October 3, 1994CINDY L. BARTIN
JOSEPH W. LANDERS. JR.
JOHN T. LAVIA. m
RICHARD A. LOTSPEICH
FRED A. McCORMACK
PHILIP S. PARSONS
ROBERT SCHEFFEL WRIGHT
HOWELL L. FERGUSON
OF COUNSEL
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL
SENIOR CONSULTANT
INOT A MEMBER OF THE FLORIDA BARI
John Cook
202 Northwest 5th Avenue
Okeechobee, Florida 34972
RE: OBWA v. City of Okeechobee
Dear John:
LANDERS PARSONS
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
October 3, 1994
310 WEST COLLEGE AVENUE
POST OFFICE BOX 271
TALLAHASSEE. FLORIDA 32302
TELEPHONE (904) 681 -0311
TELECOPY (904) 224 5595
I received your letter of September 29, 1994 and reviewed the
attached letter from Michael Minton including his draft Extension
and Modification Agreement. With regard to the issues that you
raised in your letter, I have the following comments.
I agree with your observation that without entering into a
formal extension of the 1985 Agreement between OBWA and the City,
either party could extend water lines at will into the disputed
area. The downside of proceeding without such an extension is
obviously that OBWA could extend its lines into the disputed area.
On the other hand, the upside is that the City also would have the
ability to extend its lines into this area. In addition, we need
to remember that OBWA still does not have its CUP and, therefore,
is still without the ability to build its water treatment plant.
Without the ability to construct that plant, OBWA will not be able
to show its present "ability to serve" the disputed area which it
needs to do to prevail in the lawsuit.
On the other hand, with the extension as proposed by Mr.
Minton, neither party would be able to extend lines into the
disputed area except as specifically provided in that extension.
At this point, I do not see any downside to the City from the
provisions in the agreement proposed by Mr. Minton. On the
contrary, the upside is that OBWA could not expand its service area
under the terms of that agreement and, furthermore, still is
without the ability to build the water treatment plant.
With regard to the issue of service to Tripp Park, I believe
the proposal offered by Mr. Minton in the agreement is reasonable
and does not appear to create any disadvantages for the City.
John Cook
October 4, 1994
Page 2
RAL /nkt
Finally, with regard to the issue of the debt service charged
to OBWA, I agree with your assessment that it would seem
unreasonable and unfair to charge OBWA debt service for the
wastewater portion of the debt where they receive no benefit from
wastewater service by the City. In order to avoid a confrontation
with OBWA on this issue, I suggest that the Extension and
Modification Agreement be revised accordingly.
I hope you find these comments helpful. Please let me know if
I can be of any further assistance regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Lotspeich