Bankruptcy in the Ravines
Monday, August 6th was supposed to be the day that the course at the Ravines would be sold to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps. That event is cancelled secondary to the request for bankruptcy by the owner, Mr. DeBusk. Mr DeBusk will be having a meeting to discuss his perceptions regarding the petition for bankruptcy on Monday, Aug 6 at 6:30PM in the Fairway Villas' Board Room in The Ravines. This is located between Villas D & E. I was told that if I had any neighbors/friends that I thought might be interested in hearing this particular discussion that I was to "feel free to bring them" and further that this meeting would be "...opened to any and all questions..." The sense I have is that this would be far from a reliable or informative session and all would be well advised to simply skip it. Better and more accurate information is available from the courthouse and not from the embattled owner. The last meeting I had attended where he led and spoke went from a 20 minute recap about his history with the course to a two hour rant where the blame and problems of the course were placed on those bad residents of the Ravines leading ultimately to the sudden announcement of the closing of the course. It was an exceptionally unpleasant event but, reportedly, not unprecedented. I am not going. I don't need the aggravation or the self aggrandizement that will be in full flower. I had moved here to live and use the myriad of amenities that were dangled in front of me as an enticement. They were discontinued with the closing of the club. May never come back either... All except for the neighborliness we experience here in the Ravines. Takes a special sort of business plan to achieve that sort of debacle.
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Submitted by read44 on Mon, 08/06/2007 - 10:10am.
The article below does not appear when a search is done on My Clay Sun, therefore a copy is provided below.Last modified 8/1/2007 - 10:47 pm By BILL JOHNSON, My Clay Sun Middleburg's Ravines Golf Club and Lodge and Jacksonville Golf and Learning Center, Inc., have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court records. Ravines owner Kenneth DeBusk confirmed the July 26 filing for the controversial Middleburg golf course. The move precludes foreclosure proceedings, which were scheduled to begin Tuesday. DeBusk said the bankruptcy filing was made to "protect everybody's interests, including my own." Technically, the fate of the Ravines property is now in the hands of a court-appointed trustee, who will evaluate the assets and determine the best-possible course of action to satisfy creditors and lien holders. DeBusk said the assets of the businesses will likely be put up for public auction, either as a unit or broken down into pieces, whichever way the trustee decides will bring more relief to creditors and lien holders. The next step in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings will be an Aug. 31 creditors meeting at the Federal Courthouse in Jacksonville. The Middleburg property has been the center of a long dispute between DeBusk, who sought to build more homes around the golf course, and Ravines residents, who opposed the move. After much debate, DeBusk's request for zoning approval from Clay County was eventually denied, leading to the closing of the deteriorating golf course on June 5, 2006. A possible sale of the course and lodge fell through last month. People are talking about ...Here are the recent blog postings with the most comments. |
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I am with you ElGuappo, there is nothing productive to be gained in attending this meeting. It doesn't matter what is said there, what's said and what happens in the end are very likely to be two different things. At this point there is nothing the current owner could say to me that would change anything, perhaps it is nothing more then an attempt to once again cajole, manipulate or intimidate into getting ones way, who knows? Until the bank takes physical possession nothing would surprise me.
Regardless of anything else there is just too much bad blood. It's time for a new owner, there is no going back, we must move forward.
I was expecting the Bankruptcy, the only surprise is that it didn't come closer to the auction date for a greater dramatic impact. It still doesn't change my mind, nor those who are waiting in the wings who have determined that the resort is viable under the right ownership. Lets just hope that the bank moves quickly so this can all be turned around as soon as possible, however in the same breath let me say I have not been impressed by their performance so far.