Engineers Say Close and Fix Crumbling Brett’s. City Says Not So Fast

By Mike Lednovich

A June inspection of the supporting substructure of Brett’s Waterway Cafe has led experts to recommend that the restaurant and its adjoining deck be closed to the public until repairs can be made to make it safe.

Kimley-Horn and Associates issued their report to the city last Friday and concluded the following:

“We recommend that the building structure, pedestrian access adjacent to the structure, and the area beneath the structure be closed and cordoned off until repairs can be made to the substructure and structure.”

Kimley-Horn reported that:

“Based on our observations, the historical information from the city, and the detailed information in the Hanson report from March 2022, the deterioration of the substructure appears to have gotten worse since last year. In our opinion, the substructure has surpassed its useful life and could sustain additional damage, including failure of structural elements during a weather event with high winds, storm surge, and/or waves.”

The engineering firm also advised:

“Additionally, we recommend that the city advise everyone in that area, including construction personnel, that the introduction of vibrations (such as pile driving, demolition, vibratory compaction equipment, etc.) near the building could cause deteriorated structural elements in the building and its substructure to fail.”

The city’s response was less stringent:

Building department director Jimmy Parr, who is responsible for responding to the report, ordered these actions:

• All access to the underside of the structure should be forbidden and posted as such immediately.
• Restrict the use and occupancy of the existing perimeter deck area to authorized marina staff/personnel on the north side of Brett’s structure and to the outer 15 feet of the timber walkway section of the south side for large events.
• Plans should be developed for the existing walkways that are attached to the structure to separate their supports from the deteriorating concrete under Brett’s to achieve independent stabilization.
• The business operating within the structure should be required to close and not be occupied during storms while winds are sustained 40 mph or above.
• Engineering assessments should be performed by the city every 6 months, and the tenant perform should perform assessments immediately after any storm or other event that could have damaged the substructure or building before reopening to the public or employees.

The report comes just a week before the Fourth of July celebration next week at the city marina, when Brett’s and the adjoining deck will be packed with people to view fireworks over the river. Last year, a portion of the upper platform area, used mainly by Brett’s, was roped off from public use.

The city commission this month hired Kimley-Horn to conduct a routine safety inspection of the city-owned building and substructure. Inspectors did not feel safe venturing underneath Brett’s and used a drone to take photographs of the pilings and support beams.

The city now has mountains of engineering reports detailing how severe the damage is to the under carriage supporting the restaurant over the river. The city’s own coastal engineering expert, Charlie George – now serving as interim city manager — has declared the building unsafe.

Despite several votes by the city commission to ignore the data and allow Brett’s to remain open until its lease with the city expires, the city does have the authority to immediately close the restaurant.

The City Code Enforcement and Appeals Board is charged with “hearing of alleged violations of the Code of Ordinances of Fernandina Beach whose intent is to promote the health, welfare and safety of the citizens of the city.”

According to the City Code Enforcement Sec. 2-387.1. – Appeals of decisions of the building official relating to the Standard Building Code, the city building department Director Jimmy Parr under Section C can, “In the case of a building, structure or service system which, in the opinion of the building official, is unsafe, unsanitary or dangerous, the building official may, in his order, limit the time for such appeals (to the Code Enforcement Board) to a shorter period.”

That means Parr could have ordered Brett’s to be closed based on the Kimley-Horn findings.

The Observer received Parr’s response to the inspection results Tuesday evening and added them to this article, which was published at noon. We also have sought responses from city commissioners .

Last March, the city commission voted to take no action against Brett’s despite facts cited in a previous structural testing by Hanson Professional Services report to the city of Fernandina Beach dated March 2022 that the supporting structures over the river were failing.

At the March 7 meeting, commissioners voted 3-1 to “take no further action to repair or demolish” the building, but to monitor the substructure annually and after storms.

Vice mayor David Sturges recused himself from voting because of a conflict of interest, and commissioner Chip Ross voted against keeping Brett’s open.

Kimley-Horn, in the most recent inspection, issued the following assessment of the structure with ‘Poor’ being the worst rating.

“Based on limited, non-destructive, visual observations, the overall performance rating for each substructure element is as follows:

1) Lower Double Tees (1962): Failed and Failing

2) Upper Double Tees (1988): N/A: Not accessible for observation during this condition assessment

3) Concrete Beams: Poor

4) Concrete Piles: Poor”

Of particular concern were the double tees beam supports. Kimley-Horn said in its report:

“A serious situation involves the condition of the lower double tees. Historical information states that the lower double tees currently only support their own self weight. Based on our observations, these lower double tees have advanced deterioration to the point of loss of total section of the tee stem in many locations where they bear on the perimeter beams; cracking through the full section of more than one lower double tee; and loss of concrete and reinforcing steel in the bottoms of several lower double tee stems.

“This advanced deterioration is to the point that one lower double tee has fallen into the river below the building and several of the other lower double tees may be close to losing the capacity to support their own self weight. When the lower double tees fail, they have the potential to strike and damage the existing piles and cause structural damage to the supporting beams as they rotate on their points of bearing.”

Kimley-Horn inspectors also detailed continued weakening of the support pilings:

“Those cracks, delamination, and pitting still exist and remain open to water and saltwater intrusion which will deteriorate the reinforcing steel within the beams and lead to a loss of structural capacity,” the report states.

Inspectors were so concerned about their safety that they did not venture underneath the restaurant and instead employed a drone to take photographs of the condition of the double tees and pilings.

In July 2021, Fernandina Beach city engineer George sent a letter to Brett’s Waterway Cafe, informing the restaurant it had 60 days to begin repairs on structural deficiencies or the city would order the property vacated. That determination was based on findings in a report by an engineer with Hanson Professional Services.

The owner of the restaurant appealed the decision to the city’s Board of Adjustments and presented expert testimony from engineers who argued the property was in fact safe.

Brett’s lost that decision but then went to court questioning a flawed Board of Adjustment process. The court agreed with Brett’s on the process issue.