Commission will discuss legal counsel today

The Longboat Key Town Commission will discuss its legal services at its 1 p.m. workshop at Town Hall today.

After a March 4 Colony Beach & Tennis Resort public nuisance hearing was continued until May, in which Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association Attorney Don Hemke informed the commission his client had not been afforded due process, Brown expressed frustration with the town’s legal counsel.

Hemke said some expert witness reports from the town were not provided until Feb. 26 and one report, a wind report analysis, was not released until the day before the hearing. Hemke also suggested the town should have notified mortgage holders of Colony property that was being reviewed to determine if criteria could be met to begin a demolition process for certain buildings.

Former Town Attorney Dave Persson, who sat with the commission at the hearing due to his previous legal knowledge of the Colony and because he works for the same law firm as Town Attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale, agreed with Hemke’s assessment that not enough due process for the association had been made. The hearing was then continued until May.

“There’s going to have to be questions asked and questions answered from our legal counsel,” Brown told the Longboat Observer earlier this month. “If you think there might be a reason to notify someone, you should notify them. And as far as submitting documents on a timely basis for the other party to review, that seems like a no brainer.”

Commissioner Lynn Larson also questioned the town’s legal counsel, calling the March 4 hearing “a waste of time and money.”

Also at the workshop at Town Hall, commissioners will discuss placing sand on the north end of the Key this summer before sand saving structures are installed in the area in summer 2015.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].