Nov. 3—It isn't up to Judge Jeffery Deller of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western Pennsylvania to decide if the purchase agreement of Conneaut Lake Park may have been violated.

"I don't have jurisdiction over this matter," Deller ruled Tuesday at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing held via Zoom. The Meadville Tribune was the only media to attend Tuesday's hearing.

"Nothing falls within my jurisdiction where I could enter an order that would affect the (bankruptcy) estate," the judge ruled.

Instead, Deller suggested all parties work together to improve communication — and create less friction between the residents and homeowners with Conneaut Lake Park and Keldon Holdings LLC, the new owner of the park.

On March 2, Keldon bought the amusement park — including grounds, amusement rides, water park and other assets — from Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park for $1.2 million at a public proceeding in U.S. Bankruptcy Court before Deller.

However, in September, residents and property owners within the park wrote Deller alleging Keldon Holdings LLC had violated the purchase agreement of the park. They claimed access to their properties was restricted by Keldon erecting fences across rights of way. Residents and homeowners also claimed problems with water utilities and streets under Keldon's ownership.

Keldon purchased the park from Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park, the nonprofit corporation that oversaw the park's operations. With the sale of the park in March, Trustees' Chapter 11 bankruptcy case then officially was closed by the court on July 7.

Trustees had filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2014 to reorganize its debts and needed U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval for any sale.

When U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved Trustees' Chapter 11 plan back in September 2016, the plan included the ability of Pennsylvania, through the Office of Attorney General, to enforce a preexisting "charitable use restriction" that applied to specific parcels of property, and file to file suit to ensure charitable assets were not improperly diverted from their charitable purpose.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court's approval of the park's sale to Keldon in March of this year still required public access to the park's property to continue. Parts of the property have deed restrictions requiring it to be open for use by the general public.

"Keldon Holdings has a degree of discretion in terms of what it bought within the contours of the charitable use restriction," Deller said Tuesday before ruling he had no jurisdiction.

However, if individual property owners feel their rights are being violated, they need to take the matter to Crawford County Court of Common Pleas which has jurisdiction, and not U.S. Bankruptcy Court, according to the judge.

"If there's some public interest being violated with respect to the charitable use restriction (on the park), those complaints have to go to the Commonwealth's Attorney General who will decide if whether enforcement should be brought," Deller said.

But the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General also must communicate as well, he added.

"If the Attorney General is refusing to take action (on alleged charitable use violations) because it isn't warranted because there have been no violations or the violations are immaterial or if he's still investigating how about communicating so people know what's going on?" Deller said.

Keldon Holdings LLC and its owner, Todd Joseph, also have parts to play in communicating both with residents and the Attorney General's Office, according to the judge.

"Keldon — if you' re going to have development there, how about organized planned use development and communicate exactly what's going on?" he said.

"I think that will alleviate some heartburn — just getting information out there so folks know what's happening," Deller said. "I'm encouraging everyone to communicate with the Attorney General's Office."

"If you work together Conneaut Lake Park will be a beautiful place where people will want to go to, but as long as everyone's fighting that makes it a little more difficult," he said. "I think there's a lot more common interest here than people think."

In ruling that Bankruptcy Court does not have jurisdiction whether the purchase agreement was violated, Deller also found Trustees' bankruptcy case "shall remain closed as there is no basis to reopen it" under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.