The principal in the development company, Angelo Rosse, owner of Donangelo, Inc. and a contractor, Melvin Jacobie, owner of Jacobie Excavating, Inc. have been charged with violating the Public Health Law, the Environmental Conservation Law and with creating a public nuisance. The lawsuit was filed February 1 in Saratoga County Supreme Court. In addition, at the request of the Attorney General, Saratoga County Supreme Court Judge Frank Williams signed an order on February 5 freezing Donangelo s and Rosse s financial assets. The developers of this subdivision created an environmental menace that turned the dream of home ownership into a nightmare. In 1989 and 1990, the State Health Department approved plans for septic systems and wells for the entire Woodland Manor subdivision.
All homes there have individual drinking wells and septic systems installed by the developers.
The Health Department issued the approvals because Saratoga County the fastest growing county in the state has no county health department. In 1999 and 2000, the second phase of the development was begun, but the developers built the septic and water systems in violation of Health Department regulations and the approvals it issued for the project. As a result, sewage has been backing up into homes. Drinking water wells were built too close to septic systems. Sink holes have appeared in several yards and septic water is backing up into the washing machine in at least one home.