After nearly 18 months of negotiations with the city, leaseholders for Brett's Waterway Cafe have begun legal action in Nassau County Circuit Court to have a panel of arbitrators determine how much, if any, damages and lost revenue should be paid by Fernandina Beach.
Center Street Restaurant Group, which holds the lease of the Brett's Waterway Cafe building with the city that expires Dec. 31, filed a 546-page complaint with the court seeking to compel arbitration with the city under terms outlined in the lease.
Center Street Restaurant Group has been seeking damages and lost revenue from the city to the tune of $655,000 or more it claims were a result of the city's failure to maintain the substructure supporting the restaurant over the Amelia River. Center Street also cites loss of revenues from negative publicity generated by the city after City Engineer Charlie George declared the building was not safe and should be closed.
The motion to compel also seeks damages from the loss of parking spaces available to restaurant patrons at the city marina and adjacent property commonly known as the waterfront park. One assertion is that the city's revised parking plan cut the available parking spaces adjacent to Brett's "by more than half."
Center Street Restaurant Group is asking to be repaid all attorney fees resulting from settlement talks and court proceedings.
In August 2023, an attorney for Center Street Restaurant Group threatened to sue the city if a settlement agreement was not negotiated. Settlement talks ensued, but ultimately city commissioners could not reach approval of a settlement amount.
Center Street Restaurant Group's motion for arbitration was filed Dec. 20, 2024, and followed on Jan. 3 with a notice of a case management plan to City Attorney Tammi Bach and an outside law firm contracted to assist the city.
However, no notification of Center Street Restaurant's actions was mentioned by Bach at the city commission's Jan. 7 meeting during the city attorney's report to commissioners.
Commissioner Tim Poynter said he didn't become aware of the Center Street Restaurant Group filing for arbitration until this past Monday when he attended his weekly meeting with the city manager, deputy city manager and city clerk.
"Evidently no one in the city knew about this except for the former city attorney," Poynter said. "She (Bach) never mentioned it to me when I specifically asked her about where we stand with Brett's several weeks ago."
Commissioner Joyce Tuten said she was noticed about Brett's legal actions on Monday when she reviewed a draft agenda for Tuesday's city commission meeting.
Bach was later fired at that Jan. 7 meeting without cause for matters not directly related to Brett's initiating the lawsuit.
Months earlier, when discussing the status of settlement negotiations with the city commission, Bach stated the city was partially at fault in the dispute by not making the necessary repairs to the restaurant substructure and surrounding plank walkways. She cautioned commissioners that the process of going to arbitration would be more costly than a lawsuit.
Arbitration is an alternative dispute resolution where a neutral third-party panel (the arbitrators) hear the case and makes a binding decision. The process involves three arbitrators hearing evidence and then making a determination if damages, if any, would be awarded to Center Street Restaurant Group.
In Florida, a court filing to compel arbitration means that one party (Center Street Restaurant Group) in a legal dispute is asking the court to require the other party (the city) to resolve the dispute through arbitration rather than through a court trial.
In section 18.4.5 of the city lease it states, "Any and all disputes between the parties to this lease shall be resolved by binding, mandatory arbitration."
A resolution for the commissioners to approve legal counsel to defend the city against the Center Street Restaurant Group filing is on the Tuesday city commission agenda. The city has retained the law firm Carr Allison to assist with the Center Street Restaurant case.
The resolution states it is unclear whether the legal fees are covered by the city's insurance company and that funds in the city attorney's outside counsel contract account are sufficient to cover the litigation costs.
A shade (private) meeting with city commissioners had been scheduled next week to discuss the status of settlement discussions but has been canceled.
The assertions in the filing include the statement that "the City's public accusations that the substructure was unsafe, coupled with the public litigation resulting therefrom, had succeeded in accomplishing the City's intent to discourage and stop the public from dining at Brett's."
The filing goes on to state that the restaurant was greatly impaired in hiring employees because of the cloud of uncertainty that the restaurant would remain open.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Court Judge Marianne Lloyd Aho. The city has 60 days from the Dec. 20, 2024, filing date to respond according to the case management document.
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