Published: October 01, 2005 12:26 am            

Home builder giving couple refund

SOMERSET — A Union County log-home company will refund a Windber couple more than $30,000 after plans to build their dream house at Laurel Mountain Village fizzled.

Kuhns Bros. Log Homes of Lewisburg will return the money to Cheryl and James Millward, company President Tom Kuhns said Friday.

“It makes my husband and I very happy,” Mrs. Millward said. “I do thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

The Millwards had made a down payment on a log-home package after buying a lot at the resort village in Jenner Township.

But plans for their retirement home were dashed when the township denied them a building permit because their lot has no municipal water.

The Millwards said they bought the property after a Ligonier real-estate agent assured them water was available.

Construction at the village is on hold until the water system is upgraded. Owner George Mowl said he cannot afford the $70,000 required to upgrade the system, which now serves about 50 customers.

Two years ago, the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered the improvements because the system had run dry.

Kuhns said log-home contracts stipulate that down payments are non-refundable. That is because the money goes toward cutting of logs for the home. In this instance, that had not started.

“Fortunately, we did not do that,” he said. “We had minimal cost for the blueprints.”

The Millwards said they plan on buying a home in Somerset Township, which they found recently. They will keep the Laurel Mountain property until the water system is upgraded, then sell the lot.

“This will make it so much easier for us,” Mrs. Millward said. “I’m so relieved.”

        

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