A Plea To City Council

.
Vice Mayor and members of City Council,
Coming before you tonight is a request to approve an agreement with Halifax Paving, Inc.  I urge you to vote to table this item and bring it back to City Council when a full report on this project can be presented to City Council.
The amount owed to the City of Port Orange by Halifax Paving is a very large amount.  If fact after some serious digging, it could exceed $2,000,000.00.  The agenda item from December 10, 2013 indicates that Halifax Paving, Inc was behind by 139,459 cubic yards.  That is in addition to the 114,076 cubic yards for just 2014 that was reported at the June 30, 2014 Special Meeting.  Just those two items total $887,372.50.  I am sure there is more also.  The original Contract for Bid B05-04 back in the 2004 to 2005 time frame called for Halifax Paving to pay $2.10 for 500,000 cubic yards of fill for a total of $1,050,000.00.  That amount was from fill from Lake “B” which was dug by another company.  That may never have been paid.
Halifax Paving was contracted to dig Lake “A” or the 100 acre which has never been completed to date.  There were penalties clauses in the contracts which may now total $500,000.00 to more than $600,000.00 which I am confident that the City of Port Orange has never received from Halifax Paving.
An addition question has also come up about the fill that was removed from the Ruth Street dig.  That fill was hauled to the City Stockpile off of Shunz Road.  Halifax Paving may have hauled and sold a large portion of that fill also.
The Letter of credit requirement from the June 30, 2014 agreement was increased from $500,000.00 to $1,050,000.00 and changed to a performance bond.  You should ask why that was increased by this amount.  You should also ask if that is enough.  Port Orange may be required to contract another company to finish digging the lake.
These items do not include the problems caused by Halifax Paving for the Coraci Park project.  I would question whether or not the City received the $40,000.00+ from Halifax Paving from that settlement agreement.
There are too many unknowns to simple rubber stamp this new agreement.  I urge you to ask for a full report at a future date certain before voting to approve this agreement tonight.
 
Thanks,
Mark Schaefer
3606 Donna Street
Port Orange, Florida 32129
386-316-1206