LTC 150-2007 Beach Renourishment Meeting with the Army Corps of EngineersR.Fr~!~~
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OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # LETTER TO COMMISSION
150-2007
TO: Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
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DATE: July 2, 2007
SUBJECT: BEACH RENOURISHMENT MEETING WITH THE ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS
The purpose of this LTC is to provide the Mayor and City Commission with a report on a
beach renourishment meeting that I attended in Washington D.C. on June 27, 2007.
As described in LTC No. 145-2007, Congresswomen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Debbie
Wasserman-Schultz requested a meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE)
regarding the status of the alternative sources of sand study for the Miami-Dade County
Beach Erosion Control project.
The meeting took place on June 27d' in the office of Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen with
representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers, including Assistant Secretary of the Army
John Paul Woodley, USAGE Director of Civil Works Major General Don T. Riley, USAGE
Jacksonville District Commander Colonel Paul Grosskruger, and Jerry Scarborough of the
USACE's Jacksonville Programs and Project Management Division. In addition to
Congresswomen Ros-Lehtinen and Wasserman Schultz, staff from the offices of
Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, Alcee Hastings, and Senators Bill
Nelson and Mel Martinez were also in attendance. In addition to myself and Kevin Crowder,
County Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro attended on behalf of the County.
A number of issues were discussed during the meeting, including timing of the letter report
dealing with the availability of domestic sand sources, the timing to acquire foreign sand (if
available), backup plans in case sand acquisition from a foreign source is not feasible, and
the breakwaters at 29d'-32nd Street.
LETTER REPORT ON DOMESTIC SAND SOURCES
Secretary Woodley and the USAGE indicated that the study was undergoing concurrent
review, and that it would most likely arrive to the Secretary's office in late October for his
review and signature. Upon approval, the letter would then be submitted to the
Congressional appropriations committees to notify them that a domestic source of sand
does not exist.
TIMING OF ACQUIRING FOREIGN SOURCE SAND
Following notification of the Appropriations Committees, the USAGE may begin exploring
altemative sources of sand, and will also begin the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) requirements. The USAGE would then award a bid pursuant to this report in late
2009. The USAGE indicated that they consider this an expedited timeline, therefore, there is
areal possibility that a bid would not be awarded until later in 2010.
BACKUP PLANS
During the meeting I specifically inquired if the USACE had any backup plans for
renourishment of our beaches, in case, 1) a willing seller cannot be identified, 2)
environmentally compatible foreign sand cannot be found, 3) foreign source sand is
available but too expensive. The USACE indicated that preliminary estimates are that foreign
source sand would cost approximately $45-50 per cubic yard, but that until the letter report is
complete and forwarded to Congress, they are prohibited from searching for, studying, and
negotiating prices for sand from a foreign source.
The Secretary also indicated that there wasn't really a 'Plan B', but that the USACE may
have to re-explore returning to the State of Florida, to extract sand from offshore borrow pits
elsewhere in the State. This effort has caused significant political problems in the past,
which prompted the Secretary to indicate that perhaps the beaches in Miami-Dade County
no longer be renourished. USACE officials did acknowledge that resolution of this foreign
source sand issue is not a long term solution to the City's beach erosion problems.
BREAKWATER PROJECT
The Secretary and representatives of the USACE were presented with aerial photos of the
breakwater project, and discussed the problems that are occurring to the south of it. The
USACE indicated that the project is being monitored from the USACE office in Vicksburg,
and that they would investigate to see if they can 1) determine the cause and 2) identify
potential solutions, including possible removal.
In addition to the meeting described above, we also met with staff in Senator Nelson's office
to discuss concerns raised by the Surfrider Foundation regarding the Reef Ball project that is
proposed at 63`° Street. The Senator's staff expressed the Senator's continued support of
efforts to control erosion in Miami Beach, and I expressed the City's commitment to continue
to work with the Surfrider Foundation to ensure that their concerns and questions are
considered by Miami-Dade County and the Army Corps of Engineers.
CONCLUSION
In summary, I certainly appreciate the opportunity to ask questions directly to the leadership
of the Army Corps of Engineers, and I am grateful for their honest responses to our many
questions. However, the Administration is disappointed that there does not seem to be a
sense of urgency among the USACE officials for resolving this issue, that the time frame for
finalization of the report and for acquiring foreign sand could be as long as three years (if a
suitable foreign source is identified), and that neither a backup plan nor along-term solution
to the erosion problems exists.
Beach erosion will continue to be an area of focus during the coming months, including
during the Congressional recess in August. The Administration has discussed inviting
leadership of the USACE down to view the erosional hot spots, and the breakwater project
firsthand, in order for them to better understand the magnitude and serious nature of the
problem.
I will continue to update you as this issue progresses. In the meantime, if you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
JMG/RCM/kc
F:IECONISALW(EVINLLepisletlve Priofltles~Federa1~2008 Apenda~beach Itcjuly 2.doc