Miami-Beach-Encourages-Residents-and-Visitors-to-Prepare-for-Mosquito-Season-1
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS, Tel: 305.673.7575 PRESS RELEASE
Tonya Daniels, E-mail: tonyadaniels@miamibeachfl.gov
Melissa Berthier, E-mail: melissaberthier@miamibeachfl.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2018
Miami Beach Encourages Residents and Visitors to Prepare for
Mosquito Season
—Working Proactively and Aggressively to Ensure the Health and Wellness of the City —
Miami Beach, FL – With mosquito season around the corner, the City of Miami Beach has been
working diligently and vigorously throughout the year to keep mosquito-borne illnesses at bay.
“Since the increased awareness in South Florida of health threats such as Zika, City staff has
worked year-round to ensure the safety and wellness of both our residents and visitors,” noted
City Manager Jimmy L. Morales. “Our community proves adaptive, durable and overall resilient
when faced with shocks such as this and we remain united, bold and thus effective in our
efforts. I have no doubt I’ll be witnessing that same energy and dedication this summer as we
begin increasing the preventative measures we already have in place, as well as putting forth
additional strategies in motion to keep Miami Beach normal and thriving throughout the summer
and beyond.”
The City’s strategy is simple and effective: take every opportunity to educate, collaborate and
protect. These specific actions and procedures include:
Public Works: The department requires that all right of way permits include provisions
to prevent standing water. Inspectors patrol all rights of way under construction in the
City to be sure standing water is addressed by permit holders. Stormwater operators
additionally remove standing water in public rights of way via portable pumps or vacuum
trucks, applying larvicide and working more frequently in areas where mosquitoes may
breed.
Parks & Recreation: As part of daily inspection and sanitation activities, Park Division
staff members monitor and dispose of ponding water. All parks are on a pressure
washing cycle, which provides an additional layer of abatement for standing water. In
addition, grounds maintenance services are conducted on a weekly or bi-weekly basis,
this include mowing, trimming, edging, irrigation checks and more to eliminate mosquito
breeding grounds. Recreation staff is working toward the same goal, applying larvicides
at recreation programming sites when necessary and working alongside Miami-Dade
County to mitigate problem areas with cleanups. All staff members are trained with
respect to mosquito mitigation practices. Free bug repellants are also available at every
park and facility in the City throughout the entirety of mosquito season. Additionally,
parents of program participants are asked to sign a waiver if they would like to have their
child apply repellant either by themselves or with staff assistance.
Code Compliance: Code officers have already begun stagnant water inspections to
prevent and/or reduce conditions that are conducive to mosquito breeding. Staff is
currently undergoing refresher training on how to identify these potential hazards and
how to protect themselves. They are also distributing informational pamphlets and verbal
updates at HOA, neighborhood meetings and community events. Working closely with
Miami-Dade County, MetroLab and the University of Miami, the team is consistently
developing and sharing methods on how to prevent and respond to mosquito-borne
illnesses. Actions taken year-round to further prevent breeding grounds include: removal
of sidewalk café planters and an increase in community outreach. Overall, the
department is conducting strict enforcements for ponded water, issuing fines to
contractors at construction sites, sidewalk cafes and homes if necessary.
Building: To support the administering of ponded water inspections on every permit
type, the department adopted a ponded water Standard Operation Procedure.
Encouraging safe and sanitary construction practices, the team has also begun
communicating with contractors of active construction sites throughout the City to ensure
they are doing their part by draining and covering standing water.
Capital Improvement Projects: CIP inspectors visit construction sites to inspect for
standing water and instruct contractors to remove any standing water that may exist.
They provide tablet repellents to contractors who are instructed to place the repellents
inside drainage structures. Sweepers and vacuum Trucks are utilized to remove any
standing water that may be present on a jobsite daily. The department’s outreach team
also sends notifications to resident databases with information about the city’s anti-
mosquito efforts and how residents can do their part. If a staff member identifies
standing water on private property, a request is sent to the appropriate code
enforcement manager to handle immediately.
Housing & Community Services: While conducting homeless outreach, staff is always
equipped with repellent to offer clients as they engage. Additionally, the team provides
free dispensers at the walk-in center and informative print flyers and brochures regarding
mosquito season upon request.
Proper precautions such as draining standing water, covering receptacles that collect water and
using bug repellent have been imperative to the City’s success. As such, the City is encouraging
all residents and visitors to do their part in safeguarding themselves and their homes this
summer while stressing the importance and significant benefits of these small protective acts. In
addition, Miami-Dade County continues to conduct their regularly scheduled larvicide truck
treatments throughout the City.
To learn more about the County’s initiatives in combatting mosquito-borne illnesses, including
their truck spraying schedule, click here.
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