BY MARK SCHUMANN

Over the objections of Councilman Jay Kramer, the Vero Beach City Council approved an additional $300,000 to be paid to Edward’s Wildman Palmer LLP, the legal firm hired by the city to transact the sale of the electric system to Florida Power & Light.

Kramer was not the only Council member, though, to express frustration with the slow pace of negotiations with the Florida Municipal Power Agency.  When Edwards Wildman Palmer was first hired in August 2011, the original estimate of the legal cost to negotiate and close the sale was set at $435,000.  With the Council’s approval of an additional $300,000, the city’s payments to its transactional attorneys will be $1.4 million, three times the original estimate, and with no end in sight.

In presenting the request for additional funding for the transactional attorneys, City Manager Jim O’Connor said, “They will make further requests as necessary as we go forward.”

Councilman Richard Winger, who last week submitted written question to O’Connor to be answered by the transactional attorneys, said, “From my perspective they have been exceedingly slow on this.”  (See story below posted May 6)

In his written response to Winger’s questions, Igoe wrote that June 30th is, “a reasonable target date for resolving with the FMPA an agreed plan of action for obtaining FMPA and related FMPA approvals.”

“I’m going to accept the June 30 date at face value, but I am going to have a different reaction if we are not some place useful by then,” Winger said yesterday.

Suggesting that the transactional attorneys appear to be delaying meeting with representatives of the FMPA Winger said, “I’m a little worried about the transactional attorneys.  Do they not have a strategy?  Do they not understand?  What in the world are they doing?”

“I share somewhat Mr. Winger’s frustrations at the length of time this has taken to get pulled together,” Councilwoman Pilar Turner said.

Referring to the transactional attorney’s acceptance of responsibility for missing a crucial deadline for filing to withdraw from the FMPA’s All Requirements Project, and noting the firm’s unsuccessful effort to persuade the FMPA that Vero Beach is not selling its system, but is abandoning it, Kramer said, “That obviously fell flat on its face, and yet, we paid for that.”

“These guys come up with all these crazy ideas.  We buy them hook, line and sinker, and pay them all this crazy amount of money.  As far as I can see, they are not really negotiating.  This is $500 an hour to take dictation from FPL on this contract. It is absolutely crazy,” Kramer said.

Referring to Kramer, Councilwoman Tracy Carroll said, “Unfortunately it is taking some time to work this out, but unfortunately we have a member of this Council working actively against us in trying to get this contract signed.”

“Let’s not attack Council members,” Mayor Criag Fletcher, said, interrupting Carroll.

“No, bring it on,” Kramer said.  “I would really love to be able to have the opportunity to defend myself.”

“This is really inappropriate.  What other Council members do is their business.  It’s not something for debate here,” Fletcher said.

Carroll persisted, “The only reason I bring that up is because Mr. Winger did state emphatically that he was trying to continue to work forward and we were looking for a successful conclusion of the sale, which this entire Council stands as one body in voting for it.  A three, or a four-person vote is still to stand together as one body.”

“We all have the right to disagree publicly with something that has taken place at this Council.  Let’s leave it at that,” Fletcher said.