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548-Mediation & Intergovernment CERTIFIED COPY 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