Sunrise homeowners lawsuit will

go before mediator this month DINGMAN — “This is our third summer without our community pool functioning, the tennis courts are still in disrepair and the basketball court is no better,” said Sunrise Lakes resident Virginia Kennedy in August. The pool and courts are amenities, part of the contractual deed homeowners in the 850-lot subdivision and Sunrise Ventures/Sunnylands, Inc. mutually agreed upon when home lots were purchased. In January, a homeowners group, the Concerned Citizens of Sunrise Lake filed a lawsuit against the corporation , which is owned by brothers Robert and William Ramagosa. With an agreement from both sides, on Sept. 5, Judge Greg Chelak ordered the case to a mediator, with a 60-day deadline for resolution. The mediation session, before Mediator Allen Young of Sroudsburg, is scheduled for Oct. 27, only days before the deadline. Concerned Citizens member Deanna Margiore charged that the owners have so far been trying to delay. “They’ve stalled on everything we’ve done. We had to set deadlines,” she said. The Ramagosas have been unavailable for comment about the lawsuit. The suit claims that although over $500,000 in dues money is collected yearly by Sunrise Ventures, the community facilities are completely unusable or in such intolerable condition that no one would use them. The residents’ group hired a forensic accountant to search financial records, which they described as being maintained so poorly as to be confusing, to determine what portion of the annual dues money is spent on amenities. Sunrise Ventures has claimed that they spend considerable amounts each year to maintain amenities and corporation-owned community roads. Margiore said no more delays will be allowed if an agreement isn’t reached on Oct. 27. “We’ll sort out a resolution or we’ll go to trial.” she said.