On May 18, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners declared Tamlin Ventures LLC, developer of Falcon Highlands, in breach of its 2004 contract with the county to complete public improvements in the development’s three filings.Falcon Highlands is located south of Woodmen Road between Golden Sage Road and Old Meridian Road.The decision clears the way for the county to take legal action against the subdivision bonds Tamlin put up to ensure the improvements would be completed.Lori Seago, the county’s assistant attorney, said Tamlin has not paid its Falcon small area traffic fees for filing 1, has not completed public improvements in filings 1 and 2 and has not completed grading and erosion control measures for filings 2 and 3.Larry Syslo, an engineer from the county’s development services department, said public rights of way, utility and other minor construction work need to be completed in filing 1, as well as reclamation of what was Falcon Highlands Drive, which provided temporary access to Woodmen Road.Filing 2 lacks some sidewalks and pedestrian ramps, and filing 3, which was not platted, receives storm runoff from filing 2, Syslo said.”In my opinion, we’re probably upside down in filing 1. I’m fairly confident the amount [of the bond for filing 2] would cover the deficiencies in filing 1,” he said.According to documents in support of Seago’s resolution, $140,364 is still available in the filing 1 bond. The filing 2 bond has $414,979.88, and $11,685 remains in the filing 3 bond.With a separate subdivision bond for each filing, it’s not clear whether money from one filing’s bond can be used to pay for deficiencies in another.”The issue is gray,” said county attorney William Louis, adding that his office is devoting a great deal of time to situations like this.”We’re still in discussions as to whether we can use the remaining amount [of a bond] for whatever deficiencies still remain,” Seago said.As for the developer-owned property in each of the three filings, Seago said the properties have been foreclosed and are now owned by a variety of financial institutions.”We’re looking to get those public improvements completed so those lots can be improved and marketed,” Seago said.
