College Township Seeking Payment of Sinkhole Repair Costs, Enforcement Penalties from Nittany Mall Owner

College Township plans to use legal remedies if necessary to recover more than $150,000 to fix a sinkhole at the Nittany Mall after the property owner stopped repair work earlier this year.

The township council voted on Thursday to approve the low bid of $153,490 by HRI Inc. to repair what Assistant Township Engineer Jere Northridge described as a "safety hazard" in the stormwater basin near Rural King at the corner of Shiloh Road and East College Avenue.

Property owner Namdar Realty Group will be backcharged for all costs, including staff, consultant and contractor work, with reimbursement guaranteed through a municipal lien, according to a memo included in the agenda for Thursday's council meeting.

Namdar representatives contacted the township on Friday afternoon, after council approved the contract, and discussions are ongoing through attorneys, Assistant Township Manager Mike Bloom told StateCollege.com.

"While not preferred, a municipal lien remains an option to collect payment for penalties and any costs incurred by the Township," Bloom wrote in an email.

The township has also filed five civil enforcement complaints against Namdar in magisterial district court since June, each seeking $12,000 in fines. Two have already had judgment issued in favor of the township, and acting solicitor Mark Lingousky said that the appeal period for those is over at the end of the August.

The sinkhole was discovered in December, according to the complaints, and in April excavation began for the repairs. But after a secondary sinkhole was found, work ceased and has not resumed.

A notice of enforcement of the township's stormwater ordinance was sent to Namdar in May but received no reply.

"We have not heard any specifics from Namdar since issuing a notice of enforcement on May 13," Northridge said on Thursday. "At this time, if College Township wants to see this open hole and this safety hazard corrected, I believe we are going to need do this ourselves, our own workforce, and then back bill through our legal processes to recover those funds."

Geotechnical consultant JP Thornton was contracted in July to evaluate the sinkhole and develop a solution. A request for bids was then issued, with HRI having the lowest among nine bids received.

"This is not our preferred path, but ultimately we’re left with no recourse," Bloom said on Thursday. "There’s a public safety issue there that needs to be addressed and we’ll do it if the property owner won’t.... We continue to be sure that every step of this process we are communicating clearly with them."

Council Vice Chair Eric Bernier said that the township was "left with no choice" because Namdar had not responded.

"This is not an unusual response, behavior from this property owner," Bernier said. "…My experience in this room over the years, this is quite consistent. Given that, I certainly support the action."

The enforcement complaints, meanwhile, state that township code provides for a fine of $1,000 each day that a violation continues to exist, and that the township intends to continue filing for additional penalties.

"Your stormwater ordinance allows them a very short period of time to fix this and they have exceeded that by plenty," Lingousky told council.

Namdar Realty Group did not respond to a message seeking comment.

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