Association appeals Colony ruling

The Colony Beach & Tennis Association Inc. will appeal U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday’s Oct. 12 ruling to the 11th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court, according to a notice filed yesterday by Association attorney Jeffrey Warren.

Merryday directed a bankruptcy court to determine whether to return possession of units to the partnership that ran the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort and damages of $7,751,470 or recommend an award of $20,646,312 for the partnership with no return of units.

The judge also remanded the dispute over a recreational lease, which previously allowed unit owners to use the tennis courts when the resort was operating, to bankruptcy court to recommend an amount of damages owed to the lessors, which include longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber. Merryday also ordered the parties into mediation by Dec. 15.

Jay Yablon, president of the association, said he did not believe Merryday’s rulings would go into effect and expressed optimism that the parties could negotiate an agreement.

“My reaction is that Judge Merryday’s rulings are riddled with legal and factual errors which we believe would be overturned on appeal,” Yablon said. “It is our expectation that the federal circuit will never get to rule on this end because we fully intend to reach a global settlement of all the disputes at the Colony long before that would ever happen.”

Katie Moulton, longtime president and general manager of the Colony, said that she wasn’t surprised by the appeal.

“They had stated previously that they were planning to do it so it wasn’t unexpected,” she said.
Moulton was also hopeful about resolving the matter outside of the courts.

“We believe that the upcoming mediation is the most important thing we can focus on,” she said. “It’s time to resolve this longtime dispute and begin the rehabilitation of the Colony as soon as possible.

For more information, pick up an Oct. 20 copy of the Longboat Observer.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].

Click here to read Merryday's ruling