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Article Courtesy of
Channel 8 On Your Side
By
Walt Buteau
Published April 27, 2022
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BRADENTON – A state investigation into complaints about a Bradenton condo
complex manager includes eleven “investigative findings,” and details tied to
another state probe concerning mangroves allegedly filled with debris.
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The Department of Business and Professional Regulation began investigating Palma
Sola Harbour in September after two maintenance men at the complex filed
complaints with three agencies.
Paul Hallick and Charlie Anderson claim
they were fired after they went to authorities.
The DBPR’s investigative report obtained by 8 On Your Side
included an allegation that Palma Sola Manager Matthew
Edwards “instructed maintenance staff to perform
construction work without appropriate permitting or
licensure.”
The report also indicated Edwards was
incorrect when he responded to a records request that
unlicensed contractor Lowell Rollins was paid by the
association four times.
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“Subpoenas verified that Rollins had been paid by the association 51 times
totaling the amount of $61,298,” the report stated.
Edwards also “failed to produce invoices justifying $91,698 in vendor
payments made to himself and Lowell Rollins,” the report said.
Edwards attorney Brennan Donnelly said the report “is a one-sided
presentation that is misleading,” and he blamed Hallick and Anderson.
“This is what happens when you have people who don’t like someone,” Donnelly
said. “[Edwards] never took any money from the condo association that was
not contractually obligated in writing.”
Edwards called the claims “ridiculous” in a statement he made last month
when the allegations first surfaced.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has alleged wood, glass,
old concrete and other debris were used to fill about 1,000 square feet of
mangroves that line the complex.
Manatee Code Enforcement has also investigated the alleged illegal dumping
and permitting issues.
Rollins has said he did not know about the claims about the mangroves. He
said he was “doing everything to correct what I have done wrong” in the
projects that he completed without a license and permits.
DBPR has yet to respond to questions about what is expected to happen next
in that agency’s investigation.
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