Panel left without bridge can't repay state debt
By Jim Reeder, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 22, 2002
FORT PIERCE -- The St. Lucie County Expressway & Bridge Authority apparently will have to ask for forgiveness of part of its $3.1 million debt to the state, officials said Thursday.
Department of Transportation officials promised $1.1 million to be given in 2004, leaving the authority with a $2 million debt it can't repay to the Toll Facilities Revolving Trust Fund.
The panel was left with no bridge to build and no money to build it with after Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, shifted $20 million from the authority's proposed toll bridge to Port St. Lucie's West Virginia Drive corridor.
"I've talked with Pruitt and we'll see what we can do about debt forgiveness," Rudy Howard, chairman of the authority, said.
The authority has $79,000 in the bank and owes $22,000 to its consultants, attorney Dan Harrell said.
Howard said he's confident money will become available to reactivate the proposed toll bridge to South Hutchinson Island.
He suggested the authority keep its contracts with Figg Engineers and Miller Consulting open so they could resume work on environmental studies and bridge design.
That brought a sharp reaction from Hutchinson Island resident Charles Grande, one of four people sued by Figg in a slander suit. Grande said Figg was a target of a criminal investigation into illegal dumping of construction debris into the water near the Garcon Point Bridge in the Panhandle.
Figg officials repeatedly denied they were a target of the probe, but dropped the suit after federal officials backed the claim of Grande and the others.
No charges were filed against Figg although another company paid millions in fines in the case.
"If the project starts again, the work should be open for bids," Grande said. "There's a clear history where your consultant has lied to you. Figg is not the type of company you want to deal with."
Howard said it will take a long time for other companies to gain knowledge Figg already has about the bridge project.