Commissioners demand Port Operator repair damaged warehouses and other facilities

Twisted and bent port warehouse door

Exasperated Port Authority commissioners are demanding repairs be made to extensively damaged warehouse buildings and other Port of Fernandina facilities. Ocean Highway and Port Authority (OHPA) officials are compiling a list of the damage and will seek to hold the port operator Relay Terminals accountable for fixing the structures.

“We hear a lot about a good faith agreement and working with partners. At what point does a good faith effort on one side, that doesn’t seem reciprocated, mean the good faith agreement is effectively not in play?” said Commissioner Scott Moore at last week's OHPA meeting. "When we have this history of things we have asked for, things we have tried to get done with the port operator, things that we’ve tried to take a look at, that have been stonewalled and side-stepped for going back a number of years.”

Vice Chairman Ray Nelson has compiled a photo array of the damage to the massive cinder block and sheet metal warehouses on Front and 2nd Streets. Nelson, the former port facilities manager, has been at odds with the port operator for months over damaged buildings and equipment that he has determined are unsafe for port workers.

The photographs show twisted and bent sheet metal siding, holes in cinder block walls, and damaged entry doors that were caused by cargo transport vehicles.

Port Attorney Tammi Bach told port commissioners if Relay Terminals fails to make the necessary repairs, OHPA could hold the company in breach of its operating agreement with the agency.

Nelson said he had held meetings with Relay Terminals General Manager Travis Zittrauer about the damage.

“I’ve had some meetings with Travis and there are some disturbing things down there that still have not been rectified,” Nelson told fellow commissioners. “I want to give the operator a face-to-face opportunity to fix it. I asked for a very simple thing to be taken care of, which is a safety issue, and going by there, it’s still not been done. We’re not talking about a lot of money and we’re not talking about a lot of material, but it’s not done. I can go buy the material and fix it in 20 minutes. The repairs may save somebody from getting run over.”

Officials with Relay Terminals were not at the OHPA meeting.

In preparation for their meeting on June 25, commissioners are compiling a list of issues that have been unresolved by Relay Terminals.

Port warehouses on 2nd Street

"The operating agreement says you’re responsible for maintenance. This looks like junk or this hasn’t been fixed. Relay Terminals is not responding, so we are just talking in circles, so I think that we have to have some type of a list," Bach told commissioners. "For example, if you were to say, ‘This at the warehouse is broken and I have now been out there three times, and the first time was on this date, the second time was on that date, and the third time was on this date, and I spoke to the foreman and he said it would be fixed by the next week. Here we are two months later, and it's not fixed.’”

Nelson cited an incident of what he called "a runaway" piece of equipment that was endangering port workers.

"So, my whole point is, I would rather you tell me you're not going to do it and let me draw the line in the sand and approach it that way rather than tell me you're going to fix it. And I pass that word down and then another commissioner goes out there and it's not fixed," Nelson said. "I ask for a very simple thing to be taken care of, which is a safety issue. And going by there, it still hasn't been done... when you've got forklifts knocking down cinder block walls, that's not wear and tear. That's just carelessness, and they need to fix it or at some point in time, we're going to end up with a port facility that is beyond repair."