Soapboxmom

Those articles were published today, which hardly makes them old.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I have talked to almost everyone involved with the project and work closely with those reporting on this debacle. I have posted all the pertinent papers from the bankruptcy in their original form, numerous corporate filings, the EQ charity's 990 forms and am scouring the financial records The Tribune is sharing. Those are certainly not in any way opinion. Leon Cubillas stated that Contour has declined to come to the last several EMCID board meetings and update them. I spoke with Chris Brown on thephone in January. They did not have the funding seceured, though he said they were working hard to get it. As they don't want to come to the meetings I think that tells us where they stand. I note that Don Holbrook, who has corresponded with me, has not named one successful project out of over a hundred he claims that allegedly created 50,000 jobs and had billions of dollars in them. Watch the news coverage coming and I think you will see Holbrook shown the door by several more towns and districts he has tried to peddle his projects to. His self proclaimed expertise in financing these projects has done nothing for Earthquest to be sure. The public will never have all the information, but what is available suggests that there are serious concerns that need to be addressed. It does, at this point, look like the project is completely defunct with no way to recover any money. Read the summary of the bankruptcy filings and see the financials posted by The Tribune. http://www.ourtribun...le.php?id=13430 http://www.ourtribun...le.php?id=13431 http://www.ourtribun..._2006-07-08.pdf http://www.ourtribun...08-09-10-11.pdf http://www.ourtribun..._2008-09-10.pdf http://www.ourtribun...ard_2010-11.pdf

Don Holbrook after numerous requests has not named a single completed project out of those 100+ he claims. And, unfortunately, the many thoroughly researched news articles coming out are contradicting what he and Frank McCrady are saying. It might be time to stick a fork in it. For those who do enjoy comedic gold, the articles about Don Holbrook and his proposed prooject in Pahrump are very interesting reading. My thanks to Cynthis Calvert for keeping us up to date on what is really happening with Earthquest! http://ourtribune.com/apdf/tn.pdf

http://www.ourtribune.com/article.php?id=13409 http://www.ourtribune.com/article.php?id=13408 Frank McCrady has a lot of explaining to do. Talk about being wined and dined on the taxpayers' dime!!! Soapboxmom

Filed & Entered: 01/23/2012 Chapter 11 Confirmation Hearing 36 Filed & Entered: 01/23/2012 Order on Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay 37 Filed & Entered: 01/24/2012 Operating Report 38 Filed: 01/25/2012 Entered: 01/26/2012 Certificate of Mailing 39 Filed & Entered: 01/30/2012 Order on Motion (Generic) 40 Filed: 02/01/2012 Entered: 02/02/2012 Certificate of Mailing 41 Filed & Entered: 02/20/2012 Operating Report Nothing has been filed. It appears Marlin Atlantis did not get the minimum 10 million dollar bid on the property and the bank will be foreclosing. That means Contour was not able to raise the funds. The question now becomes will they be able to come up with money later and purchase the property? Soapboxmom

Mr. X, the project is in worse shape than anyone imgained. Here is your chance to step up and help make this happen. Folks who want to save this project need to attend the EMCID board meeting on Thursday March 8th at 5:30. Just under 1 million dollars was donated to the charity, the Earthquest Insitute, and I have been trying to access the documents that by law must be publicly available and am still waiting for them. It is time for honest disclosure and transparency. The charity, The Earthquest Insitutute, and EMCID office share the same address and the docs should have been there available for public inspection and copying all along. Everyone involved with the charity has left the project (except for a single EMCID board member who can't handle it alone), so it is up to the local taxpayers to step up to the plate and volunteer. Why was it not disclosed the charity had no one left running it for over a year? I have spoken to or had e-mail correspondence with everyone that was ever associated with the charity in my search for the elusive documents that the IRS and Texas Non-profit Corporation Act specify must be public. I think we have a right to know where the $996,667.00 dollars donated went and why the promised educational activities of the charity are not taking place. Why was Frank McCrady not on top of that and working to keep it alive and run properly? Why did Frank McCrady hide the bankruptcy on the property for five months? It is only thanks to Cynthia Calvert and her excellent reporting that we learned of this crucial development. This project could be fantastic if we had better leadership. Frank McCrady needs to be replaced with someone that can step in and get this back on track. The local residents should be at that meeting asking lots of questions and holding McCrady's feet to the fire. The project would be getting a lot more support if the public was getting information and things were being handled.

Mr. X, would you care to elaborate on just what McCrady has done to keep this project on track?? If he had checked out the developer, Don Holbrook et all in the first place we might not be in this quagmire at all. If there isn't a $10,000,000.00 dollar bid on the property in 13 days it automatically goes into foreclosure and back to the bank that has $21,000,000.00 in the property. Frank McCrady's absolute desperation is not going to fund this project. I spoke personally with Chris Brown CEO of Contour and though he is totally committed to the project and very excited to be involved, he conceded that raising the money is going to be challenging. Perhaps you know something about the potential funding the rest of us don't???

Two more awesome articles from Cynthia Calvert: www.ourtribune.com/article.php?id=13351 www.ourtribune.com/article.php?id=13341 Frank "Bonus" McCrady has the taxpayers on the hook for over $21,000,000.00 on Earthquest whether it is built or not. There is nothing like some sobering math! Soapboxmom

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/east_montgomery/news/wakeboard-park-shooting-range-coming-to-east-montgomery-county/article_bff7b91f-6abb-51ef-bc0c-b0f79f9014cf.html?mode=story For the love of mud. Allen, TX got the wake board park from this group and it didn't cost the public a dime. Why on earth is Frank McCrady throwing taxpayer money at this stuff? http://hydrouswakeparks.info/wp-content/uploads/DMN-Allen-Cable-park-City-Council-Workshop.pdf http://www.realscam.com/f11/trey-white-fake-multi-billionaire-marlin-atlantis-earthquest-park-don-lessem-654/index4.html#post15827 http://www.pahrumpnv.org/images/uploads/downloads/Backup_111011.pdf And, it should be no surprise to learn that Don Holbrook is also likely involved in the shooting range nonsense. He met up with that bunch in Pahrump, NV and probably introduced them to EMC. It is just too much of a coincidence that the shooting range bunch is now soliciting EMC. Hasn't Don Holbrook made enough money off of us? He was paid 144 grand in 2009 for working 15 hours a week for the EarthQuest Institute alone. What in the world is Frank McCrady doing paying for this stuff? He will do anything to divert attention from the dino adventure park fiasco it looks like to me.

An awesome and well researched update from Cynthia Calvert which includes excerpts from the court docs I posted! Kudos to Ms. Calvert!!! http://ourtribune.com/article.php?id=13295

Here are new documents from the EarthQuest / Whitestone bankrupcty: http://www.realscam.com/f11/trey-white-fake-multi-billionaire-marlin-atlantis-earthquest-park-don-lessem-654/index4.html#post15389 The land should be sold in the near future and permits are being handed over to EMCID. Soapboxmom

Growing governments: How 'special districts' spread across Texas with limited oversight and accountability -- but with plenty of power to tax | Texas Watchdog Cynthia Calvert wrote: We tax payers deserve some transparency and accountability! Soapboxmom

I must be confused, but since when did court papers, mainstream press articles, public records and such consitute opinion? I kept in touch with folks actually involved in the project and then researched the back story on Marlin Atlantis. That is something that EMCID and Frank McCrady should have done. No guessing there. I just made sure to respect my sources privacy. Sadly, the Marlin Atlantis bunch did not fulfill their obligations to Don Lessem and now the brains, genius and real core of the project has pulled out. Originally, it was his Dino museum that started this ball rolling. He got burned very badly by this bunch from Marlin Atlantis. That is going to make it all the harder to attract investors with him out of the project. It was obvious last summer from the filings in Montgomery County deed search that this deal was in trouble. It is also obvious from the EMCID board meeting minutes that the taxpayers have been kept in the dark about what was really going on and that is inexcusable. I am glad Cynthis Calvert is really investigating. I can't wait for the next article due out on February 7th with more on the financial records. If there is honest disclosure and the public rallies behind the project that would sure make it more attractive to investors. It might be time for a new board and for Frank McCrady to resign.

May I just say my crystal ball is working splendidly. Trey White and John Marlin have sunk this like the Titanic. Contour might just star in the next chapter -- raising the Titanic.

http://www.ourtribune.com/article.php?id=13242 Finally the truth is out. I spoke to Contour and knew this was coming. I can also now share that I spoke to "Dino" Don Lessem last year and the Marlin Atlantis gang was not fulfilling their obligations to him. He is another victim in this dino disaster. I will keep watching PACER for more filings in the bankruptcy. The paper references the bankruptcy papers I have up in their original form on my site. http://www.realscam.com/f11/trey-white-fake-multi-billionaire-marlin-atlantis-earthquest-park-don-lessem-654/index4.html#post14855

Here is the link to the actual bankruptcy docs: http://www.realscam.....html#post14855 I have only briefly perused them, but several things stand out. Whitestone claims the property is worth around 25 million. They owe the bank around 21 million and the bank's appraiser valued it at around 10 million. The bank also argues in a bunch of legalese that the bankruptcy is improper for an entity that holds only a non-income producing piece of land. They want the court to grant them relief from the automatic stay so they can foreclose on the property immediately. It appears the Whitestone bunch does not have any buyers for the property and no reasonable way to pay what is owed. Soapboxmom

If you are in fact the largest indiviual investor you may have just been burned. I have known for months the project was having financial problems and bills were not being paid. In order to protect my sources I never give out information that could give away their identities. This bankruptcy is no surprise to those who were following this closely. Marlin Atlantis' Trey White is no multi-billionaire. That oily John Marlin has his hand in every pie related to this fiasco. They have run other projects into the ground and never had the experience or qualifications to be involved in this in the first place. The real disaster now will be sorting out the many contracts and agreements made with Frank McCrady's gang. McCrady has also known for months that he was dealing with dishonest buffoons and he just kept rambling on about how wonderful everything was going. Time to send that boy packing! The property LLC is in bankrupcty. Many other LLCs signed contracts related to this. The question is will the Marlin Atlantis scammers sign off and allow the project to go forward or will there be months of costly litigation to extricate them from the project and send them packing? Here is a listing of LLCs The documents related to the charity, The Earthquest Insitute, are quite telling as well. Marlin Atlantis' Deborah Thomas was paid $140,000.00 in 2008 for working part-time for this Insitute. That is beyond ridiculous! It is high time this sham of a project gets exposed. Why is the local media not all over this??? Soapboxmom

With John Marlin and fake multi-billionaire, scammer Trey White apparently out, there is hope the project can go forward. McCrady should be sent packing as well. The taxpayers and business people who have invested in projects in the area have a right to know what is going on. I have had enough of the clown show antics going on! I hope the truth about what was going on behind the scenes will finally be told. My source was right all along. Marlin Atlantis was allowed to play games for way too long! Soapboxmom

My insider source was correct. The scumbags are out!!! EarthQuest dino-park lands in bankruptcy Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Cynthia Calvert Whitestone Houston Land Ltd. (“Whitestone”), an entity that owns approximately 1,564 acres near New Caney, a portion of which includes the planned EarthQuest theme park and museum, has filed for bankruptcy. The EarthQuest theme park and museum has been promoted for years as a soon-to-come entertainment center with retail shopping, a water park, hotels, an eco-tourism area, and a residential development, along with a dinosaur area. The project grew from $50 to $500 million+ with numerous delays in breaking ground. To date, no construction has occurred. According to trollerbk.com, Whitestone filed a Chapter 11 petition (re-organization) for bankruptcy protection more than five months ago on August 1, 2011. The filing was made at the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Texas (Sherman). The bankruptcy petition number is 11- 42400. According to Schedule B of the petition, Whitestone has $0.00 in its business checking account. Schedule D shows a total indebtedness to secured creditors of $20,167,465.94. Schedule F of the petition indicates that Whitestone owes another $808,179.28 to various unsecured creditors. Notably, those unpaid amounts include $123,845.13 to local taxing agencies for unpaid property taxes for the 2008 to 2010 tax years. The status of payment for the property taxes due January 31, 2012, for the 2011 tax year is unknown. Also included in Schedule F is an unsecured $225,000 note payable to the East Montgomery County Improvement District (“EMCID”). However, more significant amounts have been funded by EMCID to Whitestone in the form of expense reimbursements. Whitestone is a limited partnership whose general partner is Whitestone Houston Holdings LLC. The manager of the general partner is John D. Marlin. Marlin is also manager of EQ Ventures GP LLC, the general partner of Global Earthquest Ventures LP (“Global”). Global is one of the parties to the contracts executed with EMCID. According to www.earthquestinstitute.org, Marlin is also a director of the EarthQuest Institute (“Institute”), a nonprofit organization established to apparently manage the EarthQuest Museum and Institute. Marlin is shown on their website as a director of the Institute. The Institute is another of the parties to the contracts executed with EMCID. According to www.earthquestadventures.com, Marlin’s real estate and development company, Marlin-Atlantis, of which he is the chief executive officer, is the general partner and developer of the planned project through an entity called EarthQuest Resort. This company does not appear to be a party to the contracts executed with EMCID. Marlin-Atlantis is based in Dallas. Marlin did not respond to a request for comment. Frank McCrady, President and CEO of EMCID, stands behind the development. “We have a new developer who is working with the bank to take over the property and the project. “It is not a matter of if, but when [it will be built],” he said. According to a website at www.landadvisors.com/whitestone, Whitestone originally acquired the New Caney land for a residential development to be called Whitestone. As described in a special warranty deed dated June 14, 2004, the same being recorded in the public records of Montgomery County under Clerk’s File Number 2004-06651 and film code number 608-10-2194, the property was purchased from HS Tejas Ltd. The purchase price of the land, as stated in the first paragraph of the deed, was in the amount of $4,150,000 plus “$10 and other good and valuable consideration.” Over time, the idea of a dinosaur-themed park and resort was developed through the principals and affiliates of Whitestone. This new concept was then planned on about 500 acres of the land that was originally intended for residential development. Due to the projected economic impact on the surrounding region, discussions were initiated with the EMCID. Those discussions ultimately resulted in a series of complex agreements between Global, EMCID and the Earthquest Institute. Briefly stated, for the perceived future benefits of having a major theme park and other related developments, EMCID agreed to sell millions of dollars in bonds in order to provide funds to Whitestone for “pre-development” and “pre-construction” expenses. Pursuant to a Houston Chronicle-This Week article dated August 26, 2009, the aggregate funds [then] paid by EMCID to Whitestone for the foregoing expenses totaled $7,800,000. The same article referenced a second request by Marlin for EMCID to provide another $2,800,000 to Global to pay for a “site locater fee,” the recipient of which was unnamed in the article. McCrady said that EMCID subsequently did not advance the additional funds to pay the site locater fee. “We do not want people alarmed and think that the project will not be built. We have Contour Entertainment from Los Angeles. They are going to take over,” he said. McCrady said he was aware Whitestone had filed for bankruptcy some months ago. “They have a restructuring plan – a hearing on this will be held Jan. 23 in Dallas,” he said. The property is currently in bankruptcy but McCrady says Contour is currently working with the bank and hopes to purchase the property eventually. “Contour is an entertainment company with experience developing theme parks all over the world. Our board thinks that is very good,” McCrady said. Contour, McCrady said, was a subcontractor of Whitestone's and performed all the design work on the EarthQuest project, he said. “Chris Brown, CEO of Contour, has been prepared to step in from the inception,” McCrady said. Owning the site would be a first for the Los Angeles-based design firm. According to Contour Entertainment's website, www.contourentertainment.com, the company performs many functions related to theme park management but they do not own theme parks. Contour's website states that they perform concept development and show design, project management, operational planning, market research and architectural design. EarthQuest is already listed as one of the six projects Contour is working on. The site states that, “Contour Entertainment is the Resort Masterplanner and lead designer for all aspects of this $530 million, 500-acre (Phase 1) entertainment resort as well as providing the initial design for the conceptual direction and facility design for the $20 million, 40,000-sqare foot, not-for-profit EarthQuest Institute.” It appears that the general plan of repayment to the EMCID was to receive about one-half of the proceeds at the beginning of construction of the theme park, with the second half being repaid after construction of the park was completed. However, there have been numerous changes and amendments to the original contracts and the current status of the repayment terms is uncertain. The filing of the bankruptcy petition has created concerns about any projected construction date and whether or not the bankruptcy filing has jeopardized the repayment of the monies funded by EMCID to Global. “Whitestone was just a landholding company,” McCrady said. “The bond paid for predevelopment expenses, engineers, drainage, things like that all related to EarthQuest.” McCrady said that repayments are certain, based on future sales tax recapture as well as future taxes attached to the development zone and future hotel taxes. “We would not have issued bonds if there was any chance of the funds not being recovered,” he said. The contracts further provide that, should the project not be constructed, then EMCID would have the right to purchase certain properties owned by the Institute. That purchase option is for the 50 acres upon which the Dino Institute and Museum would be built. The option price for that tract is $1,250,000. This amount would be in addition to the original $7,800,000 already known to be approved by the bond to Global. McCrady said that EMCID and the bond has put up about $9 million. He said “you can add another million to the bond money” for expenses to date. Marlin Atlantis also received approval from taxing authorities for property tax abatements to enhance the profitability of the project via Montgomery County Commissioners Court and from the passage of House Bill 4015. At the same time, the contracts between Global and EMCID would have set in motion a set of new taxes and user fees in connection with the development and operation of the theme park and museum, including Improvement Zone sales taxes and hotel occupancy taxes, along with event admission taxes and parking fees and taxes. In fact, McCrady said,”Without a doubt, this will happen. If Contour fails, others are willing to step up. We are not putting all our faith in one developer. That is not the way we do business. We have backup plans A, B, C and D.” “From our perspective, the board thinks the future sales tax will pay back the money. The property is well suited to retail development. “Contour is hoping to pick up the project after the bankruptcy is complete,” McCrady said. “Houston is poised for theme park projects. We have three different economic reports that say that.” List of creditors and amounts owed listed in the bankruptcy filing: Creditors holding secured claims, according to Schedule D: J.R. Moore, Jr. Tax Assessor, $15,970.81; County of Montgomery Tax Office, $61,943.94; Hillcrest Bank, $20,043,611.21; J. R. Moore, Jr. Tax Assessor, $45,939.98. Creditors Holding Unsecured Claims, according to Schedule F: Anco-McDonald Waterworks, $5,385; Bracewell & Guiliani LLP, $952.50; Cindy A Schmidt, $2,521.57; Coasts, Rose, Yale Ryman & Lee, $3858.83; East Montgomery County Improvement District, $225,000; Hayne and Associates PC, $155; Hesse & Hesse LLP, $225; Ryan & Company PC, $1025; Sammons Realty Corp., $275,683.88; Texas Commission-Environmental Quality, $2,565.38; Thompson & Knight LLP, $11,978.74, and WMA Whitestone Land LP, $278,828.38.

EMCID takes one step closer to Dinosaur Park By MATTHEW HUISMAN Published: 10.14.08 The East Montgomery County Improvement District board has set a date of Dec. 12 for for its target to attain $7 million in bonds for the development of the dinosaur park. Marlin-Atlantis is the real estate developer planning the estimated $1.5 billion park and resort to be built on U.S. Highway 59 by 2011. The EMCID board is loaning Marlin the $7 million in bonds toward pre-development costs of the construction, according to Frank McCrady, EMCID president. The expenses include fees for accounting, engineering, design and master planning. The board will be repaid half of the bond once Marlin takes out the construction loan. McCrady said the construction loan is expected to close summer to fall 2009. The remaining $3.5 million will be paid five years after the construction loan closes in 2014. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I have heard other figures bandied about, but here is one from a trusted source. I suspect that Marlin Atlantis hasn't paid back a cent. There are no construction loans filed yet that I am aware of. The Texas legislature also passed legislation to support this project. The taxpayers are very likely to get burned I would imagine. We have had no real updates or disclosure for months. Where are the two investors that were bragged of in 2010? Soapboxmom

Improvement district bolsters East Montgomery County - Your Houston News: News We are still being strung along. The loans were renewed for a year through September 14,2012. The construction costs have been quoted higher, but I still am not convinced that the theme park can be built for anything near even the 389 million dollar figure. When are we taxpayers going to get a real update and some honest disclosure? Is the financing finally secured? Why is ground breaking put off yet another 6-9 months? Soapboxmom

This overdue loan has had 5 extensions / modifications. The most recent one was for only 3 months. That does make me wonder if the bank is tired of dealing with this. I am familiar with open records request, but I am not sure if the correspondence of that nature is available. Checking that out is an excellent idea. If it was one would think the media would have pounced on that already and busted this thing wide open. Perhaps someone with more time will do more digging. I am just very concerned that we as taxpayers are not getting updates and reliable information. With millions of dollars spent where is the transparency and accountability? Soapboxmom

The loans on the EarthQuest Property were due and payable on September 14th. There have been no releases, extensions or modifications filed. What is going on and why are we not getting updates? The taxpayers have a right to know!!! Where is Frank McCrady???? Soapboxmom

Earth Quest Adventures Houston The funding for the first phase is not secured and we are still at ground zero. So, Frank McCrady's talk of groundbreaking in nine months, which would have put it in February 2012, was just idle chatter. I pointed him to all the facts about Trey White and Marlin Atlantis. I can see why investors don't want to get involved. Soapboxmom

Hugh Stone, You are going way too far. Knowing what I know about Trey White and Marlin Atlantis I do not believe the taxpayers should be throwing money at them. That does not mean I am against the project in any way. The question is should the taxpayers of Texas, which includes my family, be footing the bill for Marlin Atlantis to be developing this project with their track record. Trey (Roscoe Frederick) White was on videos allowing himself to be introduced as a multi-billionaire to promote his silly MLM water that was sued by the world renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center. He has never even made Forbes list of billionaires, let alone multi-billionaires. Trey is a fraud and a complete buffoon. And, obviously if he was the multi-billionaire that he has allowed himself to be portrayed as, he would just buy the land outright and fund the project himself???? How did the officials handling our tax money not find out about Marlin Atlantis' botched development and bankruptcy discussed in the papers and in court records on PACER? My link How can Marlin Atlantis claim to be a commercial developer when the only projects I can find are low dollar residential communities? A large scale commercial project is not quite the same thing. Disney World was said to have costs 400 million to build in 1971 in 1971 dollars. Hong Kong Disneyland came in at 3.5 billion dollars in 2004. Disneyland Paris costs 2.5 billion to build in 1992 and had massive costs overruns. How can these guys build any kind of park for the 500 million that has been quoted? I think after all these years of waiting it is time to be asking the hard questions. Trey White has been bragging about this 500 million dollar Dino Park himself for years on his corporate bios and Evolv water promotions. When are we going to see some progress? What the paper wrote about the 500 million project may simply be a mistake of putting the usual explanatory paragraph in. Nowhere else have we heard that the project has changed from being built in phases to being built all at once. What is the story on that? Soapboxmom