There were weather delays and mechanical delays during the big renourishment project on Fort Myers Beach. Because Ahtna Marine & Construction did not finish the project on time the Town Council is withholding the final payment to Ahtna which is over $800,000.
Representatives from Ahtna did not even show up to the Town Council meeting Monday to state their case and fight for their money. In a letter to the Town Council Ahtna also claims they lost over $4 million on the project.
Ahtna was the lower of three bids for the project which had a budget of $22 million. Ahtna came in at $21.7 million while Callen Marine came in at $37.2 million and Weeks Marine submitted a bid of $38.8 million. Callen actually considered filing a protest over Ahtna being awarded the bid, because they claimed “Ahtna Marine does not possess the available dredge(s) or other equipment to safely perform the project.” Nobody got hurt during the project but machinery malfunctions certainly added to delaying its completion. There was also Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton to contend with.
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council had a contractual option to withhold over $800,000 from their final payment to Ahtna because the project took 6 months longer to complete than what the company agreed to when they signed the $22 million deal back in the Summer of 2024.
The contract with Ahtna had a provision that allowed the town to withhold $3,570 per day for every day the project was not completed on time. At 192 days late that totals $685,440. That amount is called liquidated damages. There was another $148,590 in actual damages to the town for additional construction management and observation, shorebird monitoring, and surveys. The total the Town Council will consider withholding from their final payment to Ahtna is $834,030.
In the end, between the dredging project and truck haul projects, 1.17 million cubic yards of new sand was added to Fort Myers Beach.
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Withhold the money and nobody in the future will come close to their proposed budget. Sometimes you have to look at the situations and decide if the fact was negligent or just plain bad luck. Seems the health with unforeseen issues.
As a local resident, it is my opinion that Ahtna Marine did a great job and earned the money and was handed a series of severe weather- and nature- related challenges and messes to clean up here. They deserve to be paid what they have earned.