City attorney says Elks property dispute at 147 B Street appears to require court action, not commission intervention

The city attorney briefed the City Commission about a dispute that arose over property at 147 B Street involving a local member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks and a question about a lease and access to the building.

The attorney summarized the chain of title in the deeds and told commissioners that the lodge entity associated with the complainant was dissolved by the Florida Division of Corporations. He said the governing documents from the umbrella organization indicate control by other lodge entities and that those documents would determine whether the dissolved local entity had any valid lease rights. "It looks to me as if the governing documents would be controlling here ... how in the world could you possibly have a lease anyway?" he said, and advised that the affected party would likely need to seek a declaratory judgment from a court to determine any rights.

A commissioner relayed that Terry Christian had told them the police had "broken the lock and knocked down the door," and said Christian felt officers had been "a little bit too rough." The city attorney said he was unaware of those allegations in his conversation with the captain; another speaker in the meeting called the account "false" and said the police only remained on scene. Commissioners agreed the commission lacked jurisdiction to resolve the dispute and recommended the courthouse and civil remedies as the appropriate venue.

No formal city action was taken; the attorney advised that the matter is a legal dispute for the courts.