Village and LLC coming to terms on repurchase
In the ongoing situation pertaining to the sale of a parcel of land to a group of private citizens by the Village of Garden City, the latter is in the process of repurchasing the land from the group which goes by the name of the Franklin Court LLC.
At the May 7 board of trustees meeting, Village Council Peter Bee announced, “I am pleased to report to you that I have reached an agreement in principle with the attorney for the Franklin Court LLC regarding the terms of an offer of re-purchase of the ‘open space’ at Franklin Court on the following terms, which terms have (in principle) been authorized by the LLC.”
With the LLC conveying to the village its right, title and interest in and to that parcel of property that was initially purchased on Dec. 20, 2013, stipulations are in place to be included in the deed from the LLC to the village. Among them is that the property would be used for passive park or open space purposes only. The village would maintain the property in a manner equivalent to the manner in which it maintains other park or open space properties owned by the village. No buildings or structures, including playground equipment or recreational or other facilities or similar structures, band shells, gazebos or similar structures, or sports courts shall be constructed on the property without the consent of the LLC, which consent will not be unreasonably withheld. This does not include existing structures—the current fence on the property, which must remain until at least Dec. 31. Until such time, it is to be maintained with the manner in which fences on other park or open space properties owned by the village are maintained. If any of these restrictions are violated, the LLC shall have the right at its sole option to seek judicial relief to enforce the conditions. Should no judicial relief be sought to enforce the conditions, the LLC will have the right to purchase the property from the village, free and clear of all liens, and subject to the same restrictions as currently are imposed on the property through the deed from the village to the LLC, at a purchase price of $100,000 adjusted for inflation by a formula to be agreed upon as part of the resolution of the current dispute.
Most telling in this agreement is the fact that the LLC will only have the ability to enforce these restrictions following a 90-day “notice and cure” period, and in the event of any litigation to enforce any of these conditions, the prevailing party shall recover its reasonable legal fees and expenses from the other party. The document clearly states there is no intention to create third party beneficiary rights.
Once the sale proceeds, the village will pay the LLC the sum of $150,000, which constitutes partial reimbursement of LLC expenses in having previously purchased and maintained the property, upon conveyance of title. The LLC and village will execute and exchange mutual releases of any and all claims that either of them may have against the other with respect to the ownership or use of the subject property prior to the date of conveyance from the group to the village.
Following the announcement of the latest part of these negotiations, Bee sought the board’s direction as to whether or not to proceed with obtaining title insurance and finalization of the documents reflecting the foregoing conditions.
Mayor Nicholas Episcopia asked the board to make a motion to proceed forward and when it was unanimously approved, asked if any board members had questions regarding the transaction. None were posed and Bee was then directed to accept the offer and proceed with the transaction. No comments were made during the public portion of the meeting that followed. The next board of trustees meeting will be on Thursday, May 21 at 8 p.m. at village hall.
