Pingree Grove, developer clash over $766,000 in fees

It looks like there's trouble brewing between Pingree Grove and the developer that put it on the map.

And there are 766,000 reasons why, village officials say.

Village President Wyman "Clint" Carey said Cambridge Homes earlier this month failed to make its annual $766,000 payment to Pingree Grove in impact fees for the Cambridge North development, money the village uses for day-to day-operations.

Cambridge and Pingree Grove have been negotiating an amendment to the existing annexation agreement and Cambridge pulled the plug on the discussions last fall, while the company evaluated how the plummeting housing market would affect its future plans.

Cambridge is interested in restarting the talks, but Pingree Grove doesn't want to hear it until the developer, which calls itself the largest homebuilder in America, shows them the money.

"To start the bargaining process in good faith, we believe that Cambridge needs to fulfill their present obligation before coming up with a new set of agreements," said Village Attorney Dean Frieders.

Carey says Cambridge froze the funds as a ploy to force the village to wrap up discussions that have dragged on for more than two years.

"I do believe that the tactic of withholding money from us was calculated and trying to put pressure in the political arena of Pingree Grove," Carey said.

Jerry Conrad, senior vice president of DRH Cambridge Homes, would not comment on the $766,000, except to say Carey's characterization of the situation was inaccurate.

But he did say talks could resume in two weeks after Cambridge draws up the appropriate documents, adding that it wouldn't be fair to discuss the problems between the two bodies until that occurs.

"We're going to start anew," he said Monday night. "The things that Cambridge and the village have to talk about are wide-ranging issues."

Those issues, according to Carey, include sewer and water recapture fees and intersection improvements for routes 47, 20 and 72.

As for the missing money, Carey says the village can manage without it for "years" and that there's no need to panic.

"The village will work through this eventually, whether it's through negotiation or through litigation," he said.

Pingree Grove was a town of 150 people before Cambridge began building there about five years ago.

Today, nearly 4,000 call Pingree Grove home.