Port settles of portion of $1.05M judgement

PORT MANATEE -- A stevedoring and warehousing company that allegedly skipped out on lease payments to Port Manatee and property damage totaling more than $1 million is getting off the hook for about a third of that amount.

On Thursday, the Manatee County Port Commission voted to settle with Liberty Terminals for $370,000, even though the port won a $1.05 million judgment against the company in September.

In the lawsuit, Liberty, a South Carolina-based terminal, stevedoring and warehouse operator, was accused of breaching an early termination agreement under which it had agreed to pay the port $367,739 if it ended its lease early. A tenant in the port's No. 2 warehouse since 2008, Liberty left the port in 2012. Port Executive Director Carlos Buqueras said the company paid $130,000 toward fulfilling the agreement, but stopped sending checks in 2013.

The port also accused Liberty of causing $691,000 in structural damage to the warehouse's support columns and a deck outside the building.

Port Manatee filed suit against Liberty in the 12th Circuit District Court in June. The court ruled in the port's favor Sept. 31.

The settlement seemed to sit well with commissioners, who unanimously approved the legal measure. Under the agreement, Liberty will pay the port $100,000 by the end of 2014, then will make monthly payments of $15,000 for a year and a half.

The port's legal fees for the suit and settlement were $6,000. Buqueras said the small legal expense, the fact the port recovered money even after Manatee County wrote off the amount owed as a bad debt, made the reduced amount a welcome windfall.

"The return on investment was very, very favorable," Buqueras said.

The decision to settle was not universally welcomed, Glen Gibellina, a Bradenton resident who regularly at

tends port meetings, told the commissioners they had chosen to short-change the public by accepting less than the cost to repair structural damage in Warehouse No. 2.

"We got a building that was destroyed due to almost $700,000 worth of damage," he said. "(the) $370,000 is unacceptable. It's a bad deal for the citizens."

The port's legal representative, Jennifer Cowan of the Bradenton law firm Lewis, Longman & Walker, responded to Gibellina's criticism, saying the cost to collect on the full judgement would have eaten up much of the additional money. In order to get paid, she said, the port would likely have to hire a South Carolina law firm to seek out Liberty's assets, then compel the company to pay. That, she said, would be an expensive and lengthy process. "This was a way to start receiving money immediately," Cowan said.

The port has not yet finished repairing the warehouse. Dave Sanford, port deputy executive director, said the port has demolished a damaged truck dock and replaced metal exterior panels. However, it still must partially replace several metal support columns.

The port received a $176,000 insurance settlement in 2011 to repair the damage. The warehouse will not be leased until all repair work is complete.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published December 19, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Port settles of portion of $1.05M judgement ."