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BOOK 97 PAGE 079 <br />SEBASTIAN INLET TAX DISTRICT <br />Chairman Adams advised that at the last Beach & Shore <br />Preservation Advisory Committee meeting, there was a -motion to look <br />into the possibilities of legal recourse and the ramifications of <br />either joining with current lawsuits against the Sebastian Inlet <br />Tax District (SITD) or initiating our own. She was bringing the <br />matter to the Board's attention to advise that she had met last <br />Tuesday with the District's administrator, Ray LaRoux; their legal <br />counsel, Cliff McClelland; and Randy Mosby, one of the District's <br />Commissioners, in County Attorney Vitunac's office, to discuss <br />continued concern over the loss of sand from our public beaches. <br />She called on County Attorney Vitunac for additional information. <br />County Attorney Vitunac reported that two cases are now <br />pending, one is a Department of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) and <br />the other is an inverse condemnation action brought by the property <br />owners. He advised that SITD had provided him with a large volume <br />of information, and their attorney had recommended that we proceed <br />slowly and not sue them yet. The attorney for the property owners <br />suggested that the County negotiate with the SITD on the sand <br />pumping and meet with him before filing suit. <br />County Attorney Vitunac continued that there will be a SITD <br />meeting February 15th and Chairman Adams' request for cooperation <br />between the District and the County to put sand on our beaches will <br />be on the agenda. Coastal Engineer Don Donaldson also attended the <br />meeting with the SITD representatives and the County put all its <br />cards on the table. The County was quite honest in saying that, <br />despite the technicalities of these lawsuits which.the District <br />may or may not win, we would like to do what is good for the <br />taxpayers and beach property owners south of Sebastian Inlet. <br />Everyone was candid and it was clear that, at least at one time in <br />the past, the inlet had caused the loss of sand. It was uncertain <br />whether the District could win because of the statute of <br />limitations or because of a jurisdictional problem. His office has <br />not looked into the vast filings for the last 5 years, nor have <br />they been authorized by the Board to do so. <br />County Attorney Vitunac went on to say that now the plane has <br />been raised to a higher level to do what is good for the people and <br />taxpayers of our community. At the meeting, they asked for a. -good <br />faith expression that the SITD Board would go on -record at its next <br />meeting to do something reasonable to put sand on the beaches, in <br />order to avoid wasting money, which is the usual result when public <br />agencies sue each other. Chairman Adams was quite adamant that we <br />would recommend pursuing legal remedies, if we had to, if the <br />18 <br />February 13, 1996 <br />