Water District: Weeki Wachee Talks At Impasse

BROOKSVILLE - The mermaids' landlord says mediation talks to settle a longstanding lease dispute are officially at an impasse and that the matter could be going back to court.

The attorney for Weeki Wachee Springs disagrees.

The court-ordered mediation was slated to end at 5 p.m. last Friday, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District exercised its right to leave the bargaining table and notify the mediator that it considered talks to be at an impasse, said Michael Molligan, spokesman for the water district known as Swiftmud.

Swiftmud owns the 27 acres on which the park sits.

"We needed something in writing by Friday at five. We didn't get it," Molligan said. "We simply did not want a never-ending mediation process."

Molligan emphasized that doesn't preclude a resolution, however.

"If there's some type of settlement offer that all parties can agree to, we'll resolve it and not have the judge make the decision," he said.

Molligan confirmed that a settlement offer from Weeki Wachee Springs addressing the attraction's alleged lease violations was delivered to Swiftmud attorneys Tuesday. He declined to discuss specifics.

The district's governing board is expected to consider the offer at its next regular meeting next Tuesday, Molligan said.

The settlement offer is a sign that the process is working, said Joe Mason, a Brooksville attorney representing the 60-year-old landmark.

It wasn't logistically possible to get the offer to Swiftmud Friday, so it was sent on Tuesday, the next business day, Mason said.

"It is not an impasse," an emphatic Mason said.

Mason said the mediator, former Florida Supreme Court Justice Ben Overton, signed off on a meeting slated for this Thursday with Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials in Tallahassee to finalize an agreement that would incorporate the attraction into the state park system.

The arrangement would settle lawsuits that Swiftmud and the park have filed against each other, claiming contract violations.

"We are so close to an agreement that it's inconceivable we're not going to get there," Mason said.

Overton couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.