Why can’t issues be resolved without having to go to court?

 

Grant Miller, Publisher

The problem with lawsuits in the village just keeps going. The latest is one filed on June 2 by Jane Forman, the former operator of the tennis facility at Coral Reef Park.

The Jane Forman Tennis Academy had been there since 1989, signed a lease agreement with the county in 2002, signed a new lease agreement with the Village of Palmetto Bay which called for her to pay for improvements she wanted to make. In the new agreement, the village said it would reimburse her for half those costs if it chose not to renew her contract.

Then in 2008 and 2009 there was a dispute over whether Forman, who had been paying the utilities fees for the tennis facility, should also pay for the cost of the east parking lot lights after park closing time at 7 p.m. each day, since the tennis facility stayed open until 10 p.m. To make a long story short, Forman ended up paying the costs to avoid having her operating hours shortened to daylight only.

Forman’s lease ran out in April of this year and the village council voted not to renew it. In May the village sent her notice that they would pay her half the construction costs, plus interest, but deducted about $20,000 to cover accounting fees, permits and a bunch of other costs that Forman believes are unfair.

So now this is headed to the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County where the costs of litigation will make a small dispute a lot worse. Couldn’t this have been resolved without the lawyers?

And don’t forget that the ongoing Palmer Trinity lawsuit still is pending because of decisions by elected officials. More costs for the taxpaying residents of the village.

Palmetto Bay is a small community that prides itself on its hometown atmosphere. Wouldn’t it make sense for everyone on both sides of any dispute to just sit down face-to-face and work out things? Times are tough, and only the lawyers will benefit from these ongoing battles.

Why can’t everybody just get along?


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1 COMMENT

  1. It sounds like Palmetto Bay does not have the funds to pay in or out of court. So by them doing this it gives them time to get assistance. In a more legitimate proposal to there Attorney so they can put it behind them and pay you by introducing this to there Community. As if it's invisible but some advice do your due diligence,dot all the i's & cross all the t's. This type of stuff always pays-off just to keep them out of the red tape. Palmetto Bay is not wealthy like some. They don't have a pre-cash flow. But I would knock on one's door not out of disrespect they need to realize that they have a responsibility to pay you and it's not something that everyone can just forget. Make an appointment and make them give you times and dates of when this payment can be made to this account and give them your account number. Good luck getting it all in one payment but if paid in a few payments. But don't worry you will get paid. The County. The City. The State will not let this go unpaid…For some reason they don't like this kind of stuff hanging.

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