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ASBURY PARK PRESS
THE JERSEY SHORE'S LARGEST NEWS SOURCE
After flood of complaints, panel withholds bonds from builder

Published in the Asbury Park Press 4/01/04

By JAMES QUIRK
FREEHOLD BUREAU

MARLBORO -- If you plan on visiting David Jarashow's back yard on any given
day, a word of advice: Don't wear nice shoes.

Though it had rained less than half an inch Tuesday night, Jarashow's back
yard yesterday had the consistency of a sponge. Every step was met with an
audible "squish," and the yard seemed to be more of a collection of mud,
netting and hay than an actual lawn.

"When it rains, it's like a river," said Jarashow, who bought the home for
roughly $450,000 last January. It gets so flooded that Jarashow's 3-year-old
son, Danny, likes to call the back yard "the beach."

Jarashow's drainage problem is not unique among the 70 homes that make up
the Marlboro Summit development off Tennet Road, adjacent to the Morganville
Post Office. Roughly 20 residents complained of similar problems last
summer, when the builder, Dan Werbler -- head of the Marlboro Summit LLC
group -- requested that the project's performance bonds be released.

In what residents and some township officials say was a historic decision,
the Township Council voted 4 to 0 late last Thursday to not release the
performance bonds to Werbler. And according to Councilwoman Patricia
Morelli, what truly swayed the council's decision was a supplied video that
Jarashow shot in his back yard during several storms.

The video shows the back yard transformed into a fast-flowing stream. The
catch basin drain, which is supposed to handle water from six lots, is
clearly overwhelmed and overflowing.

Despite many complaints from residents of drainage problems, Werbler
requested last year that his phase I and II performance bonds for the
project be released, a move that municipal engineer William Schultz and
Schoor DePalma, Marlboro's consulting engineering firm, approved in
February.

Performance bonds are paid to a municipality when a builder receives
approvals to build. If the project is built according to code and passes a
review inspection by township and consulting engineers, the municipality
usually gives back most of the bond amount. Some funds may be withheld for a
specific period of time to cover unexpected costs -- these are called
maintenance bonds.

For Marlboro Summit, the phase I performance bond and bank letter of credit
amount to $316,025; the phase II bond and bank letter come to $351,139.

Harry Braich, an engineer hired by Jarashow, inspected his property on Feb.
20. In a direct contradiction to inspection reports issued 14 days earlier
by Schoor DePalma, the township's consulting engineering firm, Braich's
report states that little has been done to improve drainage problems at the
site.

"Considering several serious deficiencies, such release is premature,"
Braich said of the council's pending decision to release the Marlboro Summit
project performance bonds to Werbler.

Braich's report, as well as Jarashow's video, had an immediate impact on the
council.

"The engineering report that Mr. Jarashow gave us said there were still
problems," Morelli said. "Everyone who looked at (Jarashow's) tape saw the
flooding problems that have happened, and saw that something should have
been done to correct them . . You see his children's playsets in a swamp.
It's terrible."

"I don't know the last time the council refused a bond release," Mayor
Robert Kleinberg said. "My administration is changing things -- we're not
going to stand up for sub-standard building anymore."

With the council's decision made, the matter will now most likely play out
in a courtroom, Kleinberg said.

In a brief appearance before the council on March 25, Henry Hill, a
well-known municipal land-use lawyer hired by Werbler, told the council in
no uncertain terms that his client will sue if the performance bonds are not
released.

In a statement met by a chorus of derision from residents in the audience,
Hill told the council, "If you choose to let the homeowners extort this
builder . . . we will be forced to litigate."James Quirk: (732) 308-7758 or
jquirk@app.com