Court finds Longboat immune from Longboat Pass lawsuit

 Longboat Key will not be held culpable in a lawsuit seeking almost $1 million in damages for harm caused four years ago to the Longboat Pass bridge.

The decision made March 27 by the 12th Judicial Circuit Court found the town immune from a lawsuit filed in 2016 by Tennessee-based infrastructure firm Infrastructure Corporation of America against Longboat Key, its contractors and subcontractors connected to work to replace a water pipe under the bridge.

Spectrum Underground, a Sarasota-based company that subcontracted T B Landmark Construction to perform the work, had been contracted by the town in 2014 to replace 2,500 feet of pipe that routed drinking water from Manatee County to Longboat Key.

While drilling under the bridge, T B Landmark Construction destabilized sand that “resulted in the bridge moving,” according to the complaint filed almost two years ago. This shift cost ICA, which had been contracted by the Florida Department of Transportation to maintain the infrastructure, $750,000.

ICA contends the town and its contractors undertook “Abnormally Dangerous Activity,” according to the complaint, when it sought to bore a hole under the bridge — activity that shifted the drawbridge more than an inch from the roadway.

But the town, as a municipality, has been ruled immune from damages. The court found that since the town “did not actually control or substantially participate in the work,” it is not liable for damages caused to ICA, the summary judgment reads.

“This is a great determination in the town’s favor,” said Town Attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale to the Town Commission at its March 28 regular workshop meeting.