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INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT ON MEDIATION CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT
AND SEMINOLE OOUN'ry, FLORIDA
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION BY. (~DEP CLERK
FLORIDA; CITY OF OVIEDO, FLORIDA; CITY OF SANFORD, FLORIDA; CITY OF
WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA, SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA; and THE SCHOOL
BOARD OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA; hereinafter collectively
referred to as "Council."
WITNESSETH
WHEREAS, this Agreement is undertaken pursuant to the
authority granted by Chapter 163, Florida Statutes; Chapter 164,
Florida Statutes; Chapter 230, Florida Statutes; Chapter 166,
Florida Statutes; and Chapter 125, Florida Statutes; and
WHEREAS, the parties hereto have determined and do by their
execution acknowledge that the intent of this Agreement is to
further the general welfare of the community and is in the best
interest of the public; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the members of the Council that
attempts be made to resolve disputes through agreement and
mediation prior to resolving disputes through the Court system; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 164, known as the "Florida Governmental
Cooperation Act" is inadequate in and of itself'to resolve disputes
prior to litigation and the members of the Council desire and
intend that the provisions of this Interlocal Agreement will be
supplemental to and accomplished in accordance with the statutory
requirements of Chapter 164; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire and the intent of the parties hereto
t~at future governing bodies shall work to insure .continued
compliance with the terms of this Agreement and cooperation between
themselves so as to insure a cooperative working r~lationship.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants and
promises contained herein, and the obligations and responsibilities-
assumed and the rights and privileges foregone, the undersigned
parties do hereby agree as follows:
SECTION 1. OVERVIEW AND INTENT
(a) It is the intent of the process outlined below to provide
a mechanism, which may be invoked by any party to this Agreement
and in which all parties to this Agreement will participate to
resolve interlocal disputes when informal negotiations have failed.
The process provides for three formal steps: (1) Executive
Settlement Conference (2) Mediation and (3) Elected Officials
Settlement Conference.
(b) The process may be invoked and used whether or not
litigation is imminent. However, except as provided in Section 2,
no party shall file suit, a petition for certiorari in Circuit
Court or any other legal action invoking the original jurisdiction
of the Courts of the State of Florida unless the party has notified
the party which is the potential defendant or respondent of its
intent and has attempted in good faith, to resolve the conflict in
accordance herewith.
(c) For purposes of this Agreement, the public meetings
between the governing bodies will be referred to as the Elected
Officials Settlement Conferences ("EOSCs")1· Meetings called in
accordance with Sections 4 or 5 of this Agreement shall be referred
to as Executive Settlement Conferences ("ESCs").
SECTION 2. EXCEPTIONS
(a) If the governing body of a party finds in its sole
discretion, that an immediate danger to the health,' safety, or
welfare of the public requires 'immediate action, no notice or
meetings as provided in this Agreement shall be required before the
suit is filed.
(b) In the event that an applicable statutes of limitation or
the Rules of Civil or Appellate Procedure mandate an action prior
to completion of joint meetings of the affected parties or
completion of the mediation process described herein, a party may
take such action as is required to preserve its rights, but then
the affected parties shall jointly move the Court to abate the
matter to permit compliance with the remaining requirements of this
Agreement, if possible.
SECTION 3. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS AGREEMENT
(a) If a party fails to invoke this Agreement (except in
accordance with Section 2) before filing an action or fails to
comply with the requirements of this Agreement and continues in
said failure for more than seven days after receipt of written
notice of said failure, that party shall pay all reasonable
attorney's fees and costs incurred by the party providing notice of
said failure from the eighth day after receipt of written notice of
said failure until the party receiving the notice complies with the
provisions of this Agreement. -
(b) In the event that a party to this Agreement files an
action without having complied with the provisions of this
Agreement (except as described in Section 2 above), this Agreement
shall be grounds for dismissal or abatement of the action, to the
extent permitted by law, to require the parties to abide by the
terms of this Agreement.
SECTION 4. INVOKING THE AGREEMENT
(a) Parties to this Agreement, singularly or jointly, may
invoke this Agreement by calling an ESC.
(b) An ESC shall be called by the chief administrator of the
petitioning party.
(c) The petition invoking the Agreement shall be delivered by
certified letter with return receipt to the chief administrator of
each responding party, or by hand delivery and shall at a minimum,
include a preliminary description of the issues to be discussed and
a preliminary list of the petitioning party's representatives that
will be present at the ESC. A copy of this petition shall be
provided to the chair of CALNO.
(d) ESCs shall, at a minimum, be attended by the chief
administrators of the petitioning and responding parties. Both
petitioning and responding parties may request that additional
representatives of the other participating parties be present at an
ESC. This provision is intended to.obtain the greatest possible
efficiency of communication and exchange of information at an ESC.
It is understood that participating parties will attempt in good
faith to honor such requests. Failure of the additional requested
representatives to attend the ESC shall not, however, be construed
as a violation of this Agreement.
SECTION 5. EXECUTIVE SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE
(a) The petitioning and responding parties shall hold an ESC
within ten (10) days of receipt of the petition invoking the
Agreement. By unanimous written agreement of the chief
administrators of the petitioning and responding parties, the time
allowed for holding the ESC may. be extended.
(b) ESCs will be facilitated by a neutral facilitator
acceptable to the petitioning and responding parties and shall be
held at a place and time acceptable to both the petitioning and
responding parties. The chief administrators of the petitioning
and responding parties shall notify the Chair of 'CALNO of their
selection of the facilitator or their inability to agree upon a
facilitator.
(c) In the event the petitioning and responding parties
cannot agree on a facilitator, a facilitator will be selected by a
majority vote of the parties of this Agreement which are not
involved or materially interested in the dispute. In the event of
a deadlock, the facilitator will be selected by lot from among
those considered in the vote. Selection of a facilitator shall
occur within ten (10) calendar days after notice that the
petitioning and responding parties have failed to select a
facilitator.
(d) At the ESC, the petitioning and responding parties shall
identify the issues to be discussed, present their concerns and
constraints, explore options for a solution, and seek agreement.
Representatives of the petitioning and responding parties at an ESC
shall attempt to reach a recommended resolution of the issues.
Recommended resolutions reached at an ESC may be formally adopted
according to the provisions of Section 6 of this Agreement.
(e) If no recommended resolution is reached at the ESC, the
petitioning and responding parties shall, at a minimum, draft the
following: (1) a description of the issues discussed; and (2) a
list of affected or involved individuals or agencies (including
those which may not be parties) and (3) a description of the
resolutions discussed.
(f) If no recommended resolution is reached at the ESC the
petitioning and responding parties shall have thirty (30) days
after the date of the ESC to continue efforts to negotiate a
recommended resolution. The parties may extend this-negotiation
period by unanimous written agreement of the chief administrators
of the petitioning and responding parties.
SECTION 6. ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDED RESOLUTIONS
(a) All recommended resolutions reached at any stage of the
ESC process shall be reduced to written recommendations signed by
the chief administrators of the petitioning and responding
jurisdictions. Interlocal agreements incorporating such
recommendations may be adopted by the affected parties as provided
by law.
SECTION 7. MEDIATION
(a) In the event that the negotiation period expires and no
recommended resolution has been reached, or that the petitioning
and responding parties invoke mediation before the expiration of an
extension of the negotiation period, the parties shall mediate the
remaining disputed issues.
(b) The chief administrators of the petitioning and
responding parties shall select a mediator within ten (10) calendar
days of mediation being invoked. By unanimous written agreement
the chief administrators of the petitioning and responding parties_
may extend the time allowed for selecting a mediator. The chief
administrators of the petitioning and responding parties shall
notify the chair of CALNO upon selection of the mediator.
(c) In the event the petitioning and responding parties
cannot agree on a mediator, a mediator will be selected by a
majority vote of the CALNO representatives whose jurisdictions are
not parties to the dispute or who would not be materially affected
by resolution of the dispute. In the event of a deadlock, the
mediator will be selected by lot from among those considered in the
vote. Selection of a mediator by CALNO shall take place at the
next regular CALNO meeting or at a special meeting, but in no case
more than ten (10) calendar days after the petitioning and
responding parties have notified CALNO that they have failed to
select a mediator.
(d) All disputes shall be mediated by a mediator who has been
certified by the Chief Judge of the Circuit in accordance with
standards established by the Florida Supreme Court, or who is
listed on the Florida Growth Management Conflict Resolution
Consortium roster, or who is acceptable to the petitioning and
responding parties.
(e) The initial mediation session shall be scheduled as soon
as practical, however, in no case more than thirty (30) calendar
days after selection of the mediator.
(f) The mediation period shall continue for up to thirty (30)
calendar days after the initial session is held. The mediation
period may be extended by unanimous written consent of the chief
administrators of the petitioning and responding parties. If the
parties do not extend mediation, the mediation period expires and
an EOSC is automatically required by this agreement.
(g) Each party shall bear equally the cost associated with
mediation unless the parties have entered into a Cost Sharing
Agreement providing otherwise.
SECTION 8. ELECTED OFFICIALS SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE
(a) If agreement is not reached in the ESC or by mediation,
or the chief administrators of the petitioning and responding
parties unanimously and in writing agree to proceed to an EOSC
before the expiration of the ESC or mediation periods or a party
has received notice of potential litigationpursuant to Chapter 164
of the Florida Statutes, an EOSC shall be held within thirty (30)
days from said event. By unanimous written agreement of the chief
administrators of the petitioning and responding parties., the time
allowed for holding the EOSC may be extended except for the EOSC
required by Chapter 164 of the Florida Statutes.
(b) The EOSCs shall be held at a time and place acceptable to
both the petitioning and responding parties. The EOSC shall not be-
mediated or facilitated unless there is unanimous consent by the
petitioning and responding parties.
(c) Participants at the EOSC shall discuss issues, explore
solutions and seek agreement in an effort to amicably settle the
controversy.
(d) If no resolution is reached at the EOSC, any party may
immediately commence proceedings in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
(e) Conclusion of an EOSC without agreement shall in no way
prevent parties from continuing to pursue an amicable resolution of
the issues in whatever forums they deem appropriate.
SECTION 9. CONFLICTS
The Interlocal Agreement of 1989 as recorded in the public
records of Seminole County, Book 152, Page 1935, providing a method
of dispute resolution is hereby terminated. This Agreement shall
not take precedence over arbitration or other conflict resolution
provisions of other interlocal agreements adopted by the parties to
this Agreement.
SECTION 10. RENEWAL AND TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT
(a) Any party. may withdraw from this Agreement upon sixty
(60) days advance written notice from the withdrawing party to all
other parties.
(b) The initial term of this Agreement shall be for one year
beginning December 1, 1994; thereafter, this Agreement shall renew
for one year periods commencing December 1, 1995.
ATTEST:
Clerk.
By: Ma~~or, ' ~T~LBERRY,
FLORIDA
Clerk
BY:~'CITY OF LAK~~EMARY,
FLORIDA
BY:M~iy~O~,
FLORIDA
ATTEST:
~erk
By: ~, ~
Ma TY OF ' SANFORD,
FLORIDA
A'I~EST ~ ~.
ATTEST:
ATTEST:"
ACITY OF OVIEDO,
M or, CITYOORiFDAWINTER
By: ~J~
Chairman, SEMINOLE COUNTY,
FLORIDA
By:
h
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA