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Historical Society skips out on talks

The society and the Clerk of the Circuit Court's Office are in a turf war over the Historic Courthouse. The meeting was meant to resolve the dispute.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published August 31, 2005

INVERNESS - Top county administrators gathered around a conference table Tuesday, ready to resolve a dispute over the lease agreement for the Historic Courthouse.

But at the 3 p.m. meeting, one crucial party was a no-show: the Historical Society.

The society and the Clerk of the Circuit Court's Office are embroiled in a turf war over the southeast quadrant of the building, which reopened in 2000 after $2.4-million in renovations.

Historical Society officials have said the presence of a deputy clerk and records from the clerk's office in the building violate the terms of the Historical Society's lease of the property.

Clerk of the Circuit Court Betty Strifler has said the clerk must be there because state law designates her office as the custodian of the county's historical records. She has asked the society to move its office to another part of the building.

Tuesday's meeting with county administrators was scheduled to facilitate negotiations and discuss renegotiating the society's lease of the building.

"I had hoped they would come to the table today to help us work out these issues," County Commission Chairwoman Vicki Phillips said. "It's difficult to do with the Historical Society not here."

While several members of the society's board attended the meeting, they said they were there as observers and were not authorized to participate in negotiations.

Phillips, County Administrator Richard Wesch, County Attorney Robert "Butch" Battista, Strifler, Circuit Judge Patricia Thomas and director of courts John Sullivan briefly discussed the problems with the Historical Society members who attended. But the meeting ended after less than an hour.

Jackie Boring, a Historical Society member who manages the museum bookstore at the old courthouse, said she thought the society could easily move its office to the second floor of the building.

Wesch said that was a good suggestion.

"It's just a shame that there aren't other people here to hear it," he said.

Historical Society members at the meeting said they did not understand how discussions had reached such a contentious level.

"I think it was insulting for someone not to attend officially on behalf of the board," said John Grannan, a recently elected Historical Society board member.

Thomas told the group that it would be difficult to plan another meeting with so many conflicting schedules.

"It seems to have kind of been a waste of time," she said.

In a letter delivered to county officials Aug. 17, Historical Society president John Piersall said society representatives would not attend the scheduled Tuesday meeting. Instead, he wrote, representatives from the group's negotiating committee would arrange a private meeting with Strifler and her staff.

But Phillips responded with a letter saying the meeting would go ahead as scheduled, with the lease agreement remaining on the table.

Representatives from the Historical Society did not return calls requesting comment.

Strifler said she met with museum director Kathy Turner Thompson, Historical Society negotiating committee chairman Allen Beasley and Historical Society member Frank Peters for several hours Monday.

But at the end of that meeting, Strifler said, they were no closer to reaching an agreement than they were before it began.

She said Beasley asked her to sign a document that would allow the clerk's records to remain in the courthouse until the county constructed a new records storage facility.

That arrangement, she said Tuesday afternoon, would be unacceptable.

As Tuesday's meeting drew to a close, Phillips said the county would draw up an operating agreement for the Historic Courthouse to replace the lease agreement once it expires next year. The County Commission would eventually consider the operating agreement, she said.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

[Last modified August 31, 2005, 01:21:25]