Ghost Town bills aren't being paid, lawsuit alleges

Nov. 27—New documents filed by the heir to Ghost Town in the Sky allege "suspicious circumstances" surrounding payments made by its late owner Alaska Presley prior to her passing away in April at age 98.

The payments were made to Frankie Wood — the latest in a long line pledging to reopen the shuttered Maggie Valley amusement park over the past 20 years. Presley became a co-equal owner with Wood believing he would be the one to finally succeed, but she died before her vision could come to fruition.

Presley's niece and heir, Jill McClure, is now locked in a legal battle with Wood. A Nov. 22 hearing that could have determined the future of the Ghost Town was canceled, but the latest salvo of court documents shed new light on the legal struggle for control for the property.

McClure has asked the court to dissolve the two corporations, which she alleges are insolvent and place them into a receivership under her control. Currently Wood is the managing member of both corporations: Ghost Town in the Sky, LLC and Maggie Valley RV Park, LLC, under the umbrella of yet another LLC, Coastal Development Carolina LLC.

"Businesses that cannot pay their obligations, as a general rule, are not solvent," McClure's attorney Mary Euler argued in a brief. "Coupled with insolvency, there is a risk of imminent danger of property being lost, injured, diminished in value destroyed, squandered, [or]wasted."

The latest court filings include photos of the long-closed Ghost Town amusement park depicting piles of debris, buildings left in ruin and vandalism sustained during recent years.

Also presented as evidence is a video taken by trespassers and posted to YouTube this summer.

"The companies have real assets at risk, not small assets," Euler wrote, countering Wood's attorney, Russell McLean's brief addressing the harshness of appointing a receiver.

McLean successfully argued the matter was a complex business case and got the case transferred to N.C. Business Court. No rescheduled hearing date to consider Wood's motion for dismissal or McClure's motion for a preliminary injunction and appointment of a receiver has been set.

McClure frozen out

One of the supporting documents attached to the McClure's affidavit is titled "Agreement for sale of interest and withdrawal of member from limited liability company." The document repeatedly refers to McClure as a corporation member.

That runs counter to previous motions by Wood, who argued McClure wasn't a corporation member and only held an economic interest in the LCCs he formed with Presley. He argued McClure had no right to examine company financial records or be on the property by only holding an economic interest.

McClure's motion also countered Wood's claim that, without access to financial records, McClure had no way of knowing whether the corporations were insolvent.

Documents filed on Nov. 17 included numerous unpaid bills for the corporations, including taxes, engineering fees and contractor charges.

"While it is true that Ms. McClure has limited information about the companies, she does have some information, and the information indicates the companies are not functional," the legal document states, later adding, "The combination of insolvency, the danger of injury to the companies' real property, the lack of a plan to make the companies solvent, and the probability of fraud are more than enough reason for the court to use its inherent and statutory powers to appoint a receiver for Ghost Town and MVRV pending the court's decision on dissolution of the companies."

Who should run business?

McClure states her degree in merchandising and business administration, and her past experience as town clerk and finance officer for the town of Maggie Valley, make her the most qualified person to operate both corporations while the court decides on whether they should be dissolved.

"Frankie Wood has claimed to me several times that he cannot read and only finished school through the sixth grade," McClure stated in her affidavit.

McClure denies previous assertions by Wood that wanted to buy a lot in the Maggie Valley RV Park, LLC, which later was re-envisioned as a housing development. While Wood suggested she might want a lot for an Air BnB, McClure said she dismissed the suggestion.

McClure cites a proposed membership sale agreement ostensibly prepared by Sylva attorney Diane Sherrill, who represented both Wood and Presley when the two corporations controlling the Maggie Valley developments were formed. Sherrill also drafted the operating agreements for the corporations, according to the court documents.

"The proposed agreement for sale of membership clearly identified me as a member of Ghost Town," she stated, adding that the membership language is identical in both documents.

Presley's long-time attorney, Bob Long, was not part of the negotiations, meaning that Sherrill represented both parties when the corporations were formed and the operating agreement was drafted.