LTC 288-2025 Litigation Success in Recovering $525,000 from Private Contractor who Damaged City Sewer SiphonMIAMI BEACH
OFF ICE O F THE CITY ATTORNEY
L TC No . _______ _
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
Mayor Steven Meiner and Members of the City Commission
Ricardo J. Dopico, City Attorney ®
DATE: July 14, 2025
SUBJECT: Litigation Success in Recovering $525,000 from Private Contractor who
Damaged City Sewer Siphon
This letter is to advise you of the City's litigation success in obtaining a favorable
settlement in the case of City of Miami Beach v. Contour Marine, Inc., Case No. 2024-
02171 0-CA-01 (Fla. 11th Cir. Ct.) (the "Lawsuit"). This settlement resulted in the City
recovering $525,000 in repair costs it expended because of a private contractor's damage
to the City's sewer siphon in 2022.
As alleged in the Lawsuit, the private contractor (Contour Marine) was hired by a private
property owner on one of the Sunset Islands to construct a seawall along the private
property line. On or about November 23, 2022, Contour Marine was performing
construction work when it struck and damaged one of the City's underwater sewer
siphons, causing raw sewage to flow from the damaged siphon into the surrounding
Biscayne Bay. The City was forced to undertake emergency repairs and clean-up work,
at significant expense.
The City Attorney's Office joined the Public Works Department and the Human Resources
Department's Risk Management Division in good-faith efforts to recover costs from
Contour Marine without resorting to litigation. Unfortunately, Contour Marine declined to
reasonably resolve the matter pre-suit.
The City Attorney's Office therefore filed the Lawsuit against Contour Marine. In the
Lawsuit, Contour Marine raised 14 affirmative defenses, including the Slavin doctrine,
statutory warranty limitations, failure to mitigate damages, Building Code-related
defenses, causation, and more. The City aggressively challenged these grounds-forcing
Contour Marine to abandon six of the 14 defenses-and served requests for production,
interrogatories, and numerous requests for admissions.
The City then extended a $525,000 proposal for settlement. If Contour Marine had not
accepted the proposal, it could have been liable for reasonable attorneys' fees, costs,
288-2025
and interest, as well as monetary damages. However, Contour Marine accepted the
proposal and promptly paid the $525,000 settlement.
The City 's case was litigated entirely in-house by Deputy City Attorney Henry J. Hunnefeld
and First Assistant City Attorney Freddi Mack, with support from the Public Works
Department and the Human Resources Department 's Risk Management Division.
As always, please feel free to contact me or Rob Rosenwald for further information about
this or any City litigation matter.
RJD/FM/ag