By PAT NEWMAN
pnewman@thecititzennews.com

Tim Muntford, a homeowner in Harbour Lakes subdivision, has been waiting five years for the large pool and two tennis courts he believed would be built by the developer in his community.

To date, Muntford and his neighbors have one small pool he describes as a “cesspool,” one tennis court and a basketball court. Thursday he appealed to the Fayette County Commission to help resolve the problem that he said Harbour Lakes homeowners have tackled for way too long.

Developer for the project, Dan Stinchcomb, ignores their phone calls, Muntford said. Because there are still homes left to be built in the subdivision, the recreation center has not been turned over to the homowners.

“We get more complaints about this builder than anybody else in the county,” said Commission Chairman Harold Bost about Stinchcomb.

In a letter to Muntford dated July 7, 1998, Chris Cofty, assistant to the county administrator, said, “several current violations need to be corrected before a final certificate of occupancy can be issued.”

Muntford told the commission that a bulldozer showed up last Wednesday, but was not sure what work, if any would be accomplished at the site.

“We'll look into it and get back to the board,” county attorney Bill McNally said following Muntford's complaints.

In other business, county manager Billy Beckett announced the county's acceptance of the Distinguished Budget Award, which places Fayette County among the top five counties in the state to earn a AA 2 financial rating.

Moody's, a financial ratings group, stated in its report that the county's finances “will remain healthy given its conservative budgeting policies and continued tax revenue growth. The county has exerienced five consecutive years of operating surpluses which have combined to leave it with a fund balance approaching a comfortable $15 million by the end of fiscal year 1999, or almost 50 percent of the general fund revenues for the year.”