Loading...
010-2007 Follow Up Questions Regarding Beach Cleaning Servicesm J~IAMIBEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER No. 010-2007 TO: Jerry Libbin, Commissioner FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager ~ DATE: August 15, 2007 SUBJECT: Follow Up Questions Regarding Beach Cleaning Services r-^- x; ~ J' -~ -~ ,~ ~ w ~~ ~ '-~ t'T? The purpose of this memorandum is to respond to (1) your request for additional information on the impacts of Miami-Dade County's proposed reductions in beach cleaning services, as well as (2) your request for information on the cost savings and the feasibility of the City of Miami Beach taking over that function. In response to your first question, a series of photographs has been organized to illustrate the impacts associated with the proposed County reduction in beach cleaning from the jetty to 21St Street in the afternoons. The photos illustrate a typical cleaning sequence over a Sunday and Monday morning in August. The Sunday pictures show the County's afternoon shift cleaning the beach on multiple occasions in the afternoon. At each cleaning, the waste containers are full. Most compelling is the Monday sequence, which illustrates that even with multiple cleanings by the afternoon cleaning shift, a substantial amount of refuse still remains on Monday morning for the morning cleaning crew. The photographs clearly indicate that the afternoon cleaning shift is removing substantial amounts of waste from the beach. Since the amount of waste generated will not decrease, and arguably it will increase with increased beach usage, the County would either have to leave substantial amounts of waste on the beaches or use overtime or divert other resources to pick up the material. As a result, it is very unlikely that the projected savings would be realized by the County and in any event, the beach would be overwhelmed with litter and trash in a very visible manner if there is no afternoon collection. The photographs also illustrate that additional cleaning resources beyond those currently used are necessary in order to maintain even the basic level of service now provided. With regards to your second question, I shared with you and your colleagues in LTC No. 180- 2007, Miami-Dade County the proposed reduction in the County Park and Recreation budget by eliminating the afternoon cleaning shift is $280,000. The County budget identifies that the savings results from eliminating the five (5) full time staff members and 2.25 part-time positions that presently provide beach cleaning services in the afternoons in Miami Beach from the jetty to 21St Street. The $280,000 budget reduction is consistent with a typical wage and benefit package for employees in this category of work and does not appear to have other savings included. Other costs, such as capital and disposal fees would still be incurred at the same rate by the County as cleaning would still occur and the same quantity of waste disposed of. MEMORANDUM ,~ a r-- ~ c-~ We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community. Calculating an accurate cost for the City to assume the cleaning services is difficult at this time. We would anticipate a similar cost of personnel as the County, perhaps higher if the City addressed the actual need for services which currently exceeds the amount provided by the County. Capital equipment costs, disposal costs and other significant operating expenses are more difficult to identify. Capital alone can be several hundreds of thousands of dollars as this would be a new service for the City. Clearly the cost to the City would far exceed the budget reduction proposed by the County. Beyond expense, there would also be inefficiencies, coordination issues and accountability issues from having two different government agencies performing services in the same area. If you have any questions or need any additional information, please feel free to contact me. Attachments C: Mayor and City Commission Robert C. Middaugh, Assistant City Manager Fred Beckmann, Public Works Department Director / m F:\cmgr\$ALL\BOB\Libbin beach clean up memo.doc We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community. Oo~~~~~~ 9~~~~ Sunday, August 5, 2007 12:13 pm Cans already emptied by afternoon shift. iF= .~ ~ :~. ~. ~._ Sunday, August 5, 2007 3:21 pm Cans filled in 3 hours post cleaning cycle. Sunday, August 5, 2007 4:29 pm Afternoon shift emptying full cans for 3~d time. :. ~.^ ~ ¢ 2 Sunday, August 5, 2007 4:41 pm Afternoon shift employee manually cleaning up overflow from cans. Monday, August 6, 2007 6:57 am After the afternoon crew's 3 cleaning cycles on Sunday, large amounts of refuse left over before 1St cleaning of the day on Monday. ~.. "' ~~ :. ,~,~ ,,~ .,.~..,,,,~j Monday, August 6, 2007 8:00 am Hand collected refuse left over from Sunday. In the Monday morning clean up, seven (7) dumpsters 7 cubic yards in size were filled with refuse in addition to 24.3 tons taken to the landfill. } ~ ~ ~ { n. 3 ~~ , .... R ~• , t ~` .. ..... i ~.,.