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Read comments (14)Roger Ritch, doing business as American Value Homes, was served on March 7 with a civil suit demanding a total of $14,000.
The town's board voted to move forward with collecting the unpaid sewer tap fees in November that had resulted from an accounting error.
The taps in question are in Oakwood subdivision, built by Ritch. The city had been collecting fees on the water, but not the sewer charges until the error was discovered.
Mayor Dennis Webb told the Times-Gazette Tuesday that the city had written Ritch twice and phoned him about the matter, but it remained unresolved.
"We felt that it was best that the courts resolved the matter," Webb said. "It's an uncollected debt and we're going through the proper venue."
The case will be heard April 8 at 10 a.m. in Bedford County General Sessions Court.
Putting houses on 5 acre lots is not going to stop the problem, but whatever. And there is nothing wrong with vinyl siding and tin roofs, just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's bad. But we could argue about this all day.
Perhaps subdivisions that were already in the process of building were grandfathered in... ?
WELCOME TO BELL BUCKLE isn't it just the sweetest little town..
I fully agree with loblert. good point!!
I fully agree with loblert. good point!!
Oakwood is off of Cemetery Rd. Bell Buckle put Oakwood "in the city limits" to accomodate Bryan Biggs. They left the "hill" off. Can we say "spot zoning" at its finest level? When Roger Ritch/American Value Homes bought the property in Jan 2004 and started developing it there were all kind of problems. The final plat was approved in June 2005 in Bell Buckle. But then the minutes were argued over for months... so was it approved?
In the mist of the "approval" the Eviromental Agency stopped Bell Buckle from adding sewage lines.... in March 29, 2005... but that didn't stop this subdivision. It was finalized in June of 2005.
Whoa... Roger Ritch's name keeps popping up in alot of bad situations because you have a TG reporter that slants the name of American Valve Homes having been the builder not withstanding that someone else has brought the property / house. There is and has been borderline slander by individuals who assume things and run their mouth. Why single out one person when other businessmen, realtors, builders, and developers are making a buck? The foreclosers are not Roger's fault. The loan companies who encouraged the folks who couldn't afford to purchase, the folks themselves who read the contact and signed the dotted line - personal accountability, folks! By the way, what about the city official that make the billing error - deal with them!
Have to agree with loblert about 5 acre rule outside of the city and alot of these officials know very little about how listening to the neighbors react. Instead they want to patronize each other.
Yeah, Roger Ritch's name is coming up a lot in various bad housing situations. If he was such a stand up person then his name wouldn't be mentioned in so many questionable situations. Unfortunately many of these developers are coming in and throwing up houses in no time with no regards to quality or how they represent the community and then they offer questionable financing that seems to lend itself to more foreclosures than other financing practices and it seems this Ritch character is one of them.
Where exactly is this Oakwood subdivision in Bell Buckle. I live in Wartrace and don't know of it.
Roger Ritch is not the main problem. It is the government officials who (for some reason) feel as though all developer requests must be approved. If you severely limit density you will solve this problem in the future. One house per 5 acres except inside a city limits. That is how it used to be in the county. That will encourage developers to infill our many vacant and decaying city lots instead of destroying farms.
Oakwood is in Bell Buckle. It is the piece of land Bell Buckle bent over backwards for Brian Biggs (who was on the board). Once it was approved for a subdivision.. he sold it to Roger D. Ritch or American Value Homes who proceeded to built homes he claimed were going to be sold for 160,000 (they were sold for much less with American Value homes playing the paper chase). He is associated with Quarry Street in Shelbyville where 27% were in foreclosure last year. There is an on going boundary dispute and a court date coming up soon. I wonder if American Value Homes wants to pass the buck and claim "great injury"?
Oakwook is really a good subdivision if you like vinyl siding homes and tin roofs. The other part is... American Value homes still owns 11 out of 24 lots... and they claim only 2 lots of the 11 have houses on them. Only one has been foreclosed on.. sold orginally for 142,000. Just sold again for 112,000. (can we say Quarry St all over again?).
Check it out http://www.assessment.state.tn.us/
Hey, let's not make statements that are not true! I know Roger Ritch and can vouch for his character! Look around, he is not the only businessmen, developer / builder, realtor around these parts. Seems to me, the city made the mistake - hold them accountable!
I just want to say that Bell Buckle was right to fight subprime development over the last four years. The last 12 months have shown that unchecked crackerbox development is foolhardy and brings nothing but tax increases, traffic, school crowding, water shortages in drought times and crime. Now the greed that spawned this "growth" that everyone (except Bell Buckle) was so excited about is bringing down our national economy via the"no money down" Roger Ritch subprime lending crisis. Thank you little Bell Buckle. I think all of us have learned something from your courage.
Boy, they just screwed everybody over didnt they