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City, Swiftmud bicker in mediation session

The parties have been wrangling legally since 2004. The first mediation fell apart in 2005.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published March 29, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Representatives of Weeki Wachee Springs and the Southwest Florida Water Management District met Tuesday afternoon for the first time in more than a year to try to resolve their differences.

But what started out as hopeful conversation to finally settle an ongoing court battle went nowhere. The meeting was over within an hour, and both sides left where they started - bickering with one another.

The court-ordered mediation session took place in a conference room at Swiftmud's headquarters south of Brooksville. Swiftmud board members sat on one side of the room; representatives from the City of Mermaids sat on the other.

Weeki Wachee attorney Joe Mason opened the session by stating that the tiny city was ready to work out its problems with Swiftmud. The city sincerely hoped to get back into a cooperative relationship with its landlord, he said.

Since 2004, the two sides have been tied up in legal battles. Among other points, the water district questioned whether the city broke state law by keeping the private company, Weeki Wachee Springs LLC, intact when it was donated to the city by the previous owner.

Weeki Wachee also filed suit against Swiftmud, which is the attraction's landlord. State law doesn't prohibit the city from owning the attraction, it stated in its arguments.

After a few months of litigation, which a county judge deemed excessive, the two parties went through mediation that fell apart in 2005 and led back to court. Now they are in Round 2 of mediation.

On Tuesday, as city spokesman John Athanason and Mayor Robyn Anderson began to lead both sides through a thick stack of papers that outlined violation corrections, the meeting started to unravel.

Swiftmud board chairman Tom Dabney accused Mason of scripting Anderson's words. The two sat next to each other, and Mason's yellow legal pad was in between them as he wrote and she looked down and spoke along with Athanason.

"Excuse me, but I want to have my attorney next to me so he can script me," Dabney said.

He asked board attorney Bill Bilenky to switch seats with another board member to be at his side.

"Is this how it's going to start out?" Anderson asked. "It's a shame we have to do this."

Once the move was complete, Dabney brought up the points he thought should be discussed during the mediation: the failure of Weeki Wachee to sign a redrafted lease with Swiftmud for the last year and a half, and illegal dredging of the Weeki Wachee River the city is alleged to have performed in 2004.

He reminded Anderson that Swiftmud could have closed the door on the operation when problems first arose two years ago.

"We could have evicted you, but we didn't," he said.

Mason replied by stating that a lease had been signed in 2001 - just not the one Swiftmud wants the city to agree to. He added that the river dredging wasn't illegal, though he acknowledged Weeki Wachee didn't get a permit to do the work.

He finished by stating that the thrust of current litigation is to terminate the lease with Weeki Wachee and kick the mermaids out.

That comment infuriated Dabney, who said, "This meeting is going to end now if you keep saying that. We're not trying to put you out of business. But we will put you out of business."

After more conversation about Weeki Wachee's alleged past violations, Dabney asked Anderson if she would be ready to come back in two weeks to discuss the revised lease Weeki Wachee has yet to sign.

The mayor agreed, even though Mason said he would be out of town. Both parties agreed to not having any lawyers present at the next meeting.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get this over with," Anderson said. "This is getting old for everyone."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or 352 848-1432.

[Last modified March 29, 2006, 01:23:20]