retired factory worker.

In addition to $35.90 in monthly dues, residents also pay the association for garbage pickup, and water and sewer services, as well as an extra $15 a month for sewer plant improvements. By the time everything is added up, Davis said his monthly bill is about $130.

But some residents aren’t eager to accept another choice — dissolving the association — saying they fear that the loss of the local governance will impact the quality of life in the subdivision.

Paul Setliff, a resident who is the father of a 15-year-old girl, said Pheasant Run cracks down on junk cars, has a curfew for juveniles and discourages drug dealing by paying the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office $30,000 a year for extra patrols.

“If they would dissolve the association, it would turn into another Eaton Estates — it wouldn’t be a good place to raise children,” Setliff said, referencing a housing development in Eaton Township.

Setliff said he thinks one way to save some money is to cut back on the number of people employed by the association. Association officials said there are two full-time office workers, a full-time maintenance worker, three part-time workers and a part-time general manager.

Such cuts, Setliff said, could help the association so a reserve fund can be built up. He is against raising fees, saying he simply cannot afford to pay more.

“I live not week to week but day to day,” Setliff said.

Peaco said bankruptcy — while a possibility — isn’t the best choice, either. It could hurt property values in the development, which already have taken a beating by years of controversy involving questionable leadership and lawsuits, he said.

“People have a weird view of bankruptcy — they think you start fresh from zero, but that’s not the way it works,” Peaco said.

Peaco came to the helm about 18 months ago after he and board members Dan Ebenschweller and Hilda Hollinghead staged a coup against the existing leadership, which was led by former general manager Ronald Mertz. The association’s board hired attorneys to challenge a Dec. 7, 2006, settlement agreement that awarded more than $218,000 and land to a developer and resident, Lee Hoztrager.

That settlement played into the current financial problems, as did some costly work to upgrade the sewer plant, Peaco said.

But attorney Matthew Dooley, one of the lawyers representing the association, said he thinks the settlement has a good chance of being overturned because the association’s board did not vote on it. The agreement was signed by Mertz, association secretary Lori Quinones and the late board member Leonard Shaffer.

“I think they got a raw deal,” Dooley said.

Mertz, who still lives in Pheasant Run, declined to comment. Quinones, still secretary of the association and a board member, also declined to comment. 

LaGrange Township trustee Gary Burnett said if the association is dissolved, the township will do what it can to help. Right now, the township plays only a limited role in the village — maintaining two of the 30 or so streets, lanes and cul-de-sacs in the subdivision.

The situation with the homeowners association will not affect the Pheasant Run Golf Course, which is adjacent to Pheasant Run Village, because it is privately owned by Spitzer Management Co.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

 

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