AGENDA ITEM REPORT
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A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER, OR DESIGNEE, TO EXECUTE THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH FC LAND INVESTMENT A, LLC RESOLVING THE PENDING APPEAL STYLED FC LAND INVESTMENT A, LLC V. CITY OF COCONUT CREEK, FILED IN THE SEVENTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT UNDER CASE NUMBER CACE19-026247, WHICH IS AN APPEAL CHALLENGING AN ORDER OF THE SPECIAL MAGISTRATE OF THE CITY OF COCONUT CREEK IN A CODE ENFORCEMENT MATTER; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS.
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BACKGROUND:
On November 20, 2019, the Special Magistrate for the City of Coconut Creek held a contested evidentiary hearing regarding the ten (10) separate occasions in which the City unclogged rags and other unlawfully inserted debris from its two (2) pumps at Lift Station 45, and issued an order on December 3, 2019, finding such violations existed. The property owner who was found in violation, FC Land Investment A, LLC, commonly referred to as “Monarch Station,” filed an appeal of that order in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court. The City Attorney’s Office has served as counsel for the City and has presented the City’s defense in the form of an answer brief. Even as the appeal takes its normal procedural course, the clogs at Lift Station 45 continue to occur. It should be noted that City’s Lift Station 45 exclusively serves the property owned by FC Land Investment A, LLC, commonly known as the apartment complex “Monarch Station” within the City.
DISCUSSION:
At this time, Monarch Station and the City propose the attached Joint Stipulation as a way to resolve the pending appeal without further litigation and cure the continuing violations occurring at the property. The Joint Stipulation provides that in exchange for Monarch Station voluntarily dismissing, with prejudice, the appeal and taking specific steps toward compliance, the City agrees to hold in abeyance its prosecution of a repeat violation case in connection with all nineteen (19) post-Special Magistrate’s order violations and subsequent potential violations for a period of 365 days in order to allow Monarch Station the time to bring its property into compliance with the City’s Code of Ordinances. Furthermore, Monarch Station has agreed to pay for all of the City’s documented expenses associated with each clean-out of Lift Station 45, both past and those that occur during the 365-day Rehabilitation Period, so long as Monarch Station is the only contributor to that wastewater facility.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of this resolution.
FISCAL IMPACT:
REVENUES: $13,575.93
EXPENDITURES: N/A
BUDGETED? No
NOTES: Revenue amount is a direct reimbursement for City expenses accrued during unplanned Lift Station 45 pump clog clean-outs starting in July 2019 to present, and the fine amount and administrative fee attributable to Code Enforcement Case Number C19070218. In addition, the Joint Stipulation provides for other reimbursable expenses, including documented equipment costs and future clean-out expenses.