St Johns County Agrees to Undo Land Swap That Gave St. Augustine Beach a Parcel of Conamianted Land

You've got to hand it to the oligarchs who long ran St. Johns County government, long thought to be one of the most corrupt in the entire State of Florida.
When the St. Johns County government took over the St. Augustine Beach Voluneer Fire Department (VFD) in 2001, it traded a parcel of contaminated land for St. Augustine Beach's VRD firehouse, which is prime beach property.
St. Johns County did not disclose to the City of St. Augustine Beach that the land was contaminated!
And St. Augustine Beach (SAB) did not do any soil testing.
Today, at a joint SAB-county meeting, the current County Administrator sheepishly agreed to undo the trade.
Today, St. Johns County Commissioner Ronald Sanchez admitted that the land was long used for illegal dumping. He remembers dumping garbage there in his younger years.
Much of the land along SR 312 was a dumping ground. Owned by PIERRE THOMPSON, housing was built on top. Large portions were annexed into the City of St. Augustine when THOMPSON's lawyer, GEOFFREY DOBSON, was St. Augustine City Attorney; DOBSON long also attorney for St. Augustine Beach and represened both developers and governments (just like St. Augustine Beach City Attorney DOUGLAS BURNETT)(see below).
This is like something out of John Grisham -- one government (SJC) trading land to another government (SAB), with the first government knowing full well that the land was contaminated, while the somnolent other government, represented by possibly conflicted counsel does not bother to have the land tested.
No ethics on the one hand, and no due diligence on the other.
Flummery, dupery and nincompoopery.
Pitiful.
In the words of Robert F. Kennedy to his staff, "Don't tell me what I should have done, tell me what I should do now."
At least today's intelligent, ethical St. Augustine Beach commissioners have persisted where the St. Augustine Beach City Manager and City Attorney were insouciant. Kudos to St. Augustine Beach Mayor Andrea Samuels, former Mayor S. Gary Snodgrass, and Commissioners Brud Helhoski, Undine Pawlowski and Vice Mayor Richard O'Brien for doing their due diligence "now."
The City of St. Augustine Beach should make sure that St. Johns County and other potentially responsible parties clean up the land, which adjoins the City of St. Augustine Beach Public Works Department off Mizel Road.
St. Augustine Beach should charge the county fair market rent for the firehouse, retroactive to its trade for the contaminated land. Or else St. Augustine Beach should negoiate and get some other concessions.
Wha do you reckon?