Paul Brinkmann: New chamber chapter seeks Canadians.

Leonardo Vilela is looking for Canadians in Central Florida who want to raise their level of business networking.

He’s trying to start a new chapter of the Canada-Florida Chamber of Commerce. He is relatively new to the Orlando area.

“I want to get in contact with as many Canadians here as possible for networking and connections,” said Vilela, an agent for New York Life in Maitland. “I hear about so many Canadians in the area, but they are not always easy to contact.”

So far he has about 70 prospective members. He’s trying to get critical mass to hold a kickoff event.

The chamber for the Great White North in Florida has generally been based in Broward County, as the Quebec-Florida chamber, but it’s trying to branch out now.

Having spent a semester in Quebec, and 20 years in France, Vilela feels a strong tie with francophones.

“Everything moves by networking in the United States,” he said.

Contact the Quebec-Florida chamber in Fort Lauderdale for more info.

Universal lawsuit

Universal Orlando lawyers won a nasty battle Friday in Orange County Circuit Court over discovery issues in a lawsuit about their right to build a new theme park.

The skirmish concerned nearly 40,000 documents produced by the plaintiff in the case, a company owned by Georgia businessman Stan Thomas.

Universal’s attorneys are trying to fend off Thomas’ claim that Universal is barred from building a new theme park on hundreds of acres it owns, because of private deed restrictions on the parcels. Universal asked Thomas’s company, UCPM, to hand over documents about the deed restrictions and the property, using a database search that included such terms as “Universal” and “theme park.”

They got almost 40,000 documents in response, which apparently included junk mail and spam emails. The explanation from UCPM’s attorney, Michael Marcil at Gunster: “We warned them that because their search terms were so broad it would result in many irrelevant documents.”

Marcil said it could have taken them a week, and $25,000, to review all the documents.

Circuit Judge Julie H. O’Kane wound up sanctioning UCPM, ordering them to pay the costs and attorney fees associated with the dispute, and to go back and produce responsive documents.

Mears home

Paul Mears III, president of Mears Transportation Group, is seeking approval from the City of Winter Park to build a large new waterfront home on Lake Virginia near Rollins College.

The two-story, 5,758-square-foot home would be built on two lots, at 1234 Lakeview Drive. A home

previously demolished for the new project had been built in 1922 and was once on the city’s register of historic homes.

A Mears family trust is the owner of the property, having paid $1.75 million for one of the lots in September 2016.

Winter Park Design is seeking approval from the Planning and Zoning Board at its meeting Tuesday, on behalf of the trust. The city’s staff is recommending approval.

Mears Transportation, known chiefly for its yellow taxis, has encountered headwinds in recent years as transportation networking apps Uber and Lyft arrived in Central Florida in 2014.

Sanford jobs

The City of Sanford has attracted a new headquarters for pump technology company QuantumFlo Inc.

The company is moving from DeBary, in neighboring Volusia County, thanks partly to an incentive package of $50,000 offered by Seminole County and Sanford. The company also develops software for its systems.

Those incentives are based on the promise to create 25 jobs over three years, paying an average of $49,000, and to invest $2.5 million in its new building at 2664 Jewett Lane. That would include the purchase price of the building, which was $1.4 million in November, according to Seminole County property records. The incentive money is not paid out until the company maintains the 25 jobs for two years.

Led by CEO David Carrier of DeBary, the company says it specializes in variable-speed technology for plumbing systems. It was founded in 2007, but its roots go back to January 2002, when Carrier had previously partnered with another company.

Quantumflo said in a news release the new building more than doubles its space to 30,000 square feet —with more than 7,000 square feet of office space. It offers instruction on its products in a new 25-desk classroom and lab with video conferencing capabilities.