Newspaper Page Text
THE ISLANDER, APRIL 27, 2009, PAGE 5
Liberty Harbor lawsuit
Continued from Page 1
tin (GHS&M) law firm in Brunswick
and initiated a civil suit accusing
Waxman, Harbor Development, L.P.
and Liberty Harbor Development, Inc.
of fraud.
Waxman is also the CEO of Liberty
Harbor Development, Inc.
In the meantime, Victoria Medina
of Winter Springs, Florida contacted
(GHS&M) and joined the civil suit on
the same grounds.
Medina contracted to purchase a
condo in mid-July of 2006 for $365,000
putting down $36,500 in earnest
money.
Shortly after she purchased the
condo, Medina received a letter from
the Liberty Harbor Sales Team dated
July 28,2006. The letter congratulated
her on her purchase and stated, “Our
intention is to break ground on the
condominiums prior to year’s end.”
Medina too received a letter from
Waxman, also dated August 11, 2008,
asking for the additional deposit of
$36,500 with the same statements
that construction had commenced and
failure to pay within 10 days would
result in a default and loss of her ear
nest money.
As part of the evidence, GHS&M
included in their suit a copy of a
building permit issued by the City of
Brunswick on January 7, 2009, about
five months after sending the letters
to the Halls and Medina. The permit
is for construction of the “foundation
BOE budget
Continued from Page 1
with a combined (husband and wife)
net income of $40,000 per year from
ad valorem taxes for educational pur
poses. The exemption must be applied
for and, according to Ms. Preston,
2,123 Glynn County residents have
applied for the exemption.
At the Tuesday, April 21 board
meeting Ms. Preston discussed draft
five of the 2009/2010 budget. The
BOE is faced with: $2.2 million in
state mandated but unfunded salary
step increases; $2.9 million increase
in health insurance.
To offset these increases $1.9 mil
lion in administration and teaching
positions are going away. No one has
lost their job. Employees are moving
on to existing jobs or teaching posi
tions that are vacant. For example,
the Risley Learning Center is going
away and these teachers are moving
to vacant teaching positions.
Attrition has reduced the budget
by another $2.6 million.
Stimulus money is also available
for teaching positions. According to
Ms. Preston, if class size is increased
to the state maximum then, if the
school is a Title I school or special
education is involved, federal stimu
lus money is available to pay for
teacher salaries. So class size does
not increase.
"We are also looking into cutting
the operating budget by 10%," Ms.
Preston said.
And at the meeting BOE chairman
Millard Allen suggested looking at
administrative positions. He pointed
out that only teacher contracts have
been signed for FY 2010. □
only.”
After two and a half years since
the Halls and Medina contracted for
the condos, and after Liberty Harbor
Development collected thousands of
dollars or more, the developer has only
this year obtained a building permit
for the foundations. Looking at the
site, it does not appear that construc
tion on the foundation has begun.
According to attorney Mark John
son of GHS&M the civil suit was filed
on behalf of the Halls and Medina
about two weeks ago on April 17.
‘We currently have three plain
tiffs,” explained Johnson, “but, I’ve
talked to about 30 to 40 others and
some have indicated they intend to
join the suit. We have been hearing
from people going back as far as last
year. They are in a similar situation
as the Halls and Medina.”
Seaboard Construction suit
In addition to the Hall-Medina civil
suit, GHS&M is also representing
Seaboard Construction Co. in another
suit in an effort to collect $410,000
that Liberty Harbor Development still
owes the local construction company
for site preparation work.
Seaboard did the work in May of
2008 and when Liberty Harbor Devel
opment’s bill ran up over $1 million,
the contractor stopped work until a
payment was made.
According to GHS&M, the devel
oper made a partial payment but still
owes about $363,000 on the original
contract plus $47,000 in interest for a
total of $410,000.
The GHS&M attorney handling
this case said, “The bill has not been
paid in full and the litigation is still
pending.” □
Calendar
Tuesday, April 28 5:30 p.m. to 8
P.M. “A Tisket, A Tasket, A Literary
Basket,” silent-auction fundraiser to
benefit Brunswick and Sapelo librar
ies.Ziggy Mahoney’s, St. Simons
Island. $25. Tickets must be pur
chased in advance. 634-6148; 634-
9826; 264-2466; 267-1212. □
Come
enjoy the
money-smart privileges
of membership.
Now more than ever,
it pays to belong to a
credit union.
• Higher interest on your savings
• Lower interest on your loans
• Free checking with interest
• Reduced fees
• No Origination Fee on home mortgages
• Quick and easy small and short-term loans
When you’re a member at Sea Island Credit Union,
you’re also one of the owners. That means you’ll
always get the helpful attention you need. And it
means profits are passed on to you as higher
savings rates and lower loan rates, since there are
no shareholders. Call or stop by today to find out
more about membership.
Brunswick
4401 Altama Ave.
912-264-7533
800-280-8213
St. Simons Island
495 Sea Island Rd.
912-264-7533
800-280-8213
All loans subject to standard credit criteria.
NCUA
SEA ISLAND
CREDIT UNION
Like a bank, only better.
