County Commissioners discuss mediation with Raydient, Callahan Ballpark, Mullin announces promotions

By Cindy Jackson
Reporter
May 2, 2019 12:28 p.m.

It was a rapid-fire session at a special meeting of the Board of County Commissioners on Thursday, May 2, 2019.

What was originally scheduled to be a “Closed Session” was not and instead, the meeting remained “Open” from start to finish.

First up was County Attorney Michael Mullin discussing mediation relating to Raydient LLC, et. al. v. Nassau County, Florida, Case No. 2018-CA-467. This case relates to funding for public parks and recreation facilities. It was unanimously agreed that Commissioner Pat Edwards would be the appointed representative to go to mediation and as such would be the individual with the vested authority to bring back recommended solutions. Carlos Alvarez, Esq. has been appointed to serve as mediator in this action. Said Edwards, “I appreciate the confidence you have in me.” According to court documents, mediation is to take place on or before July 11, 2019.

Mullin mentioned that mediation can last four hours or can go on much longer. The longest mediation Mullin was ever involved with went for 21 hours. Mullin also noted 60% of all court cases in the State of Florida are settled through mediation.

The Callahan Ballpark was also on the agenda with a new development taking place in the form of a phone call received May 1. At the BOCC meeting of April 22, mention was made of some $205,000 being allocated during the 2017-2018 budget session. That money was to go toward the purchase of land from Rayonier for about 40 acres to expand the Callahan Ballpark. A letter expressing an interest in purchasing the parcel was sent to the appropriate party within the Rayonier corporate structure at that time. No response was ever received. According to Rayonier, there were a few internal changes that took place during that time, including a staff member retiring and a reorganization of their real estate division that resulted in no action being taken.

At the end of the day, Rayonier indicated to Taco Pope, Director of Planning and Economic Opportunity, they would be happy to receive another offer for the purchase of the land.

The commissioners faced a difficult decision . . . whether to spend the money on purchasing the land or instead, reallocate those funds to provide for the installation of lights. Access issues, the ever-increasing price of real estate and the discipline of long-term planning were articulated as important issues to consider. After much discussion, the commission voted unanimously to issue another offer to Rayonier to purchase the land (40 acres or perhaps more) but that offer would stipulate a response would be required within 90 days.

Before adjournment, Mullin made a few announcements regarding succession planning. Taco Pope has accepted the offer to become Assistant County Manager and Adrienne Burke will become Director of Planning and Economic Opportunity. Every commissioner congratulated Pope and Burke and indicated their strong support of their work and visions. Said Pope, “we have a lot of work to do.”

The next meeting of the BOCC is scheduled for Monday, May 13 at 6PM and the next meeting of the Beach Working Group Committee is May 15 at 5:30PM. Both meetings take place at the James S. Page Governmental Complex at 96135 Nassau Place in Yulee.

Editor’s Note: Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, Cindy received her BA in Political Science from Dickinson College. Upon graduation, Cindy began her career on Capitol Hill working as a legislative aide and director. She later became a part of the public relations and lobbying team of the American Iron and Steel Institute and served as director of the office of state legislative affairs for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). Cindy was involved in economic development with the state of Maryland, and served as executive director of Leadership Washington County. As a community volunteer, Cindy participates in numerous volunteer activities serving as a member of Sunrise Rotary, and as board member of Cummer Amelia Board of Directors.