A New London Superior Court judge Friday denied the Strawberry Park campground owner's 11th-hour bid to stave off a foreclosure sale, ruling that today's scheduled auction of the Preston property will proceed.

The sale of the 160-acre site off Pierce Road, which accommodates recreational vehicles and includes some 300 campsites, is set to begin at noon.

Judge James Devine ruled at the end of an afternoon hearing prompted by campground owner Hyman Biber's request that the auction be canceled or postponed. Biber's attorney, Glenn Gordon, had filed a motion earlier in the day in which he said his client had received a "term sheet" for a mortgage loan of $15 million, enough to satisfy all mortgages and liens on the campgrounds.

Attorneys for the plaintiff in the foreclosure action, TD Bank, and one of the facility's secured creditors, Preston Strawberry Funding Associates, objected to Gordon's motion. Mark Stern, an attorney for the associates, questioned the veracity of the term sheet proffered by Excalibur Commercial Advisors, which Stern characterized as "another last-ditch effort" on Biber's part.

"It is what it is. I can't sugarcoat it," said Gordon, who suggested it would take 60 days to determine if Biber could secure the loan.

"It's an opportunity to allow him the chance to retain ownership of the property," he said. "Mr. Biber has spent his whole life developing the campground."

During Friday's hearing and in court filings, Stern took issue with Biber's previous pursuit of a refinancing plan that never materialized. The potential lender in that case, Stern wrote in a motion, "was nothing more than illusory."

Devine said the term sheet Gordon presented Friday "appears to be not a commitment."

The judge also ordered that the court-appointed receiver for the property, Elite Resorts Management, will continue to operate the resort until he orders otherwise. TD Bank, which holds $8.5 million in mortgage debt on the property and which voluntarily provided $100,000 to cover operating costs until the sale date, had argued that payments to the receiver should then end.

The receiver has requested an additional payment of $155,000 to cover expenses through April.

Documents filed in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceeding involving Biber show the campground property has an estimated market value of $10.1 million.

Today's auction, which is being conducted by attorney Leeland Cole-Chu, is to take place at the campground's video arcade at 42 Pierce Road. Prospective bidders may inspect the property from 10 a.m. to noon. Bidders must provide a certified check for $650,000 to participate.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com