[1/9/04]A residential developer bridged one crisis with Warren County supervisors Thursday, but still faces complaints from state regulators and at least two homeowners.

George Jabour, owner of G&M Builders and developer of Stonegate subdivision off Oak Ridge Road, said some of the problems weren’t his and that he’d fix the others.

Monday, supervisors decided to block the junction of Cobblestone Drive to Oak Ridge effective Thursday because stop signs needed for safety had not been installed by G&M. That would have forced residents to enter the subdivision through Lake Forest.

Jabour said the crisis was avoided when District 1 Supervisor David McDonald, who represents the area, helped him get the signs installed.

“Without David McDonald, I would not have known where I could go pick up the signs,” Jabour said, adding that if he had to order the signs they would not arrive before the county’s deadline.

Separately, Don Watts, chief of the Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Division on the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, said he had sent Jabour letters saying the sewage lagoon that serves Stonegate was not in compliance with regulations, including how surface water runoff is handled.

Watts said Jabour has replied to one letter and the division is studying that response. The division is still waiting to hear from Jabour on the other citation.

Wattssaid penalties will depend on Jabour’s response.

“I put a lot of effort into the ponds,” Jabour said. He said riprap put in ditches appears to be curbing the silt, and he said other complaints were mostly paperwork.

“They want me to get a new operator to get the paperwork in compliance,” Jabour said.

Jabour also faces complaints of two homebuyers, Bert Carraway, 206 Cobblestone, and Michael Terry, 204 Cobblestone. Both have been in their homes less than a year and say their driveways are cracking.

Terry said the floor of his garage has developed cracks, also. Too, “I wanted solid wood (front) doors, and I got insulated metal,” he said. And water is washing the soil out from under his driveway.

“He did his own landscaping,” Jabour said in response. “The wooden doors were not in the contract. That only came up after closing.”

Jabour said he is working with the vendor who supplied the concrete to come up with a solution to the cracks.

“When you do a monolithic pour, you’re going to have some cracks,” Jabour said. They pose no structural threat until they are at least 1/16-inch wide, he added.