“The City came out yesterday [Tuesday] and turned on the water,” said Raul Madrid, of MGM Construction, the developer who is assisting Perry and Sandy Karouzis with their project. Don Young, the manager of Redlands’ One Stop Permit Center, had promised the previous Thursday to have the padlock removed and the water turned back on. Another City employee had mistakenly thought that the tenant in the motorhome parked behind the building was stealing water, despite the presence of one of the City’s own temporary meters, and had padlocked it earlier in the week. The Karpouzis’ had paid $1200 to have the temporary meter installed before it was padlocked, Madrid informed MM.
The Karpouzis’ have been telling local residents that the restaurant might be open by early next year; they had received their County permit in 2009 but Redlands’ demanded fees in exchange for water service had prevented them from going forward until Madrid stepped in and negotiated the fees to install a replacement meter. The City initially charged $656,000, including a traffic study off and back onto Highway 38, but, after Madrid contacted them, came down to $64,000 and now $55,000. That amount admittedly includes $25,000 to benefit various other Redlands City departments, as well, Madrid said.
The City is also charging “frontage fees” for the Boulevard as well as the side street, Madrid added, despite the same fees probably having been paid decades ago when the previous meter was installed and piping brought right up to the building.