Colony ruling delayed until Feb. 10

Those anticipating U.S. Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May to rule on a proposed Colony Beach & Tennis Resort settlement and other matters left his Tampa courtroom Monday disappointed and frustrated yet again.

May previously stated in December that he would make a decision on Colony matters at Monday’s hearing, but made it known as soon as the hearing started that a ruling wasn’t going to happen.

“I want to bring this in for a landing in the next 10 to 15 days,” May said. “I will make a ruling on Feb. 10.”
May used the hearing to ask if there were any new developments in the case.

While there were a few things to mention, attorneys quickly used the morning session to make their cases yet again for why a Colony settlement should or shouldn’t be approved.

That settlement gives $3 million to longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber and doles out $2.3 million to a U.S. bankruptcy Chapter 7 trustee to pay creditors.

An amendment to the settlement reveals that Colony Beach & Tennis Resort unit owner and developer Andy Adams and his entities have agreed to resolve issues with the proposed settlement.

That agreement also calls for giving $400,000 to be paid to creditors, $75,000 to Carolyn Field through the Field Trust and $25,000 to Adams through Breakpointe LLC.

The settlement also absolves the association from a $25 million judgment for damages Klauber won in a bankruptcy appeals court last year.

But it leaves Colony Lender LLC, the largest affected creditor in the bankruptcy case, out of the settlement.

“I’m going to make a ruling on Feb. 10,” May said. “I need an opportunity to react to all of this discussion.”

For more information, pick up a copy of this week's Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].