RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - The owner of a hotel in South Dakota reached a plea deal with prosecutors that reduces the number of court cases pending against him.
Mark Arend, 52, pleaded no contest earlier this month to knowingly letting an underage employee sell alcohol in 2015 at The Lodge at Mount Rushmore. Arend was sentenced to pay a fine and court costs totaling more than $260, the Rapid City Journal (https://bit.ly/2rvJE8R ) reported. In exchange for the plea, the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped two other cases against Arend and his company, Winona Inn Limited Partnership, regarding violations of county laws pertaining to septic systems.
Public complaints about The Lodge’s septic system brought government inspectors to the hotel multiple times over the past several years. Some inspectors would note a stench coming from the system and would see raw sewage surfacing from an underground drain field.
A third septic-related case against Arend’s company is still pending but has been on hold since March, when Arend agreed to close the hotel until he obtains local, state and federal permits.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in February it intended to deny the hotel’s application for an underground injection control permit pending a public comment period. That period has passed, but the EPA said it’s still mulling its decision.
An amended judgment and decree of foreclosure for the hotel also was filed in May. The filings are the latest in foreclosure proceedings that started in 2012 but were interrupted while Winona Inn went through bankruptcy.
The document says Arend and his company owe about $2.6 million to Umpqua Bank in Oregon. It also orders the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a public foreclosure auction at which the bank can bid a minimum of $1.7 million.
The foreclosure auction hasn’t been scheduled.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, https://www.rapidcityjournal.com
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