Defendants claim Hoschton owes them $200,000
Lawsuit centers on sewer pump station
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
The defendants in a lawsuit with Hoschton claim the city owes them more than $200,000 over the ownership of a sewer pump station in a new subdivision.
Hoschton filed a lawsuit against Horizon Communities, LLC, Gary and Olsson Properties, LLC, Ken Gary and Kelley Gary in February in Jackson County Superior Court.
The lawsuit centers on a new sewer pump station to handle wastewater from Brook Glen, an 88-lot subdivision located between Broad Street and Jefferson Street. Brook Glen is being developed by Horizon Communities.
In its lawsuit, the city contends that Ken and Kelley Gary and their companies claim that they still own the pump station and are responsible for its maintenance. The city further said in the lawsuit that the defendants claim that the pump station was never dedicated to the city.
In a counterclaim filed last week, the defendants claim that Hoschton owes them at least $200,000 for the sewer pump station.
A June 2005 zoning condition on the 29.24-acre property would allow Horizon Communities to recoup its investment in the sewer lines and the Brook Glen pump station, according to the defendants.
The Brook Glen pump station was designed to serve several developments, including Wild Flower subdivision, developed by Gary and Olsson Properties; the proposed Oak Brook subdivision on Jefferson Street; and a mixed-use project being developed on Ga. Hwy. 53 known as Creekside Village. The defendants claim that the pump station doesn’t have enough capacity to serve other developments.
The defendants further claim that Hoschton prevented them from negotiating with the developers of those projects to share the costs of a new sewer pump station.
Instead, the city required that the developers pay Hoschton for sewer improvements and pump station costs rather than contracting with the defendants, according to the lawsuit.
Hoschton later required the developers of Creekside Village to pay $200,000 for sewer system improvements, the lawsuit notes.
The defendants are asking the court to order Hoschton to pay the defendants that $200,000 amount, which follows a zoning condition allowing the companies to recoup its costs for the sewer line and pump station.
The defendants are further asking that the city pay any funds Hoschton receives from other developers for capacity into the Brook Glen pump station.
Hoschton recently approved $55,000 in sales tax funds for a new sewer line to divert wastewater from a problematic pump station on West Jefferson Street to the new Brook Glen facility.
Another request from the defendants asks that Hoschton be required to issue building permits and certificates of occupancy for the Brook Glen subdivision.
Horizon Communities is also ready and willing to dedicate the Brook Glen pump station to the city, according to the counterclaim.
