The council directed the town manager to get the price and financing behind developer Charles Modica's offer to sell the 10.5-acre waterfront site, and report back at the next November meeting. No second-reading date was set for the Suni Sands ordinances.
JUPITER — The Suni Sands project was not on the Jupiter Town Council's agenda Thursday, Nov. 5, but it dominated the council's closing comments — and the council ended the night by pressing for the terms of developer Charles Modica's offer to sell the site to the town to be made public.
The meeting, which ran from 7 p.m. to 8:24 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers, was the council's first regular session since its contentious Oct. 29 first-reading votes on the project. No second reading of Ordinances 30-26 through 33-26 was scheduled, and none was set at the meeting.
In closing comments, Mayor Jim Kuretski returned to Modica's public offer at the Oct. 29 meeting to sell the 10.5-acre waterfront site to the town, with what Modica described as attractive financing.
The council directed Town Manager Frank Kitzerow to be the point of contact, to get the price and financing terms made public, and to report back at the next November council meeting, with a date to be set then and the applicant given a chance to weigh in. Kuretski said the town should also get its own appraisal; Modica has an older appraisal.
Councilor Malise Sundstrom said she had met Modica the day of the hearing and agreed the town manager should reach out to understand what was offered, for information only. Councilors Dan Guisinger and Ron Delaney agreed, with Delaney noting he had declined a pre-meeting request from Modica's team, preferring that terms come through the process. Kitzerow said he would meet with the town attorney Friday morning and would not jeopardize the settlement.
The council entered into the settlement agreement behind the Suni Sands project by a 4-1 vote, and the Oct. 29 first readings passed 4-1, with Delaney dissenting. An end-of-year conclusion is expected under the settlement framework, but the second readings remain unscheduled.
What happens next
The next step is the town manager's report on Modica's sale terms at the next November meeting. The Suni Sands ordinances still await second readings, with no date set.
