When business owners signed up to be a part of the Roxodus Music Festival, they thought it would help their bottom line. Instead, they're left with hefty bills after the abrupt cancellation and bankruptcy claim by MF Live Inc.

"It's frustrating, of course, it hurts. I don't know what happened out there, because it all went to hell before I got the invoice in," Jim Higgins says.

Higgins Barrie-based company, Sure Fence, was hired to secure the perimeter in front of the festival grounds near the Edenvale Aerodrome.

Higgins says he had equipment on-site by the end of April, but excessive spring rain hampered construction efforts, stalling work until mid-May.

"They were pulling us in and pulling us back out, trying to get these posts in the ground. It was pure mud," he says of the challenges his crews faced.

Higgins says MF Live Inc. paid several Sure Fence invoices totalling about $40,000, but the four-day festival got nixed before he could submit all of his costs. He says he's still owed about $17,000 for labour and materials.

And Higgins isn't alone.

Almost 200 creditors are owed money - according to documents released by Grant Thornton LLP, the insolvency trustee - including ticket-vendor Eventbrite Inc., which claims it is out $5-million.

Meanwhile, Clearview Township is also weighing its options when it comes to recouping expenses it incurred as a result of the failed Roxodus music festival.

"What do you think the next steps should be? (What is) your advice to this Council?," Clearview Township Mayor Doug Measures asked the municipality's lawyer, Jim McIntosh, during a presentation on Monday night.

McIntosh told council he would send a formal letter demanding funds. If the company fails to pay up in 30 days, McIntosh says he's not ruling out civil action.

"The fact that it failed is not the fault of the Township. Based on the initial information that we've seen from the bankruptcy documents filed, there's not much opportunity available to recover from MF Live Inc. I think the Township's course is to focus on the property owned by Taurus Investment Group and seek recovery from that organization," McIntosh tells CTV News.

Insolvency documents show MF Live Inc. only has about $150,000 in assets remaining.