LTC 238-2003 CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission
To:
From:
Subject:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez ~'~,~
City Manager
LATE NIGHT CONSTRUCTION
Date: October 6, 2003
This LTC is to advise you of the circumstances that caused late night construction at 16th Street
between Meridian Avenue and Euclid Avenue on Sunday, September 28, 2003, the circumstances
of which were sent to you by e-mail from a resident who lives nearby.
On Saturday, September 27, 2003, Mike Alvarez, Assistant Public Works Director, received a
telephone call from BellSouth requesting authorization for emergency repair work at 16th Street and
Meridian. Mr. Alvarez asked that repairs be postponed until Monday morning, but he was informed
by BellSouth's contractor, Mastec, that the entire City, south of 16th Street to 5th Street could lose
phone communication if repairs were not undertaken immediately. In view of the unquestionable
nature of the emergency, approval to make needed repairs was given to Mastec with the standard
provision that the contractor had to have an off-duty police officer at the intersection managing traffic
flow. The telephone transmission line repairs with a temporary road restoration were completed by
6:00 p.m.
The same day, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Public Works 24-hour Control Room called Mr. Alvarez
advising him that the trench cut made to facilitate BellSouth repairs was failing near 16th Street and
Euclid Avenue. Mr. Alvarez placed urgent calls to BellSouth and Mastec. A few minutes later Mr.
Alvarez received a telephone call from CMB Police Department informing him that they had closed
the West bound lane of 16th Street due to a huge hole near the intersection of 16th Street and Euclid
Avenue. A few minutes later, Superintendent Martinez, from Mastec returned Mr. AIvarez' call. He
was advised by Mr. Alvarez to mobilize immediately because their early trench work had failed and
potentially would impact the phone line conduits that had been repaired earlier. At 1:30 a.m.
Sunday, September 29, Mr. Martinez called to inform Mr. Alvarez that the trench failed due to heavy
rainfall on Saturday which caused the temporary asphalt to shift and fail, creating craters and large
holes. Unfortunately, this extreme emergency resulted in heavy equipment noise during early
morning hours as repair work was completed.
Although our right-of-way permits require contractors to notify Police and hire an off-duty police
officer for any work that requires closure of traffic lanes or streets, I have directed the Public Works
Department that in the future, Police and Code be notified whenever contractors request emergency
work in the City during the night.
JMG\RCM\FHB
c: Robert C. Middaugh, Assistant City Manager
Fred H. Beckmann, Director of Public Works
Mike Alvarez, Assistant Public Works Director
F:\WORK~$ALL~LUCY LLOPIS~LTC',BelISouth Late Night Construction.doc