Orange Beach officials reach settlement with BP for part of revenue lost because of oil spill al.com: Orange Beach officials reach settlement with BP for part of revenue lost because of oil spill
Originally published by the Mobile Press Register
ORANGE BEACH -- After a year of negotiations, Orange Beach officials have reached a settlement with oil giant BP PLC for a portion of revenue lost during last year’s oil spill.
But city leaders still believe they are owed upwards of $6 million.
The drawn-out, $1.27 million settlement would pay for lodging and retail revenue, along with a few other “small claims,” according to Mayor Tony Kennon.
He said the settlement was finally reached when BP agreed to pay an additional $300,000.
That figure does not include money from franchise taxes, sewer fees, business licenses and building permits, particularly for multimillion-dollar projects that could have come to fruition but did not because of the oil spill, said Clara Myers, the Orange Beach finance director.
“It takes some time to figure out what hasn’t come to town,” Myers said.
At a work session Tuesday night, the City Council appeared to agree that the figure was right. A vote is expected at a regular council meeting next week.
“That’s a nice settlement right there for that portion of it,” Councilman Brett Holk said.
Kennon said the agreement brings the city to a roughly 10 percent increase in lodging and retail revenue over 2009 figures.
“We used this summer as validation for our claim that we could have been up 15-20 percent in 2010, had it not been for the oil spill,” he said. “But the bottom line is, we knew what was fair, and we just stood by that number.”
Kennon said the city would continue to fight for other forms of lost money using “whatever legal avenues we have to go through to go after that revenue.”
Asked whether reaching a deal on that figure would ultimately satisfy city leaders, Kennon responded: “We’ll feel a whole lot better about being whole. They can never make us whole, because ‘whole’ incorporates more than just money. You can’t give back the time that we missed with our children on the water, our summer -- you can’t give that back.”
In neighboring Gulf Shores, officials agreed to a $1.8 million settlement for 2010 lost revenue late last year.
BP officials have acknowledged working with the Pleasure Island municipalities, but have declined to discuss settlement deals
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Showing posts with label Orange Beach Environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orange Beach Environment. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Mayor: Feinberg to change claims policy | Fox10tv.com
Mayor: Feinberg to change claims policy Fox10tv.com: "Mayor: Feinberg to change claims policy"
Mayor: Feinberg to change claims policy
Updated: Monday, 07 Feb 2011, 10:08 PM CST
Published : Monday, 07 Feb 2011, 9:43 PM CST
Libby Amos
Photojournalist: Robert Brown
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama (WALA) - After a closed meeting with claims czar Ken Feinberg, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said he felt that Feinberg was "humbled." Kennon attributed the new side of Feinberg to major pressure being brought by a Louisiana judge and an associate attorney general within the Department of Justice. Kennon said during an hour and half long meeting in Pensacola, he and other elected officials talked specifics with Feinberg.
"Specifically the issues were timely payments, payments that were too small, ineligible claims, and the final claims to being too small and issues of transparency," Kennon said.
Kennon said the reconsideration of eligibility is finally being addressed by Feinberg.
"Mr. Feinberg's position was that you had to have a link to the beach to be eligible and we said no, if you can document loss due to BP's error then you should be compensated," added Kennon.
Kennon said Monday, Feinberg finally agreed to that argument.
That comes as great news to people who were originally denied, like Don White.
"I was just turned down with a form letter saying I wasn't directly affected and I didn't have a right to file a claim," White said.
White owns a shopping center in Orange Beach on Canal Road. Most of his tenants can't pay their full rent. He said he has lost approximately $125,000 from the building, but understands why people can't afford to pay and hasn't kicked anyone out.
"Some of them are paying half, some got a check from BP and can pay, and some say every month I'm waiting on a check," White said.
When White learned Feinberg had agreed to consider those not directly tied to the beach or water, he said he would be re-filing his claim immediately. White already has all the paperwork to show his loss and said he even has letters from his tenants explaining to him why they can't pay rent.
White said he is thrilled to hear the news.
"That's a ray of hope and hopefully maybe he can prove some things he's been saying all along and re-justify. If they deny us, that's fine, if it's on the right basis. Not just we aren't affected because everyone in this town is affected," said White.
Kennon also said Feinberg promised to get more adjusters working on the ground.
"He has promised he is going to have more people on the ground doing more one on one claims response which is what we've been asking for. If he'll do that, that will solve a lot of our problems because so many of our claims are falling into a black hole and we have too much fraud. We need to get those folks out of the system," Kennon said.
During the meeting, Kennon said he did a lot of listening and at the end the meeting he got the last word.
"My point to him was I'm glad you are hearing it from the Panhandle and you understand now. It's a systemic problem throughout the Gulf Coast not just Alabama and he agreed with me," said Kennon.
Kennon was quick to say the reconsideration of claims can only be considered a real victory if Feinberg keep to his promise. He encouraged everyone who was originally denied and can show a loss to re-file.
Mayor: Feinberg to change claims policy
Updated: Monday, 07 Feb 2011, 10:08 PM CST
Published : Monday, 07 Feb 2011, 9:43 PM CST
Libby Amos
Photojournalist: Robert Brown
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama (WALA) - After a closed meeting with claims czar Ken Feinberg, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said he felt that Feinberg was "humbled." Kennon attributed the new side of Feinberg to major pressure being brought by a Louisiana judge and an associate attorney general within the Department of Justice. Kennon said during an hour and half long meeting in Pensacola, he and other elected officials talked specifics with Feinberg.
"Specifically the issues were timely payments, payments that were too small, ineligible claims, and the final claims to being too small and issues of transparency," Kennon said.
Kennon said the reconsideration of eligibility is finally being addressed by Feinberg.
"Mr. Feinberg's position was that you had to have a link to the beach to be eligible and we said no, if you can document loss due to BP's error then you should be compensated," added Kennon.
Kennon said Monday, Feinberg finally agreed to that argument.
That comes as great news to people who were originally denied, like Don White.
"I was just turned down with a form letter saying I wasn't directly affected and I didn't have a right to file a claim," White said.
White owns a shopping center in Orange Beach on Canal Road. Most of his tenants can't pay their full rent. He said he has lost approximately $125,000 from the building, but understands why people can't afford to pay and hasn't kicked anyone out.
"Some of them are paying half, some got a check from BP and can pay, and some say every month I'm waiting on a check," White said.
When White learned Feinberg had agreed to consider those not directly tied to the beach or water, he said he would be re-filing his claim immediately. White already has all the paperwork to show his loss and said he even has letters from his tenants explaining to him why they can't pay rent.
White said he is thrilled to hear the news.
"That's a ray of hope and hopefully maybe he can prove some things he's been saying all along and re-justify. If they deny us, that's fine, if it's on the right basis. Not just we aren't affected because everyone in this town is affected," said White.
Kennon also said Feinberg promised to get more adjusters working on the ground.
"He has promised he is going to have more people on the ground doing more one on one claims response which is what we've been asking for. If he'll do that, that will solve a lot of our problems because so many of our claims are falling into a black hole and we have too much fraud. We need to get those folks out of the system," Kennon said.
During the meeting, Kennon said he did a lot of listening and at the end the meeting he got the last word.
"My point to him was I'm glad you are hearing it from the Panhandle and you understand now. It's a systemic problem throughout the Gulf Coast not just Alabama and he agreed with me," said Kennon.
Kennon was quick to say the reconsideration of claims can only be considered a real victory if Feinberg keep to his promise. He encouraged everyone who was originally denied and can show a loss to re-file.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Mayor pleased with judge's ruling on claims czar | Fox10tv.com
Mayor pleased with judge's ruling on claims czar Fox10tv.com: "Mayor pleased with judge's ruling on claims czar"
Updated: Wednesday, 02 Feb 2011, 8:51 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 02 Feb 2011, 8:49 PM CST
Paige Malone
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama (WALA) - The news that Ken Feinberg must not claim independence from BP was music to Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon’s ears.
Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that claim Czar Ken Feinberg was not independent of BP and he must stop telling claimants that he is.
Kennon said this ruling validates everything they have been saying.
“We do not consider Mr. Feinberg independent of BP. We do not consider his actions in our best interest, the claimants best interest and we do not consider him an advocate as he says he is for the claimants and we see no way he could follow through on BP’s promises to make us whole,” said Kennon.
The judge also said that Fienberg must make it clear to claimants that he is acting on behalf of BP in all of his communications.
Kennon said this is a big step in the right direction.
“At this point and based on this judges ruling the White House needs to recalculate Mr. Feinberg as the administrator and look at some other checks and balances to make sure that the process becomes fair because as it stands now, its not fair,” said Kennon.
Possibly, the next step will be to look further into controversial topics in the claims conversation
Updated: Wednesday, 02 Feb 2011, 8:51 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 02 Feb 2011, 8:49 PM CST
Paige Malone
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama (WALA) - The news that Ken Feinberg must not claim independence from BP was music to Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon’s ears.
Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that claim Czar Ken Feinberg was not independent of BP and he must stop telling claimants that he is.
Kennon said this ruling validates everything they have been saying.
“We do not consider Mr. Feinberg independent of BP. We do not consider his actions in our best interest, the claimants best interest and we do not consider him an advocate as he says he is for the claimants and we see no way he could follow through on BP’s promises to make us whole,” said Kennon.
The judge also said that Fienberg must make it clear to claimants that he is acting on behalf of BP in all of his communications.
Kennon said this is a big step in the right direction.
“At this point and based on this judges ruling the White House needs to recalculate Mr. Feinberg as the administrator and look at some other checks and balances to make sure that the process becomes fair because as it stands now, its not fair,” said Kennon.
Possibly, the next step will be to look further into controversial topics in the claims conversation
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