Reader shares thoughts on “The Manor”

Letter to the Editor:

I have been closely following for years Prince Edward County’s attempt to develop a golf course, resort (hotel and spa) and residential homes at a development known as Poplar Hills and “The Manor,” as well as its most recent attempt to build a hotel and conference center to be known as Granite Falls Hotel and Conference Center (Granite Falls).

The original development of Poplar Hills and “the Manor” project called for a hotel and spa to be built.  As we all know, the Poplar Hills / Manor Golf Course development efforts met with dismal failure.  Some thirteen years after that initial project was envisioned:

1)  there is no resort,

2)  there are but 4 cottage/homes that were ever built, and

3)  the Poplar Hills CDA that was created by the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors has defaulted on the bonds that it had issued.

It’s interesting that one aspect of that project was built — The Manor Golf Course.  A question that needs to be asked is who in this County is benefitting from this golf course.

Most members of our County Government would have us believe that despite this failed development attempt no county funds were put at risk.  What about the funds of the taxpayers of Prince Edward County that were harmed?   I’m sure that the businesses and individuals that supplied goods and services to the developers of the Poplar Hills/Manor Project would beg to differ with our County’s characterization.  Those individuals and businesses were never paid for those goods and services and spent even more money in court costs trying to collect the monies owed to them.   Not to mention the public funds (as opposed to county public funds) that were used to help pay for the utilities and the road back to the golf course and clubhouse and the cottages.

You will also hear the majority of the members of our Board of Supervisors tell us that the Poplar Hills Project is not related to the Granite Falls Project at all.  I beg to differ.

The financial advisor for the Poplar Hills CDA (the entity established by Prince Edward County to assist in funding parts of the Poplar Hills/Manor Project) was Public Finance Consultants, Inc., whose president is Mr. Robert Fowler.  The developer of Granite Falls is Prince Edward Development, LLC, whose principal is none other than Mr. Robert Fowler.  Yes it is one and the same (see Mr. Fowler’s letter dated May 28, 2012, addressed to Mr. Robert Jones and attached to the June 2012 minutes of the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors).  Mr. Fowler would have us believe that he has nothing to do with the Poplar Hills Project and/or the Manor Golf Club.

In reviewing the minutes of the Prince Edward Industrial Development Authority (hereafter IDA) it was discovered that on December 7, 2011, the IDA made a $50,000 loan (that is what county officials call it) purportedly to the financially troubled Manor Resort golf course for what the minutes of the county’s IDA describe as covering certain expenses “… especially an outstanding debt to the IRS…”   Just who was it that approached the IDA for this “loan”?  Apparently it was Mr. John Pringaman according to the article in the Farmville Herald several weeks ago.  Mr. Pringaman it is my understanding was an employee of the golf course.   Apparently it was a verbal request – the IDA records show nothing in writing – no written justification provided for the loan, not even the papers from the IRS showing the amount of taxes owed.  When reviewing the documents of this purported “loan,” what you will find is a Contribution Agreement that Public Finance Consultants, Inc., through its president, Mr. Robert Fowler entered into with an Escrow Agent in the foreclosure action.  Yes, Mr. Robert Fowler is the same individual who is the principal of Prince Edward Development, LLC that is behind the Granite Falls Hotel Project.

There are some items which I believe need to be clarified regarding the purported “loan.”  Pursuant to that Contribution Agreement, Public Finance Consultants, Inc. was required to contribute $50,000 to the Escrow Agent in connection with some expenses at the Manor Golf Club, including the payment of back taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.   However, neither Public Finance Consultants, Inc., nor Mr. Fowler personally, made that payment.  Who did?  None other than the Prince Edward County IDA.  And what did the IDA get in return — an assignment of whatever rights Public Finance Consultants, Inc., has to repayment of the $50,000 contribution payment together with interest. It should be noted that repayment can only be made after payment of certain expenses enumerated in the original Contribution Agreement.

There are two initial problems with this so called Loan.  First and foremost, no written request was ever received by the IDA to provide such a loan, there are no loan documents, no repayment schedule, no time frame for any repayment, and no guarantee whatsoever that the IDA will ever be repaid, let alone repaid with interest.  Secondly, why in the world did the IDA agree to do this?  Have you known the County to do this for any other business that was at risk of closing down due to insolvency issues or unpaid taxes with the IRS.   I for one have not.  But why do so for the Manor Golf Course?   The County through the IDA does make loans to businesses. Yet those loans are well documented and have been reviewed to ensure that the monies will be paid back.    This “loan” is different.  There are no loan documents whatsoever.  No so called “IOU’s” that were signed.  There is not even a written request for the loan.  The question that needs to be asked and needs to be answered by those who voted for making this $50,000 payment is simply “Why was this payment made with no written request and no loan documentation whatsoever?”  The Farmville Herald article stated that the IDA was not the only one to make such a payment.  That may or may not be true.  There is one significant difference, however, the IDA was not required to make the $50,000 payment, Public Finance Consultants, Inc. was required to make the payment.  The IDA made the payment on behalf of Public Finance Consultants and did so voluntarily and did so without requiring Public Finance Consultants, Inc. to sign a promissory note or other evidence of a loan.

During the time the IDA is entering into this so called “loan” agreement, Mr. Fowler, through another entity, Prince Edward Development, LLC is trying to get the Prince Edward Board of Supervisors to assist him in financing a hotel project known as Granite Falls.  We have one project in bankruptcy and foreclosure, a project where Mr. Fowler and his company, Public Finance Consultants, Inc. were the financial advisors for the Poplar Hills CDA.   Mr. Fowler through a company known as Prince Edward Development, LLC, comes to the County with a very similar project for a hotel and conference center.  Does the County look at the failed Poplar Hills/Manor Project and say sorry but no thank you?  What does the County do?   The County transfers land that it owns to the IDA.  The IDA in turn enters into a land purchase agreement to sell that land to Prince Edward Development LLC, whose representative is none other than Mr. Robert Fowler.  Again, a simple question needs to be asked “WHY?”.

As we all know, that purchase agreement contained a number of contingencies, one of which was that the County had to build a new road so that there would be access to the hotel property.  That road, which is now known as Granite Falls Boulevard, currently has a price tag in excess of $4 million and is unlike any other road in the County.  Why build such an elaborate road at such an exorbitant cost?   That’s another question to ask the majority of the Board of Supervisors who have continually voted for this project.  I’m sure you will hear that the developer will pay a good portion of the costs of this road.  That’s all well and good if the project is ever built.  If there is no hotel and no revenues it’s a “zero” repayment to the County.

We have all heard a majority of the members of the Board of Supervisors tell us that the road has been in the works for years and it was built because of safety concerns near the Prince Edward County schools.  If this were true why do the minutes of the Board of Supervisors not even mention building a road to alleviate traffic near the schools until Prince Edward Development, LLC, approached the County about a hotel project.  Oh and let us not forget Mr. Bartlett’s comments at the September 14, 2010, meeting of the Board of Supervisors which are reflected in the approved minutes as follows “Mr. Bartlett asked the Board to consider going forward with the Alternate Route 628 project if the Granite Falls project doesn’t occur. He asked the Board members to talk with their constituents.”   If the road was “in the planning stages for years, why was Mr. Bartlett asking the Board to continue going forward with the road if the hotel is not built?  Just another question to ask your representative on the Board of Supervisors.

This road has been given the nickname “the road to nowhere.”   That may be a misnomer, the road does go somewhere – right to the entrance of a non-existent hotel envisioned by Prince Edward Development, LLC and its principal, Mr. Robert Fowler.  The road is now open.  If you haven’t driven down it you should.  The one turn off on that road is where there should be an entrance to the Granite Falls Hotel.  There are no other turn offs.

You might be wondering the status of the Granite Falls Hotel and Conference Center.  We all would like to know the status.   There has been no evidence presented to the Board of Supervisors that shows Prince Edward Development, LLC is any further along in obtaining financing to build the hotel than were the original developers of the Poplar Hills project.  Yet, the majority of our Board of Supervisors, specifically, Messrs. Fore, Gant, Jones, McKay and Simpson, have continually voted in favor of extending the original purchase agreement with Prince Edward Development, LLC.  They do so without any justification being presented other than the word of Mr. Robert Fowler.  If you go back and look at the minutes of the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors you will find over the last four years that either Mr. Fowler directly or our County Administrator, Wade Bartlett, has represented that the project is on track and financing is either complete or should be complete within the next few weeks.  In fact the last time we heard this was on April 29, 2013, where Mr. Fowler in a letter stated “we are currently expecting that we will know if we got sufficient allocation [from the New Market Tax Credits] to proceed within the next 8 to 12 weeks.”    The 12-week outer limit is July 22, 2013.   We’ve heard similar statements over and over again for the last 4-5 years, to date that financing has not yet been obtained.

Our schools are falling down around the children of Prince Edward County, yet our County has built Granite Falls Boulevard, a road that has cost in excess of $4 million, and we continue to expend time and money on a project that after a total of 13 years has yet to materialize.

Can you imagine what that money would have done to improve the Prince Edward County school facilities?  And don’t forget the $50,000 that we contributed on behalf of Public Finance Consultants, Inc.

We have an election coming up – every registered voter in Prince Edward County needs to know how his or her representatives on the Board of Supervisors have voted in connection with the Granite Falls hotel project.  They need to inquire as to why the IDA is financing Public Finance Consultants, Inc.’s obligations.   Before going to the polls look at the voting record of those up for reelection – see if they continually rubber stamp projects that have cost this county financially.  Ask them why they voted the way they did.  Finally, take a good hard look at the debt the County is incurring, the rate at which it has been incurred and ask why?

Why ask these questions – plain and simple – taxes.  The one revenue source that the County has is the taxes its citizens pay.   I for one don’t want to see my taxes raised to pay for the wasteful spending of the County.    Decide on Election Day if you want the status quo to be the same or tell the Board of Supervisors that you want a change and that you will put a stop to the wasteful spending of our County funds.

Sincerely,

Michele N. Schumacher

Resident – Prince Edward County