After almost 30 years as Marineland’s town attorney, and six months after a member of the town commission tried to fire him, Dennis Bayer has resigned. The parting was the culmination of a growing rift between Bayer and the commission, especially over contractual and financial issues.
“It has become apparent that [] differences of opinion exist between members of the commission and me as to issues related to the town governance, in particular the marina and related properties,” Bayer wrote in a January 29 letter to Mayor Buddy Pinder. In an interview this week, Bayer said: “I did not like the direction the commission was going and I was not the appropriate attorney for the current commission.”
“A change needed to happen,” said Commissioner Dewey Dew, who had attempted to fire Bayer when Dew had shifted into the mayorship after the death of Gary Inks in May. “Can’t say I told you so, but I told you so,” he said indecorously at the Feb. 19 meeting of the commission.
The commission at that meeting hired the St. Augustine-based Douglas Law Firm–the firm representing Palm Coast since March 2024–as a replacement, with the firm’s Jeremiah Blocker and Joe Saviak in attendance. The firm will get a base pay of $2,000 a month in the first year, $2,500 in year two, and $3,000 in year three, with a $250-an-hour charge for attorney work beyond the base rate, and $150 an hour for other staff, based on the contract.
Town Commissioner Jessica Finch said she knew Blocker “quite well” from his representation of Welaka when she was mayor there. She cited Joe Saviak, a new attorney at Douglas Law Firm and for many years the leader of Flagler County’s Leadership Academy, having seen one of his lectures at her own leadership class.
“I appreciate the opportunity,” Blocker told the commission, calling himself a “recovering politician.” He had served on the St. Johns County Commission between 2018 and 2022.
The town is under increasing financial strain from losing one of its major property taxpayers, now that Marineland Dolphin Adventure was acquired by a nonprofit, and does not pay property taxes. Marineland is due to lose a third of its property tax revenue as a result.
The town commission–Pinder, Finch and Dew–has been discussing reopening its contract with the marina in Marineland, which pays the city $18,000 a year. Commissioners think they should get more money. According to its financial records, the marina between October 2024 and September 2025 generated $313,000 in revenue against $265,000 in expenses, including a $48,000 management fee and $15,000 listed as credit card processing fees.
At the January 15 meeting of the commission, two weeks before he resigned, Bayer summarized his analysis of the 2014 contract with the marina and the 2023 extension for 10 years (through 2033) and found no entry point that would justify reopening contract terms absent grave circumstances, from fraud to misrepresentation, which he said don’t exist.
Mark Simpson, the town’s finance director, said “he did not believe the contract was properly negotiated and that no research was done,” according to the meeting minutes, and that “it would be in good faith to drop the agreement and return to the table to rediscuss a contract, ideally with no cap because it does not fiscally make sense.”
Dew was displeased with the way the contract was negotiated with the previous commission in 2023. He and other members of the commission seemed dissatisfied with Bayer’s account of those 2023 negotiations. Finch pointed to a lack of clarity in the record, while Dew said there was no “meeting of the minds” in the contract-negotiating process.
There is also an issue over a land parcel referred to as the Peninsula Parcel, ostensibly donated by JDI Development, the firm owned by Jim Jacoby, to the town. Commissioners rebuffed him when he asked whether he should further research contract law ahead of renegotiations between the town and the marina.
Bayer in his resignation letter said he would turn over files related to the marina transfer and development plans, and submitted his final bill for $1,940.
“It just seemed like it was the appropriate time for them to get a new attorney and for me to kind of move on,” Bayer said on Monday.
Lance Carroll says
Alas…Dennis Bayer moves on to his next victim. Keep on sucking the blood, Denny!
Sincerely ,
Lance Carroll
Sherry says
Thank you Lance! Ya’ll have no idea!
chris conklin says
im sure Lance needed his help at one time. Dennis is nothing but absolute class. im sure he’s happy to get away from unintelligent people. Dennis will always be respected in flagler beach.
What Else Is New says
Dennis Bayer is an exceptionally qualified and well-known respected attorney.
marlee says
The ‘Protector of Marineland’ is a huge loss.
James says
Kinda wondering. What came first here?
“Marine Land” the attraction or Marine Land the town?
Was there ever an organized municipality there that predates “Marine Land” the attraction or did the town of Marine Land sort of come into existence due to the attraction?
To an outsider (such as myself), it seems that the attraction existed prior to the town and that this is all (to be blunt) due to speculation/profiteering on the backs of the attraction and ultimately on the dolphins themselves.
If this is the case, it’s too bad for the town that the “Marine Land” attraction might now have a chance at making up for some of its past shortcomings and actually become a place of real research… one of which might be in learning how to return these (and other) creatures to their rightful place in the natural environment and how to better manage and protect those ecosystems… but c’est la vie.
Ultimately, just another excuse to plow over more land by the sea… is this news?
Just my opinion.
Gail says
Dennis Bayer has been a highly respected attorney in Flagler Beach for many years. The town of Marineland has lost revenue due to the change to nonprofit of the dolphin attraction. How many residents are there?
James says
Yes, it’s a very interesting story…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marineland_of_Florida
… I can understand now why “Marine Land” was on the map, but Palm Coast wasn’t.
Marine Land could indeed have a future as serious research facility… “The Marineland North Florida Oceanographic Research and Aquatic Rehabilitation Center.”
I would suggest expanding the infrastructure by adding a series of “stepped locks” or pools that gradually taper to the ocean allowing the dolphins to gradually jump out of the enclosures to freedom, while preventing other aquatic wildlife in… if they choose to return they could do so by jumping back up the locks.
This series of locks could also be used as a means moving and housing other recovering specimens on a temporary basis… small whales, large sea turtles, etc.
The facility can also research coral life cycles and the effects of climate change on them, and how they might be utilized to mitigate erosion from hurricanes, etc.
Just some thoughts.
James says
They can go either way. They have historic ties to both Flagler and St. John’s counties.
St. John’s might want to incorporate them, completing the A1A historical corridor with St. Augustine to the north. St. John’s will eventually be consolidated into Jacksonville anyway.
The other desirable alternative is for Flagler Beach to incorporate Marineland, preserving the autonomy of both municipalities. Both have a common history, both were on the map before Palm Coast.
“Historical Palm Coast” (if such a thing ever existed) is now part of the larger Palm Coast, which is just an extension of Bunnel which is just Flagler county proper… note the positioning of “Town Center.”
Flagler county (or some part of it) will eventually be consolidated into the greater Orlando area… probably along with Daytona… the situation reminds me of the relationship between NY City and Long Island. Even though there is no commuter rail service. Bad news for the environment, bad news all around. This is not the north east, this is Florida.
Growth will have to end here, you’re running out of Florida. Next stop Georgia? I’m thinking those folks have their own ideas and aspirations as to growth and land use.
Just some thoughts on the matter.
James says
Another possibility, but highly unlikely… dissolve Marineland the town and expand Marineland the research facility. Make it autonomous in the sense that the NASA facility is.
The focus of research should be realigned from space travel to Earth restoration techniques and technology… these technologies will eventually be needed in space anyway.
Marineland could be paired with a similar sister research facility in south Florida… that’s the size of the problem. NASA’s work could continue of course, but there are only a finite amount of funds to go around.
Just another thought.
James says
The theory is from Kant’s nebula formation concept… just a hunch that it might apply to cities.
Just a last thought on this matter.