In March, Falcon resident Sheryl Lambert said she received a letter from Quantum Commercial Group Inc., inquiring if she would be interested in leasing out a portion of her property for a ìutility use.î Lambertís property is located in the vicinity of Raygor Road and Arroyo Lane.ìI asked around the neighborhood to see if anyone else had gotten a letter,î she said. ìA lot of people to the south hadnít heard or even had a clue about what was going on. I located four other people that got a letter. It intrigued me so I called and asked a few questions, but only got vague answers.îLambert said the broker representative for Quantum, Jack Mason, could not tell her the name of the client he represented, but he did tell her the client wanted to install a water tank on the property.Remembering that a water tank had been constructed in the Black Forest area, off Frank Road, Lambert said she started talking to neighbors who lived near that tank. ìThe people up there were approached by Cherokee Metropolitan District and did business with them,î she said.About a week later, Lambert said she received a contract from Quantum to purchase 10 acres of her property. They would put a deposit on the property and then pay on it for 10 years, depending on whether her property met their needs, she said.ìThe offer was below market value in my estimation,î Lambert said. She also said the contract indicated a sense of urgency, which made her uncomfortable. Lambert eventually turned down the offer. On the contract, Lambert said she noticed the client was listed as Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District.ìI just questioned what the heck is going on,î she said,Gene Cozzolino, WHMD water/wastewater director, said his district does not have any plans to construct a pipeline or water tank in that area. If any leasing contracts have been offered, they have not come from WHMD, he said.Sean Chambers, Cherokee district general manager, said they have no business relationship nor knowledge of Quantum Commercial Group and their property acquisition activities. ìWe are not offering any contracts for right-of-way or easements along Raygor Road,î he said.ìCherokee has done some cursory level engineering and explored various potential easement routes and alternatives to the east of our existing 24-inch potable water pipeline in the Vollmer Road and Banning Lewis Ranch Parkway alignment, which could allow Cherokee the option to interconnect with Meridian Service Metropolitan District and other municipal service providers,î Chambers said. ìThat exploratory work has been with TRS Corp. and our in-house engineer.îEditorís note: The New Falcon Herald attempted to contact Jack Mason for comment but he did not return phone calls or emails. The NFH will have a follow-up article in next monthís issue.
