By John Tredrea, Special Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — The residents of the 129-home Lamberts Hill development have waited and waited for work on sidewalks and landscaping to be done in their development.
But now that the city has turned over to the development’s homeowner’s association the $147,000 procured in the settlement with the bond company (Aegis Security), the work can be done.
Presentation of the check to the association took place July 16.
Orleans, the firm that built the development, went bankrupt before the contractually obligated work was done.
Left undone when Orleans went belly-up was some roadwork in the development. Orleans agreed to do that work early last fall after lengthy talks with the city.
The city turned down Orleans’ offer to give the city cash it could use to get that roadwork down. “We turned them down on that,” Mayor David Del Vecchio said then. “We told them we wanted them to do what they’re obligated to do” on the roads and associated work, such as curbing.
The roadwork was completed late last fall.
A bond on Lamberts Hill was OK’d when the development was approved by the city Planning Board.
The purpose of the city’s requiring the bond was to give the town access to money to complete work at the site in the event Orleans didn’t do the work required as a condition of the development’s being approved by the city.
Posting such bonds, often called “performance bonds,” is a standard component of many development approvals in New Jersey.
Getting the $147,000 for the sidewalks, landscaping and hardware associated with the work comes after many months of talks among city officials, Orleans, the homeowners association and the firm that handled the bond for Lamberts Hill.
