HomeMy WebLinkAbout01 12 1990 With compromise's failure, Snell may pursue lawsuitJanuary 12, 1990
With compromise's failure, Snell may pursue lawsuit
By Glenn McLaren
Sun staff reporter
A propo ed comp.-,iis-, in the
lawsuitbrought by Brart Snell against
the Sebastian City Council has fallen
through due to the city's desire to
retain the use of special legal counsel
Eliot Cutler.
In a letter to the Sebastian City
Council, City Manager Robb
McClary said he had instructed Nick
Tsamoutales, special legal counsel
for the city in the Snell case, to "...
discontinue any work on a proposed
stipulation agreement and to con-
tinue his work in defending the City
and named defendants."
Under the agreement, Snell would
have withheld further legal action in
the case until 90 days after the com-
pletion of the Airport Compatibility
Study between Sebastian Municipal
Airport and the surrounding commu-
nity.
Following the release of
McClary's letter, Snell stagy.,: tie
probably would pursue the legal ac-
tions already pending but wanted to
check with his own backers to be
certain that course was agreeable to
them.
The compatibility study is an
element of an agreement in principle
between the city and the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA).
Snell's suit contained a writ of
mandamus calling for the city to
implement the ordinance required by
the referendum approved by Sebas-
tian voters in March of 1989.
Judge Paul Kanarek dismissed the
writof mandamus, stating that it was
a legislative prerogative and that the
court could not order the council to
act an the matter.
The suit brought by Snell also
called for an injunction against the
city's spending of money from the
airpo�i enterprise fund for legal ex-
peil_,,;s pertaining to the airport refer-
endum and the ordinance required by
it.
In addition to the injunction, the
suit seeks to force the city to repay
approximately $120,000 already
paid out of the fund to defend the city
on this case and money paid to Cut-
"r, who was hired by the city to draft
the necessary ordinances called for
by the voters' referendum.
These motions in Snell's suit, the
injunction and repayment, are still
active in the court case.
The city had insisted, in the com-
promise, on a stipulation that the city
be allowed to utilize Cutler's services
in evaluating the compatibility
study's scope of work to ensure it
would meet the requirements of the
FAA standstill agreement, which money.
Cutler negotiated for the city.
Shell. in vetoing the compromise, "We can use the city attorney or
stated that he would not agree to al- Nick Tsamoutales or someone whose
low the city to call in Cutler, claiming rates are more reasonable," said
that it was a waste of the taxpayer's Snell.