On Aug. 3, 2017, county engineer Mark Guttman and Public Works project manager Al Toler resigned given the outcome of a recent lawsuit in which the county settled with BRW Inc. for $250,000. On the same day, County Administrator Len Sossamon prepared letters for Guttman and Toler, informing them of employment termination due to information “disclosed during a recent lawsuit that has resulted in the County having a lack of confidence in you performing your duties.”
The county hired BRW Contracting Inc. for the completion of the Osowaw Blvd. Bike Trail/ Sidewalk Project in February of 2015. The county terminated the contract for cause due to poor quality of work. However, BRW Inc. filed a lawsuit against the county arguing that the contract termination for cause was invalid.
In a letter to the county BRW legal representation explains,
“To be clear, BRW acknowledges issues with the quality of the work as produced. However, as the County is all too aware, the issues derive not from BRW’s execution of the work, but rather the design furnished by the County to BRW.”
The attorney’s statement continues,
“Pursuant to the contract, BRW was neither requested nor authorized to perform milling and leveling along the existing road. It simply wasn’t in the contract. BRW was to install the friction layer directly on top of the existing road-flaws and all. Following such a design was most likely going to lead to the top layer settling to match the flaws of the bottom layer. When BRW discovered the potential problem prior to starting work on the friction layer, it immediately notified the County, who represented that it would look into the issue. The County subsequently told BRW that no alteration would be made to the design, and directed BRW to follow the plans and simply install the friction layer directly over the existing road. Ultimately, just as BRW predicted, performance of the work pursuant to the original design led to flaws in the finished product.”
Attorney Scott Machnick determines, “As the County’s design failed to meet the warranty of constructability requirement, the County cannot hold BRW accountable for the resulting defects, and the County must meet its contractual obligation to pay BRW for the work performed.”
On July 11, 2017 the county agreed to offer a $250,000 settlement to BRW Contracting Inc. The lawsuit was closed on Aug. 11, 2017.
Assistant County Administrator Brian Malmberg tendered his resignation on the heels of Mr. Guttman and Mr. Toler. On Aug. 11, 2017 Mr. Malmberg wrote in a letter to Mr. Sossamon,
“Please accept this letter as my notice of resignation from my position of Assistant County Administrator/Public Work Director here at Hernando County effective August 25, 2017. I will be pleased to offer additional time if you feel that is necessary for a smooth transition.
“It has been a pleasure working with you and the citizens over the last seven years here in Hernando County. I’ve enjoyed managing a very successful team dedicated to meeting the needs of the citizenry of Hernando County. I wish you and the County staff all the best. If I can be of any additional help during the transition, please don’t hesitate to ask.”