Deadline worries commissioners

The Longboat Key Town Commission is dreading the holidays this year.

Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association attorney Jeffery Warren’s June 28 third quarterly report, which commissioners say contains little information, combined with a Dec. 31 tourism extension deadline, add up to an inevitable showdown between the Association and commission at the end of the year, some believe.

The letter states settlement negotiations are ongoing and can’t be disclosed; it also notes that longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber’s entities in bankruptcy court have received a stay that allows a foreclosure trial not to resume until the last week of August. Assets for the Klauber entities can’t be resolved until that matter is settled.

“My interpretation of that letter is the Colony is asking us not to disrupt them because they are on the cusp of so many great things like they always say,” said Commissioner Jack Duncan at the commission’s July 1 regular meeting. “In the meantime, there are more delays until the end of the summer, and this thing is going to continue to fester and fester, and Dec. 31 is going to be in our face before we know it.”

The settlement delays aren’t the only Colony issues bothering the commission.

Town Manager Dave Bullock sent a letter to Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association President Jay Yablon dated June 7. The letter urges the Association to reveal Stamford, Conn.,-based JHM Financial Group LLC’s company history, financial statements, a list of current and completed projects, references and banking references.

JHM Financial is the Colony Association’s selected developer. Commissioner Terry Gans requested the company provide the information at a May 20 special meeting.

Bullock said Monday that he received a list of references July 3 and anticipates receiving the remaining information this week.

Colony Association attorney Don Hemke has also promised JHM will reveal a list of references the town can contact for past projects.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Duncan said. “With the Colony, nothing comes easy.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].


RISK MANAGEMENT

Enter at your own risk.

That’s the old policy for accessing the Colony’s mid-rise building.

But a new policy for entering the building requires permission from the town’s building official, Wayne Thorne, and that anyone who enters has a cellphone programmed to 911.

Thorne posted a notice June 17 stating that the mid-rise building is unsafe.

Still, when Thorne visited the Colony July 1, he found individuals moving a desk for longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber.

According to an email Thorne sent to Assistant Town Manager Anne Ross and Planning Zoning and Building Director Robin Meyer, the lack of a fire-alarm system and monitoring notification creates an unsafe condition because, in the event of an emergency, officials wouldn’t know if someone were in the building.

Meyer warned in his email that he would revoke access to the building if the parties don’t adhere to the guidelines.

— Robin Hartill