Hamilton said an ordinance could be introduced Wednesday to create the authority, though he said a special meeting could be scheduled approximately a week later if more time was needed to work out specifics. The council is also considering an assessment of the city's infrastructure and how that fits into its capital improvement plans. We need to evaluate our traffic signals, our drainage and sanitary sewer systems. Meanwhile, legal proceedings continue in a suit by five taxpayers funded by a potential oceanfront developer. The suit claims that Condos and Murray have a conflict of interest as a result of their business relationships to failed developer Joseph Carabetta.
Depositions continue in the suit and no date has been set for a trial as of yet.
A 3-2 vote by the council in November transferring redevelopment rights claimed by Carabetta to Westminster Realty Corp. led to the taxpayer suit, which in turn led to a major break in the city's deadlocked redevelopment plans. Superior Court Judge Alexander D. Lehrer summoned lawyers for Carabetta, Westminster and other developers interested in the waterfront to meet in an attempt to break the deadlock. The council voted earlier this month to solicit proposals from nationally recognized planners to update the city's current oceanfront plan, last amended in 1991.