County To Hire Lawyer To Oversee Dredge

Bring in the reinforcements.
That was the directive from a unanimous county commission Tuesday to County Administrator David Hamilton, who had recommended hiring a Tallahassee attorney to steer the Hernando Beach channel dredge project toward a start date.
Commissioners agreed it was time, as board member Dave Russell put it, to "bring in the top guns."
"At this point I think it's time to pull out all the stops," Russell said.
Richard Brightman, a specialist in environmental law at the firm Hopping Green & Sams, will try to fend off one legal challenge sparked by the dredge project, try to head off another potential legal battle and to make sure $6 million in state funding remains intact.
Brightman would use his expertise to "sort all this out, advise the board and get the job done in a timely manner," Hamilton told the board.
Brightman would charge $370 per hour. The board also agreed not to put a limit on the contract amount with Brightman. Hamilton had originally proposed a cap of $25,000.
"Quite honestly this will likely cost more," Hamilton said.
Commissioner James Adkins said he would rarely vote to pay to bring in outside counsel. But this case warrants it, he said.
"We have to do it at this point," Adkins said.
Brightman has the expertise to help the county decide between two sites under consideration to place the dredged material, called spoil, Hamilton said.
The county is preparing for an administrative hearing slated for Jan. 28 requested by residents who oppose the county's first disposal site, a four-acre tract of land on Eagle Nest Drive owned by the Manuel family of Brooksville.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is poised to issue a permit for the site, but opponents say building a containment berm to store and de-water thousands of cubic yards of slurry - and leaving some of the material for the Manuels to use as fill dirt - would harm the environment and increase the chance of flooding in the area.
The county is working on a backup plan by trying to secure a permit to dump the spoil on county-owned land adjacent to the former wastewater treatment plant on the east side of Shoal Line Boulevard north of Petit Lane.
However, the Manuels are now hinting at legal action if the county abandons the deal and have said that Manuel LLC would incur damages of $300,000 if the county breached its contract. Brightman could help negotiate with the Manuels to avoid or minimize any those damages, Hamilton said.
The county needs to be ready to put the project out to bid by March 24 to ensure the state funding stays in place, Hamilton said.
About a dozen people spoke before the commission Tuesday. Several took the chance to voice their opposition to the Eagle Nest site.
"Right or wrong, we have a right to speak, and we have a right to have a difference of opinion," said Cindy Halley of Hernando Beach, who said the Manuel site's inadequacy as a spoil site is what's holding up the permitting process, "not the objectors as we're continually blamed for."
Michele Lieberman, a lawyer for Eagle Nest Drive residents Doug and Lisa Bambauer, warned the county that it must assure the Federal Emergency Management Agency that using the Manuel property won't increase the chance of flooding in the area.
Failing to do so, Lieberman said, could prompt the agency to remove the county from the federal flood insurance program.
Cliff Manuel, one of the owners of the Eagle Nest site, reiterated his belief that his property will be easiest to permit, opposition notwithstanding.
Most who spoke were in favor of spending the extra money to get the dredge project moving. The channel is too shallow to be navigated safely, Fran Baird said.
"What is $25,000 compared to lives?" Baird asked.
In related action, the commission agreed to lease agreements with owners of a boat slip off Calienta Street and the owners of a vacant piece of land off Petit Lane. The boat slip and land would provide access to the spoil site behind the treatment plant and also act as a staging area for contractors.
The county will pay $400 a month to hold the slip until work begins, then $600 per month for the duration of the project. The lease for the vacant land will run $1,500 a month for the duration of the project.