The Trust for Public Land has cut its ties and will no longer work as Collier County's agent in negotiations to acquire nearly 166 acres of prime land in the heart of Naples.

The nonprofit trust pulled away from its role as negotiator for the county last week after one commissioner suggested looking at taking the property by eminent domain. Commission Chairman Fred Coyle raised the possibility of seizing the land because the county has been unable to reach an agreement on a selling price with the Fleischmann family, the landowners.

At Tuesday's board meeting, commissioners decided not to pursue eminent domain and voted to up their offering price for the land to $59.9 million. They directed County Manager Jim Mudd to have the trust make the offer for the county. But the trust won't do it.

Though commissioners didn't vote to go the way of eminent domain, the trust doesn't plan to rekindle its relationship with the county.

"Once eminent domain is just mentioned in the progress of a project, we as an organization have a policy that we can no longer be involved — whether it moves forward in that direction or not," said Greg Chelius, state director for The Trust for Public Land.

Mudd could not be reached for comment for this story. It's unclear whether the county's newest offer will be presented to the landowners. The Fleischmanns' Naples attorney has already said the family will reject it. The Fleischmanns are asking for $67.5 million, a price they say is modest and represents fair market value.

Chelius sent a letter to Mudd last week saying the trust could no longer work with the county after talks arose about eminent domain. Copies of the letter were sent to all commissioners before Tuesday's meeting. But the commission still voted to have the trust present its latest offer.

The trust still could negotiate the deal on its own and then bring it back to the county. Chelius alluded to that in his letter last week.

"By no means does TPL intend to retreat from our unwavering commitment to assist the community in any way possible to conserve a property that the voters have so overwhelmingly approved protecting," he wrote. "While we can no longer negotiate on behalf of the county, we are still optimistic that a mutually satisfactory transaction can occur."

Reached at his Tallahassee office on Thursday, Chelius said there was a "possibility" the trust would acquire the property as a private, third-party buyer. It could then sell all the land — or part of it — back to the county.

"Anything is possible," Chelius said. "I certainly have not given up hope."

Commissioner Coyle, whose district includes the zoo, said he expects negotiations to continue between the trust and the Fleischmann family.

"It's my understanding that they are going on their own and they are going to pay the full price for the property," he said.

Coyle is still upset that he didn't get enough support from commissioners to look at eminent domain. He said by not considering it, commissioners "deprived Collier County government of any alternatives."

He said the commission's decision to raise its offer was "an admission of weakness."

"I am very disappointed that commissioners did not take a strong negotiating position here," Coyle said. "I am as positive as I can be on any issue that we could have gotten it for less than $67.5 million."

He said discussing the county's strategy in public has proved tough and it has put Collier County at a disadvantage. In pursuing eminent domain, county commissioners could have met behind closed doors in executive sessions to discuss their strategy, he said.

If a deal is reached between the Fleischmanns and the trust, Coyle said, he expects some of the land to be sold off because the trust will pay more for the land than the county wants to spend.

"I feel we have missed a great opportunity to preserve all of that land," he said.

If the trust negotiates the deal on its own it will all be done in private. Negotiations would no longer have to be in the public eye with the county no longer involved.

Collier County wants to buy the Fleischmann land off Goodlette-Frank Road to save the Naples Zoo and protect surrounding property that's undeveloped. There have been talks of building a central park around the landmark zoo.

John Passidomo, the Fleischmanns' Naples attorney, talked to Chelius on Wednesday morning after the commission's vote to raise the county's offering price. He said Chelius told him he planned to talk to Mudd and "share some ideas that he had that he thought would be appealing."

Chelius said he had some "refreshing and novel" ideas about how to get the deal done, Passidomo said.

While the Fleischmanns recently have put their land up for sale because they've been unable to reach an agreement with the county, there is still a window of opportunity for the county to buy the land, he said. Developing a marketing plan for the sale of property will take some time, he said.

"We are wide open to new and fresh ideas," Passidomo said.