INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — After months of confusion over claims that workers had been paid money owed to them for the north county beach replenishment project, Ranger Construction has given county officials releases indicating the matter may have finally been cleared up.
Two weeks ago, however, no one in the chain of command seemed to know whether workers had been paid the $570,000 the companies said they were due.
The county, the general contractor, and Ranch Road Lake sand mine owner Steve Smith could not agree on whether dredge crews and truckers working on the project were owed the money. The parties seemed to be shoving responsibility off on someone else, citing loopholes in Florida lien law and the lack of formal written contracts.
On May 4, Ranger Construction Vice President Bob Schafer sent County Attorney Alan Polackwich a letter with releases attached from two local companies, Southeast Development and Transportation of Fort Pierce and from Henry Fischer and Sons of Sebastian attesting that they were paid.
A third release from Magnolia Dredge and Dock stated that money had been paid to the Louisiana-based company for the dredge work on the last season’s mining and processing of the sand.
Sand mine owner Smith said the last season of dredge work was done by the out-of-state company – despite the goals of the project to give jobs to local people – because dealings fell apart with the local dredgers and Magnolia came highly recommended.
Schafer said that he’s waiting for a release from Oceanside Solutions, a company that has recently been paid. He pointed out that the Fischer company has some separate disputes with the Ranch Road Lake sand mine and Smith for fuel charges, but that those are separate from money paid them for dredge work.
“The outstanding issue is a claim by Henry Fischer and Sons Inc. for fuel surcharge and also material production. Ranger Construction Inc. has released all fuel adjustment money paid by the county to our truckers (Siboney Trucking and Indian River Contracting) and our sand supplier Ranch Road,” Schafer said in his May 4 letter. “We have requested from Fischer a copy of their subcontract agreement with Ranch Road to clarify the fuel adjustment issue.”
Schafer had to request a copy of that contract because, as he told sister publication Vero Beach 32963 in April, he has not been privy to arrangements with any of Ranch Road’s subcontractors.
“Ranger Construction has no knowledge of any of Steve’s (Smith) dealings with any of those subs, so we’re going to follow the lien law,” Schafer said. “There is no way for me to know who thinks they’ve done what or how much they were supposed to get paid.”
Fischer and Ranch Road Lake mine took their issues to civil court back in December. There are disputes over who has a contract with whom, and who knew what and when. The sand mine owner says he won’t submit documents to help his case because the invoices and checks could reveal “trade secrets” that could hurt his ability to compete for future jobs.
Ranch Road’s Smith said the suit is “frivolous” and that he also has some legal claims against the Fischer company for non-performance. The owner, dentist Henry Fischer, has been in the land clearing, site preparation and mining business for decades. He developed several high-end communities in Sebastian, including San Sebastian Springs and Fischer Lake Island.
Representatives from Henry Fischer and Sons declined to answer questions sent via e-mail and did not return phone calls.
Smith said he doesn’t owe Fischer and Sons anything and that he “fired Fischer for non-performance a year ago because it stopped running the dredge.”
Smith blamed the delay into a third season and the incomplete dune construction on Fischer because he said that dune sand was slated to come from Fischer’s mine on Oslo Road.
“I don’t owe anybody money on that job. I paid the dredge crew and Eddie Huggins for some work he did for me,” he said.
Meanwhile, the county is holding onto roughly $1.3 million of money it owes Ranger.
County Attorney Alan Polackwich notified Ranger on April 13 that the county won’t release the $1.3 million until the problem is resolved.
Last week, Polackwich had just received the documents and had not yet determined whether the documentation submitted would be sufficient to close out the contract with Ranger.
The Sector 3 beach project is on Tuesday’s Board of County Commission agenda. A change order on the project is up for consideration, reducing the cost of the project slightly, as Ranger failed to deliver the final 11,000 cubic yards of sand to complete about 1,500 feet of dunes on a stretch of beach that the county says does not have homes.
