Benderson Development Co. will not be getting certificates of occupancy for any of its buildings in the Southern Manatee Fire District until officials agree to cough up impact fees they owe, fire officials said.
But a lawyer for Benderson said the company doesn't owe the fire district any money.
Officials at Southern Manatee Fire and Rescue District have been trying to secure funds owed from the Cooper Creek Development Order, totaling $738,349. Benderson has paid the district $28,516, and other properties covered by the order have paid $137,301, leaving a balance of $572,532, officials said.
Fire district officials need to sign off on the company's certificates of occupancy but will not do that until an agreement about the impact fees is reached, fire officials said during a meeting Wednesday.
Randy Benderson, president of the development company, and attorney Ed Vogler are closely scrutinizing the district's calculations and methodology, according to Assistant Chief J.R. Thayer.
Vogler said Wednesday night that the company has been trying to work with fire district officials and that there was no reason for them to interfere with certificates of occupancy.
Vogler said Benderson Development Co. has paid its share of impact fees but other companies in the development may owe the outstanding fees.
Thayer said that the developer found an $8,000 mistake in its favor but that the bottomline remains much the same: It still owes more than $500,000.
The fire district experienced a similar situation when officials asked developer Pat Neal to pay impact fees in advance to help defray costs of building Station 5, nestled between two of his developments.
The two sides were able to reach an agreement in February.
That same new station, situated on a .78-acre chunk of land approximately 1/4 miles north of University Parkway, will service Benderson's developments as well, Thayer said.
Last month, the district's board gave officials the go-ahead to pursue legal action against Benderson if negotiations failed to produce an agreement, and Chief Tom Hennessy said after Wednesday's meeting that things looked as though they may be headed in that direction.
"We should know within another week or so if we're going to move ahead with the lawsuit," Hennessy said. "It's a lot of money."
Even if the lawsuit is filed, talks could still continue, Thayer said.
But every delay and legal action will cost the district - and ultimately the taxpayers - more money.
Three years ago, when the department started its move to build Station 5, the cost of the project was estimated at $750,000. Three years later, after ironing out the issues with Neal, the cost skyrocketed to $1.2 million.
The site plan has been approved for the new two-bay station, and Hennessy said he hopes to see trucks on the property within 30 days.
In the meantime, officials are waiting to hear what Benderson and its attorneys will propose.
"By no means have negotiations stopped," Thayer said, "but we're not wasting any more time."
Distributed by the Associated Press
