Homeowner Donna Tasca points to a beam that is sinking.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE Residents whose homes were damaged when a road construction project went awry on Amherst Avenue have filed a lawsuit in Atlantic County Superior Court and are asking for a jury trial demanding judgement against the city, its engineer and the contractor and any sub-contractors who performed the work.
Attorney Mitchell A. Waldman of Hurvitz & Waldman, LLC of Pleasantville filed the lawsuit on behalf of Warren and Donna Tasca and Kevin and Barbara McHugh, who own properties that were severely damaged due to improper and defective dewatering equipment and techniques, the complaint states.
The Board of Commissioners Sept. 23 convened an executive session to discuss the matter that Solicitor John Scott Abbott said the board could no longer discuss in public.
The city's objective is to settle it, but we are not at liberty to discuss, he said following the closed door session.
The lawsuit filed on Sept. 21 states the Tascas hired an engineer to evaluate the damage to their two-story home, which sits on the corner of Clermont and Amherst avenues, and said the house is in serious structural distress due to the fracture and settlement of the right-side foundation system caused by the project, which included below ground utility replacements.
Tasca home on the corner of Amherst and Clermont avenues.
While the house is not currently at risk of imminent collapse, it will continue to move, and damage to exterior and interior finishes will get progressively worse until such time that the foundation is replaced, engineering consultant Timothy J. Carlsen of Affiliated Engineering Laboratories, Inc. of Edison said in his preliminary report.
He further states that the dewatering may have caused the loss of soil below the home and a geotechnical investigation be performed to ensure there are no voids beneath the surface.
A report commissioned by Travelers Insurance, the company representing defendant Mathis Construction Company, Inc. of Little Egg Harbor Township, recommended temporary shoring of the house, and stated that the Tascas can live in the home until Oct. 23, but if there are high winds or tornado or hurricane warnings issued, they should vacate the home immediately.
The Tascas have been living in their shored up home for months, and although the project was deemed partially complete, the city has yet to hear when Mathis Construction will finish paving the roadway. Residents in the area endured months of the roadway being torn up during Phase 1 of the project between Douglass and Clarendon avenues.
Amherst Avenue was selected for reconstruction based on a priority list of roads that are nearing the end of their lifespan. It is customary for the city to replace the 50-year-old underground utilities whenever it does road projects, including water and sewer, storm drains, and lateral connections to the homes.
Residents of a two-block area along Amherst Avenue have been dealing with no parking and damage to their homes as a result of a road reconstruction project.
The project temporarily halted in spring after it became apparent that several homes were damaged by the dewatering process. The city contended the problem is the responsibility of the contractor, Mathis Construction, who resumed the work on April 28. The utility work and base paving was completed in June and the final paving scheduled for fall.
We have requested a schedule from Mathis for the final paving of that road. We have not received the schedule yet, but we continue to follow up, city engineer Ed Dennis Jr. of Remington & Vernick told commissioners during the Sept. 23 meeting.
Tasca's neighbors also experienced damage to concrete slabs inside a driveway and on the side of their house, with damage to the sprinkler system.
Cracks in Tasca's neighbor's garage.
An estimate from Bayshore Builders, LLC of Margate shows repairs to the McHughs' house would be $93,650. However, the company said remedial repairs to the Tascas' house is not recommended from both an economic and safety perspective as the cost of repairs would exceed more than 50% of the home's current value.
Bayshore recommended the home be rebuilt to meet current building codes and flood level elevations.
Further, due to unstable soil conditions caused by the work being performed on Amherst Avenue, it makes better sense from a safety perspective to rebuilding the house on an entirely new foundation, Bayshore stated.
An estimate from Bayshore to demolish the existing house and construct a new 1,922-square-foot house at a rate of $275 per square foot, would be $582,800.
The lawsuit states that Mathis breached the contract for failing to ensure flow control and dewatering operations did not cause damage and that it failed to make test pits and soil borings to prevent subsidence. It further alleges that Remington & Vernick was careless and negligent in preparing designs, planning and supervision of the project.
Another neighbor on Clermont Avenue who claims the project caused damage to his property has not joined the lawsuit or filed a lawsuit on his own.
Abbott said the case was turned over to the city's Joint Insurance Fund who assigned an attorney to help the city decide if it will file any counter claims.
I have to instruct the members of the governing body that we are not at liberty to discuss any details on what is now in litigation. We don't want to jeopardize our insurance coverage, Abbott said.
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