Troy Mills developer sues town over promise of sewer and water access

Christopher Eric Farris sues Troy for $2.5m due to lack of promised sewer, water connection

Troy developer Christopher Eric Farris, owner of the former Troy Mills complex, being repurposed for housing, is suing the town for $2.5 million. In documents filed in Cheshire County Superior Court beginning in September, he alleges Troy has not established a sewer and water connection to his building as promised, which could force him to lose out on state funds awarded for the project.

In the complaint, Farris wrote that he stands to lose $2.5 million, between money he invested in the development and a $948,000 grant from the state.

Troy’s select board awarded a building permit for Farris’ Mountain View Mill at 30 Monadnock St. in August 2022 for 107 one-bedroom apartment units.

Farris has said he plans to rent the apartments, targeting people making 80 percent or less of the area median income, for about $1,300 per month.

He wrote in his complaint that the town had initially agreed to make water and sewer connections to his building by spring 2022.

While the town acknowledges Farris had previously met with “Water and Sewer personnel,” it denies it agreed to make the connections by spring, according to its response filed Nov. 2.

This past Jan. 11, Farris wrote in his complaint that the Troy Water and Sewer Board voted to invalidate a letter previously sent to him, which he said stated that the town had sufficient water and sewer capacity to connect to the new units.

Attorney Joseph Hoppock, acting on Troy’s behalf, wrote that the town had received an administrative order in September 2022 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which found Troy in violation of its effluent discharge permit. As a result, Hoppock wrote, the state can’t grant any new sewer connection until the issues the EPA identified are resolved.

According to the EPA’s order, which the agency provided to a reporter, Troy was in violation of its permit for its wastewater treatment facility, which had been issued in September 2021. The order states that the town was discharging wastewater containing elements of recoverable copper, total phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen in amounts greater than the town’s permit allowed.

By next September, the EPA is requiring that Troy review and analyze methods to remove the copper and other nutrients.

Farris told a reporter Monday that the federal order issued to the town was not his fault, yet he could suffer for it.

According to Farris, the $948,000 grant through the state’s InvestNH Capital Grant Program requires that 29 of the Mountain View Mill housing units be occupied by May 4, 2024; otherwise, he said, the grant converts to a loan that he must immediately pay back.

“If this gets settled in April, I have to be ready to make the connection to hit deadline for May 4th,” he said. “I have to keep going, even though it may be an effort in futility. I could finish all the units perfectly, down to every detail, and if I don’t have a water or sewer connection, nothing matters and it’s just a complete waste.”

He said he hopes his lawsuit with Troy can be resolved well before the May deadline.

“I have no desire to take money from the town of Troy,” he said. All I want is what I was promised prior to purchasing the mill, which is a water and sewer connection.”

The Troy Mills property once housed a factory that made horse blankets during the Civil War for Union soldiers. The parcel was later used to construct mill buildings between 1920 and 1995 to manufacture vehicle fabrics for automakers like Toyota and Ford, according to previous Sentinel reporting.

Farris purchased the property and two parking lots across the street from the town of Troy for $368,000 in October 2021, per previous Sentinel reporting.

TJ Chasse, selectboard chairman, wrote in a monthly newsletter to the town that the selectmen are hoping for a non-judicial resolution to the case and noted that a win in court might not exactly be a desirable outcome for Troy. He pointed out that if the Mountain View Mill is kept from connecting to Troy’s system, then the town will lose out on $290,000 granted by the state to encourage housing development.

“A ‘successful’ defense means that we will have beaten the developer and stopped him from hooking up to our system,” he wrote. “So, figure a victory is actually a negative number in excess of $200,000 and we will [have] soundly established that no developer should ever attempt to develop anything ever in Troy. A Pyrrhic Victory at best.”

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