By Dan Hust
LAKE HUNTINGTON — As of yesterday morning, developer Ilwon Kang had yet to consummate his deal with Sullivan West to purchase 14 acres of district-owned land in Narrowsburg.
Reached Friday by the Democrat, Kang refused to give an explanation as to why he hadn’t yet paid SW the $70,000 purchase price on a closing that happened July 1.
He would only state that he remains interested in both the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley campuses, for which he has until October 31 to buy for $3 million.
At Thursday’s regular school board meeting, SW Superintendent Ken Hilton explained that he had not had e-mails or phone calls returned by Kang (though since then, Kang has reportedly e-mailed an apology to the district).
Hilton said he was waiting on the district’s attorney to advise him on how to proceed, agreeing with board member Noel van Swol that the missing payment “is not a good sign.”
Regardless of what happens with the 14 acres, the board is locked into an extension they’ve given Kang on purchasing the Narrowsburg and DV schools themselves. In exchange for $2,000 a month, Kang has until the end of October to decide whether to buy the buildings or not.
Van Swol, however, seemed to convince the board that if Kang asks for another extension, he should pay for the actual costs of maintaining both buildings (estimated at $15,000 a month), plus give up his $150,000 deposit if he doesn’t purchase them.
Board member Ken Cohen agreed that Kang’s actions, or lack thereof, are “definitely becoming more suspect.
“I think we are going to have to cut him off at some point,” Cohen said.
As for the 14 acres, the district continues to take a wait-and-see attitude.
Hilton said that SW leased the field to the Narrowsburg Chamber of Commerce for Fourth of July celebrations coordinated by Kang.
He later added that the district discovered that the Tusten Chiefs, who were upset that they lost the field for use that weekend, in fact did not ever get permission this year to use it.
“We never received the [proof of liability] insurance, so they never received the permission,” Hilton told the Democrat.