The Court Documents

  We at Dunnellon Online have tried to obtain as much information about the Rainbow River Ranch development as possible, and have run into vague responses and double-talk at every turn.
The City Attorney, notable for his non-committal responses, has shed little light on the situation. His most recent answer was simply to say that the matter is in litigation, and he cannot respond to any more questions. That apparently lets him “off the hook”, right?
Wrong.

  The fact is that the city attorney, the ‘mayor’ and the city council don’t want you to know what’s going on. They are hoping to conduct this ‘deal’ out of the reach of prying eyes, and surreptitiously maneuver the situation to their benefit.

Why?
Why, indeed.

  Why would such devoted “public servants” pass an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to specifically favor the RRR development? Why would they ignore the objections of local conservation groups, the State of Florida’s Department of Community Affairs, and the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection? Why would they engage in secret meetings and questionable activity to promote this deal? Why would they enlist the aid of “The Water Lady”, State Senator Nancy Argenziano, to ‘mediate’ the deal at an unannounced, unpublicized meeting in the good Senator’s office?
Why, indeed.

  The way I figure it, it’s all a matter of mathematics. 450 luxury homes = $450 Million dollars X 32 boat docks X a shopping center = approximately 1.5 Billion dollars, give or take ten million. Now, that’s some fine mathematics! (Especially if you are on the Winning Team).

  Dunnellon Online will not accuse these fine public servants of receiving any graft or kickbacks from the developers. We do not seek to damage anyone’s reputation or standing in the community. We are sure that they are championing this development out of pure altruistic motives, and in the best interests of the town of Dunnellon. Instead, we will leave any accusations to the State of Florida Attorney General’s office, when they have completed their investigation of the matter.

  Thanks to a concerned citizen, Dunnellon Online has obtained the court records outlining the ‘litigation’ that the city attorney uses as a shield. They are in Adobe pdf format, but if you are reading this, you probably have some version of Acrobat Reader installed. They are in opposite chronological order, but dated, so you can follow the path of this wonderful “deal” through the courts.

  Of particular interest is the State’s contention that the development will degrade, and very possibly ruin the Rainbow River and the Florida Aquifer that feeds it. A link to the documents appears at the bottom of this article. We urge you to read it.

As a wise man once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over”.
As far as we’re concerned, it ain’t over yet.



http://www.doah.state.fl.us./internet/search/docket.cfm?caseno=06-000417