A final decision on fees in Bradenton Beach’s Sunshine Law dispute must wait until summer.
Judge Edward Nicholas of the 12th Judicial Circuit, during an April 15 telephone hearing, approved defendant John Metz’s motion to postpone an April 29 hearing regarding attorney fees until 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, according to Michael Barfield, a paralegal working for Bradenton Beach.
Nicholas ruled in July 2019 that former Bradenton Beach planning and zoning board members Metz, Reed Mapes, Patty Shay and Bill Vincent, as well as Scenic WAVES Committee members Tjet Martin and Rose Vincent violated Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law in 2017 while discussing city issues via emails and at meetings for the now-defunct grass-roots group Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach.
Nicholas ruled the city was entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and costs from the defendants, but left the amount to be determined in mediation sessions between the parties.
If a settlement can’t be reached before the hearing in June, Nicholas may determine the amount.
Barfield said April 15 that Nicholas directed the city to supplement its discovery responses related to attorney’s fees.
Martin told The Islander that day that Nicholas did not address Bradenton Beach’s motion for sanctions against Mapes for allegedly violating the confidentiality of mediation negotiations by disclosing some information, which was reported Jan. 29 by The Islander newspaper.