HomeMy Public PortalAbout2004-03-16 AttorneyClient Session CASE 980026APBAL HARBOUR VILLAGE
ATTORNEY-CLIENT SESSION
.March 16, 2004
655 -96th Street
Bal Harbour, Florida
8:30 o'clock a.m.
PERSONAL TOUCH REPORTING, INC. (305) 944-9884
MAYOR DANIELS. TANTLEFF
ASSISTANT MAYOR SEYMOUR "SY" ROTH
COUNCILMAN HOWARD J. BERLIN
COUNCILMAN PEG E. GORSON
VILLAGE MANAGER ALFRED J. TREPPEDA
EDWARD GUEDES, ESQ.
Weiss, Serota & Helfman, P.A.
ELLISA HORVATH, Deputy Clerk
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THEREUPON, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HAD:
MAYOR TANTLEFF: I'm calling this
public meeting to order.
Call the roll.
MS. HORVATH: Mayor Tantleff?
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Present.
MS. HORVATH: Assistant Mayor Roth?
ASSISTANT MAYOR ROTH: Here.
MS. HORVATH: Councilman Gorson.
COUNCILMAN GORSON: Here.
MS. HORVATH: Councilman Berlin and
Councilman Jacoby are absent.
M~YOR TANTLEFF: Thank you.
The time is now 8:34 a.m. We are
about to have an attorney-client session
in accordance with Florida Statute 286.011
regarding the litigation styled Edward Law
versus Bal Harbour Village, United States
District Court for the Southern District
of Florida, Case Number 03-22741 CIV-COHN/
SNOW.
The session is estimated to last one
half hour and the following people will be
in attendance at this meeting:
Myself and Village Council Members Sy
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Roth, Howard Berlin, and Peg Gorson.
The Village Attorney is Richard J.
Weiss and Edward G. Guedes, Village
Manager, Al Treppeda.
These proceedings will be recorded by
a certified court reporter and at the
conclusion of all litigation discussed,
the transcript will be made part of the
public record.
All those individuals who I have not
named should leave the room at this time.
Ellisa, do you want to just note
Mayor Berlin has entered the room?
MS. HORVATH: Yes, sir.
(Thereupon, Ms. Horvath left the
room.)
MR. GUEDES: Good morning, everyone.
By way of introduction since I don't
think I've the pleasure of meeting all of
you, my name is Edward Guedes. I'm with
Weiss Serota in the Miami office.
We're here today to discuss a
settlement proposal that is on the table
with respect to litigation that was filed
against the Village by a gentleman named
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Edward Law.
By way of brief background, this
lawsuit is being filed --it was filed in
Federal Court under the Americans with
Disabilities Act alleging that certain of
the facilities in the Village were not
accessible to individuals with
disabilities.
Specifically, what they were
concerned about were the beach access
issues over the public beach here in Bal
Harbour, the parking lot that services the
beach, the access route that services from
the parking lot to the beach, and actually
accessibility issues at the beach near the
edge of the sand.
I'm not aware how familiar you all
are with the American Disabilities Act,
but basically it is a. Federal law that
requires all local governmental entities
to make sure that all of the services and
facilities that they offer to the public
are accessible to individuals with
disabilities.
One of the reasons you have this
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beautiful brand new Village Hall that is
wonderfully compliant was bP.cause the old
Village Hall had a lot of issues in terms
of accessibility and it needed to be
updated.
Unfortunately as it exists right now,
your facilities at the beach are not
accessible.
Your parking lot is in violation,
your ramp access to the beach is in
violation and arguably your, access on to
the facilities at the beach, the pathway,
the concessions that are there, that's not
accessible.
Fortunately, we're in a position
right now to resolve this before it
becomes inordinately expensive to resolve
it.
We have a settlement proposal from
the Plaintiff with whom I have met with
his lawyer, with their consultant, with
the Manager. We have walked the
facilities.
I'll tell you right now just off the
top that I have litigated with this
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particular Plaintiff's lawyer before.
By and large, as far as they go in
this particular area of law, he is one of
the more reasonable ones. You know, he
does not come in asking for the moon and I
believe his proposal is consistent with
that approach.
There are five items that they have
asked for. The first one is that parking
at the north end of the beach, the Village
will ensure that the new construction of
the parking will comply with applicable
Federal regulations.
He's not giving us a particular
deadline. He's open ended, which I think
works great for us because from my
understanding with discussions with the
Manager is that there are ongoing
discussions with the building that is
going up there and we may be able to work
with them to get full compliance in the
parking lot at minimal or no cost to the
Village.
So it's nice that it's open ended.
We don't have a deadline to face there.
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Second, the access route from the
parking lot to the beach. They're
basically asking that we maintain the ramp
the way it is because the slope is in
compliance, that's fine, and that we will
install a railing, a safety railing.
I don't know if any of you are
familiar with the ramp at the end, but it
pitches down towards the beach and it also
pitches to the side on a much steeper
slope and there is no handrail there.
That is a violation.
So basically, they're asking for a
metal handrail to be installed in that
location to prevent people who are using a
wheelchair --to prevent them from going
off the edge. They are asking that that
hand rail be installed in a period of two
months.
Third, beach access. This is very
open ended. They're saying the Defendant
will within two years create beach access
as mandated by the Federal regs.
Basically, what they are looking for
here is: Directly behind the Sheraton,
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there are some concession areas.
What they are asking for is not that
we provide access all the way to the
water. What they're asking for is the
Village and/or cooperation with the
Sheraton to install a temporary plastic
pathway that can be moved in and out as
need be to provide access to an area of
the sand where individuals can go out and
lay out and get tanned. Otherwise, they
can't get past all the concession areas.
Again, it may be that that could be
worked out with the Sheridan in
negotiations. I'm not sure.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Why the Sheraton?
MR. GUEDES: Because it's right
behind their property.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Why the Sheraton and
not behind the Harbour House or --
COUNCILMAN ROTH: You've all the
boats there, the catamarans and all
these
MANAGER TREPPEDA: I think behind the
Sheraton was their request, wasn't it?
MAYOR TANTLEFF: But why would they
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want it behind the Sheraton --
MR. GUEDES: They don't own the
beach, but
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Yes. Why not behind
the Harbor house or the Tiffany or some
other buildings?
MR. GUEDES: When you look at the way
it's set up, our whole section of the
beach, everything does seem to center back
into behind the Sheraton. That is the
main opening out into the beach.
The other areas have a pathway, have
a jogging path or a biking path or
whatever it is that meanders through the
area, but the main entrance is right
behind the Sheraton.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: I'm just not sure
the Sheraton is going to want that with
all the tourists, having this plastic
blanket moved back and forth.
MR. GUEDES: We're probably talking
about a three food wide
MAYOR TANTLEFF:
MR. GUEDES:
All right.
path.
Again, we can come up with another
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idea. They're not being specific as to
what they want, but they do want some kind
of access out to the sand with appropriate
signage indicating where this access point
is.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Why don't we do it
to the north end of the beach?
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Are we talking
west-east only?
MR. GUEDES: Right, west --
COUNCILMAN ROTH: So in other
words --now, I get the point.
I thought that they couldn't walk the
beach because the Sheraton had boats there
and other things.
MR. GUEDES: No, no.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: So you're saying
this plastic could be really any place.
MR. GUEDES: It could.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: It could be the
Balrnoral right adjoining the
MR. GUEDES: As long as they're
signage in the --
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Okay. I understand
it.
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Now, in other words, it's a three
foot
MAYOR TANTLEFF: I'm not --
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: The Sheraton is
no different in that it's a private
enterprise than any of the other
buildings.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Yes.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: And the
concessions are not City concessions.
It's iust no different than somebody
walking out behind one of the condominiums
to the chairs that they put out to the
beach. That's his point.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Right.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: I understand what
the attorney is saying.
If you can visualize the walkway, the
way it was installed and designed, it's
surrounded throughout its entire path
except for one area, and that's where the
Sheraton is.
If you can visualize behind the
Sheraton, the east side of the pathway is
open.
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So I guess the lawyer --not this
lawyer --but the other lawyer is
suggesting that we intended that to be the
primary access point from behind.
Danny's point, though, is better. I
mean, most people --anyone who comes from
that area is going to be coming 99 percent
of the time from the Sheraton.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: From the Sheraton.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: They're hotel
guests.
Danny's point is that if you're
parking in the north parking lot, the most
logical place to put th~ path is where the
people are going to park, and I happen to
agree with that.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: And the path doesn't
go to the jetty. Jt goes before the
jetty.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: In other words,
if he's talking about public access -I
mean true public access --it ought to be
on the extreme south side where the
Majestic is where people can walk off the
street, 96th Street --
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MAYOR TANTLEFF: Right.
MR. GUEDES: That's fine.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: --or on the
extreme north side where the jetty is.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: There's no place to
park in the extreme south side.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: No, but at least
you could understand how
MAYOR TANTLEFF: They could walk from
the public
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: They could walk
from the public, because you can't walk up
the middle of Collins Avenue and then make
a right turn on to the beach. It's all
public property. Even the Sheraton,
you're not supposed to do that, either.
MR. GUEDES: Their proposal is not
specific, but they do want beach access
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Okay. Good.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: The parking lot is
not owned by Bal Harbour Village. It's
owned by the D.O.T., the Department of
Transportation.
MR. GUEDES: It is.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: So they should put
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it in.
MR. GUEDES: If you can arrange it
with them, that's absolutely fine, but we
are putting it out as our parking area for
the public to use the beach in our space.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Yes. They can go
fishing, or go whatever.
MR. GUEDES: But like I say, it's
very open ended. They're not asking for a
specific point.
One of the reasons, by the way, that
the Sheraton got floated in this is
there's a possibility it's not a major
expense, but I'm saying there's a
possibility here that if you approach the
Sheraton, they might be concerned ending
up the target of a lawsuit themselves
along the line and be willing to extend
the pathway themselves because they
conceivably could be in violation for not
providing access facilities and
concessions that Dade contracts with to
provide them with. So that's the only
reason it was floated
COUNCILMAN ROTH: This is something
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that rolls up at night?
MR. GUEDES: Yes, exactly.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: You could roll it
up at night and then roll it in down in
the morning, like a red carpet.
MR. GUEDES: Exactly.
The hoard requirement, as I said, is
just signage. Wherever we decided to put
it, make sure we put signs indicating
where the access is.
The fifth is a catch-all. They just
say --they ask the Village to survey the
current facilities and determine that
they're fully compliant, that they're
accessible, and address if there are any
concerns.
It's not specific. They don't have a
time frame. They don't say anything. I
think it's just a catch-all to say, you
know, please make an effort to bring --to
have all your facilities in compliance.
Now, there is --the last issue is
the payment of attorney's fees and costs.
Okay?
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: That's always
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MR. GUEDES: Yes, it is.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: These two
individuals, the disabled individual and
the attorney, are they always in every one
of these cases --
MR. GUEDES: No --
COUNCILMAN ROTH: -or there's a
different --
MR. GUEDES: Sometimes they do --
COUNCILMAN ROTH: I thought maybe
it's a brother-in law and they do the
rounds
MR. GUEDES: No, because that's not
so far fetched.
I have run into situations where it's
the same group that is suing
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Yes. The guy makes
a living
MR. GUEDES: The last time I
litigated with Mr. Brady, who is the
attorney, it was a completely different
set of Plaintiffs.
So I don't know if he has other
litigation ongoing.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: How much are the
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attorney's fees?
MR. GUEDES: The attorney's fees and
costs would end up being just over
$12,000.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: What do you think,
Mayor? This is your area of expertise.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: This is on the
record. I'm not going to --
MR. GUEDES: Well, let me give you a
clear understanding of what is going on
here before we talk about that.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: Did he give you a
billing statement?
MR. GUEDES: Yes. I have a billing
statement.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: And does it show
a breakdown by tenths of an hour of what
he did?
MR. GUEDES: Yes, he does.
COUNCILMAN BERLIN: Did you validate
it?
MR. GUEDES: Yes. The time that is
here is not unreasonable.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: What are you
suggesting?
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COUNCILMAN ROTH: What does he get
per hour? Just
MR. GUEDES: His rate is $300 an
hour.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Then why is
Serota's $165?
MAYOR TANTLEFF: No. That's for
municipal work.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: American Airlines
is probably two grand an hour, what they
charge.
I'm just kidding.
MR. GUEDES: No, no, no. It's not
unreasonable.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: All right. You're
the experts.
MR. GUEDES: One of the reasons I
would probably recommend to you that I
mean, I'll talk to the man individually
and see if I can't work the amount down,
but if it can't be worked out, you're
going to spend as much money litigating
over the attorney's fee issue as --or
more than just paying it if it can't be
worked out because like I said, there's
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nothing here that screams out the Judge is
going to look at, oh, my gosh. How could
you possibly charge that?
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Okay.
MR. GUEDES: So my recommendation
would be to accept it if I can't get it
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Negotiate it.
MR. GUEDES: Because I'm going to
try, obviously.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: So are you looking
from us for a recommendation to settle the
case?
MR. GUEDES: I need direction that I
should proceed and try to resolve this and
start drawing up a settlement agreement.
Ultimately, however, you need to
formally approve the settlement at a
public hearing.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: So if the Council
doesn't mind, can I direct on behalf of
the Council to draw up the settlement?
That's okay with everybody here?
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Yes, not to exceed
$12,000 but try to negotiate it for less
than --
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MAYOR TANTLEFF: Right, and not only
a dollar amount, but also to try to do
this public access where it makes sense,
either the south side of the Majestic or
what makes more sense, the north side
because that's where the parking is.
Is that good with everybody?
COUNCILMAN GORSON: Yes.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Yes.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Okay. Thank you.
MR. GUEDES: Now, just so --
Councilman Roth, the exact amount
because you said not to exceed 12,000.
The exact amount is $12,408.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Oh -
MR. GUEDES: I just didn't want to
mislead you into thinking --
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Not the exceed
13,000.
MR. GUEDES: Then you're fine.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: What else,
counselor?
MR. GUEDES: That's it. We're done.
MAYOR TANTLEFF: Thank you.
MR. GUEDES: That's not bad. 18
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minutes.
(Thereupon, Ms. Horvath returned to
the room. )
MAY'OR TANTLEFF:
the public meeting.
I will now reopen
This is the
conclusion of the attorney-client session.
The attorney client session has now been
terminated and members of the general
public are now invited to return for any
other proceedings or matters.
I make a motion to adjourn the
executive session.
COUNCILMAN ROTH: Second.
MAY'OR TANTLEFF: All those in favor,
say aye.
THE COUNCIL (IN UNISON) Aye.
(Thereupon, the meeting was concluded
at 9:50 o'clock a.rn.)
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CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
STATE OF FLORIDA)
) ss.
COUNTY OF DADE)
I, CAROLE BECKER, a Notary Public in and
for the State of Florida, do hereby certify that
I reported the foregoing meeting at the time and
place hereinabove set forth; and that the
foregoing pages numbered from 1 to 22, inclusive,
constitute a true and correct transcription of my
shorthand report of the meeting.
WITNESS MY HAND AND SEAL in the City of
Miami, Dade County, Florida, this 17th day of
March, 2004.
CAROLE BECKER
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