Lack of bond bites council

In September 2015, property owner Steve Noakes came before the Moorcroft Town Council seeking permission to create a subdivision on his property north of I90 on Lincoln Boulevard. At that time, there were questions about Noakes following Moorcroft's ordinances as the council at the time allowed him to proceed without the safeguards of a signed agreement or a bond set in place to ensure such compliance.

Town Attorney Jim Peck had previously said to the council, "If you approve the plat, what are the requirements and how do you make sure the requirements are done?" He advised the governing body that if they chose not to ensure enforcement with a performance bond, there would be no regress if the developer chose not to follow the agreement.

The council chose to allow Noakes to continue without bond and is now facing the consequences. Noakes has established approximately 12 homes on the property to date, according to Public Works Director Cory Allison; the town had previously installed two hydrants to cover the homes not protected by Noakes and has now installed two more in the interest of protecting new residents.

According to Allison, the most recent additions to the fire suppression assemblage will cost the town "somewhere around $5000".

The next issue with this developer is the roadway, which is, under the agreement, to be covered with six inches of gravel and, after examination by Councilman Ben Glenn and Allison, is actually covered by much less. Said Glenn, “If it was three [inches], it’s the tallest three I’ve ever seen.”

Allison advised the council that if they cannot “make him do it” the town will be graveling Lincoln Boulevard soon as well.

In light of these increasingly problematic and expensive developments, Mayor Dick Claar asked Peck if writing a letter to Noakes might behoove the town, to, “Indicate to him that according to the agreement, he was supposed to meet county specifications; he has not done so. We are not going to allow any more building permits until he does.”

Said agreement was only verbal, Mathews explained to his fellows. “There was never anything put in writing”.

Peck concurred, reminding the current council that he had written a “fairly comprehensive” development agreement, but Noakes became abusive in speech and manner to the attorney and body.

“He called me and told me what he thought of me personally and then came and told [the council] what he thought of [them] and the agreement was never signed,” he said.

He advised Town Clerk Cheryl Schneider and Allison to further investigate past records to find anything in writing regarding what Noakes said he would do.