Sand squabble between Hillsboro and Deerfield gets 2018 trial date

Hillsboro Beach’s sand fight with Deerfield Beach debuted in court Wednesday and resulted in a trial date a year from now.

For the past two years, the town has sought to get Deerfield Beach to remove 56 rock-like man-made, sand-catching structures installed more than 40 years ago.

Hillsboro officials say these structures, called “sand groins” have robbed the seaside enclave of the sand that would naturally flow to its shore. After a number of steps, a suit was filed in April.

Deerfield Beach filed a counterclaim against Hillsboro Beach soon after, seeking attorneys’ fees and a jury trial for “bad faith” in pursuing the action.

Deerfield’s attorney said the results of a two-hour hearing in Broward Circuit Court Judge David Haimes’s Fort Lauderdale courtroom was a success for his municipal client.

“We will find out who is right and who is wrong … after a lot of discovery and spending a lot of money,” said Bill Scherer, a Fort Lauderdale attorney representing Deerfield.

The judge allowed Deerfield’s countersuit against Hillsboro to stand, despite Hillsboro’s request for its dismissal. Still to be determined: whether next year’s trial will be a jury trial or a non-jury trial. Deerfield wants the former, court records show.

Ken Oertel, a Tallahassee attorney specializing in coastal issues and representing Hillsboro Beach, said Wednesday’s hearing did not change much.

At the time the suit was filed, Hillsboro’s legal fees had already reached about $309,000. And Scherer’s firm had charged the city $350,000, records showed.

Hillsboro’s sand costs have been accumulating even faster — the town is still paying off the $6 million worth of sand it bought in 2011, even though the sand has long disappeared because of storms and the lack of natural sand drifting from the north, according to town officials.

Municipalities seldom wind up in court because of the steps required before litigation can proceed, including official notice and mediation.