The City operates a sewage conveyance system (the City System) for the use and benefit of its inhabitants, and has also historically provided sewage conveyance for disposal services to the neighboring towns, known as the Satellite Cities, including the Village of Bal Harbour.

The City Commission approved Resolution No. 13447 to enter into an agreement with the Village of Bal Harbour on November 17, 1971 to provide sewage conveyance for disposal services.  However, due to the then proposed connection of the City System to the Virginia Key treatment facility, the City exercised its right to terminate the agreement at its December 5, 1979 Commission meeting, pursuant to Resolution No. 79-16116.

Notwithstanding such termination of the agreement, the City and Bal Harbour's intent was not to discontinue the City's provision of the services to Bal Harbour, but rather to continue to provide them on a month to month basis until the new terms including, without limitation, new rates under an appropriate rate setting procedure (after the City's costs could be determined for operation under the new system) could be established.

This relationship has survived to the present day.  The City and Bal Harbour now wish to enter into a new agreement ("Agreement") for sewage conveyance for disposal services hereinafter, the "Services"; particularly insofar as memorializing the method of compensation to be paid by Bal Harbour to the City is concerned.

The Mayor and Village Council of the Village of Bal Harbour adopted Resolution No. 2017-1068 authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement on January 17, 2017.

In 2011, the Town of Surfside and the Village of Bal Harbour laid a new 16 inch diameter pipeline to 73rd Street to convey their wastewater to the City of Miami Beach. There had been a history of controversy over the billing of the satellite cities. At that time, it was determined that the City of Miami Beach would provide new meters to be installed in the pipeline to measure the flows. The Town of Surfside did install two meters provided by the City into their system. A meter registering the Bal Harbour flow was not installed as a manhole would have needed to be constructed to house the meter. A third meter was installed at the parking lot on 73rd Street which provided the total flow from satellite cities. The monthly Bal Harbour flow was determined by deducting the other meters from the total flow measured. Again, billing problems arose, particularly when the Town of Surfside underwent a pump station rehabilitation project and the metered flow was not available.

In 2016, Bal Harbour engaged in a construction project that included installing a meter within a manhole as had been requested earlier. Specifications were provided to Bal Harbour to ensure that all of the meters utilized to measure the sewerage flows were the same and met the City of Miami Beach’s requirements. Therefore, all of the flows can now be metered and totaled which provide a level of checks and balances as well as sufficient redundancy should a failure occur in any one of the meters.

Since the agreement stipulates that the meters to measure the flow belong to the City of Miami Beach and the City is responsible for reading and calibrating the meters, Bal Harbour would like to transfer ownership of the installed meter to the City.