Mediation Low-Ball Offer; Amherst Homeowners Consider Lawsuits Against Margate.

Will Margate homeowners be forced to take Mayor Becker and the City to court?

For 14 months, Donna Tasca has been pleading for help. Her home at 301 N Clermont. Ave in Margate was severely damaged by last year’s Amherst Ave road and sewer project.

LISTEN: Tasca Margate Public Comment. Feb 3, 2022.

The project, executed by Mathis Construction, damaged the foundation under the Tasca home. The property continues to suffer from serious, structural distress.

Donna Tasca: Our house keeps sinking. The roof is twisted. Floors are buckling. Wall cracks everywhere. Doors can’t close.

The damage was so bad, Margate City had to install steel beams under the Tasca home in order to stabilize it.

Donna Tasca: We had to pay for a judge to mediate. Paid a lawyer too. Why hasn’t City’s Travelers Insurance and JIF (Joint Insurance Fund) helped?

Mediation judge suggests: could take another 18 months to settle this.

Video: Can’t close doors.

Ongoing Battle with Margate, Remington & Vernick Engineers, Mathis Construction and Travelers Insurance Company.

Tasca: You should be helping us. Mayor Becker: We are Mr’s Tasca. Believe us.

The gas company came out and told Tasca: Mam, your gas (heat) is going out right (heat escaping) from underneath your house.

The McHugh home, next door on Amherst Ave, was damaged as well. Cracking of concrete slabs and walls. The driveway is sinking. Kevin McHugh claims a sinkhole was paved over. Contractor removed 10 cubic yards of soil out from under the house. That caused the damage. ‘They never put the soil back’.

Who’s at fault? Who’s financially responsible to repair or replace?

Margate John Amodeo Mayor Becker Maury Blumberg
Abbott, Becker, Amodeo, Blumberg, Dennis.

Remington & Vernick Engineers is the firm of Margate City engineer, Ed Dennis.

Mr. Dennis designed plans for this project along Amherst Ave., from Clarendon to Douglass Ave.

Affected Margate homeowners claim damage to their homes was due to poor planning and improper techniques that removed soil underneath their foundations.

The Tasca home is likely beyond repair. Demolition and construction of a new home has estimated cost of $600,000+.

Repairs to the McHugh home is approx $100,000. According to Margate meeting of Feb. 3, 2022, McHugh was only offered $19,000.

Public Comment: This is getting ridiculous. Over 18 months. Let’s help this family. Use some of our (taxpayer) money from coffer that has extra money. At least pump foam insulation underneath their home.

Public Comment: You accepted lowest bid from company that can’t do a job correctly.

Margate Amherst Ave Mathis Construction
Amherst Ave. road paving already falling apart.

Many neighbors can’t attend Margate Commission meetings due to health concerns. During Margate public comment, remote attendees are banned from asking questions via the ZOOM online platform.

Read more at Press of Atlantic City.

5 thoughts on “Mediation Low-Ball Offer; Amherst Homeowners Consider Lawsuits Against Margate.”

  1. This can happen to anyone-Margate needs to do more for these people this is outrageous-if it was there family’s it would be different -this is bullshit

  2. Shame on you Solicitor Abbott and Mayor Becker. BOTH of you had hand in DESTROYING this home, and now you could care less. Amodeo and Blumberg are also to blame.

  3. My home on beach block has cracking on almost every room of my home. Adjuster came out and denied the claim. Same engineer group. It was from the construction on Atlantic Ave

  4. Several of us on Clermont and Amherst have significant damages and the city claims zero responsibility, but who contracted with Mathis Construction? Certainly not the home owners! This is a public disgrace and Margate is playing small town politics. Mayor Becker stand up for your taxpayers and do something about this nightmare! If you or the Solicitor Abbott lived here I’m 100% confident that this would have been taken care of already. This could happen anywhere in Margate with incompetent contractors, but this has happened to us and we are paying attorneys to try and get this resolved. Community beware when the city tries to do construction on your street!

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