Expressing an irritation with developer Ben Boynton’s failure to live up to a deal he made with the county to pay for the expansion of the county’s sewer system to his Flowers subdivision, county commissioners approved filing a lawsuit against Boynton to collect more than $46,500 he owes the county as part of the agreement.

County Attorney Heather Encinosa said that, when Boynton was informed earlier in the week that she would be recommending the county file suit, on the day of the commission meeting, the developer executed liens on the unsold lots in the subdivision, as required. And Boynton contacted her to offer a deal in which he would post the money over three years and dropped off a check for the first payment.

At their meeting on Monday, Jan. 25, commissioners unanimously rejected Boynton’s offer and directed the attorney to file a lawsuit.

A lawsuit, Commissioner Mike Stewart suggested, would let Boynton know the county is serious.

Chairman Howard Kessler, an opponent of the original deal with Boynton, went as far as to say he believed Boynton had acted in bad faith with the county. As for the offer to finance the debt, Kessler said: “I don’t think the county wants to act as a bank for developers.”

During the real estate boom several years ago, Boynton had several upscale developments he built in Crawfordville. The Flowers subdivision, located north of Crawfordville at the intersection of U.S. Highway 319 and Bloxham Cutoff, was to be yet another. But Boynton needed sewer service and, at the time, the county’s sewer lines only went as far north as Wal-Mart.

The county and Boynton made a deal that gave Boynton the density he wanted in exchange for him installing the force main to serve the neighborhood. He began construction of the neighborhood with the requirement to put in the sewer line once a certain number of houses were built.

With assurances from the county that sewer service would be available, the Wakulla County School Board went ahead with plans to construct Riversprings Elementary School on a parcel near the Flowers location.

The building boom went bust, and Boynton didn’t install the force main. The homes in the neighborhood were being serviced with a periodic sewage pump out paid for by Boynton, but he had no plans to connect to the county’s sewer.

In March 2008, with the new school scheduled to open in August, the county and the school board split the $500,000 cost to construct the sewer force main and renegotiated the deal with Boynton: He agreed to pay the county $1,500 for each lot in Flowers sold to a third party; and create liens of $1,500 on each of the 268 lots not sold.

Boynton did not post the $46,500 for the sold lots, nor create the liens.

Encinosa indicated in her written report to the board that she had been talking with Boynton about the matter since November.Boynton’s offer to pay the money over several years was that he would pay $14,500 now, and provided a check, the same amount in 18 months, and a final payment at the end of three years.

Had there not been so much history, it seemed some commissioners might have given the offer more consideration. As it stood, though, Stewart commented that he felt there had been too much negotiation.

Commissioner George Green asked if there could still be some negotiating going on after a lawsuit is filed, and Encinosa advised that it was entirely possible that an out-of-court settlement of the issue could be reached with Boynton before it goes to trial.

Reached a few days after the meeting, Boynton said that, given the commission’s vote, he made an offer to Encinosa pay the full amount of about $43,000 – with the total still being verified.

“I’ll tell you right up front that I dragged my feet. I did,” he said of paying the money. “I just didn’t have the cash to pay it.”

Boynton said he felt there was no harm to the county since he had pre-paid a half-million dollars worth of building permits for Flowers and another subdivision. He said he recently had a meeting with Kessler and Pingree trying to make a deal to cash-in some of those permits to pay off the other debt. They refused, he said.

“I wouldn’t have dragged my feet if they hadn’t been sitting on nearly a half-million dollars in building fees,” he said.