By Lidia Dinkova, TCPalm 6:27 PM, Sep 8, 2015
MARTIN COUNTY — A Circuit Court’s recent ruling — that the county broke no public records law — resolved a piece of the much broader Lake Point litigation.
Any remaining parts of the litigation are to go to mediation and then possibly to trial in September 2016, according to a Sept. 4 Circuit Court order.
Lake Point, a company that owns about 2,000 acres in western Martin County, sued the county, alleging, among other things, that the county broke the law because it destroyed, altered and delayed the production of public records. The records at issue include emails between County Commissioner Sarah Heard and former Commissioner Maggy Hurchalla; emails between Commission Chairman Ed Fielding and Hurchalla; and Heard’s notes.
Judge F. Shields McManus wrote in a Sept. 3 order that “Martin County did not unlawfully refuse to permit the emails of Ms. Hurchalla with the commissioners to be inspected and copied.” Further, the judge wrote, Heard’s notes were not a “‘public record’ within the meaning of Chapter 119.”
Lake Point Restoration is a rock mine located roughly 1 mile east of Lake Okeechobee’s Port Mayaca Locks and is between the C-44 Canal south and the Martin-Palm Beach county line, according to the company’s website.
About seven years ago, there was an agreement for the company to turn over its land to the South Florida Water Management District in exchange for being allowed to mine rock there for a certain number of years. In addition, there was an understanding that a stormwater-treatment facility with environmental benefits to the St. Lucie Estuary was to be developed on the land.
But things did not run according to plan, and instead, issues have been playing out in Circuit Court since 2013.
Aside from the public-records allegation, Lake Point sued the county over breach of agreement.
The agreement, Lake Point says in its lawsuit, exempts the Lake Point stormwater management project from county land-development regulations, gives the company the right to develop its mining on its entire property in west Martin County and the right to transport and supply water, according to the lawsuit.
Martin County says that Lake Point is not allowed to embark on a revenue-generating public water supply project on the property, said John J. Fumero, Martin County’s outside counsel in the Lake Point lawsuit.
Lake Point currently does not operate as a public water supplier but at one point made a presentation to the city of West Palm Beach about supplying it with water, Fumero said.
Attorneys for Lake Point and company representatives could not be reached for comment.
The company also has sued the Water Management District, alleging the district broke their contract.
Water Management District officials did not respond to a request for comment on the case, only saying that it’s working through the court system for a resolution.
Lake Point also has sued Hurchalla, a resident and a former Martin County commissioner, over interfering with the development and the agreements.
Hurchalla could not be reached for comment.
Fumero, Martin County’s attorney, characterized the recent court order over the public-records issue as a “major victory” for the county
“It’s a very serious allegation when a plaintiff alleges a local government has not complied with that (public records) act. Florida has one of the most comprehensive and liberal public records act,” Fumero said. “To demonstrate that Martin County acted in full compliance … we were vindicated by the court’s order.”