Historic Train Depot Gets Code Enforcement Deadline

The embattled owner of the historic Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot in Everglades City was given a December 15 deadline in a November 21 code enforcement hearing to present an engineered plan to correct defects to the 1928 former train depot that has fallen on hard times. But there is good news for Depot owner Bill Odrey, however, who was assured that demolition is not being threatened.

“In 2019, we wanted them to mitigate its violations and get them open and running,” said Mike Cruz, a captain with the Greater Naples Fire Department at Everglades City Hall Tuesday night. "And that plan failed. So I came back with my latest report asking for assistance from the code enforcement and the building department to help us mitigate this and get the ball rolling again and get this building up and running.”

Odrey repeatedly referred to a Declaration of Dangerous Building letter, dated August 18, from Collier County chief building official Fred Clum to Everglades code enforcement officer Terry Smallwood that threatened demolition. For his part, Clum denies that such a letter exists.

"The county has never issued a document that informed the owner to tear this building down,” Clum asserted. "If it has, show it to me because I've never signed one.”

Odrey couldn’t produce the letter at the meeting, but the letter does indeed exist and mentions demolition. After detailing defects found during a field inspection, Clum's letter states that “immediate repairs up to and including demolition of the structure are required.”

In its current state, Cruz said the fire department will not respond to a fire at the structure because of safety concerns.

"There are life safety violations,” Cruz said, "but nothing that warrants a demolition.”

“Right now, heaven forbid the building were to catch on fire, would it just burn to the ground?" asked code enforcement board member Tim Moshier.

“Correct,” Cruz said, “violations need to be corrected.”

“There might be a misconception that there was a determination to demo the building,” Clum said, "and that's not the case. There are dangerous conditions that can be remedied. That’s up to the owner and code enforcement to make that decision to bring this up to speed. Make it safe for people to go in. That would require the owner to obtain the services of a registered architect or an engineer and submit those drawings and an application to the county. Once the permit is applied for the county has 45 days to approve or reject it."

Odrey feels like he’s ahead of the curve, having enlisted an engineer’s help. He feels confident of the building’s stability.

 "I already had an engineer come by,” Odrey said, "because a county official stated that my building was going to collapse. My building is the crown jewel of Everglades City, the train depot. I do not own the docks that are falling down behind. I do not own the sidewalk that’s collapsing behind the building. I do not own the electrical conduit and exposed wires next to the fuel tank. I have the building. The building was built structurally by concrete form, which means that when they built the building, they built a form. They put rebar in and poured the building. First, they built the pier concrete 15' down. Then they poured the floor. They poured the walls for the initial structure all the way to the tip top of the building, where the ceiling, walls, and floor of the conductor's tower are reinforced concrete. You can see the rebar. Then, they built the other structure around it. Then they built a thing called Roman arches. So if you check history out, it's an arch. And what the arch does, it supports everything. And that's where my windows are set. My windows are set in the arch.

“When you say that building needs demolished, it's like, you've got to be kidding me. That building is the only building in Everglades City that hosted the National Guard during the hurricanes, that helped save the city. We had water there for the troops. We had electricity for the troops. And they used my place to help the city. And during this time of duress, we're kind of being implicated for, like, a dangerous building. In 2019, Terry Smallwood and the other building officials wouldn't work with me and they made me stop fixing the place on a piece-by-piece basis. It's not like the whole thing is bad. It's piece by piece, and that's all I'm trying to do. But when you have a city that doesn't cooperate, when you have some people in the county that don't want to cooperate, you have nobody from the historic society, apparently that cares, it looks really bad for me. I care about it and I'm going to save it despite anybody. I feel like I'm being penalized. I'm going to be here forever. I'm not leaving and the building is being fixed up.”

Code enforcement board members want to make sure the Depot is fixed in an expedient manner.

“We're at the point now where the county is not saying tear it down,” said code enforcement board member Geoff Swets. “What’s your plan from here?”

“Fix it up,” Odrey said flatly.

Clum stressed that the building needs to be fixed according to code.

 "Everglades City code has to chime in with this and make a ruling here,” Clum said. "I can't approve anything without documents. The engineer's report I just got seems to substantiate the inspector's report that no one said it's not structurally sound.”

Moshier wants to see immediate action.

 “Everyone else in this town has gone through two hurricanes in the last seven years,” Moshier said. "Everyone else is pretty much fixed up or their house has been demolished because of the damage from the hurricanes. This is where we're at. I mean, I think we need some action to be taken care of."

"I have a plan to fix the roof first,” Odrey said. 

"The whole roof,” interjected code enforcement officer Terry Smallwood from his seat in the front row of the gallery. “Every part that needs fixed. The whole roof needs to be fixed. It ain't gonna be a patch job." 

“That's your opinion,” Odrey shot back. "And that's what the problem is. That's what the problem is right now. What he just said."

"So it would be my understanding,” Swets said. "that if you had an engineer present something that this section of the roof is repaired, the entire roof would be safe as long as there's an engineer's drawing that says that. Is that correct, sir?"

"As long as there's engineer documents that address the level of repair,” Clum replied, "then it would be considered.”

"The county would review it and make a determination on the building side of it, whether or not to issue the permit?” Swets asked. 

“Correct,” Clum said. "And this engineering firm that you presented is willing to do that for you?"

“Yes, they are,” Odrey said.

"How long is that going to take?” Moshier pressed.

"We have to have engineered plans,” Clum said. "It's a commercial structure. We’ll need stamped engineered plans for what you're going to do. You've actually lost occupancy on that building. You couldn't open a restaurant or anything else in there until the entire building's brought up to code. I'm talking about down the road. All that needs to be stamped and designed and approved by an engineer."

"So does this need to be done as one big project, or can he get one permit at a time for roof and then come in and do the plumbing and come in and get one for electrical?” Swets asked.

"No, it doesn’t need to be one big project,” Clum said. “Based on what the plan is, at the very end you would be granted a certificate of occupancy based on your client or your leasing.

Swets then addressed Odrey.

"You understand the requirements that you're going to have to meet by the building department or by your county?” Swets asked. "They're going to need engineered drawings, a plan from an engineer that says, by doing this, it meets the South Florida building code or whatever the official title of it is. You understand that's what you're going to need to do, not just the roof. This is obviously going to continue to the next meeting, probably several more meetings afterwards as we watch the progress until the items for those two gentlemen (Cruz and Clum) have been addressed. We'll go till December 15 because I believe December 19 is our next meeting. That gives you till the Friday before our meeting to have things worked out with the roofer and apply for your demo permit. And you will bring that back here. You have till December 15th to have the contractor selected and an application for demo submitted to the county and provide proof before close of business on December 15 to Terry Smallwood. And if that does not happen, then I would say a fine of $150 a day from that point will be assessed. We'll meet again on December 19. We'll be able to get an update, and we'll be able to further discuss how the project is moving forward. You might even be further along than just what we asked for at that level. And if you can, that's great. But that's the motion. That's all I'm asking. All we said is you apply to the county for the permit. I'm not saying the county has to give it to you by December 15. You have to apply. That means you have to have the contractor in line. So you can fill out the application for the demo to turn it in to them by December 15. There has to be some sort of receipt that he submitted an application."