Huntington
– The Town of Huntington filed a complaint on January 15, 2020 in the Supreme
Court of the State of New York, County of Suffolk, against L.K. McLean
Associates, P.C. (McLean) and Bellingham Marine (Bellingham), to recover
damages sustained at Woodbine Marina in Northport.
“Nine
years ago, the Town relied on the defendants’ expertise and representations to
the detriment of our taxpayers and, disappointingly, this process repeated
itself four years ago after the first two rounds of costly damage occurred.
While we can’t change the past, we are fighting to recover the taxpayer’s
investment in this project while we consider options for the future use of the
Woodbine Marina site,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci. “A large part of
Woodbine Marina was taken out of commission due to damages sustained during the
first few months of my taking office in 2018 and while we’ve been able to
invest heavily in long-overdue improvements to the Town’s deteriorating
facilities at Mill Dam Marina, there are many more improvements and upgrades on
the way while we continue working to mitigate unfortunate failures of the
past.”
The
complaint, which calls for in excess of $1,000,000 in compensatory damages each
from the two defendants, cites breach of contract, negligence and
misrepresentation of expertise, failures in calculations and design, among
other deficiencies, which have resulted in costly damage, dangerous, unsafe and
hazardous conditions, and lost revenue to the Town.
McLean
submitted a proposal with a Bellingham designed and manufactured dock system in
response to an RFP for professional design and construction inspection services
issued by the Town in June 2011 for the reconstruction of Woodbine Marina. The
Town entered into an agreement with McLean in August 2011 and the reconstructed
Woodbine Marina facility was operational and in use for the 2014 boating
season. The new design increased the marina in size and capacity from two docks
to three docks and replaced wood docks, which included a wave baffle system,
with concrete docks designed, as assured by McLean to the Town, to withstand
the weather and wave conditions at the marina without a wave baffle system.
Between
the end of the 2014 boating season and the beginning of the 2015 boating
season, the docks at Woodbine Marina sustained damages, as the concrete docks
did not provide the stability needed to tolerate the conditions to which the
marina was exposed. The marina again sustained damages between the 2015 and
2016 boating seasons. The Town made McLean aware of these damages and McLean
determined additional wave protection was necessary to mitigate future damage
to the docks; this additional wave protection was not included in the original
design.
McLean
designed a wave screen system between June and July of 2016 and recommended the
Town install the new screens at Woodbine Marina, which the Town paid to have
installed at the entrance to the boat slips, which provided protection on the
western side of the marina, before the start of the 2017 boating season. In
February 2017, the docks at Woodbine Marina sustained major damage requiring
additional repairs that were paid for by the Town; both the Harbormaster’s office and
the Department of Engineering have been monitoring the facility ever since.
Between the end of the 2017 boating season and the beginning of the 2018
boating season, C dock – the third dock added with the 2011 reconstruction
agreement, sustained catastrophic damage during the multiple nor’easters in
March of 2018 and was removed from service, as it was no longer fit for use.
The two
remaining docks, A dock and B dock, continued to sustain damage during the
summer of 2019. In anticipation of the upcoming winter season, Dom Spada,
Acting Director of Maritime Services, had researched temporary solutions to
protect the remaining docks and presented these options to the Town Board in
August 2019 but it was determined that the effectiveness of these solutions
were unproven and too costly, considering the losses the Town has incurred to
date on the Woodbine Marina facility.
After
the 2019 boating season ended, A dock and B dock were compromised in November
2019, with significant damage to the main dock’s metal rods, timber and concrete
from waves and high winds. Repairs for this damage alone were estimated to cost
at least $100,000 with the remainder of the winter storm season still to come.
Due to
the catastrophic nature of the damage at Woodbine Marina, it was determined
that the docks at Woodbine Marina were no longer suitable for use and they are
in the process of being removed while alternative uses for the site are being
considered.
The Town
will not be operating Woodbine Marina in 2020. To accommodate slip holders from
Woodbine Marina, the Harbormaster held a lottery for open slips at Mill Dam
Marina where significant renovations have been made over the past year, and
will continue before the 2020 boating season begins, including new
configurations for docking for those who struggle physically, a new larger head
float for safe maneuvering around the gangway, a complete re-decking of all
docks, and repairs to the bulkhead underway.
VIDEO
OF DAMAGE WORSENED JANUARY 16-17, 2020 AT WOODBINE MARINA: https://huntingtonny.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=4&clip_id=2057
Attachments:
Verified Complaint filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Countyof Suffolk; photos of damage to A dock, B dock and C dock at Woodbine Marina
(labeled in file names) as of December 10, 2019; video of new damage to B dock
completely splitting in half under gangway from high winds between January
16-17, 2020.
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