Surfside commission votes to approve $2M settlement

SURFSIDE — Surfside commissioners voted Monday to approve a $2 million insurance settlement in the class-action lawsuit

related to the Champlain Towers South condo collapse.

It was part of the nearly $1 billion tentative settlement of a class-action suit in which parties ranging from the security company contracted at the Champlain Towers to the developers of a Miami Beach condo building next door agreed to pay the survivors and families of victims.

Surfside commissioners gathered for a rare morning meeting in the near-empty commission chambers and voted 5-0 for the town’s insurance company to pay the maximum policy limit to the survivors and relatives of those who died in the collapse.

The former 12-story beachfront condo at 8777 Collins Ave. partially collapsed June 24, killing 98 people.

The town said it was never formally sued but had been put on notice that it might be sued. Its insurance carrier, The Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, proposed settling out of court to avoid litigation, said Eric Hockman, an attorney for the town.

“That was an insurance company decision,” Hockman said after the meeting. “But the town has the right to accept or reject the insurance company’s decision.”

The vote approving the settlement is not an admission of fault or liability from the town, Hockman said.

The settlement still needs to be approved by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman, who is overseeing the class-action lawsuit.

Mayor Shlomo Danzinger said he hoped the settlement would help the families of those who died in the collapse.

“Even though money will not make up for what they lost,” he added.

It remained unclear whether the settlement would impact the ongoing town investigation of the cause of the collapse. The town’s consulting engineer, Allyn Kilsheimer, has been participating in a court-sanctioned inspection along with other parties.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is leading a separate federal investigation of the collapse, although its report may not be released for years.

Town Attorney Lillian Arango told commissioners that the town hoped to continue its on-site investigation and would discuss the issue with the receiver for the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association, Michael Goldberg, who has legal custody over the property.

“We’ll have to work out those details in the coming days,” Arango said.

JOHN MCCALL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL A Miami-Dade police boat patrols the water before a controlled demolition on July 4, 2021, to bring down the remaining portion of the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside. The building partially collapsed, killing 98 people, about 1:30 a.m. on June 24, 2021.