A consultant with a Hoover development has denied allegations made by the city’s mayor in a public hearing that he attempted to blackmail him.

Pat Lynch was named by Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato Tuesday in a hearing for a certificate of need during testimony regarding Riverwalk Health & Wellness Center, a proposed healthcare center in a mixed-use development, which would be located on a 90-acre tract near Riverchase Parkway.

Opposing the project is the Forest Park Group, which is being led by Loree Skelton, the sister of former Hoover Mayor Brian Skelton. Loree Skelton is also CEO of South Haven Nursing Home in Hoover.

David Belser, an attorney for Skelton, said Skelton had been engaged with the city, as late as April of this year, in a healthcare project at Stadium Trace Village in Hoover.

One aspect of the second phase of Hoover’s Stadium Trace Village development is a 50,000 sq.-ft. surgical hospital with 25 beds, along with 20,000 square feet of space for medical offices.

Brocato said during the Tuesday hearing, which is dealing with the city’s Certificate of Need (CON) application to speed the project, that he has never contested a surgery center for Stadium Trace Village.

He also said Lynch, acting as a lobbyist for developer Broad Metro, which backed the Stadium Trace project, had told him in March the opposition could go away if he supported an incentive package for Stadium Trace Village.

“I was really kind of stunned he asked me that question because he’s my friend,” Brocato said. “I said, ‘No, I’m not going to do that. That sounds a little bit like blackmail.’”

In an affidavit, Lynch said Broad Metro had never “sought to intimidate, extort, or blackmail” any Hoover city official.

In a statement released Friday, Lynch again denied that he attempted to blackmail Brocato or anyone.

Lynch said in meetings with Hoover Economic Development Manager Greg Knighton, Knighton discouraged inclusion of a medical center in the Stadium Trace Village plan because it might not generate sufficient tax revenue. A further conversation with Councilwoman Khristi Driver also dealt with this topic.

Lynch said during his conversation with Brocato, he proposed replacing the medical center with a retailer that might generate more revenue.

“It appears that Mayor Brocato misunderstood my statement regarding the removal of the surgery center, taking it out of context,” Lynch said. “At no point in my conversation with the mayor was I referring to the challenge to the certificate of need (CON) on the Riverwalk project.”

He said at the time, he was unaware of any challenge to Riverwalk’s CON application.

“How could I blackmail someone if I didn’t even know there was going to be a challenge? Additionally, Will Kadish, the Stadium Trace developer, approved my representation of the Riverwalk Project as there was and is no conflict between the two projects,” Lynch said.

“Throughout my career, I have never been accused of applying undue pressure or blackmailing my clients. I have worked with three mayors, three city administrators, and numerous city council members in Hoover without any such allegations,” he said.