Charlotte County, Fla., settled a lawsuit over fleet damage of the pavement and exterior siding in a leased fleet facility, awarding Denjer Enterprises Inc. $100,000. Denjer had asked for more than $150,000.

Charlotte County Fleet Management leased a fleet building from Denjer after the County’s fleet building was destroyed in Hurricane Charley in 2004. Fleet Management chose not to renew the contract for another year, since it bought a new building to house Fleet Management. In September 2012, Denjer served a letter to a County representative that itemized damages to the building totaling $152,350. The largest claim was for $76,500 to replace the concrete in the front parking lot and driveway.

According to a document submitted to the Charlotte County Board of Commissioners, “Denjer claimed that the ongoing operations by Fleet Management damaged the concrete to the extent that it needed to be totally replaced.” A County-hired engineer deemed that damage to the concrete was the result of “the pavement not being thick enough to support the traffic using the facility.” The engineer stated that while the concrete was suitable for automobile and light truck traffic, it was subject to heavy vehicle loads on a daily basis.

Denjer also alleged that County vehicles truck the exterior siding of the building, resulting in a need to replace the metal siding. The County inspected the siding and agreed to pay for it.

“In both cases of the concrete and the siding, Charlotte County determined that Denjer’s estimates were reasonable and not out of line with the market,” the document stated.

The settlement is funded by the County’s Self Insurance fund.

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