Letter to the Editor
Of all misconstrued statements in Andrew Sherry’s online Biscayne Times opinion piece, “Palm Bay Condominium Not in the Same Boat With its Neighbor,” what is most unconscionable is the vile attempt to smear the reputation of one this country’s most prestigious engineers, Mr. Charles Culpepper.
Licensed in 20 states and three countries, Culpepper is the only engineer in Florida certified in civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing, and who also was part of the team that designed the Saturn V rocket that carried astronauts to the moon.
How low can the Palm Bay Condominium (PBC) board sink to smear Culpepper’s impeccable personal and stellar professional reputation over an unrelated issue when one of his credit cards was misused by a friend in 2006. Shame on the lowlife attitude to denigrate greatness.
But that is what they do in PBC when anyone dares to call them up on their wrongdoings – smear and destroy. Especially when Culpepper is the same engineer who called out PBC sea wall structural assessment and expenditure an overkill, and the Tower’s recent structural repairs specifications scope an inflated and unnecessary $15 million waste that should cost a maximum of $3 million in an otherwise strong and sound structure.
Sherry’s attempt to also tarnish the reputation of a Biscayne Times reporter should not have happened. I apologize on behalf of many grateful owners at our community for your balanced reporting.
Oftentimes, decent people like Sherry – a relative newcomer to the building –are drawn in as a pleasant voice for public relations purposes. The PBC board of directors has been fully and completely controlled by just three individuals since 2018: Stephen Bromley, Bob Ross and Anne Robertson.
Owners have struggled to obtain more influence on the board since 2020, many of whom have sold their units to get away from the toxic, imploding environment. Our once magnificent Palm Bay community is being destroyed by its boards. They have ruled unchecked, until now, when your articles have come out and legal cases around assessments are finally being brought to light.
Numbers are clearer than words: Maintenance fees have increased under the same PBC board members 106% in just five years. An increase of 28% or more is expected in 2024. The PBC board blames increases on rising insurance costs due to the Champlain Towers collapse, loss of marina income (the fault of Palm Bay Towers, in their view) and legal fees due to our lawsuit. Blaming others is an unacceptable excuse for poor performance.
An open-ended contract for approximately $3.4 million, 75% of which is for nonstructural and nonessential work, was entered into without community approval.
Contrary to statements made by Sherry that PBC as a minority partner in the marina and did not control the events leading to the marina condemnation, he ignores as a new owner that our covenant with Palm Bay Towers requires a 51% majority vote from each building to approve or disapprove any major motion relating to our common property.
Prior to 2019, even a total of 51% owner votes between both buildings were enough to pass any motion regarding our common grounds and the marina. Even though PBC owns a third of the marina and common grounds, the rights to vote are equal for any significant change affecting the whole property.
Both boards made the misguided decision in 2016 to not approve the marina repair budget without consulting with the owners on their own. Both boards are equally at fault.
When Sherry dishonestly insinuates that the monetary demand of the group of owners’ lawsuit against both boards is comparable to the upcoming assessments, he fails to acknowledge that this is our only remaining recourse to protect owners’ rights over the unconscionable destruction of our property value, grossly inflated expenses, out of control assessments and costs increase, diminishing of services, property deterioration and tyrannical management styles exerted by both the Palm Bay Towers and Palm Bay Condominium boards over our once thriving properties with a healthy, money-generating marina.
Many of us are left to wonder if there is a plan afoot to purposefully bring the community to its knees with devalued prices and impossible high maintenance charges to force fire sales, so developers hiding in the shadows can swoop in. There are still many unknowns.
The intent of our lawsuit is to bring light into the shadows and, hopefully, get the involvement of the Miami-Dade State Attorney in hopes that the slow-moving wheels of justice can bring this intentional or neglectful behavior to a grinding stop.
Thankfully, new legislation is being discussed in Tallahassee that could finally hold association board members accountable. There is hope.
We truly appreciate the Biscayne Times for bringing sunshine into this obscure corner of condominium life.
Annabella Bucheli
Palm Bay Condominium Resident