By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent
Final approval for the Ludlow Subdivision in west Mona will be given after the mayor and city council have a chance to walk the site and make certain that the infrastructure work done meets the city’s criteria. Steve Ludlow, Brett Ludlow and Garrison Ludlow, were all present as owners of Priority Homes, who are hoping to sell the lots for 23 homes. “Verl Wilkey, city building inspector, has checked the work,” said B. Ludlow. He said that the 25 lots first engineered on the plat map had been pared down to 23 for the time being. Two weeks ago, it had seemed that three lots would need to be cut from the proposal but a second lot was now available. The original title to the land in question went back to 1879, said B. Ludlow. The developers plan to quit title the remaining two lots but it may take several months to get the property cleared for building. Bill Mills, mayor, said that he had walked the property earlier that day and had a few concerns. One was that the pipe to the drain basins seemed to be wide open. Another issue was that he could not easily locate the sewer manholes. Wilkey had signed off on them, said B. Ludlow, but it was fine for the city council and mayor to do a walk through. “We have been working with Lynn Ingram, city planning commission chairman, for two years now,” said B. Ludlow. “We will be bonding.” Ludlows have not paid, but will do so soon, they assured the council, for the $22,000 for digging of the natural gas line to be used to provide service to the homes to be constructed. “The payment will be made this week,” said B. Ludlow. Another small bill of $50 was paid as soon as council meeting ended. Chad Phillips, city water and gas operator, said he did not think that the road had been properly patched although the main portion had already been asphalted. B. Ludlow said that he would look into that and appreciated the council bringing concerns to them so that they could make certain their contractors were doing the job. Mills said the city had not had good luck with developers in the past and that was why they were being so cautious. Some of the problems that had been created in past developments had never been solved. “Too many things in the past were not done,” he said. “It is up to us to make sure that everything is done.” “We will bond for everything,” said B. Ludlow. Subdivision bonds are a guarantee that contractors meet their performance obligations. A subdivision bond is a contract performance bond. “We will provide performance bonds, improvement bonds and warranty bonds so Mona will be guaranteed that all will be completed to your satisfaction,” he said. “If we don’t do something, you can keep the money and make the improvement.” He said that the city could hold the bond for two years which should be a long enough period of time to make certain that all had been done. “We have signed the plat and it is ready for your signatures,” said S. Ludlow. “We can’t do anything until you sign the plat.” “When we give you a final, sign the plat and record it, then you will be ready to go,” said Mills. Mike Stringer, council member, asked if the developers had also consulted with the fire department on the number and placement of fire hydrants. That had been done, said B. Ludlow. Street lights would be placed, but Priority Homes was still waiting for Rocky Mountain Power. S. Ludlow asked if the city would vote on the plan with a contingency that it would be approved if the walk through was satisfactory. Mills said that he would prefer to make the walk through before that was done. “People are anxious to move to Mona,” said Mills. “I don’t think two more weeks will hurt.” He did not know what needed to be done prior to the walk through, he said. “You do good work in other towns,” said Jay Mecham, city council member. “I am sure the work will be as good here.” G. Ludlow said that the company would also provide the city with an as-built map so they would know where utilities were for the future. Phillips said that he had been working with Taurus Plumbing and Excavation which had been doing some infrastructure work at the site. “We would not leave a product with our name on it that we could not be proud of,” said B. Ludlow. He said that they did have a couple of suggestions for the city that they might add to their ordinance dealing with subdivisions. One was that, as some cities do, they add a clause calling for a walk through by city council members and by the mayor. “Our other suggestion is that you put into your ordinance a contact person so that you would have one person who could be contacted by developers,” said B. Ludlow. It was a bit frustrating to not know who they should contact. |
