The owner of the historic Chalks Airlines says the company hired to build a tunnel from the MacArthur Causeway to the Port of Miami is trespassing on his property on Watson Island.
A seaplane base that has operated on Watson Island for 85 years is complaining that the multinational company that will bore the $1 billion tunnel to the Port of Miami is trespassing on its 2.4-acre property.
“They use our road every day to move equipment or to get to their offices, and sometimes they even store equipment within our property, without authorization,” said Jim Confalone, president of Chalks Airline, which operates the storied seaplane base.
Chalks’ complaint is the latest controversy to rock the tunnel project, which recently sparked alarm among county commissioners when Miami Access Tunnel (MAT), the project’s concessionaire, requested additional money from a reserve fund to cover the costs of reinforcing the subsoil before boring begins in October.
Watson Island is MAT’s principal staging area for tunnel construction. As a result, the firm has collected equipment and material on the island, particularly in the median of the MacArthur Causeway.
The southbound tunnel leg to the port will be bored first beneath Government Cut, followed by the northbound leg. It is expected to take one year. The tunnel is expected to open in May 2014.
During an interview, Confalone said equipment on a grassy knoll across from his office belonged to tunnel work crews.
Chris Hodgkins, MAT vice president, said: “We are working closely with the city of Miami, and with their permission, as they own the property.”
Cristina Fernández, public information coordinator for Miami, relayed a comment from Tim Schmand, director of the Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority, which subleases the property to Chalks.
“About your inquiry reference tunnel equipment parked in seaplane company’s leased property, [Schmand]responded that the city disagrees with Mr. Confalone’s statements, but this being in litigation no further comments can be provided at this time,” Fernández wrote in an email to El Nuevo Herald.
Confalone sued the city and MSEA in 2007 because, he said, they “refused’’ to let his company build a new seaplane terminal that would feature a restaurant, gift shop and lounge. That lawsuit is pending in state court. Confalone says he delivers rent checks for $2,500 plus sales tax every month.
Confalone said that in October, when he first complained about MAT equipment and personnel entering his property, the city advised him that he was “wrongfully reading the survey’’ that outlines the property and accused him of interfering with Florida Department of Transportation operations. FDOT signed an agreement with MAT in 2009 to proceed with the tunnel project.
Confalone said he read the survey correctly.
“They need to take a remedial course on survey reading,” he said, referring to city officials.
The seaplane base on Watson Island was started by Arthur Burns Chalk in 1926.
A succession of owners operated the service after Chalk sold it to a friend. Owners have included the late talk show host Merv Griffin and business tycoon Donald Trump.
Confalone, a former Eastern Airlines pilot, took over the airline in 1999, buying it out bankruptcy.
The crash of a seaplane in 2005 that killed 20 people halted seaplane commercial airline service, but Chalk’s International continued operating with land-based flights until Confalone sold the company to the general manager in 2007.
A separate company, Chalks Airline, which Confalone heads as president, continues to operate the terminal airport where private seaplanes arrive and depart.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com
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