It is recommended that the Mayor and Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida authorize the issuance of Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for engineering services for seawalls and living shorelines.

The City of Miami Beach is investing in infrastructure to reduce flood risk and adapt to climate change. As part of its resilience efforts, the City has updated multiple land use codes for new construction to address stormwater retention, and setbacks, and to increase base flood and freeboard requirements. Most recently, the City adopted an Ordinance entitled “Resiliency Standards for Tidal and Flood Protection”, requiring all new seawalls, and those being reconstructed, to have a minimum elevation of 5.7 ft. NAVD.

The City of Miami Beach has approximately 55 miles of seawalls of which approximately 50 miles are privately owned, and 5 miles are City-owned. To optimize the benefits of the seawall program, the Public Works Department developed a methodology to prioritize the reconstruction of approximately 2.8 miles of City-owned seawalls within the next 10 years. Factors such as elevation, location, and condition of each seawall were used to develop the initial ranking of each seawall.

The initial rankings were then adjusted to capture the benefits derived from contiguous private seawall segments. Essentially, by optimizing the elevation of public seawalls adjacent to extended private seawall segments, the City can mitigate additional flooding and encourage residents to reconstruct their seawalls. Thus, the ultimate focus of the seawall prioritization was to establish a continuous storm surge and overland flooding barrier throughout the City.

The seawall prioritization was approved and adopted in 2021, and since then, the City has been working on executing the design and construction of prioritized segments. In 2021, the City also identified the most viable locations for implementing a living shoreline within existing City-owned shoreline segments.  Living shoreline projects may utilize a variety of structural and organic materials, such as wetland plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, oyster reefs, sand fill, and stone.

The City is interested in partnering with the most innovative and solutions-oriented engineers in the field dedicated to resilience and Miami Beach Rising Above, to continue to carry out the planned improvements to the prioritized seawall segments. These planned improvements include a combination of conventional seawalls, hybrid seawalls, and living shorelines. The intent is to maximize sustainable and resilient solutions for our City.

Accordingly, the Administration developed RFQ 2024-234-ND seeking proposals for the desired services.

Through this RFQ the City desires to receive proposals from qualified firms that can provide professional services in accordance with Section 287.055, Florida Statutes, commonly referred to as the Consultant’s Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA).  The City may, after considering proposals received, make an award to a qualified consultant(s) that act in the capacity of the City’s prime consultant on its long-term prioritization projects for seawall and living shorelines.

The scope of work and requirements of the RFQ are more fully defined in the RFQ attached as Attachment A.

Following the receipt of proposals, an Evaluation Committee will review proposals in accordance with the criteria established in the RFQ.

Based on the 2022 resident survey, thirty-eight (38.3%) of residents are satisfied with the City’s efforts to manage stormwater drainage and flooding.  As such, twenty-two percent (21.9%) of residents considered stormwater drainage and flooding a top opportunity for improvement over the next two years.  The satisfaction of residents with the City’s efforts to manage stormwater drainage and flooding decreased from 2019 to 2022 by eleven percent (11.4%).  In order to address the residents' concerns, the City intends to contract with the most innovative and solutions-oriented engineers in the field dedicated to resilience and Miami Beach Rising Above, to continue to carry out the planned improvements to the seawalls, hybrid seawalls, and living shorelines.

Based on the foregoing, it is recommended that the Mayor and Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida authorize the issuance of RFQ 2024-234-ND, for engineering services for seawalls and living shorelines.

LOBBYIST DISCLOSURE

In accordance with Resolution No. 2023-32857, adopted by the City Commission on December 13, 2023, the following information has been provided by the Administration:

1. Was the Agenda Item initially requested by a lobbyist which, as defined in Code Sec. 2-481, includes a principal engaged in lobbying? No.

2. If so, specify name of lobbyist(s) and principal(s): Not applicable.