012-2007 Life Guard Tower Realignmentm MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
MEMORANDUM
No. 012-2007
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To: Jerry Libbin, Commissioner
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From: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager ~; ~°
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Date: September 13, 2007 ~.; ~,
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Subject: Life Guard Tower Realignment ~`,
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The purpose of this memorandum is to respond to your inquiry regarding the
proposed service levels of the Ocean Rescue Division of the Fire Department for FY
2007/08.
Beginning with the FY 2005/06 budget cycle, the City moved to more closely align
budgetary expenditures to the Key Intended Outcomes (KIO's) that the residents
and City Commission had identified as priorities. Community safety is one of the
KIO's identified and beach safety falls within this category. One of the supporting
performance indicators for beach safety is the amount of publicly accessible beach
area that is served by the Ocean Rescue Division. Publicly accessible beach areas
are defined as those served by direct public access points to the beach or areas in
which the public is essentially invited to access the beach for the public use,
including areas adjacent to City parks, parking lots and street ends. The target set
by the City is to serve 100% of the publicly accessible beach area within Miami
Beach.
Ocean Rescue service is provided through the deployment of lifeguards both at
fixed tower locations and the use of mobile personnel. While mobile personnel are
used to address specific demand and beach conditions, the fixed service locations
have been defined using three principal criteria.
• Distance between guard towers
• Beach user data
• Other site specific data, such as coastal conditions and drownings
Each life guard tower covers a standard area of 100 yards to either side of the tower
and 200 yards if the tower has a dedicated ATV assigned to the tower. This
standard was established based on the actual experience of the Ocean Rescue
personnel and their ability to respond in areas of high beach usage. The United
States Lifesaving Association Manual, Chapter 11, Water Surveillance is also used
as a reference point in determining tower size and placement. The 100 yard and
200 yard distances afford each guard location the abilityto appropriately monitorthe
amount of area in the immediate vicinity, especially in times of high use.
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Memorandum to Commissioner Jerry Libbin
Lifeguard Tower Realignment
Page 2
The distances between guard towers are intended to be a service standard in those
areas of beach coverage where high utilization is experienced. User data indicates
the highest use of our beaches from the southern most end of the beach north to
approximately 21St Street. The 100 yard and 200 yard distance is not as significant
a factor in other service areas as the Ocean Rescue personnel can effectively patrol
larger areas as a result of the lower use.
In the past ten years, the City has augmented its Ocean Rescue capacity by adding
8 new lifeguard stands and 18 additional full time life guard positions. In addition,
we have added 10 ATV's and mules at various locations; and constructed 25 new
lifeguard towers that are higher off the ground and with larger front decks to
facilitate better water surveillance.
In FY 2006/07 alone, at your request, the City added 3 additional lifeguard towers
and eight full time life guards in the FY 06-07 fiscal year, bringing our total to 29
towers. These towers were added at 5t" Street, Lincoln Road and 19t" Street. Again
these placements were based on the criteria referenced above.
One of the service impact budget reductions the Fire Department proposed was a
realignment of the life guard towers on the north end of the beach. The 82"d Street
and 85t" Street tower locations have been adjusted to allow for service overlap
between those towers thereby eliminating the need for the tower at 84t" Street. The
tower locations are designed to offer maximum coverage of the most utilized areas
adjacent to easily accessible areas by the public. Three additional ATV's have been
added to increase the mobility and coverage areas.
The attached map shows the current and proposed service areas covered by the
towers in question. As shown on the attachments, the realignment provides more
efficient use of resources.
JMG\FJ\dd
C: Mayor and City Commissioners
F:/cmgr/$all/jorgegon/memos/tower realignment.doc
Current
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Cit of Miami Beach LifeguardTowers x ~~:
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Map: North Beach Yards•~~
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