Delayed road paving proves problematic at Brandy Pond Crossing

LOT NO. 17 is identified with a sign on the edge of a dirt road in the Brandy Pond Crossing subdivision. Paving of the private road was scheduled to happen in September but has been postponed until mid-October. (De Busk Photo)

By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES— A road-paving project that was scheduled to take place in September has been delayed until possibly mid-October.

Two different paving companies backed out of the project. On short notice, the second week of October is probably the earliest a third contractor can get in there and put down pavement.

The paving is for roads on a privately-owned project called Brandy Pond Crossing subdivision. Front Nine Homes, LLC is the company putting in the infrastructure for the residential development. Paul Hollis is the owner of Front Nine Homes.

The Naples Board of Selectmen invited the developer Hollis and representatives from the company financing the project to a meeting to provide a construction update.  

Abutters also attended that meeting, held on Sept. 14. Many of the abutters had invested in those homes while the land was still a seasonal golf course.

Lately, the selectmen have been keeping track of the project. If the roadway is not paved, the town may have to take legal action, requesting the release of funds from the letter of credit.

The board asked for an update and was told that the paving was almost a month behind schedule.

The developer Paul Hollis explained why.

“Two months ago, we had a bid for paving to be done by the second or third week in September. In preparing for that, in the last few weeks, the company that we were going to contract with just completely disappeared. They are overwhelmed with other jobs, and they couldn’t respond to getting to our job on time,” Hollis said. “We reached out to another paving company about a week and a half ago. They were willing to come on the 26th of September and do the job but they didn’t want to be subject to town approval.”

SOME DITCH WORK has been completed in preparation for the paving. The photo was taken shortly after Labor Day at Brandy Pond Crossing lots, where the paving project was delayed until mid-October. (De Busk Photo)

So, the second paving company back out, too, he said.

“Today (Sept. 14) we received a contract that was acceptable to us,” Hollis said, adding that the paving date is three or four weeks away.

Later on during the meeting, that paving timeframe was almost nailed down by a representative from Maine Capital, the company that has the letter of credit.

“We got firm dates. Probably the second week of October, maybe the first week of October for paving,” said Shawn Lyden, with Maine Capital.

For the abutters and for town officials, it is the second year of hearing that the road will not get paved as early as previously promised.

The first paving deadline was October 2019 as agreed upon when the Naples Planning Board approved the project, Brandy Pond Crossing subdivisions.

“We have had promise after promise after promise that has not been kept,” said Lisa Burger, who owns a home off Fairway Drive. “Your point of view changes with the audience that listening to you. We were promised a road two years ago. We were promised that we would have a paved access to our docks down the side of the {last name of owner} property. That has not happened. And, now it is not necessarily a priority. Every promise, everything that has been said to us — as property-owners since we moved in — has not been met. We have been eating dust for two years and we’ve been promised for two years that we would have a road. That is just one of many promises.”

“This has been a debacle from the beginning. And it has to come to an end. Our lives are in an uproar every single day because of this. And, it is time. It is time that it gets fixed,” Burger said.

Later, Hollis stepped to the microphone.

“You can see that I am struggling to get this project done. I am not here to run away from my responsibilities. I am going to meet my obligations,” he said.

More than a half dozen property-owner spoke during what was about an hour timeframe.

Abutter Bruce Spainhour said he had agreed to provide the developer with an emergency access right-of-way in trade for the planting of trees. That agreement stated that those eight trees would be in place before any construction happened, he said.

“Needless to say that did not happen,” Spainhour said.

The agreement between Spainhour and Hollis was in writing. The board suggested he provide the town with a copy.

Other property-owners only had verbal agreements with Hollis. 

Chairman Jim Grattelo explained that the town cannot help residents with agreements with the developer that are not part of the site plan approved by the planning board.

“The role of the selectboard is to check out the line (letter) of credit as part of the (site) plan. There are agreements outside of the plan — we are not going to be able to enforce through the (letter) of credit,” Grattelo said.

Naples Town Manager John Hawley explained how a letter of credit works.

“A letter of credit is a promissory note written to the town in the amount of the cost of the project. If the project construction does not get completed in a timely manner or has issues that need fixing and the developer does not fix them, the town can then demand a draw down of the funds backed by the letter. Those funds are then used to do what needs to be done on the project,” Hawley said this week.

“Letters of credit need to be supplied to the town by either a developer or an applicant of a project. They have to go to a lender willing to back the letter of credit financially,” he said.

“The Town already placed a demand on those funds last October because the project was supposed to be completed by then. The financial firm of Maine Capital did not have the funding to support the letter of credit so yes, it could end up in court if they don’t finish the project very soon,” Hawley said, adding “The line of credit is only for the subdivision plans.”

Hollis said that some things like the planting of trees might not happen.

However, the paving is priority, he said.

“The three things we are focused on is: Getting the road paved, fire suppression system in, and working on the second dock,” Hollis said.

Town officials are concerned that the weather could prevent paving from getting completed.

“If the paving isn’t done within the next month, it will be too late to pave because the atmospheric temperatures need to be appropriate to pave. They would have to wait until the spring,” Hawley said.