Nassau County taxpayers stuck with bill for lengthy legal battle between county and Raydient

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Nassau County taxpayers could be on the hook for a high bill after years of litigation between a local developer and the county.

The Nassau county is facing three lawsuits currently. One alleges Sunshine Law violations over deleted text messages, another concerns the question of who’s responsible for maintaining the parks and recreational facilities and the third regards an alleged conflict of interest on the part of Nassau county Attorney, Michael Mullin, who used to work for Raydient.

The conflict started after a dispute about who is legally responsible to pay for the future construction and maintenance of parks and recreational facilities at a 24,000-acre site east of I-95 in Yulee.

That site is owned by Raydient and its land development company, Rayonier. However, some of the land on the site has been dedicated to the Nassau county.

As the legal fight continues, the resulting legal fees are being charged to taxpayers.

At the request of Action News Jax, Nassau County provided a list of payouts made to outside legal counsel so far.

Just yesterday, the county paid the Bedell Law Firm $11,765. Other payments date back to 2018.

One of the highest payments was for $36,521.

The litigation is far from over, as neither side has reached an agreement yet.

Back in February of 2019, Action News Jax showed you how a former top-ranking Nassau County director claimed he was fired for refusing to erase public records.

That former official became a whistleblower against the county.

The text messages at the center of the allegation are believed to be between commissioners regarding the 24,000-acre site off I-95 in Yulee.

Action News Jax will continue to follow this story.

Cox Media Group