Item S07
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: July 14. 2004
Division:
County Attorney
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Clarification and direction to County staff regarding Shrimp Road as
follows:
Direct County Attorney's office to record Bernstein deed.
Direct Public Works to make necessary repairs to, and maintain as needed, the extended portion of
Shrimp Road as described in the legal descriptions to 3 tracts, more particularly described in Exhibit A,
attached hereto.
ITEM BACKGROUND: On February 11, 2000, the Circuit Court ordered Monroe County to make all
necessary & reasonable inspections, modifications and maintenance to ensure proper drainage on
Shrimp Road. A copy of the jUdgment on Count I is attached as Exhibit B. Pursuant to said order &
subsequent Resolution No. 084-2002, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit C, Public Works has made
repairs and maintenance to that portion of Shrimp Road which lies immediately adjacent to Bernstein
Park. The referenced resolution provides for the County to take over repairs and maintenance of all of
Shrimp Road upon the occurrence of a number of events, including receipt of all applicable deeds and/or
easements. Inasmuch as the Bernstein's executed the deed to the dominant portion of the remainder of
Shrimp Road over a year ago, this action will allow the road to be repaired and maintained for the
benefit of the public.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
Adopted res. 84-2002.
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Approval
TOTAL COST: Unknown_
COST TO COUNTY:Unknown
BUDGETED: Yes
SOURCE OF FUNDS:
No X_
REVENUE PRODUCING: Yes
No
AMOUNT PER MONTH_ Year
APPROVED BY:
County Atty _ OMS/Purchasing _ Risk Management_
DIVISION DIRECTORAPPROVALQb~ o7lbll~
J. R. Collins
DOCUMENTATION: Included
To Follow
Not Required
AGENDA ITEM # S 7
EXHIBIT A
The following legal description describes two tracts of land to be 4>tIVeYed to Monroe
COunty for right.:of.way purposes. These two tracts are morepartidularly described as
fu~~: ,
Tract 1:
j .,GP~at,~f:lO~ Wmetof~lock57 o(~~'s.r~pr~part,~,~
: ,Is~'aS'recordeQ in Plat-Book 1, Pag~ 55 ofthC"Prib~R.eoOtdS o~ COUntyl
F.lOtida; thence cOincident:with the north lliie of Block 578nd the ~~ly right-otway
line ofFlfthAveinJe S 83056' E, 470 feet; thence S 6004' W, 238.Qd reet to the Point of
Beginning of Tract 1; thenCe S 6004' W, 1079.7J feet; thence ~ jO.17 feet; thence N
6004' E, 1076.52 feet; thence N 83056' W, 30.00 teet to the Point c;)fBeghming,
containing 32,345 square feet, more or less.
Tract 2:
i
Commence at the northwest comer of Block 57 of McDonald's P~ ofa part of Stock
Island as'recorded in Plat Book I, Page 55 of the Public Records of Monroe County,
Florida; thence coincident with the north line" of Block 57 and the gpUtherly right-of-way
line of Fifth Avenue S 83056' E, 470.00 feet; thence S 6004' W, 1317.71 feet; thence
East, 30.17 feet; thence S 6004' W, 271.96 feet to the Point ofBeg~g; thence S 6004'
W, 655.78 reet; thence S 83056' E, 1096.72 feet; thence N 6004' E; 28.00 feet; thence N
83056' W, 1003.01 feet to the point of curvature ofa cwve concave to the northeast,
having as its elements a radius of75 feet, a central angle of 88003'56"', and a chord
bearing and distance ofN 39054'02" W, 104.26 feet; thence along the arc of said curve
' lJ 5..28 feet to ~ pointof~ency; thence N 4007'5&' E, 1555;62 .feet to the Point of
'" , " " , f ,
Beginning, containing 38.477 square feet, more or less. : :
Tract 3:
The following legal description describes a strip ofland on Stock Island
for right-ot:way pwposes and is more particularly described as
follows: .
Commence at the northwest comer of Block 57 of McDonald's Plat of a part of Stock
Island as recorded in Plat Book I, Page 55 of the Public Records of Monroe County,
Florida; thence coincident with the north line of Block 57 and the southerly right.:.ot:way
line of Fifth Avenue S 83056' E, 470 feet; thence S 6004' W, 1317.71 feet to the Point of
Beginning; thence S 5017'44" W, 924.63 feet; thence S 83056' E, 17.56 feet; thence N
6004' E, 927.73 feet; thence West, 30.17 feet to the Point of Beginning, containing
22,035 square feet, more or less.
~XHf~'T f3
()
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 16TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN ~ FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
ROBBIE'S SAFE HARBOR
MARINE ENTERPRISES, INC.,
Plaintiff,
CASE NO. 95-379-CA-18
JUDGE SANDRA TAYLOR
vs.
m~@~]JWI?;~
L FEBl 4 2DDO &
MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA,
a political subdivision of the State of Florida,
Defendant.
/
FINAL JUDGMENT ON COUNT I
TIllS CAUSE came on to be heard before the Court at Trial on November I, 1999, and the
Court, having heard argument of counsel, sworn testimony of witnesses, reviewed the file and the
evidence presented, and being otherwise duly advised in the premises, the Court makes these
findings of fact and reaches the following conclusions of law:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. This is an action for injunctive relief and damages. The Trial was bifurcated and proceeded
only with Count I for injunctive relief against the Defendant County.
2. Plaintiff is a Florida Corporation, doing business as Robbie's Marina, on Stock Island,
Monroe County, Florida. Plaintiff's agent, Robbie Reckwerdt, presented testimony at trial.
3. Defendant, Monroe County, is a political subdivision ofthe State of Florida. Defendant's
agent, David Koppel, testified as the engineer in charge.
4. Plaintiff owns certain real property on Stock Island, to which the Plaintiff has a non-
exclusive easement for access across the road commonly referred to as Shrimp Road.
./.-:-.:'\
5. Defendant, Monroe County owns certain real property adjacent to a part of the easement held
by Plaintiff, which is known as Bernstein Park.
6. The County established and developed Bernstein Park as a recreational park for the
community in or about 1995.
7. The County Engineer, David Koppel, testified that in the course of constructing the park, the
County constructed a swale to retain storm water on its property.
8. The Plaintiff, Robbie Reckwerdt, testified that storm water runoff on Shrimp Road has been
impacted by the County's construction at the Bernstein Park and that ihe condition haS
worsened since the County's construction.
9. The County testified that in addition to Bernstein Park, it also acquired the first 238 ft. of
Shrimp Road at the intersection of Fifth Avenue, subsequent to its April 1995 acquisition of
Bernstein Park.
10. Sometime after October 1995, the County installed a drainage well on the Shrimp Road right-
of-way, near the intersection with 5th Avenue.
11. The County Engineer testified that it graded and reconstructed the 238 ft. of Shrimp Road
which was transferred to the County so that the elevations in the County's portion of Shrimp
Road was lowered to allow water to run towards the well which was installed. The County
also testified that the well which it installed was more than adequate to handle the storm
water runoff from Shrimp Road.
12. The County Engineer testified further that after acquiring and constructing Bernstein Park,
the County was under no obligation to build a drainage system to handling flooding on
Shrimp Road.
13. However, the County did build a drainage well at the intersection of Shrimp and 51b Avenue,
,,--'\
and in addition to having to handle the runoff from the road and the adjacent properties, the
County Engineer constructed a catch basin on Bernstein Park with a connection pipe to divert
the water from the Park directly into the drajna~e well. This testimony was corroborated by
the Roadway Drainage Improvement Plans and the Bernstein Park Plans which were entered
as evidence.
14. The testimony of David Koppel at the trial was contradicted by his own previous deposition,
wherein he had testified that all the water on Bernstein Park was handled on site, that the
drainage well was intended only to handle the runoff from Shrimp Road.
15. The Plaintiff's expert witness, Paul Mitchell, testified that sound engineering practices would
require that before a drainage well is designed and installed, that the engineer should
determine what capacity well is necessary for the area and volume of water. it is meant to
handle. The County admitted that no such calculation was prepared before designing and
installing this well.
16. The Plaintiff's expert also testified that the County had a duty, once notified of the problems
by the Plaintiff, to determine whether or not the drainage system the County installed was
functioning adequately. The County Engineer testified that there has never been any
maintenance on the well since its construction, and that while he has gone out to look at it,
he has never inspected the well itself to see ifit is functioning properly, or at all.
17. The Plaintiff testified that the flooding on the road has caused a public safety hazard, that
when the storm water floods Shrimp Road it becomes impassable as a two-lane road. Robbie
substantiated his testimony with numerous photographs to this effect.
18. Furthermore, Robbie testified that particular area of Stock Island attracts many homeless
people who are in danger when cars are forced off the road unexpectedly. Further, on the
evening of trial, after a day of light rain, this court made a court view of Shrimp Road, as
agreed by the parties. The standing water was considerably deep in some areas of the road.
Apparently due to the poor condition of the road, every car coming in either direction moved
to the middle of the road to avoid the standing water. Even at 7:30 p.m., after most, ifnot
all of the businesses on Shrimp Road were closed, the traffic was brisk. There was also
pedestrian traffic on the road. This court's observation was that the standing water created
an inherently dangerous situation. This court made a second view, 24 hours later, and found
a considerable amount of rainwater still standing on various parts of Shrimp Road.
19. The Plaintiff's expert also testified that the County had a duty, once notified of the problems
by the Plaintiff, to determine whether or not the flooding was causing a danger to the public
and to warn or protect the public from the known danger. The County Engineer could not
demonstrate any measures that were taken to insure that the well, as installed, was
funct~oning adequately.
20. Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief against Defendant County's activities which are a direct
cause of immediate and irreparable harm and are not susceptible to cure and relief
exclusively or adequately in the form of monetary damages and for an Order compelling the
Defendant to remedy the flood conditions it has created.
21. The Defendants moved for a Directed Verdict at the close of the Plaintiff's case, relying on
the defense of Sovereign hnmunity, which the Court took under advisement, and proceeded
to hear the defense present its case.
22. Both parties have submitted briefs on the sovereign immunity issue,
THEREFORE, IT IS
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:
/ .'1
A. The Defendant's Motion for Directed Verdict is DENIED;
B. The Defendant will make all necessary and reasonable inspections, modifications, and scheduled
maintenance as needed to ensure the drainage system functions adequately on Shrimp Road in
order to prevent a threat to public safety.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Key West, Monroe County, Florida on this I p..,
day of February, 2000.
Copies to:
Tracy J. Adams, Esquire
Suzanne A. Hutton, Esquire
~\(H ,8\T
c
Commissioner Spehar
RESOLUTION NO.
084
-2002
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISsIONERS OF MONROE
COUNTY, FLORIDA, ACCEPTING A PORTION OF SHRIMP ROAD AS A PUBUC
RIGHT -OF-WAY.
WHEREAS, in 1992, Monroe County purchased property on Stock Island to establish a
public park; and
WHEREAS, said Park was dedicated in perpetuity as a park under the funding requirements
for the Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program and the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Program; and
WHEREAS, Bernstein Park was developed on the site in or about 1995; and
WHEREAS, in 1995, the County obtained 238 feet of Shrimp Road intersecting with 5th
Avenue; and
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 256-1995 accepted a corrective quit claim deed from Safe
Harbor Enterprises, Inc. regarding said road and undertook improvement and maintenance of said
roadbed for the use of the citizens of Monroe County; and
WHEREAS, the road is tantamount to a public facility by virtue of its furnishing further
ingress and egress to areas remote from the Park but is also a primary access to the Park, even
beyond the 238 feet which was previously acquired; and
WHEREAS, it has been determined that a portion of Old Shrimp Road was constructed on
property owned by Safe Harbor Enterprises, Inc., and possibly the State of Florida which was not
covered by the access easement previously granted to adjacent property owners; and
WHEREAS, there is a mediated settlement and Court Order whereby the existing access
easement was conveyed to Safe Harbor Enterprises, Inc., in return for Safe Harbor Enterprises,
Inc., deeding the property under the existing Shrimp Road to the public; and
WHEREAS, there is an existing lawsuit against the County regarding impacts which the
park has had on Shrimp Road both the portion presently owned by the County and portions owned
by Safe Harbor Enterprises, Inc.; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE
COUNTY, FLORIDA that:
All of Shrimp Road as may be quit claimed to the County by the appropriate underlying fee
owner(s) shall be accepted as a public right-of-way upon the meeting of the following conditions:
A) i) receipt of 0 quit cloim deed from Safe Harbor Enterprises, me. or its
affiliated corporation as may be the record owner of fee simple title to property underlying
the constructed road; and
ii) the dismissal of the 16th Circuit Court Case No. 95-379-CA-18.
B) If it is determined that the State of Florida or one of its subdivisions or agencies,
or any other entity owns any of the fee simple title for any portion of Shrimp Road, this
acceptance becomes effective as to such portiones) only upon receipt of a quit claim deed or an
easement and dedication to the public from the owner(s) of record.
PASSEl> AN/) AIlOPTEo by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe ColHlty, Florida,
at a regular meeting of said Board herd on the 13th day of .February, 2002.
yes
yes
..hc!"'Ttl:
Yes
yes
By
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
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