Sea Isle Bars Access at Condo Complex Where Balcony Collapsed

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Sea Isle City has shut down virtually all access to the south tower of the Spinnaker condominium complex while engineers determine whether the high-rise building is structurally sound following a balcony collapse that killed one worker last week. Mayor Leonard Desiderio said Tuesday the city’s construction office has issued an “unsafe structure notice” that prohibits residents and others from returning to the building until private engineers hired by the Spinnaker complete their inspection of the property. Only personnel designated by the engineers may enter the building for the time being. In addition, the city has issued an unsafe structure notice that prohibits residents of the Spinnaker’s adjacent north tower from accessing their cantilevered balconies, Desiderio said. The south and north towers have similarly designed cantilevered balconies that jut off the sides of the buildings. “All of these unsafe structure notices will stay in effect until a full engineering report is received from the Spinnaker’s engineer of record stating that these areas are safe to be reoccupied,” Desiderio said during a City Council meeting Tuesday. Desiderio also said that the city’s construction official has been communicating with the state Department of Community Affairs’ division of codes and standards. The city will continue to monitor the situation as repair work and the investigation continue. “There’s been a lot of (media) coverage of this situation over the past several days, and I want to ask everyone to avoid speculation or judgment and let the appropriate professionals perform their investigations and do their jobs,” Desiderio said. An employee of a private contractor that was working on the exterior of the south tower was killed Friday when the concrete balcony on the eighth floor collapsed and fell on top of him. He was standing on a balcony on the seventh floor. Two other workers were on the balcony on the eighth floor when it collapsed, but they suffered only minor injuries and were treated at the scene. The south tower of the Spinnaker condominiums remains closed to most people while engineers inspect the building for structural safety. Although the cause of the collapse has not yet been determined, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration revealed Monday that concrete work was being done on the balconies when the accident occurred. “The workers were refurbishing the cement at the time of the incident,” OSHA spokeswoman Leni Fortson said in an email. Fortson said no other information would be released at this time. OSHA, a federal agency that investigates workplace accidents, has up to six months to conduct its probe and release the findings. Jose Pereira, 43, the worker who was killed, lived in Philadelphia and was employed by Ferguson Contracting Inc. of Yardley, Pa. The company has not been available for comment since the accident. On behalf of the community, Desiderio extended his condolences and prayers to Pereira’s family. Ferguson Contracting specializes in concrete repairs, masonry restoration, waterproofing and historic restoration of buildings, according to its website. Fortson confirmed that OSHA is also looking into Ferguson Contracting as part of the investigation. She said Ferguson does not have any history of fines or workplace accidents with OSHA. Meanwhile, all of the balconies on the exterior of the Spinnaker’s south tower, near where the accident occurred, are currently being stabilized with wood support beams placed underneath. A Sea Isle police car blocks access to the Promenade in front of the Spinnaker condominium complex's north and south towers. The Spinnaker condominiums were built in the early 1970s and include twin north and south towers nine stories tall overlooking the ocean at 3500-3700 Boardwalk. Each condo has a balcony facing the ocean, while most of the three-bedroom units also have a larger balcony on the side of the building, according to a chronology of the Spinnaker’s construction at History - Spinnaker (spinnakersic.com). It was one of the side balconies that collapsed on the eighth floor of the south tower. Desiderio and other city officials praised the police, fire and other emergency officials who responded to the balcony collapse at around 2:20 p.m. Friday and stayed until Pereira’s body was recovered later that night. “This was a horrible accident, but the men and women who responded that evening represented the finest examples of emergency public service and public safety first response,” said Desiderio, who was also on the scene for several hours Friday evening. Desiderio and City Council President Mary Tighe also thanked the emergency crews from neighboring communities, Cape May and Camden counties and state agencies for their help in responding to the accident.