FELLSMERE — The two-year battle over the upkeep and maintenance of the City of Fellsmere’s fire hydrants is officially over. The County has paid the city as directed by court and the city has forgiven the $20,500 in fines that have been accruing since 2009.
The council, with little discussion and no debate, unanimously approved City Manager Jason Nunemaker’s recommendation to drop the penalties.
In other code enforcement cases, the City Council has opted to drop the amount to 10 percent of the total, depending on the circumstances.
“This still makes us whole,” Nunemaker told the council, noting the County has already paid $65,000 – as ordered through the courts.
Nunemaker said that by forgiving the $20,000, it would be a gesture to help maintain the relationship the City has with the County.
“We are neighbors,” Mayor Susan Adams said, noting the two will be working together on future projects.
“Thank you for entertaining our request,” County Attorney Alan Polackwich said, later adding, “We have all sort of things in common. We have lots of reasons to cooperate.”
In 2009, Fellsmere billed the County approximately $25,500 for maintenance and upkeep on the city’s fire hydrants, which the City contends are used only by Indian River County Fire Rescue and should be paid for by the County.
That year, the County paid half the bill and refused payment on the other half, which triggered a code enforcement hearing and a finding by the special master that the county was in the wrong.
The County was then ordered to pay the remainder of the bill and another nearly $26,000 in legal fees and code enforcement fines – bringing the total at that time to more than $41,000. Since then, the county had been accruing a $30 daily fine.
Instead of paying, the County appealed the ruling to the Circuit Court Appellate Division. That court upheld Fellsmere’s position that Indian River County, being the end user of the hydrants, should be required to pay for the maintenance.
In 2010 and again in 2011, the county refused to pay the invoice from Fellsmere.
Instead of going through the code enforcement process, the County agreed to pay the bills under protest with the understanding that if the County had won the 2009 appeal in court, the City would have had to refund the money.
