- November 26, 2024
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The city of Ormond Beach agreed to split legal fees with S.R. Perrott in the company’s challenge of an air construction permit issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to Belvedere Terminals.
After discovering this in a public records request, Belvedere Terminals public relations team alluded that this cost sharing agreement for the legal fees — estimated at $200,000, according to a Dec. 4, 2023 email — was a violation of the Sunshine Law.
“Reviewing City Council [sic] meeting footage shows that the Council discusses working with Carlton Fields (law firm) but does not have a record of a vote to authorize the commitment of over $100,000 (with no upper limit) in legal fees by the city of Ormond Beach to join the S.R. Perrott litigation,” an email to the Observer from a company’s spokesperson stated.
Additionally, a city Facebook post from Sept. 28, 2023, the email continued, stated that the city attorney and his legal team were actively supporting S.R. Perrott in its pursuit to revoke the air permit and stop the construction of the fuel farm. But, it didn’t a mention a contract.
“Questions for the City of Ormond Beach would include: Did the City’s signing of a contract with S.R. Perrott for legal fees of more than $100,000 violate the Florida Sunshine Law?” the email states.
City Attorney Randy Hayes said the Sunshine Law isn’t applicable.
“The Carlton Fields law firm was retained to represent legitimate public interests of the city (and residents) in accordance with the authority provided in the city charter, and in accordance with the direction of the City Commission in response to the overwhelming opposition by our residents to the inherently dangerous fuel farm proposed by Belvedere,” Hayes wrote in an email to the Observer.
On Sept. 6, 2023, the commission directed the city manager and city attorney to take all necessary action to oppose the fuel farm — that included retaining legal services, Hayes said. The city charter states that commission approval is not required for him to do so.
“The city and S.R. Perrott have a shared common interest in opposing the proposed fuel farm, and it serves a legitimate public purpose to share resources with the law firm that represents the common interests of both parties,” he said. “S.R. Perrott’s participation reduces the amount the city would otherwise pay.”
Still, Belvedere Terminals' spokesperson questioned whether the shared cost of the legal fees was included in his office's annual budget, and if so, how an unlimited expense could be part of such a document. And, if a directive to take "all necessary action" was sufficient to abide by state laws.
"The Attorney General’s 'Government in the Sunshine' manual does not seem to include an 'exception' from the Sunshine laws for city directives that include the terms “all necessary action,'" Belvedere's spokesperson said.
And in response to Hayes saying the project should be relocated to resolve the ongoing conflict, Belvedere said it "has agreed to meet with any entity to review other possible locations for their operation in the area, while continuing to advocate for the protection of their private property rights, which should never be arbitrarily rejected by a government body when they followed the rules and the laws surrounding permitting, applications and development."
Hayes that the questions raised by Belvedere Terminals through its PR firm and lawyers shows the company’s “real concern”: the heightened public interest and concern about the construction of a fuel farm in close proximity to neighborhoods, businesses and the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
“The inherently dangerous use of the property at 874 Hull Road as a fuel farm will have a direct and immediate impact on the health, safety, and welfare of all residents, including corporate residents,” Hayes said. “Ormond Beach (and Volusia County) officials have a legitimate public interest in taking all reasonable and necessary action to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all residents. There is a public obligation to do so.”
Residents have demanded the city and county take action to oppose the fuel farm project, Hayes added, calling it the “single-most serious public issue our residents and city officials have faced, ever.”
Two preliminary plats and a land development code amendment are on the agenda for the Ormond Beac Planning Board’s meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, at the City Commission chambers.
The first preliminary plat on the agenda is for the first phase of Tattersall, a 129-lot subdivision to be constructed on about 84 acres at the intersection of North Tymber Creek Road and Airport Road, near Pathways Elementary. The first phase will consist of 75 lots.
The second preliminary plat on the agenda is for phase 1C of Fountain View, a subdivision that will form part of Plantation Oaks, located east of I-95 and west of Plantation Oaks Boulevard. This phase will include 141 single-family lots on about 90 acres.
The ldc amendment to be considered by the Planning Board involves rear yard setbacks in the R-4 “Single-family cluster and townhouse” zoning district. As the LDC amendment will include additional zoning districts that require more advertisement, the board is not required to take action on this item, according to the agenda.
Members from the Ormond Beach Police Department and the Ormond Beach Fire Department were recently recognized by the Daytona Beach Police Department for their emergency aid during a shooting incident at Adventhealth Daytona Beach last year, according to a Facebook post.
In January 2023, a 76-year-old woman was arrested after police reported she shot and killed her terminally-ill husband at the hospital.
Among those recognized for responding to the incident were OBFD Capt. Joe Dupree, firefighters Robert Zalewski and Robert Durham, Police Chief Jesse Godfrey, Capt. Chris Roos, Lt. Michelle Willis, Sgt. Jay Brennan, Cpl. David Lank and Officers Lauren Matero, Jeremy Cline, Erik Sargent and Tristen Ogle.
