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RICHARD RAEKEThe lawsuit seeks immediate return of the land to the county for recreation uses under a 1975 agreement.
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County is seeking to gain a piece of the Belcher Mines property in Hudson, claiming its owner is obligated to hand over land under a 1975 agreement.
The county, in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, says it gave George Hunt and George Ruppel permission to mine the property in 1975 despite a mining moratorium.
In return, Ruppel and Hunt said they would give the 279.5-acre property to the county for recreational use after they had finished mining it.
Ruppel agreed to hand over three parcels of the mined land in 1987, according to a 1987 contract with the county. George Hunt died that same year and left his interest to his son, Bill Hunt.
Bill Hunt is president and director of Sun West Construction Enterprises Inc. and George Hunt Inc., according to the suit. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The county claims Bill Hunt and the other mine owners - including Sun West Construction Enterprises, George Hunt Inc. and Belcher Mines Inc. - tried to sell property in 1999.
That land, which is west of U.S. 19 a few miles south of the Hernando County line, is deeded to the county, the suit says. George Hunt Inc. and Belcher Mines Inc. were dissolved.
The 1999 contract gave Sun West Acquisition Inc. permission to operate a limerock mine at the Belcher Mines and an option to buy the property, the suit says.
Sun West Acquisition paid $25-million to Bill Hunt and Sun West Construction for the agreement. In September 2003, Sun West Acquisition filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, protecting it from creditors while it reorganizes.
Lawyers for Pasco County are asking the court to immediately give the land to the county. The county's attorney on the case, J. Meredith Wester, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The suit also alleges the mine owners breached the 1975 contract by violating state laws. Under the 1975 contract, George Hunt and George Ruppel agreed to mine according to local, state and federal regulations.
In 2002, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection filed a consent order against Sun West Acquisition for violating state laws.