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Home My WebLink AboutVII (F) Discussion/ Action re: Consideration of Settlement Proposal in Jerry E. Jones Code Enforcement Matter Agenda 6-16-98 Item VII F FOLEY & LARDNER ATTORNEYS AT LAW CHICAGO POST OFFICE BOX 2193 SACRAMENTO JACKSONVILLE ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32802-2193 SAN DIEGO LOS ANGELES 111 NORTH ORANGE AVENUE, SUITE 1800 SAN FRANCISCO MADISON ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32801-2386 TALLAHASSEE MILWAUKEE TELEPHONE(407)423-7656 TAMPA ORLANDO FACSIMILE(407)648-1743 WASHINGTON D.C. WEST PALM BEACH • MEMORANDUM TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of Ocoee FROM: Paul E. Rosenthal, Esq. , City Attorney DATE: June 12 , 1998 RE: City of Ocoee vs . Jerry L. Jones (Case No. CI 98-456) The Code Enforcement Board has previously taken action against Jerry L. Jones for the removal of a fence which encroached into the safe site triangle . Mr. Jones failed to remove the fence as required by the Board. Mr. Jones appealed the Board' s decision to the Circuit Court seeking to invalidate the action of the Board. The City has prevailed in this proceeding. The judicial proceedings in this matter have extended over a significant length of time. Pursuant to authorization from the City Commission, the City has sought to collect the Code Enforcement Board fine. Mr. Jones unsuccessfully challenged this action by a judicial proceeding and has recently been ordered to file an answer to the City' s complaint . To date, the City has incurred a total of $18, 634 . 00 in attorneys fees and $939 . 66 in costs in connection with this dispute. That amount includes not only the amounts incurred in the pending case, but also the greater amounts that the City incurred in defending Mr. Jones prior appeal . Additionally, significant staff time has been incurred in connection with Mr. Jones' appeal . Attached hereto is a settlement proposal dated June 2 , 1998 from Neal T. McShane, attorney for Mr. Jones . He proposes to settle the City' s claim for the sum of $2 , 000 . 00 It is recommended that the City Commission direct the City Attorney to reject the $2 , 000 . 00 settlement proposal . However, in an effort to bring this matter to a conclusion and after consultation with Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Flippen, it is recommended that the City Commission authorize a settlement proposal in the ESTABLISHED 1 8 4 2 A MEMBER OF GLOBALEX WITH MEMBER OFFICES IN BERLIN,BRUSSELS,DRESDEN, FRANKFURT, LONDON,SINGAPORE,STOCKHOLM AND STUTTGART �� April 20, 1998 Page 2 amount of $20, 000 . 00 . This would reimburse the City for its out of pocket expenses and for a portion of the costs incurred by the Code Enforcement Board. PER/ww Enclosure • cc : Ellis Shapiro, City Manager Mr. Don Flippen John R. Hamilton, Esq. OMNI\DOCS\OCOMMAYOR-CC.MEM 1 6/11/98 1 ROSENTHAL I PER:ww Law Offices Of NEAL T.' MCSHANE Professional Association ATTORNEY AT LAW 836 N. Highland Avenue Orlando, Florida.32803 Telephone 407-648-1500 June 2, 1998 Fax 407-64g-2027 John R. Hamilton JUN Foley& Lardner 111 North Orange Avenue Suite 1800 FOtty &. Orlando, Florida 32801-2386 �� • RE: City of Ocoee v. Jerry Jones.. Case No. CI98-456 Dear Mr. Hamilton: Pursuant to our discussion on this date, please consider this to be a request that the within matter be resolved through a negotiated settlement:. As you are.aware, Mr: Jones has been a long time resident of the City of Ocoee and he:- is e:isextremely happy with his residence within the City of Ocoee. You may not be aware that the_underlying starting point to the within matter was when Mr. Jones inquired about the requirements to place a swimming pool in his backyard: Since Mr. Jones is extremely happy living within the City of Ocoee he was desirous of • putting a.swimming pool in this backyard. Therefore Mr. Jones made inquiries-into the. size allowed for the swimming pool, pursuant to zoning set backs, etc. Either through coincidence or as a result of Mr. Jones' inquiries, the within matter resulted. As a result of the Code Enforcement Board's ruling, Mr. Jones is now precluded from using that corner of his property. Since Mr. Jones cannot use a corner-of. his property he does not have adequate space to put a pool in his backyard nor will he-- ever have adequate space to put a pool in his backyard. As previously indicated, Mr. Jones moved the fence upon being advised that the fence had to be removed. In fact, Mr. Jones had a neighbor, who is a carpenter, remove the fence the weekend immediately after being informed that the fence must be taken down. Once Mr..Jones was advised that the fence had to be removed Mr. Jones complied in an extremely timely manner. . As you or may not be aware, Mr. Jones is not a wealthy man. In fact, due to the fact that: Mr. Jones has been caring for his sick and elderly father, who passed away last month, and other major financial problems, Mr. Jones has recently undergone financial devastation. John R. Hamilton Foley & Lardner June 2, 1998 Page 2 I have been authorized by Mr. Jones to offer the City of Ocoee two thousand dollars ($2000) in order to resolve/settle the within matter. Pursuant to Chapter 162,.Florida Statutes, we are also respectfully requesting that consideration be given to going back before the Code Enforcement Board in order to discuss lowering the fine amount due in the within matter. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your professional courtesy in extending the time frame in which we must comply with the Court's order to amend Mr.- - -. Jones' pleadingin the within matter. Hopefully, the within matter can be settled and/or resolved with a very short period of time and it would not be necessary for either party to - file any additional pleadings with the court. As also indicated, Mr. Jones has been in the process of attempting to secure a civil attorney to handle this matter should it not be settled and require the filing of additional. pleadings. I have indicated to Mr. Jones that if he is willing to settle the case it would be better to place any money that would be put toward a retainer to hire a civil attorney be- • 7." put toward a settlement with the City of Ocoee, as part of a negotiated settlement in lieu of hiring a civil lawyer. Mr. Jones has agreed to follow said advice. I am respectfully requesting that should it become necessary to secure an extension from the Court to file the amended pleadings after hiring a civil attorney I would behappy to do so. I would expect that we should have some relatively definitive direction within the next week or two. Therefore I am respectfully requesting that our informal agreement to not file the required amended pleadings at this time remain in effect while we are "negotiating" over thenext few weeks. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Very truly yours, GLAJt, ':! �� NEAL T. McSHANE NTM:alsr Mond In Mr.McShane's absence to avoid delay In mailing