Indian Trail Doesn’t Have Water Rights, Judge Rules: District Seeks to Stop County From Building Pipes

By Joel Hood, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Jan. 3–A judge has ruled the Indian Trail Improvement District does not have exclusive rights to provide water to its 40,000 residents, a serious setback in the special district’s two-year court battle with Palm Beach County.

At issue was whether the county overstepped its authority in 2004 when it rewrote its Comprehensive Plan to give the county rights to install water and wastewater pipes through The Acreage.

Indian Trail, a drainage, roads and parks district, serves some residents and businesses in The Acreage with water through an agreement with West Palm Beach.

The district sought an injunction against the county from constructing the water pipes, protecting its future rights to serve residents in the growing western community.

Circuit Judge Jonathan Gerber ruled Indian Trail had presented no legal argument why it should be the exclusive water provider in The Acreage. And, he wrote, the county “may be better able to provide water service more quickly and efficiently to customers … who desire to receive utility-based water service.”

Assistant County Attorney Amy Petrick called the ruling “a major development” in a case that divided Indian Trail residents. Many complained to the district’s board of supervisors that they were wasting money fighting the county over services it doesn’t provide without help from West Palm Beach. The case, filed in 2005, has cost the cash-strapped district about $1.7 million in legal fees.

Indian Trail can appeal Gerber’s ruling, Petrick said.

Michelle Damone, president of Indian Trail’s board, said the two sides agreed to meet, with the goal of resolving the case out of court. She said Tuesday that it was too soon to know whether the district would appeal.

Damone is the only member of the five-person board who retained her seat after the last election. Two lost re-election bids and two others did not seek re-election. Last month, the new board voted to press forward with the lawsuit against the county, agreeing to pay the district’s Atlanta-based attorney about $150,000 over the next six months to bring a resolution.

“I think the district and the county would both like to see this end soon,” Damone said. “At this point, that’s what we’re working toward.”

Joel Hood can be reached at jhood@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.

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Copyright (c) 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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