- April 15, 2024
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Flagler County has reached a settlement with the final easement hold-out preventing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' dune renourishment project.
Flagler County’s bankruptcy lawyer Scott Spradley went to Orlando on Jan. 31 for opening statements in the property owner’s — Cynthia D’Angiolini’s — bankruptcy hearing. Since bankruptcy court is a federal jurisdiction, the case was overseen by Judge Lori Vaughan at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Middle District of Florida.
Spradley said it was clear to him and D’Angiolini’s new lawyer, Jeffrey Ainsworth of Orlando, that Vaughan considered D’Angiolini’s lack of disclosure in the bankruptcy application "a big deal."
Ainsworth asked for a recess, Spradley said, and a settlement was reached within an hour, though he could not expand upon the details yet.
“Mrs. D’Angiolini agreed to sign over the easements,” Spradley said, “and no money will change hands.”
County Attorney Al Hadeed will elaborate on more details of the settlement at the Monday, Feb. 6 Flagler County Board of County Commissioners meeting. The County Commission will need to approve the settlement first, Spradley said. Then it will return to the judge for approval.
“That clears the way for the Army Corps,” Spradley said.
D’Angiolini had a hearing with the bankruptcy court in Orlando because she failed to declare the two properties in the easement case among her assets when she filed bankruptcy in 2019. The county — who has been negotiating with D’Angiolini for years for the access rights — discovered the failure in December.
Hadeed, who accompanied Spradley on Jan. 31, hired Spradley immediately after the discovery; Bankruptcy law requires a specialist, Hadeed said at the time.
Spradley said he was expecting the day to go quite differently, with a more drawn-out process.
“It all came together at a time I didn’t expect it to,” he said. “But I’m very glad it did.”
With the easement rights now just pending approval, the dune renourishment program will be virtually free and clear to proceed.
However, on Jan. 13, Spradley and Hadeed announced at a Flagler Beach City Commission meeting that the Army Corps project will be delayed around 11 months as the Corps redesigns the project and calculates how much more sand will be needed now.
Spradley and Hadeed explained in that meeting that so much additional erosion had occurred since the project’s first green light, that the entire 50-year contract’s volume of sand would be needed now just to get the dunes and berms up to standard.
Even with that delay, though, the settlement reached is a huge win for the county. Spradley said that between the settlement and the pier design meeting, he went to bed that night with a lot fewer questions in his mind.
“It was really a good day for Flagler County and Flagler Beach,” he said.
