New legal issue causes more delays on five intersection repairs in western part of county

Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post
·4 min read

It may be quite a while before work resumes on those heavily traveled intersections in the western end of the county that cause traffic issues. That's because a new legal issue is threatening to further delay resumption of work.

Work stopped at the five intersections more than six months ago when the contractor, Municipal Contractors Inc. of West Palm Beach, failed to pay subcontractors, according to the Palm Beach County engineer’s office. The subcontractors then refused to do any work.

County Engineer David Ricks appeared before the county commission in September to report that his office had reached an agreement with a bonding company to pay the subcontractors but Ricks, in a recent email to County Mayor Gregg Weiss, reported that agreement is now in jeopardy because Municipal Contractors had already agreed to allow another entity to control its finances.

Construction work at the intersection of Gateway Blvd. and Military Trail has been halted for several months because of the non-payment to subcontractors, according to county officials. And now a legal issue has developed that is expected to even further delay the resumption of work.
Construction work at the intersection of Gateway Blvd. and Military Trail has been halted for several months because of the non-payment to subcontractors, according to county officials. And now a legal issue has developed that is expected to even further delay the resumption of work.

The issue, Ricks said, must first be resolved before the bonding company can make the needed payments. The issue has been referred to the County Attorney’s office “to determine the fastest and most efficient way to declare Municipal Contractors in default and use the county’s full authority to complete the appropriate contracts,” Ricks said.

Complaints continue to pour in to the office of county commissioners

Weiss said his office has been receiving emails and phone calls on a daily basis from frustrated motorists.

"I too am frustrated with the lack of progress and Municipal Contractors not paying their subcontractors. This is the first time this has ever happened while I have been in office," said Weiss, noting that the county attorney and county engineer are working together to get the projects resumed.

More: Failure to pay subcontractors halts work at three major Palm Beach County intersections

The five intersections impacted are:

  • Clint Moore Road and Jog Road

  • Ellison Wilson Road and Universe Boulevard

  • Gateway Boulevard and Military Trail

  • Hypoluxo Road and Jog Road

  • Northlake Boulevard and Military Trail

County resident David Gempel sent an email to The Post saying:

"For months I’ve been looking at the delayed construction project at Jog and Hypoluxo roads, and watching the steel rebar cage that is intended for use as reinforcement in the concrete piling’s continue to rust."

Said Kat Lopez, another resident, in an email to Mayor Weiss:

“Can you please tell me when they plan to finish the road construction at Gateway and Military? Nothing has been done in more than a year. Lanes aren’t finished, barriers remain up. This has been an issue for several years now. It should not be that hard to finish a few lanes of paving.”

Initially, Ricks told county commissioners that only three intersections were affected but in his email to Weiss, he added two more to the list — Ellison Wilson Road and Universe Boulevard and Northlake Boulevard and Military Trail but said work is mostly complete on those two intersections.

West Palm Beach-based Municipal Contractors was founded by Scot Paulitsch in 2019. Paulitsch was vice president of Burton Scot Contractors from 2001 to 2019, according to the Municipal Contractors’ web site. Burton Scot oversaw numerous road construction projects in Ohio. The firm was cited and fined by the Ohio Department of Transportation in 2018 for failing to open a major state highway in Cleveland for morning rush-hour traffic.

What are surety bonds and how do they work?

Surety bonds are, in effect, a form of insurance to help county officials ensure that work is eventually completed on projects where a default occurs. If that happens, the surety company is obligated to find another contractor to complete the work. But it may take a court to decide whether the county gets its money with another entity also seeking to be reimbursed.

At issue is more than $3.2 million worth of needed intersection improvements. The work involves installing new asphalt, curbs, vehicle detection systems and mast arms to hold traffic signals. The contract called for the work to be finished in February 2022 for Clint Moore and Jog, November 2022 for Hypoluxo and Jog and December 2022 for Gateway and Military.

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: New legal issue causes more delays at Palm Beach County intersections