WEST PALM BEACH — Thirteen Kings Point
condominiums must be allowed access to the water to sprinkle their lawns,
a judge ruled Monday.
The condo associations alleged in a lawsuit filed in
Palm Beach County Circuit Court that Prime Management, which manages 65
other condominiums in Kings Point, locked it out of the irrigation system.
The 13 associations had each dropped Prime Management over the past eight
years and hired Wilson Landscaping and Management Corp. instead.
"We had a complete victory today," said
Peter Feaman, attorney for the 13 condominiums in suburban Delray Beach.
Prime Management officials contended that they never
shut off water access in the first place. The judge's decision changes
nothing, said Kings Point Board Chairman Jerry DiBlasio.
"We came in the same way we're going out,"
he said. "They never turned off the water."
Judge Kenneth D. Stern granted the condos' request
for an emergency injunction to allow access to the water. Prime Management
can't turn off the water, as it threatened to do if the condos didn't pay
maintenance fees dating back two years. The company must allow the condos
an hour's access to the water twice a week over the next two weeks.
Stern has not yet ruled on the lawsuit, which also
disputes a bill for back payment of about $75,000 in maintenance fees for
the irrigation system.
"This requires the defendant to do what they
are legally obligated to do and what they say they intended to do
anyway," Stern said. "Nothing can justify the draconian action
taken by the defendant in order to extort an amount of $75,000."
Before the condo associations broke away from Prime
Management, each building paid an equal amount of money to maintain the
system. Prime Management officials said they discovered this year that the
13 condos that had broken away had not paid for maintenance and billed
them $166.66 a month.
Wilson President Dan Wilson said he's been unable to
gain access to the system since July, when Prime Management put locks on
the pumps.
"We got exactly what we wanted today,"
Wilson said. "We have access to the water.
Stern
suggested that both sides would save "a tremendous amount" of
time and money by going to mediation.