Residents, developer meet to hash out issues
Sayreville homeowners complain of drainage, erosion
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

Towne Lake residents met last week to express frustration over drainage and other issues that they say remain unaddressed by the development's builder.

The meeting was held June 25 at the Sayreville Senior Center, and residents were hoping to get help from Mayor Kennedy O'Brien and to get answers from the developer, Kaplan Cos. However, O'Brien had to leave early to attend another meeting, and residents were upset with the development firm's representation at the meeting.

Towne Lake is a development of single-family homes off Main Street and Washington Road that will eventually include 250 homes. Kaplan is also building an adjacent senior community, as well as a separate subdivision dubbed Towne Lake West, which is to include 80 units.

"[The meeting] did not go very well," Towne Lake resident Tanya McFarland said. "It was unfortunate that the mayor could not stay, and a lot of people were disappointed. It got heated, and many people were upset about the two gentlemen Kaplan sent as representatives."

The Kaplan representatives at the meeting were Paul Kausch, director of construction, and Project Manager Mike Spano.

O'Brien addressed the audience at the start of the forum, but he left to attend a Board of Education meeting where residents and officials were

hashing out concerns related to the school district's elimination of courtesy busing.

McFarland, who has lived in Towne Lake for eight months, said the homeowners pay a monthly fee of approximately $100 for amenities such as a future walk path and the lake, but she said she does not know what is happening with the money.

"[Kausch] is well aware of the issues we deal with," McFarland said, "so we felt that there should have been someone a bit higher up there to deal with our issues. We wanted to get some answers about dues money."

McFarland also said there are community-wide drainage and erosion issues.

"People move in and find out months afterward. They first move in and see beautiful landscaping, a nice facade, then it starts washing away or eroding. It is not just my and my neighbor's backyards. Every time we ask questions, a week or a month goes by and we are still waiting to find out how Kaplan is going to address this," she said.

McFarland said most of the approximately 100 residents in attendance at last week's meeting have problems with drainage and erosion on their properties. She said the house she shares with her husband and her mother is at the top of a hill on Pyanowski Court, and that water regularly goes through her retaining wall.

"I have 1- to 2-foot divots of water that has washed into my neighbor's property, and they have clay in part of their lot. Others have water pooling, because there is nowhere for the water to go. Landscapers say that they cannot mow through here because it is too wet. This needs to be resolved," she said. "I have been here for only eight months and for the first year you have full warranty on your home. They need to figure out the grades before they continue building lots, because that will be one more homeowner that they will have with drainage or erosion problems. Kaplan still will not give us a time when it is going to be done. That is the biggest thing."

McFarland estimated that there are more than 170 completed and occupied homes now in the development. Residents were trying to address their issues individually, McFarland said, but banded together after communicating on an Internet blog. Last week's meeting was their first as a group, and another is expected in about a month.

Kaplan agreed to send a notice to every resident in the complex regarding the status of their complaints by this week, McFarland said.

"We have a man-made lake that we share, a front entrance, and a future walking path. We pay dues as a community for the upkeep of these ... . A lot of people do not know where the money is going," McFarland said.

Kaplan Cos. President Jason Kaplan described the residents' concerns as "normal homeowners' issues."

He added that he thought the meeting with the residents was productive.

"Some of the complaints, we were unaware of," Kaplan said. "We had two representatives there who were brought up-to-date on some of the issues we were unaware of. It was a positive meeting that opened up communication. It is not that we were looking to not do work that we are responsible for. I do not think there are any inherent problems that cannot be resolved. We intend to live up to our promise of delivering quality houses."

Kaplan said the company's vice president of construction will be at the meeting with residents next month to discuss updates on the situation.

"They said that they communicated their grievances and complaints to us, but we were unaware," Kaplan said. "I am not sure where they were sent to, but we are not trying to shirk our responsibility."

Kaplan advised residents to call the customer service department at (732) 721-8083 to report any problems they have with their homes.

"We heard about the meeting secondhand," Kaplan said. "We were notified two hours before the meeting. I want to create an open line of communication with the [homeowners] association."