Jeni Brock Steele

"This Is the most blatant display of big bucks trying to shut up the concerned who care about the environment" Charles Grande, Forum Columnist

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Tallahassee-based Figg Bridge Engineers has filed suit against a group of four local men, alleging they slandered, libeled and conspired to defame the bridge builders that are consultants to the St. Lucie County Expressway and Bridge Authority.

The authority is made up of county commissioners, Port St. Lucie council members, Fort Pierce commissioners and two Port St. Lucie residents. The group —which has no legislative power — was convened as a citizens advisory board to oversee the construction of an additional bridge across the Indian River Lagoon.

The lawsuit states that despite Figg’s repeated public presentations showing the bridge’s proposed alignment at Walton Road, the final decision on the location has never been determined.

Nevertheless, the lawsuit claims, Charles Grande, Ed McKay, Roger Sharp and Kevin Stinnette have "made Forum columnist statements that are defamatory and slanderous," and "have made statements with actual malice towards Figg and/or with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the defamatory matters contained therein."

The suit uses a column written by Charles Grande and published in the Forum Islander South as evidence of the allegations.

Also included as an exhibit by the plaintiff is a resolution submitted by Sharp late last year at a county property and homeowners meeting. The resolution asked county commissioners to intercede on county property owners’ behalf by asking for a suspension of the authority’s activities pending the outcome of a grand jury investigation of a bridge in northwest Florida that was held up as an example of Figg’s work.

The Garcon Point Bridge across the Pensacola Bay is the subject of a grand jury investigation that includes allegations of illegal dumping of as much as 40 acres of concrete and other construction debris.

The contractor, Orlando-based Odebrecht-Metric, was fined $4 million, but whether or not that closed the case is unknown

County Commissioner Paula Lewis, a member of the authority, said she was completely surprised to learn of the suit Wednesday afternoon.

"I was unaware of it," she said. "I’m surprised that we had not at least been made aware of it."

However, Lewis said, since the authority was not a party to the suit, it was probably not required that authority members be notified.

"It would have been nice if we had known," she said. "I had no idea."

Grande said he had not yet been served with papers of the suit, but he had gotten a copy of the complaint on his own.

"This is the most blatant display of big bucks trying to shut up the concerned citizens who care about the environment," he said. "I think this is a classic First Amendment case."

The four men named as defendants in the suit have been vocally opposed to the bridge project and voiced their concerns publicly as members of the Treasure Coast Environmental Defense Fund — or commonly called "Ban The Span."

They have frequently spoken at authority meetings. They have traveled to express their views before the Regional Planning Council, which insisted that a "no build" option be added to Figg Bridge Engineers’ advance notification package that was filed with the state.

Grande said Wednesday that Figg’s filing of the suit is "a malicious misuse of the courts," and "they shouldn’t try to intimidate people"

McKay is president of his homeowner’s association at a condominium on South Hutchinson Island. Stinnette is an environmentalist who owns a home on the Indian River Lagoon.

Sharp is president of the Indian River Drive Freeholders Association, made up of riverfront property owners.

Grande is president of the Presidents’ Council of South Hutchinson Island, made up of presidents of island home and condo associations.

Never was their intent malicious against Figg Bridge Engineers, Grande said, "Our position has always been to protect what is important to the people of St. Lucie County," he said. "We only want to preserve the environment and what people love about this county."

Knowing what the next step will be is premature, Grande said.

"We think the First Amendment protects our position," he said. "We have not been served [with papers] yet and until we are, that will allow us time to explore what our position will be and what action we will take."