Then-Trafalgar Town Council member Jeff Eisenmenger holds up a notice of zoning violation sent to him at the town council’s Nov. 17, 2022, meeting. Daily Journal File Photo
A lawsuit that alleged a former Trafalgar Town Council member violated a stop work order on a residential property has been dismissed.
Former council member Jeff Eisenmenger is a longtime business owner and realtor in Trafalgar, owning several residential and commercial properties in the area. He was under fire last year for engaging in business practices other council members said violate town codes.
In February 2023, town officials issued a stop work order on a house under construction at 32 Downing Drive in the Crest Ridge Estates subdivision. Nineveh-based Brock Builders built the home, but Eisenmenger was the deeded owner of the property at the time, according to online property records.
When work continued despite a stop work order being issued, the town filed a lawsuit against Eisenmenger and Brock Builders. But the town’s lawsuits were dismissed in April, online court records show.
The town’s claims against Eisenmenger regarding the property were dismissed with prejudice, meaning the town cannot bring the case back to court. The claims against Brock Builders and owner Bruce Brock regarding the property were dismissed without prejudice, meaning the town could bring the case back to court.
Eisenmenger’s cross-claim against Brock Builders was also dismissed without prejudice.
Eisenmenger doesn’t have anything to do with the property and was simply acting as a lender, which tied him to the property, he said during a July interview. He had loaned Brock Builders money, he said, describing it as similar to the way a bank loans a prospective home-buyer money for a mortgage.
But when Brock Builders failed to pay the mortgage, they deeded the property to Eisenmenger. Once the mortgage was repaid in full, he signed the property back to Brock Builders and Bruce, he said. Eisenmenger filed a quit claim deed on June 15, 2023.
The deeded owner as of July 26 is listed as Bruce, according to property records.
Eisenmenger said he didn’t realize a stop work order was placed on the property until a couple of months after it was issued because it wasn’t his project. He never went to the property or drove past it. The responsibility to stop work at the property would have fallen on the builders, he said.
The lawsuit was dismissed in April because the builders finally complied with the town’s requests, said Jason Ramey, town council president.
The stop work order was issued because the framing of the house had been exposed to the elements for nearly a year, Ramey said. Community members began to complain that the property was an eyesore, which brought it to the town council’s attention.
“The reason why the lawsuit was dropped is because the property owner and the contractor finally did what we asked them to do and proved that the building was safe,” Ramey said.
Eisenmenger asserts the problem could have been solved outside of the courtroom if the town had communicated with him. He said he never received a phone call, email or certified letter in the mail regarding the property.
“I’m a sole believer in communication and there was zero,” Eisenmenger said. “No one spoke to me, the council, the president, the vice president, the town attorney. You don’t just go file lawsuits without doing some investigation or due diligence.”
If the town had asked Eisenmenger about what was happening at the property, he could have communicated and “it could have been solved much easier,” he said.
Eisenmenger was a part of the town council when the building site was being discussed and voted to impose fines for each day the work continued after a stop-work order was issued in September. He voted in favor of the fines because he believed they were warranted and he “had done nothing wrong,” he said.
“I voted for it because I believe in it,” Eisenmenger said. “I didn’t break any rules. The builder may have broken rules, but I didn’t break any rules. And I had no knowledge of any of it.”
Instead, Eisenmenger believes the lawsuit was “politically driven,” he said.
“They tried to give me a negative reputation and it’s just not the right way to go about things,” Eisenmenger said.
Trafalgar has had a long history of things not being done correctly and the town council is working to rectify decades of improper procedure, Ramey said.
Rather than about politics, Ramey said the lawsuit was about accountability. All the town council wanted was to see that the house was built to standard, he added.
Eisenmenger was afforded the same opportunities are others and had the opportunity to speak when the property was being discussed, Ramey said.
“It was important for me that the public knows that I’m holding other council members, including myself, accountable to the same thing I’m going to ask of them, he said. “You don’t get to circumvent the system and solve your problem quietly because you’re on [the] town council.”
