Cedarwood developers seek to set the record straight

Submitted by Brad and Mary Lou Cummings
Posted 10/31/19

To Cedarwood Subdivision residents:

I would like to first of all welcome Mr. Donald Seagreaves   to the City of Powell,   having recently moved here from out of state, and assure him …

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Cedarwood developers seek to set the record straight

Posted

To Cedarwood Subdivision residents:

I would like to first of all welcome Mr. Donald Seagreaves  to the City of Powell,  having recently moved here from out of state, and assure him that we have never been able to achieve the ‘wink and a nod’ method of conducting business in the 37-plus years we’ve been blessed to live here.  Although Mr. Seagreaves letter to the editor is well-intended, as well as the article written Oct. 22 by Kevin Killough, perhaps a few facts to support the professional manner in which all of us endeavor to do business would be helpful.

As the fourth phase is nearing completion, my husband Brad and I began to look toward Phase V platting and made an inquiry as to how the city perceived constructing the park on Lot 95, in order to plat the streets around it appropriately. If you know Brad Cummings,  you know that he would never just show up to ask about paying fees for anything, he simply inquired about the designated park land with Zack Thorington, our city administrator. At this point I was asked to provide our raw land cost, which I gave through our certified public accountant, and that some sort of proposal be written to the City of Powell to pay the 10 percent only if the council determined they did not want another park to maintain. I might note that The Rosewood Corp put a public walkway between two lots off of Basil Drive that gives residents of the Cedarwood Sub a pathway and access to Westside school in approximately 600 feet. The school has playgrounds, tennis courts and walkways with Wood Park in addition. The City of Powell also owns 4.84 acres to the south of Lane 9 in direct line with the land in question, also designated for a city park.

We considered it reasonable for the city to get an outside opinion of the current value of the raw land to determine the amount that would have to be paid to meet the 10 percent criteria in place since 1994.  My comment to Mr. Killough, “At this point, we’ll just get it figured out,” was made with the understanding that the path forward was still uncertain.

Upon further investigation into the legal status of the 2.04 acres in question, the land is owned by the city as intended with the platting of Phase IV. The Rosewood Corp has no ability to reclaim the site by providing the 10 percent fee instead. The fact that it remained titled to The Rosewood Corp was unknown, as neither party had received tax notices from Park County since its designation with the approval of the Phase IV plat. This was not any purposeful “land grab” or “unctuous” agreement as described by Mr. Seagreaves. The land was donated and has been owned by the City of Powell since the Phase IV plat was approved by that city council on April 1, 2013. I guess in retrospect, the date signed by then-Mayor Don Hillman eventually played an April’s Fool trick on us all today.

The City of Powell has to maintain any donated park land for a period of 10 years before it can make any other consideration of its use or sale, according to state statutes. In conclusion, Cedarwood residents should plan on that site remaining a vacant field for many years to come.

We feel blessed to have raised our family and grown our businesses in the City of Powell these many decades and hope that newcomers experience the same.

Respectfully,

Brad and Mary Lou Cummings

Powell

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