Builders lose bid for return of licenses

The State Contractors Board last week declined to reconsider its revocation of the licenses of two Reno-area builders Solono Development and SierraSage LLC.

Subcontractors and homeowners alike said the revocation leaves them hanging, but members of the board said they've lost patience with the companies and believe that other contractors should finish the Reno-area projects.

When it voted to revoke the license of SierraSage last month, the state board cited violations ranging from failure to pay for materials to failure to comply with the terms of a contract.

The state said Solano Development engaged in substandard workmanship, failed to meet financial requirements and acted fraudulently.

Officials of SierraSage have said their Sparks-based company stepped in to right the ship of Solano, which encountered financial difficulties.

Solano projects include Bella Terra at Arrowcreek and Canterbury Place in northwest Reno, and construction of about 100 houses was under way when the licenses were revoked.

In letters to the state board, subcontractors said SierraSage was paying them on time and appeared to be making headway in resolving complaints of homebuyers.

"The action of the board to revoke Solano's license at a time when honest efforts are being made to bail out this project seem senseless," wrote Robert Wheeler of B.

Daniel Door & Hardware in Reno.

"This is tantamount to firing the lifeguard right after the swimmers have jumped back into the water."

Homebuyers, too, said SierraSage made progress on resolving complaints in the Solano developments and asked the state board to allow the company to finish construction of the neighborhoods.

But the board didn't want to reconsider its actions.

"I don't believe this applicant deserves another reconsideration.

They don't deserve it.We've gone around and around in circles on this thing," said Spiridon Filios, a board member from Las Vegas.

The contractors board and its investigators have spent about a year on the issues surrounding the two companies.

But another board member, Margaret Cavin of Reno, said the revocation of the two companies' licenses didn't resolve the problems of subcontractors or homeowners.

Jerry Higgins, a board member from Sparks, said one alternative is to find another contractor to finish out the projects a suggestion that SierraSage officials have called unrealistic because of the complexities that now surround the work.