By Bill Sherman
ALTAMONT — Making good on his earlier promise in June, developer Jeff Thomas has filed a $17 million lawsuit against Michael and Nancy Trumpler for what Thomas called the "tortuous interference" with his plans to build a senior housing project just outside the village of Altamont, on Brandle Road.

Thomas is counting on municipal water from the village of Altamont for his project. The village had drilled wells on property owned by the Trumplers on Brandle Road and had a contract to buy the five acres.

The Trumplers, however, objected to Altamont’s plans to give water to a developer outside the village and also had procedural concerns.

They filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court challenging the validity of the option agreement they signed to sell up to five acres to the village. The Trumplers sought no money from the court, just a ruling on the contract’s validity. The village then filed counterclaims against the Trumplers for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The village board last week approved authorizing up to $10,000 for the litigation costs associated with the Trumplers’ lawsuit. Village Attorney E. Guy Roemer will be paid $125 per hour to defend the village against the Trumplers’ suit.
In strongly-worded court papers filed earlier this month, Thomas said Michael and Nancy Trumplers’ actions against the village of Altamont were "maliciously interfering" with his contractual relations between the village and the town of Guilderland.

Thomas blamed the Trumplers’ lawsuit for delaying the final negotiations and groundbreaking for his senior housing projects known as The Meadows.
Michael Englert, the Trumplers’ attorney, said Thomas filed the lawsuit for "retaliation against the Trumplers for daring to go to court" to seek direction on the option agreement.

Thomas’s attorney, Paul Wein, told The Enterprise this week that the $17 million lawsuit has nothing to do with money. Wein said, "Jeff Thomas truly believes he has a promise to the seniors in this town" to build the senior housing project.
Wein continued, "Jeff doesn’t want a dime from the Trumplers. If they met their contractual obligation, this would all go away."
Wein said the Trumplers’ lawsuit was "sour grapes" because they were "jealous" Thomas received a zoning change for his project while the Trumplers had to drastically modify their plans for building a dual-family home on their Brandle Road property.

The Trumplers sought to renovate a barn on their property into a two-family home to accommodate Nancy Trumpler’s mother and themselves, while selling the old farmhouse across the street to her brother. However, because the area was zoned agricultural, a two-family dwelling was not allowed.

The Trumplers scaled back their proposal, to receive a variance for a temporary in-law apartment.

Wein said Thomas’s proposal for a re-zone from agricultural to multi-residential won approval because senior housing is greatly needed by the entire community.

The town board approved a re-zone last July despite a moratorium on building in the rural western part of Guilderland. Thomas presented plans to develop his 14.6 acres with 80 housing units — a tenfold density increase over what would have been allowed in an agricultural district.
"It’s a first-class project that is overwhelmingly supported by the community," Wein said this week.
Englert said that Wein is trying to "make as much about this as he can," and that Wein’s statements do not deserve a response.

Wein also said he can’t understand why the Trumplers are so concerned about who receives village water from the new well site. He said the village has lived up to its end of the bargain by providing two residential wells as compensation for the option agreement they entered into with the village. This is in addition to the $25,000 per acre from the village, the Trumplers will receive if the village ultimately buys the property.
Englert said the Trumplers’ lawsuit against the village is not so much about who gets the water. Englert would only say, "Upon learning the facts, we believe the option agreement is invalid."

He had said earlier that Thomas and Wein were trying to prevent a judge’s ruling on the fairness of the contract.
"Apparently Mr. Wein believes my clients are not entitled to use the judicial system to obtain a clarification on the validity of a document," Englert told The Enterprise in June.
The Trumplers’ court papers state "the alleged option is null, void and unenforceable" because it was never authorized by formal resolution of the village board of trustees. Roemer said it was the village’s position that the "trustees, in perhaps more than one resolution, approved the action taken."
The Trumplers also contend that there is no constitutional or statutory provision that authorizes a village to obtain or purchase water outside its territorial boundaries for sale. Roemer simply responded, "I just don’t agree with it."

He pointed out the village has had two reservoirs in the town of Knox for many years. Several local municipalities, including the cities of Albany and Saratoga Springs, also are served by water sources outside their city limits.

Mayor James Gaughan told The Enterprise, "We believe we have a valid option to buy the property."
He continued, "I’m concerned that we need to have an expeditious resolution" to the lawsuits. Gaughan said the village does not have an adequate drinking water system and needs to move quickly to obtain the additional water source.
He added that he was confident the village and the Trumplers could still work out a solution out of court. "My role is to listen and try to resolve it," Gaughan said.
However, when asked what the village was willing to give to settle the dispute, Gaughan said, "That’s a hard question to answer." He also was not sure what the Trumplers wanted to settle the suit.

A phone call placed at the Trumpler home was not immediately returned.
Wein said Thomas would drop his lawsuit immediately if the Trumplers agreed to do the same in their suit against the village. When asked what Thomas would do if the village rescinded its offer of water to Thomas’s project, Wein responded, "That’s a bridge I hope we’ll never have to cross."
Wein concluded by saying, "It’s a win-win for everybody. I just don’t get it. Do you ruin it for the village and the seniors just because you are jealous that Jeff got the re-zone and you didn’t""

Englert said he expects a decision on the Trumplers’ case very soon after July 29, the date the Trumplers are required to file their last brief.