New fire station puts city projects on hold

The City of Fernandina Beach is pursuing a $245,489.30 claim with Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Companies over significant delays and incomplete work at its new $5 million fire station project adjacent to the municipal airport.

The project, awarded to Blackwater Construction Services, LLC, is now 18 months behind its completion date, and is not only impacting firefighters, but Ocean Rescue staff and plans to expand the ballfields at the Martin Luther King Center.

According to city officials, the contractor has ceased all communication with the city since early October.

According to city documents, the contractor has failed to provide updated construction plans and necessary documentation, preventing the city from obtaining a certificate of occupancy for the facility. The project, partially funded through a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) grant, requires professional engineer certification to meet grant obligations.

City Attorney Tammi Bach said the contractor has not been in contact with anyone in the city in recent weeks.

"We have not heard from the contractor (Blackwater) but we have heard back from the surety company to begin the claims process," Bach said. "Over the last year or so, we have received notices of liens from four or five subcontractors that have not been paid (by Blackwater)."

The first signs of problems with the project resulted when the city, in a cost-savings effort, decided to end its contract with Passero Associates as project manager for the construction and assumed those responsibilities.

Subpar oversight resulted in deadlines being missed, faulty work and crucial building inspections falling by the wayside.

In an effort to put the fire station "train back on the tracks," Interim City Manager Jeremiah Glisson said the city has requested Passero take the management reins again to complete the project.

"The building is 99.5 percent complete. We've asked Passero to wrap up the punch list on this," Glisson said. "The contractor is failing to follow through on the inspections. We have some inspections we have to figure out and then we can get a certificate of occupancy."

The city's claim letter of Oct. 18, details numerous incomplete inspections and outstanding issues, including:

"We can't get a certificate of occupancy or a temporary certificate, there is a list of final inspections that need to be called in by the contractor," Bach said. "In the construction world this happens all the time. You have a project that's $4.5 million roughly and they (Blackwater) have left $245,000 on the table. So, it's a big mess."

Additionally, partial inspections revealed several deficiencies requiring attention, particularly regarding fire safety features. These include:

Derek Dykes, president and registered agent for Blackwater Construction Services, LLC, has not responded to the city's filing of a claim against his company's bond on the project.

"I'm disappointed that the fire station is still not open after 18 months of being behind schedule," Commissioner Chip Ross said of the project, which was scheduled to be completed by March 2023.

The delay in completing this essential public safety facility has put the city in a challenging position regarding its FDOT grant compliance. City officials emphasize that without final inspections and a certificate of occupancy, they cannot fulfill the grant requirements or begin utilizing the new fire station for its intended purpose. Currently, firefighters are at the aged fire station number 2 at the corner of 1st Avenue and John Robas Street. That fire station, once vacated, will be the future home of the department's Ocean Rescue, which has all of its equipment in storage buildings at the MLK Center.

Those storage buildings will be demolished in order to expand the ballfields at MLK.

"We have all these dominoes that are lined up dependent on opening the new station," Glisson said. "The goal is to get this done, move Ocean Rescue and get the expansion of ballfields completed."

The city is now awaiting response from the bond company regarding their claim as they seek to resolve this prolonged construction delay and bring the new fire station into service for the community.