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First today, another Facebook blast from the recently resurrected from the cave Love Lane Jack, aka Mad Jack, irascible three sheets to the wind Key West poet, philosopher and generally irreverent maniacal gadfly in the true Socratic tradition:
Love Lane Jack
‘BLUE SKIES AND BEAUTIFUL”….a lovely day in paradise, Lightning fed, taking the morning sun on the balcony railing, classics from Havana, Mundo Fox on TV, chores done, breakfast with the ACER….ain’t live great…..reading all the shit from around the world…still fucked up!…….Barry Soetoro is one pathetic President….who cares,who knows…not even Donald Trump…apathy and ignorance….the middle class has lost ‘it’s pride’….stolen away by the ‘community organizer’……”Asshole Obama”, fumes the madone…….time to read the New Yorker, pop a pint of Millers and light up a Pall Mall…………..Life is a breeze in the Florida Keys…..
Next today, another yummy Peary Court article in today’s every Friday online edition of Key West the Newspaper (www.thebluepaper.com):
PEARY COURT: City Manager Weighing Options on Building Inspections / 2013 Inspection Report Made Available
by Naja and Arnaud Girard…….
Some independent home inspection testing at Peary Court has brought a worrisome result.
“My mold assessment led me to advise the tenants to vacate the apartment,” says Hugh Johnson. Johnson is the owner of “Inspect Key West.” He’s a Florida licensed home inspector and mold assessor.
On March 15th voters will decide whether the City should purchase the White Street property, including the 49 buildings that were once used as Navy housing.
Plan A for inspection of the buildings ran into some rough weather early this week afterThe Blue Paper published a detailed report about some of the extravagant items included in a $165,951 inspection estimate.
Saltz Michelson Architects, the Fort Lauderdale firm, chosen for the job, wants $29,000 for hotels and travel expenses, $61,000 to conduct a “visual inspection” (including flipping electrical switches and opening faucets) but of the 157 apartments, only 16 would be thoroughly inspected. They also claim to need 553 hours worth of “police escorts” estimated at $24,885. The total cost for the very limited inspection would be over $1000 per unit.
According to Commissioner Sam Kaufman, the standard price for detailed home inspections in Key West is around $300 per unit. “At least that’s what I paid every time I needed that service,” Kaufman told The Blue Paper.
There is little doubt that information obtained from a thorough inspection is needed before voters can make a careful, informed decision about the purchase. Costs associated with refurbishing those apartments could affect the City’s ability to pay back the 55 million dollars in bonds that would be used to purchase the property and an estimated ten million dollars from the City’s share of the Monroe County Land Authority affordable housing fund would be put at risk.
If the City Hall restoration project at the old Glynn Archer elementary school is any indication, restoring a building can be just as expensive as new construction. “During one quick mold assessment [at Peary Court],” says Hugh Johnson, “I noticed air conditioner condensate drainage issues, plumbing leaks and poor attic ventilation, all leading to high humidity and high mold spore counts.”
City Manager Jim Scholl says inspections are part of the due diligence process. But why hire an architectural firm from Fort Lauderdale at three or four times the cost of a local home inspection outfit? Saltz Michelson Architects is on retainer with the City under a “continuous agreement” that allows the City to quickly contract for architectural services without having to go through the formal competitive bidding procedures.
On Tuesday night, City Manager Jim Scholl, withdrew his proposal to accept Salz Michelson’s $165,951 estimate. “We are looking at some other options,” says Scholl, including relying on “documents provided by the current owner.” He also mentioned, “not want[ing] to spend too heavily prior to the referendum as we still don’t know if the acquisition is able to move forward.” Could we be going from an exorbitant proposal to not getting inspections done at all?
Echoing public concern over the true condition of the Peary Court buildings, Mark Songer, President of the local government watchdog group, Last Stand, has offered a solution. In an email sent to City Commissioners last Monday, Songer suggests that the City engage several local home inspection companies, “so that each may provide inspection reports on a portion of the units at Peary Court.”
Under City code, any contract over $20,000 must normally go through a formal competitive bidding process. However, there is no longer enough time prior to the March 15threferendum for that 60-90 day process to run its course. However, under Section 2.797 of the code, the City Manager can declare an “emergency” and contract directly with private companies, avoiding the lengthy bid collection process. It would seem that the housing crisis, coupled with the referendum deadline and the rare opportunity to purchase Peary Court would qualify as an emergency.
We expect, wrote Songer, “that the City will receive the same or enhanced informationfrom the local inspectors because full inspections can be performed on more than16 unitsat a substantial savings from the Saltz Michelson Architects proposal.”
Scholl told The Blue Paper he and his staff will “discuss the range of reasonable value options and present a recommendation to the Commission if [they] determine there is a good alternative.”
Meanwhile, here’s a copy of the general inspection report prepared by Atkins Engineers of Key Largo in the summer of 2013 on behalf of the current owners of Peary Court.
Responses to “PEARY COURT: City Manager Weighing Options on Building Inspections / 2013 Inspection Report Made Available”
Last today, a blast from the past, which very definitely should be included in any new edition of BUBBA JUSTICE IN KEY WEST: Pooping on the People in Paradise:
InviteTUNE INTO FIGHTING BACK WITH BOB FITRAKIS WHEN HE INTERVIEWS ROBERT KRUTKO THE FRANKLIN COUNTY INMATE WHO WAS WRONGFULLY ARRESTED AND TORTURED IN THE FRANKLIN COUNTY JAIL.
1-8-16 —-> 7-8 PM Est.
Robert Krutko a Columbus resident and successful entrepreneur will talk live on Talktainment Radio 1-8-16 from 7-8 pm est.
http://
Robert will describe in depth his wrongful arrest and being tortured at the Franklin county jail which is now a landmark Federal Lawsuit Krutko Vs Franklin county. Robert’s case is scheduled to be heard in Columbus Ohio 2-16-16 at the Federal Court house in downtown Columbus Ohio.
In his interview Robert Krutko will discuss the other deaths and torture cases that are filed in Federal Court from inmates family’s who lost loved ones to the torture and killings going on there.
During his five year battle with the powers to be in Franklin county Robert has spent thousands of hours bringing attention to this serious injustice going on in the jail and spoke to many officials who not only ignored what was going on but refuse to help stop the torture and killings going on at the jail. ROBERT KRUTKO WILL NAME NAMES….
This interview will shock many residents in Franklin County and around the world because many are unaware of the killings and torture going on in the Jackson Pike jail. CIVIL RIGHTS DO NOT EXIST UNDER THE CURRENT SHERIFF ZACH SCOTT
Sloan Bashinsky
Is this case described above different from the case originating out of Key West some years back, in which, after Robert Krutko’s prodding, I became deeply involved publishing his side of it at goodmorningkeywest.com and saying I felt the State Attorneys who extradited Robert back to Key West, over a civil lawsuit filed against him down here, and the judge who pushed the State Attorneys to handle the extradition, should have been put into prison.
Furthermore, this affiant sayeth naught today, but stay tuned …
art work by Jan Isherwood, Key West
Ha
sloanbashinsky@outlook.com
A few months ago, Michael Miller, a local architect who lives in one of the Peary Court units sits on the Key West Historical Architectural Review Commission which rejected several designs offered by the Peary Court Developers, represented by Jim Hendrick and his wife Donna Bosold, told me the buildings were full of mold and were not being maintained by the developers.
When the developers bought Peary Court for $35 million, they intended to tear down all 157 units and build entirely new homes, plus 48 “affordable” homes using 48 free building rights given to them by the city and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. For that reason, the developers had no incentive to maintain the 157 existing units, on which they had placed zero $ value. Zero. They paid $35 million for the land and the 48 new free building rights..
Manny Costillo, Executive Director of the Key West Housing Authority, was reported in the Key West Citizen as saying all the appliances in the 157 units might need to be immediately replaced. Stoves. Refrigerators. Dishwashers. Air conditioning units. R2 D2s. Anti missile defense systems. Etc. How much will that cost? Will it be deducted from the purchase price, or will the city pay for it? Traditionally in home sales, serious defects in a home and the estimated cost of their repair are deducted from the sales price at the closing.
It is unthinkable today to buy a home and not have it inspected before the closing. It was unthinkable to do that back in 1983, when I published HOME BUYERS: Lambs to the Slaughter?, which eventually was acquired by Simon & Shuster’s Prentice-Hall division, and got me interviewed by Jane Pauley on “Today”, January 2, 1985. It is unthinkable the voters will not have the information they need to assess the condition of the 157 units BEFORE they vote on the Peary Court referendum.
When they vote, the voters also should know how the city’s crack negotiating team, consisting of Manny Costillo, City Commissioner Jimmy Weekley and City Manager Jim Scholl, got the city such a good deal: $55 million for the 156 units, with the developers keeping the 48 new building rights and 2-plus acres of the land on which to build the new 48 units.
Manny explained it at Jimmy Weekley’s town hall meeting in the Ferry Terminal building, as follows.
The developers wanted $67 million for Peary Court, they said it was worth that: $55 million for the 157 existing units and all of the land, and $12 million for the free new 48 new (free) building rights. Manny told the developers 48 new (free) building rights would not collect rents to pay a mortgage, so the city could pay the developers for the 48 new (free) building rights. Okay, the developers said. We will keep the 48 new (free) building rights and 2+ acres on which to build them, and we will sell you the 157 units and the rest of the land for $55 million. Great, the city’s crack negotiating team said to the developers making, not a $20 million profit in 2 years’ time, but a $37 million dollar profit.
Do you see any negotiations in what Manny reported at Jimmy Weekley’s town hall meeting? What I see is the city’s crack negotiating team agreed to pay the developers’ asking price for the 157 existing units, but declined to pay the developers for the 48 new building rights, which the developers had gotten for nothing, plus the 2+ acres on which to build the new 48 units..
What a deal! for the developers, who sure looked to me to be on the ropes, facing a bad investment, after being repeatedly hammered by Michel Miller and the Historical Architectural Review Board. Michael told me he was glad he had defeated Jim Hendrick.
Now just for further yucks, consider a recent blast from a friend of mine named Rick Roberts, suspected reincarnation of Nikola Telsa, who goes by the handle, “Ricky Raccoon”:
“The only somewhat sane ‘leader’ appears to be Sam Kaufman. But even that guy is about a bubble off level. Instead of getting the inspection lowered, like Sam says, how about we won’t buy the damn thing until the owners can prove the worth of that Navy toilet bowl? Make them pay for the third party inspection. After all, these “leaders” at the city want to throw $20,000,00 extra in and watch all that cash go around the bowl and down the hole. The current owners won’t bat an eye tossing $75,000 of that in for an inspection. They even get to keep the best part of it, the raw land to make another killing on…
“And why is this even happening at all? Since when is it the government that is allowed to compete for rentals against the folks that own apartments, trailers and complexes out there for rent? In telecom, say in municipal Wi-Fi, that’s illegal. The city can’t build a Muni Wi-Fi or Wi-Max system and compete for sales with say Comcast and ATT. Why don’t these “leaders” spend $65,000,000 on a state of the art Muni Wi-Fi network? Because that’s illegal competition with existing private enterprise…
“Back to good ole Sam Kaufman. The legal guy, the attorney. I think it would be great for this Raccoon to buy a single trailer before they can dump $55,000,000 into that toilet bowl. I’d slap a for rent sign on the sucker. Then let these profiteers flush the taxpayer’s cash down the Peary Court abyss. Sam better intercede before that happens…
“Why? Because I’d rack those suckers with a law suit in Federal District Court in Miami for illegally competing with this capitalistic Raccoon’s trailer rent. I win. Now it becomes res judicata for the 1,000 or so other rental landlords here. Each files a suit under the same reasoning. Each time the suit ends in their favor on a motion for summary judgment based on the Raccoon’s racking of the City in his lawsuit. They would love the Raccoon…
“Fact is the City would have no defense; the matter is “already decided”. The City’s Peary Court becomes a black hole. The City can’t rent it, and in fact all that lawsuit money they payout will be sucked in by it.
“Perhaps they can just use it as the new KOTS for the homeless.
“Or sell to private business for what it’s really worth. Tear down land value. Probably $35,000,000. How ironic. To this Raccoon that whole Peary Court thing is moronic, why beyond ironic.
“Raccoon out.”: