BRADENTON BEACH – The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and Technomarine have negotiated a settlement agreement that if fulfilled should result in the installation of a new floating day dock next to the Bridge Street Pier early next year.
The mutual release and settlement agreement approved by CRA members last week gives Technomarine and CEO Erik Sanderson 45 days to deliver the floating dock decking, hardware and floats needed for installation.
In exchange, Technomarine will be released of any further contractual obligations to the CRA, including the fulfillment of the $119,980 dock project contract the two parties agreed to in early 2017.
“Without any admission of liability, fault or responsibility, the parties desire to settle all their disputes,” the agreement says.
It also includes a provision that says, “The parties agree not to directly or indirectly disparage, discredit or comment upon each other.”
During previous CRA meetings, there was discussion about requesting an Attorney General’s Office investigation into Technomarine’s business practices.
The CRA members approved the proposed settlement agreement during a special CRA meeting that occurred immediately before the Thursday, Dec. 6, City Commission meeting. The agreement was first discussed at the previous day’s CRA meeting. Perry negotiated the agreement with Julianne Frank, the attorney now representing Sanderson and Technomarine.
The agreement requires Technomarine to deliver all dock materials identified in the 2017 contract to the CRA within 45 days of the settlement agreement being executed. Perry said this gives Technomarine until approximately Jan. 20. Pier Team facilitator and Police Chief Sam Speciale is to coordinate the delivery and subsequent installation.
In early November, using GPS data contained in a photograph Technomarine provided the city, Speciale and CRA Chair Ralph Cole found the CRA’s eight, 30-foot dock sections sitting in the storage yard of Hecker Construction Company in Gibsonton. Speciale and Cole were told Hecker had a verbal agreement with Technomarine to install the floating dock, but no installment date had been scheduled. The CRA now intends to use Hecker Construction to install the floating dock, and about $36,000 remains of the funds originally budgeted for the project.
During Thursday’s meeting, Perry said the original settlement proposal called for Technomarine to deliver the docks, hardware and floats within 30 days, but Sanderson requested an extra 15 days to secure delivery of the floats during the holidays. Speciale was recently told the cleats and other hardware were being stored at Technomarine’s warehouse in North Palm Beach.
To date, the CRA has paid Technomarine $83,952. Using resort tax revenues, Manatee County is reimbursing the CRA for half of the contracted project costs.
According to the settlement agreement, no efforts will be made to recoup any money from Technomarine. This includes the $29,961 payment made to Technomarine on July 31, which was supposed to then be resubmitted to Ronautica Marinas, the Spain-based company that manufactured the aluminum-framed, composite decking sections for Technomarine.
The dock sections were shipped to Port Everglades in August, where they sat in limbo for more than two weeks. Ronautica eventually released the dock sections for pickup by Technomarine even though Technomarine still owed Ronautica more than $29,000 for the manufacturing and storage fees. The dock sections were then trucked to Hecker’s storage yard in Gibsonton.
Ronautica Managing Director Oscar Fontan later told The Sun his company intended to file a lawsuit against Technomarine.
In May, the Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County ordered Sanderson and Technomarine to pay contractor Christopher Karch $1.7 million in damages for the $3.8 million lawsuit Karch filed in 2017.
Earlier this year, the city of Pahokee filed a lawsuit against Technomarine seeking the return of $125,000 for an alleged breach of contract regarding the renovation of a municipal marina and campground.
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