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Home My Public Portal About140_010_Clk_mccorkle : f 1 ;/ E MCCORKLE: JOHNSON, LLP p []I Attorneys At Law 319 Tatmall Street•Savannah,Georgia 31401 Phone:(912) 232-6000•Fax: (912) 232-7060 prm@mecorldejohnson.com April 22, 2013 VIA CERTIFIED MAIL AND HAND DELIVERY City of Tybee Island Mayor and City Council Members Post Office Box 2749 City of Tybee Island 403 Butler Avenue Post Office Box 2749 Tybee Island, Georgia 31328 403 Butler Avenue Tybee Island, Georgia 31328 Planning and Zoning Department Attn: Diane Otto City of Tybee Island Post Office Box 2749 403 Butler Avenue Tybee Island, Georgia 31328 Re: #1 18th Place, Tybee Island, Georgia To Whom it May Concern: ANTE LITEM NOTICE This firm represents Yawn Land Surveys, LLC and Dale Yawn (collectively "Yawn"). Please consider this letter our ante litem notice pursuant to O.C.G.A. 36-33-5. Yawn performed a topographic survey of the property referenced above in April, 2006 and December, 2010. The survey performed in December, 2010 showed the base flood elevation at 16.0 and was sent to the owner, Tracy Young's, architect. At this point, Yawn had no other involvement in the construction of the project. Sometime thereafter, the building was designed using a FEMA Base Flood Elevation of 16.0 feet, construction plans were reviewed and approved by the City of Tybee Island and building permits were issued. Greg Hall of Greg Hall Homes was the general contractor and began construction on the building. On February 13, 2013, Brewer Land Surveying issued a Finish Floor Elevation Certificate marked "under construction" that identified the Base Flood Elevation as 17.0. This Certificate prompted the City of Tybee Island to review the Base Flood Elevation, and the City determined PHILLIP R. MCCORKLE• DAVID H.JOHNSON•MATHEW M. MCCOY (GA&SC) •ROBERT L. MCCORKLE, III (GA&SC) CATHERINE M. PALUMBO (GA&SC) • COLBY E. LONGLEY(GA&SC) WWW.MCCORKLEJOHNSON.COM that the Base Flood Elevation for the property is 17.0. This is in compliance with the FEMA elevation requirement for this zone, but is allegedly not in compliance with the City of Tybee Ordinance as found in Appendix A, Article 8, Section 8-230(2), which states that the bottom of the lowest structural member of the building must be one foot higher than the FEMA Base Flood Elevation. Pursuant to City of Tybee Ordinance §8-160(2): (2) Construction stage. For all new construction and substantial improvements, the permit holder shall provide to the Building and Zoning Department Tybee Island, Georgia an as-built certification of the regulatory floor elevation or flood-proofing level immediately after the lowest floor or flood proofing is completed. Where a structure is subject to the provisions applicable to coastal high hazards areas, after placement of the lowest horizontal structural members. Any regulatory floor certification made relative to mean sea level shall be prepared by or under the direct supervision of a registered land surveyor or professional engineer and certified by same. When flood proofing is utilized for non-residential structures, said certification shall be prepared by or under the direct supervision of a professional engineer or architect and certified by same. Any work undertaken prior to submission of these certifications shall be at the permit holder's risk. The city building and zoning department shall review the above referenced certification data submitted. Deficiencies detected by such review shall be corrected by the permit holder immediately and prior to further progressive work being allowed to proceed. Failure to submit certification or failure to make said corrections required hereby, shall be cause to issue a stop-work order for the project. §8-170(1) states that "Duties of the Building and Zoning Department Tybee Island, Georgia shall include, but shall not be limited to: (1) Review all development permits to assure that the permit requirements of this article have been satisfied." MCCORKLE JOHNSON,LLP The owner has made a claim against Yawn as surveyor, although suit has not yet been filed. After reviewing the file and the applicable ordinances, it is clear that there was also negligence on the part of the City of Tybee Island. The permit holder failed to submit the as-built certification of the floor elevation immediately after the lowest floor or horizontal structural member was completed. Diane Otto and The Building and Zoning Department (a/k/a Planning and Zoning Department) failed to require that the certification be submitted and therefore, it was never reviewed and the alleged deficiencies were never detected before construction continued. Ms. Otto and the Building and Zoning Department failed to assure that the permit requirements of the Zoning Ordinance were satisfied. Ms. Otto and The Building and Zoning Department were negligent in failing to perform this ministerial duty. Upon information and belief, the first horizontal beam was installed in early October, 2012. As a result of the City's negligence, the deficiency was not discovered until February, 2013. Had Ms. Otto and the Building and Zoning Department adhered to the requirements of the Ordinance the construction would have been halted, the structure would not have been completed, and damages would have been significantly mitigated. According to Greg Hall, the building must be elevated twelve inches at a cost of approximately $230,000. This is a preliminary estimate of damages. I have attached the report of RWP Engineering which recommends that the building be raised. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §36-33-5(c), the governing authority must consider and act upon this claim within thirty (30) days from this notice. We look forward to hearing from you. In the event that suit is filed against our client, we may assert claims against the City of Tybee Island and/or Diane Otto by way of cross-claim or third party complaint. Sincerely, Phillip R. McCorkle Enclosures cc: Yawn Land Surveys, LLC Edward M. Hughes • Q:\DATA\WPDATA\7000\7059-01 Ante Litem Notice.docx MCCORKLE JOHNSON,LLP 10E) RWP ENGINEERING Frank A.Martin,P.E. Vice President March 19,2013 Mr.Rick Wissmach,AIA Richard Wissmach Architect 543 McAllister Landing Richmond Hill,GA 31324 Via Email • rissmach@wissmacharchitects.com Re: Structural Narrative—Young Residence Relocation -RWP Proposal Number 11RWO1R01 Dear Mr. Wissmach: As you requested, RWP Engineering has completed a structural narrative for the purpose of investigating the possibility of modifying the elevation of the Young Residence located on Tybee Island, GA. The purpose of this narrative is to provide a general outline of the structural work that will likely be required to elevate the existing house 12 inches. This report does not address the modifications that will be required for any electrical, plumbing, mechanical or architectural trades as a result of elevating the house. This report is a statement of professional opinion based on the information available to us during our investigation and was formed by the judgment of the design professional from the knowledge of available facts and other indentified information. This is not intended to be a design document nor is it intended to detail all tasks that will be required to elevate the house. It is intended to describe in general the steps we believe will be required. Observations: The first floor structure of the house is currently supported on concrete piers (see photo #2). The floor framing consists of steel beams, wood beams and wood trusses. The remaining portion of the home is conventional wood stick framing. The structural framing of the house appears to be almost complete at this time. 31 West Congress Street,Suite 305 Savannah, Georgia 31401 Phone(912)231-9212 Fax(912)231-9220 e-mail frank.martin@rwpeng.com Mr. Rick Wissmach, AlA Page 2 of 3 Pages March 19,2013 A professional house mover should be hired to lift the house from its current position and place it upon a modified concrete pier foundation. Shown below is a series or steps to be taken. 1. Remove or disengage the existing bolted and welded connections between the 1St elevated floor framing and the concrete piers. 2. Remove the two existing fireplaces and chimneys. Demolish the top 4 ft. of the existing two concrete piers supporting the fireplaces. This will be required for adequate lap splice of the reinforcement bars in the modified piers. 3. Place a grid of temporary structural steel support beams below the existing framing of the 1 S` elevated floor of the house. Use this grid of steel beams to lift the house in a uniform manner with the use of hydraulic jacks. The house should be elevated approximately 30" from its current position. 4. Use temporary timber piers to support the house in the elevated position. The existing 4" concrete slab on grade will likely need to be removed in the locations where the temporary timber pier supports are located. The base of the timber pier will likely need to be located three feet or more below the top of the existing slab on grade. 5. Extend the top of the existing concrete piers to the new elevation. Demolish the existing embed plates at the current top of piers. Core drill and epoxy new steel reinforcement bars into the top of the concrete piers. Install concrete form boards on the sides of the concrete piers. Pour new concrete onto the top of the existing piers. Add steel embed plates and uplift straps at the top of the new pier elevation prior to the new concrete pour. 6. Remove the concrete form boards around the concrete piers. Sack rub the joint between the old and new concrete in an effort to disguise the appearance of the pier modification. 7. Lower the house onto the top of the new top of concrete pier after the new concrete has cured for 28 days or until the strength of the concrete has reached 4000 psi. 8. Connect all steel uplift straps, bolts and weld plates to the floor framing of the house. 9. Remove the temporary structural steel support beams and temporary timber piers from the site. 10. Rebuild the two fireplaces and chimneys. Install new roof flashing around chimneys. 11. Repair the slab on grade as needed where the temporary timber piers were located. 12. Modify the stair framing between the ground floor and the first elevated floor to account for the change in elevation of the house. 13. Cracks in the stucco of the exterior walls may likely occur as a result of the house move. Repair these cracks in the stucco if they occur. Mr.Rick Wissmach, AIA Page 3 of 3 Pages March 19,2013 Thank you for the opportunity to be of service. If you have any questions about this report please contact us. Sincerely, Frank A. Martin, P.E. ATTACHMENT Photo 1: Exterior View i z v '. S 1I3? ,i # R 5�, ..,„r � v ,t e...+ate; { 4 $ '1 ,4 t si, ..s,iQ.ea4�l Y�&P'f"�'�. s.�v' �i 4 .__..�_ ,fib �>M,, a x ,w .. `z, sue''. 14414K Photo 2: Interior View at Ground Level„,,,,,,,.,,:,,„...,..7; ---7:-.,:i.:,..,,,i±::::,,..":,,„,,,,,,,,,,7,,,,,,, - A r x ; 4°'EiAtid, .,•�`. e...r;.N,°` , .mew 3'£^ fPNk 1 } 3 �ci NH:w'ara'ne+x+�„.y' • 5. r2 41- :, rt tat' 4 t ; d.1 �t 1+: