HomeMy Public PortalAboutProposed Affidavit of Danny BrannonIN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE
15TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NO.: 2015CA001498 AI
MARTIN O’BOYLE,
Plaintiff,
v.
TOWN OF GULF STREAM,
Defendant.
_______________________________________/
AFFIDAVIT OF DANNY BRANNON
STATE OF FLORIDA )
)ss:
COUNTY OF PALM BEACH )
BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared, DANNY BRANNON, who
having taken an oath, deposes and states as follows:
1.I, DANNY BRANNON, am over eighteen years of age and make the following
statements based upon my personal knowledge.
2.I am a registered professional engineer and a director at Brannon and Gillespie, LLC.
3.In April 2011, the Town hired Brannon and Gillespie, LLC, as its engineering
consultant to oversee its project to place all utilities lines within the Town underground, including
all power, cable television, and telephone lines. (“Undergrounding Project”).
4.While the Town utilized its own contractors to complete the Undergrounding Project,
all plans had to be reviewed and approved by the relevant utility company such as Florida Power &
Light (“FPL”).
5.While the Town would pay for and construct the infrastructure associated with the
Undergrounding Project, ownership and maintenance of the infrastructure would then be transferred
to the relevant utility company upon completion.
6.In early 2016, work on the Undergrounding Project was approaching the Hidden
Harbour Estates subdivision.
7.A true and accurate copy of the plat for Hidden Harbour Estates is attached hereto as
Exhibit A (hereinafter, “Plat”).
8.The Plat includes a “utility easement” which is “for the construction and maintenance
of public utility and drainage systems, including the right to construct and maintain underground
transmission lines in, under, and across said private road as long as it remains private property”
(“Easement”). Ex. A.
9.I understand that the Plaintiff, MARTIN O’BOYLE, is the owner of a home in the
Hidden Harbour Estates subdivision described as Lot 5 and located at 23 North Hidden Harbour
Drive (“Property”).
10.Per the plans, the Town intended to install underground FPL cables within the
Easement running along the northern property line of the Property and following North Hidden
Horbour Drive as indicated on the Plat.
11.To underground FPL cables, three plastic conduits two inches in diameter were
installed at a depth of approximately 5.5 feet (“Conduits”).
12.The Conduits were located three feet south of northern boundary line of the Property
and within the Easement.
13.The Conduits were installed using directional boring, which is a minimal impact
trenchless method of installing underground pipe, conduit, or cables along a prescribed underground
bore path by using a surface-launched drilling rig.
14.The FPL cables would be then be installed within the Conduits.
15.Upon completion of the Undergrounding Project along North Hidden Harbour Drive,
the FPL cables would have connected to a transformer located at the west-end of the street and would
have provided loop service to the homes long North Hidden Harbour Drive including the Plaintiff’s
home at the Property.
16.Loop services provides for faster restoration of power in the event of a cable failure.
17.Another set of FPL cables are already buried within the Easement on the Property.
Installation of two different sets of FPL cables in the same area allows for the loop service.
18.In March 2016, I learned that the Plaintiff was objecting to the placement of the FPL
cables on his Property.
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19.After the request and because another easement existed immediately to the north of
the Property, it was decided that the FPL cables would be installed in an easement outside of the
Plaintiff’s Property that bordered North Ocean Boulevard.
20.No FPL cables were ultimately installed within the Easement on the Plaintiff’s
Property.
21.An attempt was made to remove the Conduits on the Property by pulling them back
out along the bore path, but only a section of them were removed.
22.I never told the Plaintiff or anyone else that I believed the Town did not have the right
to install underground utility lines within the Easement.
FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.
_____________________________
DANNY BRANNON
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on this day, before me, an Officer duly authorized in the State
aforesaid and in the County aforesaid to take acknowledgments, personally appeared DANNY
BRANNON, to me known to be the person described and who, after being duly sworn, deposed and
made the foregoing statements under penalty of perjury. DANNY BRANNON executed the
foregoing instrument and acknowledged before me that he executed the same.
SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED before me this ___ day of February, 2019, at _________,
____________County, Florida.
Affiant is personally known to me
Produced I.D.
Notary Public
My Commission Expires:
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