LTC 343-2019 STATUS OF THE CITY'S UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE M I A AA I B E AC H
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
343-2019
NO. LTC# LETTE TO COMMISSION
..
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members oft City Co fission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: June 13, 2019
SUBJECT: STATUS OF THE CITY'S UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE
The purpose of this LTC is to provide a summary of the strong initiatives that are now
functioning to resolve critical issues in the City's utility systems and prepare our infrastructure
for the future.
The team I assembled to lead the City's drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities
identified critical issues with the previous management and oversight of the infrastructure in
2015. There were matters that required swift action, and other matters that required methodical
planning to achieve each systems' reliability and regulatory compliance. Providing safe drinking
water, and responsible sewerage and stormwater disposal has been and will continue to be one
of this Administration's highest priorities. It was necessary to overhaul the management team
and put proper professionals in place. Below is a primer of the immediate challenges as they
were and the remedial actions taken.
In 2009, the Florida State Legislature, through the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection (FDEP), enacted the following law, which became effective in 2011, as it relates to
public health and license requirements:
Fla. Stat. § 403.867 License required.--A person may not perform the duties of
an operator of a water treatment plant, water distribution system, or a domestic
wastewater treatment plant unless he or she holds a current operator's license
issued by the department.
In other words, all water distribution systems, such as the one operated by the City of Miami
Beach, and any activities impacting water quality or flow, must be managed by a state licensed
professional, and an in-charge person onsite must have the appropriate license. In 2015, it was
brought to my attention that the City had numerous drinking water system crews that lacked any
of the proper licenses to perform the work that they were assigned daily. The crisis in Flint,
Michigan caused by incompetent decision makers of the drinking water system had just become
headline news.
Public Works immediately developed a training program to formally educate existing and any
newly hired employees in the water division and have them sit for the FDEP licensure exam.
This required significant effort and ultimately met the approval and support of the Personnel
Board. To date, City employees have obtained 38 FDEP drinking water licenses, in addition to
another 95 certifications in water, wastewater, and stormwater disciplines. This is an exceptional
level of core competence development for the team.
The City has four (4) water storage tanks totaling 14 million gallons. Chapter 62-604 of the
Florida Administrative Code requires that storage tanks be cleaned and inspected every five (5)
years. No records could be found or anecdotal recollection by staff of the tanks ever having
been inspected and maintained in accordance with regulatory standards.
To date, approximately $400,000 has been invested in the four drinking water tanks which have
been cleaned and inspected, thus bringing them into compliance.
The City has about 180 miles of water mains. Most bridges and causeways throughout the City
have water mains suspended on them. Over the last 20 years, most have not been properly
maintained to prevent corrosion. Many years of lack of maintenance resulted in multiple failures
of these water mains on bridges.
To date, using emergency procurements, $1.4 million has been spent replacing piping, and
much more will be needed in a planned replacement program.
The City does not have a complete hydraulic model of its water system. Hydraulic models of
water distribution systems are a standard tool for engineers and operators to accurately predict
system behavior. There have been numerous questions concerning the City's ability to
adequately provide water for future development and fire protection.
A hydraulic model of the City's drinking water system is currently under development.
Wastewater collection, treatment and disposal is regulated at the national level by the USEPA
through the Clean Water Act, at the state level by FDEP, and at the local level by the Miami-
Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources. The City's wastewater
(sewer) system is permitted annually by Miami Dade County Code under the provisions of
Chapter 24. The system which includes the transmission pipes as well as pumping stations
must be operated in accordance with Chapter 62-604 of the Florida Administrative Code, which
provides the minimum design and operation and maintenance standards mandating that
systems shall be designed in accordance with sound engineering practice. As such, all
pumping station designs and sewer main extensions must be approved by the County prior to
their construction to assure compliance with County, State, and Federal regulations.
The City has 23 wastewater pump stations. One of the stations (#21 which is located on 71'
Street) had a diesel-powered temporary pump purportedly there for seven (7) years due to
inoperable pumps within the station. Another station (#30 located on Terminal Island) only had
one (1) pump in operation although it was designed to operate using four (4) pumps (the other 3
pumps were missing). All of the stations' variable frequency drives (VFDs) (critical technological
electric control equipment) were approximately 20 years old. The VFDs were at the end of their
useful life, many of which were not operable, and the manufacturer no longer supported them
with parts, which caused some of the existing pumps to be out of service while the remainder
were left extremely vulnerable. The examples of serious maintenance failures were almost
endless and resulted in excessive sewerage overflows and backups into homes and
businesses.
To date more than $2.5 million has been spent remedying these wastewater pumping station
critical matters, and more will be needed. Fortunately, such failures have not resulted in the
pollution of Biscayne Bay as has made headlines recently for similar conditions at some pump
stations on the mainland.
The City has 14 built-in permanent generators located at water/wastewater pumping stations to
power pumps during electrical failures. Most of the generators in 2015 did not pass load testing,
which means when needed to power the station under emergency conditions, the generator
failed to supply the amount of power needed.
Using emergency type procedures, $180,000 was invested into the repairs of the generators.
Due to these investments, stations that lost power during and post-Hurricane Irma performed as
needed and prevented potentially catastrophic sewer overflow conditions.
Since most of the emergent and compliance conditions were addressed, the team has focused
on establishing a long-term plan to maintain system reliability. The plan began with a complete
mapping and inventory of utility assets. The mapping was followed with the development of
drinking water and wastewater system hydraulic models which are expected to be completed
this year.
While the operation of the City's water, sewer, and stormwater has been monitored from a
central control room located at the Operations Division facility on Dade Boulevard, it is archaic
and lacks the ability to operate and control the system. Pump station alarms can be received,
and personnel respond to the station and react to the alarm condition(s). A SCADA system, or
a supervisory control and data acquisition system, provides not only receiving information
relative to the operating status of the station components but also allows the control of that
station remotely to modify operations to avoid catastrophic results. The completion of this
system will allow operators to identify situations and react to real time conditions rather than
waiting to respond to an alarm condition which had been the historical approach.
In conclusion, the prior deplorable condition of City's utility assets was not caused by a lack of
financial resources. Rather, it required the proper focus and attention to the matter. $5.8 million
in improvements have been completed. The City's utilities are enterprise funds that had healthy
cash balances and additional cash reserves for these necessary improvements. Current
leadership now plans and executes system operation, maintenance and renewals as required
by law.
Be assured that the current Public Works team has the competence and dedication to do what
is needed despite the work being complex and difficult at times. In the near future, the final
needs assessment will be completed which will include a renewal and replacement plan and its
proposed implementation schedule. I expect there will be very significant improvements needed
to prepare for the City's sustainable future. In recapitulation, providing safe drinking water, and
responsible sewerage and stormwater disposal has been and will continue to be one of my
highest priorities.
Should you have any questions regarding the City's utilities, please do not hesitate to contact
Public Works Director Roy Coley at 305-673-7080.
JLM/ET / RQJF