Item L3 L.3
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMSSIONERS
County of Monroe f
Mayor Heather Carruthers,District 3
h} ] Mayor Pro Tem Michelle Coldiron,District 2
The Florida Keys Craig Cates,District 1
David Rice,District 4
Sylvia J.Murphy,District 5
County Commission Meeting
October 213, 2020
Agenda Item Number: L.3
Agenda Item Summary #6723
BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: County Attorney's Office
TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: Peter Morris (305) 289-2584
1:30 P.M. CLOSED SESSION
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: An Attorney-Client Closed Session in the matter of Sunset Garden
Estate Land Trust 2/10/2014, by and through its Successor Trustee, Simtrust Group LLC, and Sunset
Gardens Farm, LLC v. Monroe County, Florida, Case No. 19-CA-460-P.
ITEM BACKGROUND: Per F.S. 286.011(8), the subject matter of the meeting shall be confined to
settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related to litigation expenditures. Present at the meeting
will be the Commissioners, County Administrator Roman Gastesi, County Attorney Bob Shillinger,
Assistant County Attorneys Peter Morris and Cynthia Hall, and a certified court reporter.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
9/16/20 (K3) BOCC continued the Attorney-Client Closed Session to October 21, 20202 in
Marathon, FL at 1:30 P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard with the caveat
that the County Attorney will be working toward identifying a date, time and
location for a special meeting for purposes of holding the closed session onsite.
8/19/20 (K3) BOCC continued the Attorney-Client Closed Session to September 16, 20202 in
Key Largo, FL at 1:30 P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard
7/15/20 (J3) BOCC continued the Attorney-Client Closed Session to August 19, 2020 in Key
West, FL at 1:30 P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard
6/17/20 (I3) BOCC continued the Attorney-Client Closed Session to July 15, 2020 in Marathon,
FL at 1:30 P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard
5/20/20 (I5) BOCC continued the Closed Session to BOCC 6/17/20 in Key Largo, FL at 1:30
P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard
5/8/20 (DI) Closed Session scheduled for BOCC 5/8/20 Special Meeting agenda but closed
session was not held; BOCC continued the Closed Session to previously scheduled
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L.3
BOCC 5/20/20
4/15/20 (P3) BOCC scheduled a Closed Session to be held May 20, 2020 in Key West, FL at
1:30 P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard
3/18/20 (Jl) BOCC 3/18/20 meeting postponed to BOCC 4/15/20 requiring request for Closed
Session to be on the record/publicly requested
2/19/20 (Jl) BOCC continued the Closed Session to March 18, 2020 in Key Largo, FL at 1:30
P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard
1/22/20 (Jl) BOCC continued the Closed Session to February 19, 2020 in Key West, FL at 1:30
P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard.
12/11/19 (R4) BOCC scheduled a Closed Session to be held January 22, 2020 in Marathon, FL at
1:30 P.M. or as soon thereafter as may be heard.
11/20/19 (RI) Upon inquiry regarding this matter by the Board, County Attorney Bob Shillinger
advised he would request an attorney-client closed session at the December BOCC
meeting to be held at the BOCC 1/22/2020 meeting in Marathon, FL.
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: N/A
DOCUMENTATION:
Closed Session Script(Right to Farm Sunset Garden) BOCC 9/16/20 (REV 0/7/20)
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Effective Date: N/A
Expiration Date:
Total Dollar Value of Contract: N/A
Total Cost to County: Court Reporter Costs
Current Year Portion:
Budgeted: Yes
Source of Funds: 67501-530330
CPI: N/A
Indirect Costs: N/A
Estimated Ongoing Costs Not Included in above dollar amounts:
Revenue Producing: N/A If yes, amount:
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L.3
Grant: N/A
County Match: N/A
Insurance Required: N/A
Additional Details:
N/A
REVIEWED BY:
Peter Morris Completed 04/24/2020 11:13 AM
Bob Shillinger Completed 04/24/2020 2:14 PM
Kathy Peters Completed 04/24/2020 4:15 PM
Board of County Commissioners Completed 05/20/2020 9:00 AM
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L.3.a
Mayor's Script
For the day of Closed Session
The following should be read at the appropriate point during the day of the closed session. 0
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1. Prior to going into closed session. Cn
A closed attorney-client session pursuant to Section 286.011(8), Florida Statutes, will now be held. It is
estimated that this meeting will take approximately thirty (30) minutes. The persons attending the meeting will
be the County Commissioners, County Administrator Roman Gastesi, County Attorney Bob Shillinger, �?
Assistant County Attorneys Peter Morris and Cynthia Hall and a certified court reporter.
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Since the law prohibits any other person from being present at the closed session, the commissioners, the
County Administrator, the attorneys for the County and the court reporter will now remain in this meeting
room, and all other persons are required to leave the room. When the closed session is over, we will re-convene
and re-open the public meeting. This public meeting is now closed.
2. At the beginning of the closed session. 0
I now call this closed session to order. For the record, this meeting is being held upon the request of the County '>
Attorney Bob Shillinger who announced at a prior BOCC Meeting held on 4/15/20 that he needed advice in the
matter of Sunset Garden Estate Land Trust 211012014, by and through its Successor Trustee, Simtrust Group
LLC, and Sunset Gardens Farm, LLC v. Monroe County, Florida, Case No. 19-CA-460-P. At that meeting, the
Board approved holding a closed session and public notice was given through public announcement of the
meeting at the 4/15/20 BOCC meeting and through publication of the 5/20/20 BOCC meeting agenda on the
County's website. At the 5/20/20 meeting, the Board continued the closed session to the 6/17/20 BOCC meeting
and public notice was given through public announcement of the meeting at the 5/20/20 BOCC meeting and
through publication of the 6/17/20 BOCC meeting agenda on the County's website. At the 6/17/20 meeting, the
Board continued the closed session to the 7/15/20 BOCC meeting and public notice was given through public
announcement of the meeting at the 6/17/20 BOCC meeting and through publication of the 7/15/20 BOCC m
meeting agenda on the County's website. At the 7/15/20 meeting, the Board continued the closed session to the
8/19/20 BOCC meeting and public notice was given through public announcement of the meeting at the 7/15/20
BOCC meeting and through publication of the 8/19/20 BOCC meeting agenda on the County's website. At theCU
8/19/20 meeting, the Board continued the closed session to the 9/16/20 BOCC meeting and public notice was
given through public announcement of the meeting at the 8/19/20 BOCC meeting and through publication of the 2
9/16/20 BOCC meeting agenda on the County's website. At the 9/16/20 meeting, the Board continued the closed J
session to the 10/21/20 BOCC meeting and public notice was given through public announcement of the E-
meeting at the 9/16/20 BOCC meeting and through publication of the 10/21/20 BOCC meeting agenda on UT
the County's website.
For the record, and the benefit of the court reporter, each of us will state our name and position starting with the commission.
(After all have identified themselves)— Thank you. Cn
a
Just as a reminder, we will only be discussing settlement negotiations and strategy relating to litigation •2
expenditures. We cannot take any decisive action at this meeting. We can only provide information and
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direction to the attorneys. Any decisions this Board makes concerning this case must be done in a meeting open
to the public.
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Let's start our discussion with the County Attorney.
3. At the end of the closed session, prior to going into open session.
This closed session is now terminated and we will not reconvene in the public meeting.
4. After the public session has been re-opened.
The attorney—client session has been terminated, and we are now re-opening this public m
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