The City of Miami Beach is committed to preserving the welfare and safety of its residents, visitors, and businesses. One way that the City meets this goal is by adapting its infrastructure to sea level rise and climate change.

Low-lying areas, such as First Street, are vulnerable to tidal and rainfall flooding. The First Street corridor experiences constant flooding during extreme high tides and heavy rain events. As a result, the City decided to implement improvements to the stormwater system that will provide the neighborhood with a higher level of service.

The improvements not only include robust stormwater infrastructure that will reduce flooding in the neighborhood, but also include significant improvements to the water system to address critical fire flow needs for life safety. Additionally, the improvements will provide substantial benefits to the First Street hardscape in terms of beautification and transportation measures aligned with the City’s Transportation Master Plan. In fact, the improvements will prioritize pedestrians over vehicular traffic, aligning with the City’s adopted Modal Hierarchy.

In 2017, the City engaged Wade Trim Inc. to perform architectural and engineering design services for the South of Fifth Neighborhood, consisting of streetscape enhancements and drainage system improvements including: 

• Installation of a robust drainage system comprised of a major stormwater pump station and major stormwater pipes along Alton Road, Washington Avenue, and First Street.

• Elevating First Street and providing streetscape enhancements such as new sidewalks, pavement, lighting, landscaping, etc.

In order to ensure that the community’s interests were accounted for and to limit changes after the project had been designed, City staff and Wade Trim coordinated community engagement efforts.  Through March 2020, there have been approximately 28 meetings regarding the pump station and outfall and roadway design. 

PUMP STATIONS ALTERNATIVES:

The City evaluated a total of six different pump station locations and six different outfall routes into Biscayne Bay and Government Cut. These include:

1. The First Street Park at the southeast corner of First Street and Alton Road

2. The Miami Beach Marina south parking lot

3. The Commerce Street and Jefferson Avenue intersection

4. The Pilot Boat Basin behind the Apogee Condominium

5. The South Pointe Elementary School parking lot

6. South Pointe Park

Numerous community meetings with residents and stakeholders were held to determine the appropriate pump station location. These meetings and a brief summary of their content are described below:

THE FIRST STREET PARK AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF FIRST STREET AND ALTON ROAD

· January 23, 2019 – Meeting with Marie Peters, SOFNA President, to review the original pump station design at Triangle Park.

o   SOFNA requested the City to consider alternate outfall routes, as the Murano at Portofino and the Yacht Club reportedly opposed to having the pump station and outfall routed through their properties.

· February 11, 2019 - Meeting with Michael O'Hara, Rebecca Towers Director of Housing Development Programs.

o   The City confirmed it does not have property rights to connect the outfall at Biscayne Bay through this property.

·  February 20, 2019 - Meeting with Marie Peters, SOFNA President and Bill Johnson, Murano at Portofino former President, to review the original pump station design at Triangle Park.

o   Bill Johnson expressed strong opposition to the outfall route through their property due to major disruption in their front entrance and asked to consider other options.

· September 27, 2019 – February 5, 2020 - Seven meetings were held to present all available information to the Murano at Portofino administration.

o   The City prepared multiple conceptual plans to inform building residents of potential impacts to the building from construction of the outfall to piping through the property.

o   The City. presented all the information to building residents at its November 15, 2019 HOA meeting.

o   Stakeholders requested the City to consider South Pointe park as an alternate location for the pump station and outfall, and requested to create layout exhibits to be presented at its next SOFNA meeting.

o   Stakeholders: Marie Peters, SOFNA President; Bill Johnson, Murano at Portofino Former President; John Rutherford, Murano at Portofino President; Rosi Klee, Murano at Portofino Administration; Stephen Mandy, Murano at Portofino; Engineering Rep, Murano at Portofino; Attorney, Murano at Portofino; Murano at Portofino Board of directors and residents (during HOA Presentation)

THE MIAMI BEACH MARINA SOUTH PARKING LOT

·  May 5, 2019 – Meeting with Marie Peters, SOFNA President, and Suntex Marinas Staff, to discuss the pump station and outfall at the Marina property.

o   The City shared a conceptual design and clarified it can be adjusted to work with Suntex Marinas.

o   Suntex Marinas stated they would not agree to anything above or underground that could prohibit their growth and development.

o   The Marina also expressed their concern with having the outfall in the marina as they have dealt with similar issues in their New York properties.

THE COMMERCE STREET AND JEFFERSON AVENUE INTERSECTION

·  July 8, 2019 & July 23, 2019- Two meetings with Marie Peters, SOFNA President; Bill Johnson, Murano at Portofino Former President; Robert Fiore, Murano At Portofino Resident; Murano at Portofino Property Management SOFNA president and Murano at Portofino building to discuss results.

o   City Staff discussed the response from Suntex Marina’s response.

o   The City proposed a new location for the pump station at the intersection of Jefferson Ave and Commerce Street to relieve the Triangle Park from disruption. The option was discarded due to constructability constraints.

o   Murano at Portofino Administration requested that the South Pointe Elementary School parking lot be considered.

THE PILOT BOAT BASIN BEHIND THE APOGEE CONDOMINIUM

·  March 12, 2019- Meeting with Nicolas Di Giovanni, Apogee Property Manager, and an Apogee Legal Representative.

o   The Apogee Condominium rejected the proposed pump station location behind their property or routing the outfall through their property.

· April 29, 2019- Meeting with Marie Peters, SOFNA President to discuss response from the Apogee Condominium.

THE SOUTH POINTE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARKING LOT

·  September 18, 2019 - Meeting with Jaime Torrens, Chief of Staff Dade-County Schools; Raul Perez, Chief facilities and Design Construction Officer; Victor Alonso, Eco-Sustainability Officer to discuss potential location for PS and outfall.

o   The City’s request was rejected by Dade-County schools due to future building expansion plans which requires them to maintain all existing parking spaces.

SOUTH POINTE PARK

·  March 5, 2020 – The City presented the South Pointe Park location option at the SOFNA meeting.

Alternatives 1 - 5: These locations were eliminated due to site constraints, such as lack of easements, construction disturbances, impacts to the marina operations, and limited space. Additionally, due to the site constraints, a second pump station would be required to provide a full 10-year storm event level of service to the South Pointe Neighborhood.

Alternative 6 - South Pointe Park: After careful consideration of all potential alternatives, Public Works recommended that the pump station be located within the park. Conceptually, the underground components of the pump station can be located underneath the parking lot and the above ground components can be dressed with greenery just south of the parking lot.

The major benefits to this alternative are:

No easements are required

• The construction of the pump station does not disturb residences
• There is ample space to install a pump station that can service the entirety of the South Pointe Neighborhood. Therefore, a second pump station would not be required, assuming the ability to install pipes with enough capacity (this will need to be defined during detailed design).
• Designers have the ability to use vegetation and trees to screen the pump station’s above ground components
• The pump station will discharge to Government Cut, thereby eliminating the possibility of impacts to the marina’s operations.

TYPICAL SECTION ALTERNATIVES:

Although the community generally agreed with the urgent need to implement a reliable stormwater management system within the South Pointe Neighborhood, there were differing views regarding the configuration of the First Street corridor.

A total of nine different typical sections were presented to the community for consideration. The first six options were prepared by the consultant and presented to the residents in two separate presentations in late 2017.  Some included water features and greenspace separators for valet parking. Others included large iconic medians with dramatic greenspace and enlarged pedestrian promenades.  These options, however, did not appeal to residents.  The City engaged Florida Transportation Engineering, Inc., a traffic engineer consultant to conduct a traffic analysis, evaluate all options, and provide a recommendation.

City staff gathered all the feedback from the residents, the traffic report, and City Departments involved, and by January 2019, developed a 7th design iteration, known as Option 1, to include:

Option 1:

 Divided two-way traffic (median)

• Dedicated bike lanes
• On-street parallel parking adjacent to the sidewalk and on the median for the residential side only

Meanwhile, the City continued its discussions regarding the pump station and outfall.  Nine months later, the City was approached by SOFNA residents, who expressed several concerns with the current design.  They provided staff with a couple of design options to consider and evaluate.  The City compared both options to Option 1, highlighted the differences and ensured they met the design criteria required, and selected the following, known as Option 2:

 Option 2:

• Undivided two-way traffic (no median)
• Shared bike lanes
• On-street parallel parking adjacent to the sidewalk

Public Works ultimately determined either option was acceptable and neighborhood input should be considered. 

At the January 21, 2020 Land Use and Sustainability Committee (LUSC), Roy Coley, Public Works Director presented a Resiliency Projects Update including the First Street Project and spoke of the need to reach a consensus.  A motion was made by the Committee to have a Public Works presentation made to SOFNA, and to provide the presentation's feedback at a future LUSC meeting.

On March 5, 2020, an open house was coordinated by SOFNA.  Commissioners Samuelian and Meiner attended the meeting where Public Works, Transportation, and the Marketing and Communications Departments presented Options 1 and 2 of the road design.  Roy Coley, Public Works Director further discussed the pump station location and outfall discharge at South Pointe Park and requested for SOFNA to provide its official recommendation to the City.  A decision was made by the SOFNA Committee to develop a survey where the neighborhood could vote on these items.

On May 6, 2020, Public Works received an email from SOFNA recommending option 2 of the road design and the proposed location of the pump station.  After "considering the extensive consultation with City officials, and the widespread opportunity for community feedback" SOFNA wrote, they felt "confident as a Neighborhood Association to request the City to now move ahead".  SOFNA further stated they understood "the location of the pump station in South Pointe Park and the extensive reconstruction of this segment of 1st Street is necessary for the introduction of a large-diameter storm water collection pipe".

Out of the 308 tallied votes received from the residents, 64.9% (200 residents) were in favor of Option 2; 31.4% (97 residents) were in favor of Option 1; and 3.5% (11 residents) responded but did not check off a preference.  As described above, Option 2 will be an undivided roadway with parallel parking on both sides of the road, shared bike lanes, and equal greenspace and sidewalk on both commercial and residential sides. Compared to the existing conditions, the new typical section will provide wider sidewalks and more green space. However, due to the removal of the median, 24 parking spaces on the median side will be lost.

City staff presented the SOFNA voting results to the May 26, 2020 LUSC for review and direction.  Saul Frances, Parking Director, also discussed the parking analysis for the parking needs for First Street. The study found that 58% of the residential spaces were utilized. Josiel Ferrer, Transportation Assistant Director, presented on the transportation and mobility study completed for this corridor. Following feedback from the public, the Committee members made a motion to bring the item to the June 24, 2020 City Commission for further discussions regarding Option 2, and to provide final direction.  Meanwhile, the City is to continue to receive feedback from the public before reaching Commission approval.

At its June 24 meeting, the City Commission made a motion to refer the item to the July 24, Special (Resilience) Commission for discussion and further direction.

From June 26, 2020, through July 9, 2020, the City has had an additional 9 virtual meetings with the following stakeholders:

June 26, 2020 - The Continuum Master, Continuum North and South, Portofino and South Pointe Tower 

• June 30, 2020 - One Ocean
• June 30, 2020 - The Hilton Bentley
• July 1, 2020 -    The Apogee 
• July 1, 2020 -    The Rebecca Towers
• July 2, 2020 -    SOFNA Group
• July 2, 2020 -    Joe's Stone Crab
• July 7, 2020 -    Virtual public meeting with SOFNA
• July 9, 2020 –   Smith & Wollensky

From June 26, 2020, through June 30, 2020,  mailings were sent out to the following stakeholders:  Nikki Beach, the Yacht Club at Portofino, Golden Dreams Condo Association, Marea Condominium, The Cosmopolitan, Yukon Building, PRIME Group, Smith & Wollensky, Hotel St. Augustine, 200 Washington Avenue, The Courts at South Beach, Jewish Museum of Florida (FIU), La Locanda Restaurant, Gelateria 4D, and Alda.

DESIGN EFFORTS AND PROPOSED CHANGES

In March 2017, the Mayor and City Commission approved Resolution No. 2017-29759 accepting the recommendation of the City Manager to negotiate with Wade Trim, Inc. for the Architectural and Engineering Design Services of the First Street Project.

On June 16, 2017, the City and Wade Trim entered into an agreement to perform said services. Over the course of the following two years, Wade Trim and staff coordinated with stakeholders to define the appropriate design criteria, including typical section, pump station location, and outfall location.

During this time, a change order to the original scope was negotiated and subsequently approved (Resolution No. 2019-30987) to address a change in the City’s design storm criteria from a 5-year, 24-hour storm to a 10-year, 24-hour storm. However, due to major changes in the design parameters and the lack of advancement in the project design, the City terminated the original design contract with Wade Trim Inc. for convenience.  The Administration intends to incorporate its integrated water management strategy to the First Street Project.

The City intends to continue to use the design-bid-build procurement method. The design will include the following changes in accordance with the blue green strategy provided by Jacobs Engineering:

• Implement new strategies related to Blue Green Stormwater Infrastructure
• Implement the latest stormwater level of service and design criteria
• Develop a hydraulic model that includes the latest stormwater criteria
• Attempt to design a single pump station to serve the entire South Pointe Neighborhood at the new proposed location (South Pointe Park). The feasibility of this item will be fully determined during detailed design.
• Implement requirements for water quality treatment to include a hybrid solution (pollution control devices, and outfall discharge) to address concerns raised by the regulatory agencies.

The preliminary cost for this project is approximately $25 million. The current budget is approximately $26 million. In addition, there will be a future allocation of $5 million as part of the General Obligation (GO) Bond for the above ground infrastructure. However, to comply with DERM water quality requirements, it is expected that this estimate can be 10 to 20 percent higher, dependent on what be accepted.

The Administration is currently working to show the revised project to the community, the current presentation is attached.

The City has spent significant resources engaging the community for three years. While the Administration makes every effort possible to address resident concerns, there are no projects that garner complete community support. The existential issue of sea level rise and climate change is requiring significant infrastructure investments that will adapt the City and reinforce the resilience program.

Additionally, the Transportation and Mobility Department has determined that while  both options are viable, Option 2 better aligns with the City’s adopted Modal Hierarchy and Transportation Master Plan which prioritizes pedestrians over other modes.