Letter to the County

Below is a letter sent to the county on September 6, 2024:

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Dear Monroe County Commissioners, Christine Hurley, Kevin Wilson, Bob Shillinger, Christine Limbert:

We are writing on behalf of all Duck Key residents to register again our strong dissatisfaction with County services on Duck Key. We request your urgent action to address the problems and for a Public Meeting to be held updating all residents with the status and action plan to complete the two AEB bridge contracts on Duck Key and to present a plan to address the frequent flooding on Harbour Drive.

The Seaview bridge project is now in contractual default with daily liquidated damages being assessed and the County has no realistic project timeline that documents the bridges will ever be completed.

The County published to DKPOA a project timeline dated 7/31/24 that stated the first side of the Seaview Bridge would be open to traffic 9/27/24 and the Bridge completed 1/31/25. The first four milestones on that timeline have all been missed, which is exactly what the to be County has allowed AEB to do over and over again for the past four years of this project. The first side of the bridge after 600 plus days appears to be maybe 20% complete. Do you believe it will be completed in the next 21 days? If you don’t, why does the County accept such an unrealistic project timeline from AEB for a $5.26 million contract. If you tell us that your consulting engineer agrees with the project timeline from AEB, then in our opinion the engineer needs to be replaced as they have never been correct or near correct.

Even if this was a realistic timeline the liquidated damages under the existing contract would be $435,500 if by some miracle AEB completed the bridge 1/31/25. In our opinion the Seaview Bridge completion date is at least one year understated adding an additional $1,277,500 in liquidated damages issued to AEB.

Financially do you believe AEB can stay in business with these damages accumulating? Will the Surety Company cover all cost to complete the bridge? We need ACTION from the County NOW.

While the Harbour bridge project is not technically in contractual default as of today, we strongly do not see AEB having the ability to complete that project by the 3/18/25 contractual default date. Add the liquidated damages of that contract and what is the County planning to do?

Additionally for several years DKPOA has communicated to the County about the flooding on Harbour Drive. While we have received email responses that plans are under way to address the issue, no action plan has ever been given to the Harbour Drive residents who have their street submerged with almost every rain. We would like this to be addressed at the public meeting we are requesting as well.

We look forward to your response and request a public meeting be held by the County to tell all the Duck Key residents what your action plan will be. Voted on and approved by the Duck Key Security Advisory Board (DKSAB) and the Duck Key Property Owners Association (DKPOA) Boards 9/3/24.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
The DKPOA Board:
Ron Oestreicher, President; John Schwarz, VP; Karen White, Secretary; Jan Anderson, Treasurer; Directors: Barbara McKinney, Dr. James Bicknell, Josie Vidal, and John Wolfe