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Suit: MiraBay Sea Wall Is Defective

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By SUSAN M. GREEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 3, 2008

APOLLO BEACH - The community development district responsible for infrastructure maintenance in posh MiraBay neighborhoods is suing engineers and contractors involved in installing more than seven miles of vinyl sea wall along residential canals during the early days of subdivision construction.

The lawsuit, filed late last year in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, alleges the sea wall design and construction are defective and began failing two years after installation in 2003. In the suit, Harbor Bay Community Development District claims the sea wall was supposed to last at least 50 years.

In court documents, Bradenton-based contractor Woodruff & Sons, hired for the installation job in 2001, says it is not to blame for soil erosion and bowing of the sea wall. The contractor claims the problems stem from a faulty design, change orders and site conditions that differed from those specified in the construction contract.

"All work was performed in accordance with the contract document and technical specifications provided by Harbor Bay and its design professionals," the contractor says in court papers.

Woodruff also asserts that subcontractor Custom Docks by Seamaster, hired to build the sea wall, has breached its contract by failing to "defend, indemnify and hold harmless" the general contractor for liability associated with the work.

Two of three engineers or engineering firms named in the lawsuit filed a motion to dismiss the litigation in late March, claiming the suit did not specify how they failed to live up to their contracts.

Newland Communities, which bought the project now known as MiraBay from a previous developer, holds the majority of seats on the community development district board. Calls to Newland were referred to Harbor Bay attorney Biff Craine.
Craine said he couldn't say how widespread the sea wall problems are. He said he doesn't believe any homes are at risk of structural damage as a result of the problems.

"I don't consider there to be any type of major catastrophic risk out there with regard to the current state of the walls," he said.

Efforts to reach homeowners in the gated subdivision were unsuccessful.

Some residents have likened damage from the sea wall deterioration to sinkholes, but Craine described the depressions people are seeing as "more like potholes" that are not caused in the same way as sinkholes.
Craine said Newland has "gone to great expense" - he could not estimate how much - to repair the damage but has turned the matter over to the community development district as the official owner of the sea walls. Under Florida law, such districts have the authority to impose assessments on homeowners to pay for infrastructure maintenance and improvements.

The attorney said he doesn't expect the district's oversight to lead to significantly increased assessments for MiraBay homeowners, even though it may take years for litigation to be resolved because of the number of parties involved.

"What we're looking for with the lawsuit is the 50-year sea wall that we contracted for," Craine said. He said he didn't know whether that would require repairs or rebuilding the whole system.

Court papers show Harbor Bay accepted Woodruff's bid of $14.4 million to do earthwork and sea wall installation at the development, later renamed MiraBay. The bid included about $5 million for vinyl sea walls. Concrete sea walls were estimated to cost almost $2 million more.

The lawsuit seeks to tap a performance bond of nearly $14 million to repair the sea wall.

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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