LTC 055-2021 Miami Beach to be Awarded $14.5 Million for Resilience FundsOFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER NO.
LTC # 055-2021 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Raul J. Aguila, Interim City Manager
DATE: February 5, 2021
SUBJECT: Miami Beach to be Awarded $14.5 Million for Resilience Funds
The Office of the City Manager is pleased to report that the Florida Department of
Economic Opportunity (DEO) has issued a Notice of Intent to Award the City over $14.5
Million in Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds from the
Rebuild Florida Critical Facility Hardening Grant Program.
The grants will be used for infrastructure hardening of the City’s Water Booster Stations
and Sewer Pump Stations and will increase the resilience of facilities that serve a public
safety purpose for our community. The City has been notified of DEO’s Intent to Award
grant funds for the following projects:
Sewer Pump Stations:
•Sewer Pump Station 1 (Jefferson Avenue) - $700,000
•Sewer Pump Station 28 (West 28th Street) - $5,000,000
•Sewer Pump Station 29 (Indian Creek/63rd Street) - $2,200,000
Water Booster Stations:
•Normandy Isles Water Booster Station - $550,000
•25th Street Water Booster Station - $800,000
•41st Street Water Booster Station - $900,000
•Belle Isle Water Booster Station – $2,400,000
•Terminal Island Water Booster Station - $1,200,000
•75th Street Water Booster Station - $800,000
Sewer Pump Stations
The grants will provide partial funding for infrastructure hardening at three City sewer
stations. The funds are particularly important because a significant failure of one of the
City’s sewer stations carries the risk of discharging raw sewage into neighborhoods,
thoroughfares, canals, and eventually Biscayne Bay. This would threaten the local
ecology as well as human health, thereby demonstrating the urgent need for hardening.
The three sewer stations were specifically identified as nearing the end of useful life and
requiring significant rehabilitation to improve operational flexibility and increase reliability
moving into the future.
DocuSign Envelope ID: F559CBC9-ECF1-4740-95AC-6792D6533AEF
Miami Beach to be Award $14.5 Million for Resilience Funds
February 5, 2021
Page 2
Water Booster Stations
The grant awards will also provide partial funding for infrastructure hardening at six water
booster stations. Sustaining sufficiently high water pressure throughout the water
distribution system is necessary to ensure the City’s customers have proper water
pressure in their homes. Potable water systems play a crucial role in disease prevention.
When a water system disruption results in a pressure drop, drinking water can become
contaminated, increasing the likelihood of disease transmission. Waterborne illnesses
such as typhoid, cholera and dysentery can cause serious illness or potentially death. In
the event water pressure drops below 20 pounds per square inch (psi), the City is required
to issue a precautionary boil water notice, advising residents and tourists to boil all water
used for drinking, cooking, cleaning dishes or hygiene. In addition, sufficient water
pressure and flow are needed for emergency fire suppression – another life safety
service.
Urgent Need
The majority of the facilities to be funded are “High Criticality” assets, meaning that they
are in poor condition, are very important to system operation and pose the greatest risk.
All of the projects are included in the City’s existing Water and Sewer System Master
Plans, and the grant funds can be leveraged to renew infrastructure affected by the
hardening process.
History
The Administration commenced preparations for these grants in August 2019 when the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a notice in the Federal
Register announcing funding through the Community Development Block Grant –
Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Program. In September 2019, the City Commission referred a
discussion item on the grant to the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee. In October
2019 Grants Division staff provided a plan of how to prepare for and apply for these funds.
This was followed by a subsequent update by staff at the May 2020 Land Use and
Sustainability Committee meeting. The Governor issued a Press Release on February
3, 2021 announcing the Intent to Award.
Construction on these projects is expected to begin in 2022 and continue through 2028.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many departments that were involved
including Office of the City Manager, Grants and Intergovernmental Affairs, Public Works,
Resiliency Office, Finance and CIP.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
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