PCC Gives Manatee Fruit Ultimatum for Little League Fields

PALMETTO -- The Palmetto City Commission unanimously approved a hard cap on Manatee Fruits attorney’s funds that they feel have gotten out of hand. Wednesday night at a special meeting they capped the payment at $100,000 or will opt out of the project by the November 8, 2010 deadline.

The commission agreed to pay fees in the original land exchange deal, but they have become aggravated by the continued price rise. After an initial $63,000, the company is now asking for $80,000 an amount that has accumulated since May. The board predicted potential costs of up to $200,000 before the project is over. The commission estimated Manatee Fruit Company attorney costs at 10 times the amount of their own counsel.

”That can’t be right!“ said Commissioner Alan Zirkelbach. ”That would mean they’ve worked 483 hours on this project at $300 an hour since May. That is just not possible,“ he exclaimed after configuring the complex math problem in his head.

The commission passed the motion now because after 5:00 p.m. on the deadline date when the inspection period ends, they have no choice but to continue with the project. At that time Mayor Shirley Bryant will have to approve, authorize and sign an extension agreement for the due diligence associated with the Phase II Ball field and Dedication Agreements for the 23rd Street realignment. The agreement will be between Manatee Fruit, Manatee County, the City of Palmetto and the Manatee County School Board.

”The attorney’s fees are now worth more than the property, said Commissioner Tambra Varnadore. ”When we agreed to these terms, we never imagined that the fees would be this much.“

Approval of the motion gives the Mayor the authority to offer the company the proposal. They would now be obliged to accept the $100,000 or cancel the project completely.

The cap seems like it would take care of exorbitant fees, however, special counsel Andy Cohen of the law firm Person and Cohen warned of legal backlash. Plus, the city may still have an obligation to pay the attorney’s fees prior to terminating the deal. That amount, said city attorney Mark Barnebey, would have to be negotiated and could end up in a settlement.

”Basically with regards to the attorneys fees, the problem we have is the action that took place at your commission meeting back in May. To the extent that we find ourselves in court fighting over this, there is a potential that we will be standing in front of the judge with them saying, ÔLook, they said they would take care of our fees’,“ he said. ”I can see a judge siding with them because they carried on with the agreement. From a legal standpoint, you never know what the jury will do.“

Despite the warnings, the commission unanimously approved the cap and Mayor Shirley Bryant has already been looking at new sites, especially after a surface test inspection revealed heightened levels of arsenic at the site. Alan Tusing of the public works department assured board members that it would be easy to take care of the contaminated soil and replace it.

”There is only about a foot of dirt on the site and then it is solid rock. If we relocate the road we’ll need fill dirt anyway. We can scrape off the dirt that’s already there and use it for the road then bring in clean dirt for the ball fields,“ he said. ”Learning about this didn’t surprise me. Anytime you have old citrus land, you usually find arsenic in the remnants.“

Mayor Bryant presented the board with a viable alternative that would be located on 10th Street and 10th Ave and would require relocating the Palmetto City Police Department. Regulation ball fields would fit at the site and it would not require the relocation of a roadway like the previous project although the YMCA would have to find somewhere else to place their facility.

”Ideally, we would like the baseball fields and YMCA at Blackstone,“ said Bryant, ”but you have to stop the bleeding at some point.“