Posted on 06/29/2021 12:12:04 PM PDT by rxsid
Letter sent months before deadly Florida collapse warned damage to condo building was accelerating
A correspondence from the board president of Champlain Towers South, part of which unexpectedly crashed to the ground last week in Surfside, Florida, describes the decay at the building since 2018 saying, "the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection."
Board President Jean Wodnicki addressed the letter to neighbors April 9.
"The concrete deterioration is accelerating. The roof situation got much worse, so extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated," says the letter, acquired by CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."
...
Wodnicki further describes issues facing the building saying, "When you can visually see the concrete spalling (cracking), that means that the rebar holding it together is rusting and deteriorating beneath the surface.
...
A 2018 survey outlining problems with the building was a "major red flag," said attorney Adam Schwartzbaum, whose grandparents lived in the building and complained of garage leaks before moving out about a decade ago.
"Based on our investigation, there were many warnings signs more than 10 years ago -- maybe even longer,"
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A structural field survey performed in 2018 by Morabito Consultants Inc., found several things wrong with the building, including major structural damage below the pool deck, according to the report.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
“major structural damage below the pool deck”
“rebar...rusting”
I suspect a pool leak was the underlying problem.
Board president Jean Wodnicki, and her entire board will be sued into the poor house. Let this be a warning to HOA board members; you can be personally held liable for mishaps and tragedies like this.
the left are really trying to also pin this on Desantis-
ya, I heard that DeSantis was criticized for not getting FEMA in there quickly enough, he was slow to declare a state of emergency, and slow to take legal actions.
Next up, he will be blamed for any shortcomings found in building inspections.
This could even tie into the infrastructure bill Democrats in Washington are pushing. The Democrats and liberal loudmouths may charge that Republicans such as DeSantis are against regulations of buildings, and against infrastructure spending which allegedly would prevent building collapses.
I know this sounds far fetched, but talking points are being formulated to blame DeSantis, Trump, and all Republicans for deferred maintenance over the years.
If it’s like any other HOA board (and it almost certainly is), they’re all personally indemnified and that indemnification was signed by all the homeowners at their respective closing.
They are. And, it was predictable. But, like most states, FL state law is unambiguous; all the authority to issue relevant permits and complete the requisite inspections is vested ENTIRELY in the local/county government.
The only oversight the state is responsible for is licensing the builders/contractors and inspectors. As far as I know, no one is arguing the inspectors were incompetent. They’re demonstrably very competent as they’ve been warning about the problems for months if not years.
My sister recently bought a house in Calabasas so they are remodeling it from top to bottom..every single move they make has to be approved by the HOA, they can’t even put a toilet in the bathroom unless the HOA approves the toilet
“A third such suit was filed Monday by Raysa Rodriguez, a ninth-floor resident who was asleep when the building partially collapsed, and others. The class action suit alleges the condo association’s “reckless and negligent conduct” caused the disaster.”
condo owners are suing themselves unless it’s renters suing ...
I’ve been on various HOA boards over the course of my life and I was never indemnified, nor did the subject come up for me as a homeowner. Putting that aside, there is negligence here resulting in the loss of life. Formal charges wouldn’t be a surprise.
>>was a “major red flag,” said attorney Adam Schwartzbaum, whose grandparents lived in the building and complained of garage leaks before moving out about a decade ago.
did the grandparents alert prospective buyers to these defects?
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the contractor cheaped out (don't they all!). I wonder what the building code was at the time.
“Board president Jean Wodnicki, and her entire board will be sued into the poor house. Let this be a warning to HOA board members; you can be personally held liable for mishaps and tragedies like this.”
not really ... first, condo associations carry liability insurance for their board remembers (if not, no one would ever serve) and second, no personal liability UNLESS it can be proved that they were acting in bad faith, e.g., corruptly such as stealing money, taking kickbacks from crooked contractors ... remember, board members own condos themselves and would have no desire to pancake their building on top of themselves and/or lose their investment ...
Actually, a far bigger leak was coming from the ocean, pushing up large amounts of salt water from underneath the building, especially at high tide, from one article I read yesterday.
It was actual salt water in the parking lot and the pumps could not get it out fast enough. Rather than address the root cause, they let pumps mitigate the inevitable damage, to an ever decreasing effect.
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the contractor cheaped out (don’t they all!).
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That at least will be a fairly simple thing to check when the concrete is analyzed.
That sounds right. And altho it can be a PITA for unit owners, it’s usually beneficial for all. Associations aren’t for everyone, but if they are run well they work, especially for those who travel and are finished with maintenance, etc.
I’m not sure why the local building official didn’t condemn it..and require all occupants be evacuated immediately based on the latest reports from six months ago. They should have given 90 days back when it was first identified in 2018 to get occupants out and get repairs going. It’s just inexcusable on the part of the local government. This has ZERO to do with De Santis.
The Board president Jean Wodnicki seemed to be the only one taking this situation seriously and begging the rest of the board and the condo owners to cough up the funds necessary to correct the problem.
The April 9 “Dear Neighbors” letter from Champlain Towers South Condominium President Jean Wodnicki hinted at an ongoing debate over the repairs and a reluctance by some condo owners to pay for major work that would cost at least $15.5 million.
“A lot of this work could have been done or planned for in years gone by. But this is where we are now,” she wrote in the letter, which was confirmed to The Associated Press by a spokesman for the condo board.
Wodnicki noted costs had increased since an October 2018 report by engineering firm Morabito Consultants first identified key issues with weakening concrete, and she predicted they would only grow more if put off any longer.
“Indeed the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection,” Wodnicki wrote. “The concrete deterioration is accelerating.”
“It is impossible to know the extent of the damage to the underlying rebar until the concrete is opened up. Oftentimes the damage is more extensive than can be determined by inspection of the surface,” she wrote.
She added, “I acknowledge that we are talking about a huge project and a very large assessment. The longer we wait, the higher the bids will be.”
There's negligence here.
Sweetl Who said there is no such thing as Karma?
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