When I moved to a brand-new development in Sussex County, I had no intention of getting involved in politics, nor did I have any intention of being on my HOA board. Unfortunately, it became apparent that our developer, Russ Huxtable of Milford Housing, was not dealing in good faith, which motivated me to get involved.
I knew something was off when after two years, not only were many of the most basic obligations in our development left unfulfilled, but the four-acre open space that was originally described as a flat, recreational space by Mr. Huxtable, and was required in our original development plan, was now being described as an uneven drainage swale. Then we were told we should consider creating a rain garden, which further concerned me since a swamp is not something any of us signed on for.
It took another year to figure out what had happened, despite my best efforts to get information from Milford Housing, Sussex County Planning & Zoning and Sussex Conservation District. It turned out an agreement among all of those parties had been made to amend our development plan, and none of them had any intention of us ever finding out about it. At the very least, this was an unethical and intentionally deceptive act.
There was also severe erosion taking place in a critical, protected area that should have been addressed long before the properties in front of it were ever developed. We made it a point to bring that to the attention of the responsible agencies and elected officials, and it has since been addressed. I just hope the remediation work they performed holds up, since our HOA will never have the funds to reconstruct it if it begins to erode again.
After four years, we’re still dodging manhole covers while we wait for the topcoat on our streets, which we’re now told will be done next year. Fortunately, some of the other unfinished work is finally taking place, for which I’m grateful. I just hope it continues.
I wish I could tell you it was a pleasure dealing with Mr. Huxtable, but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case, and my experience has served as a very poor example of how he might govern as my state senator. Therefore, my vote will go to Rep. Steve Smyk in the Senate race, who has been responsive to our requests for support throughout this debacle.
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