ANALYSIS:
On February 12, 2014, the City adopted Resolution 2014-28499, which approved the recommendation of The Flooding Mitigation Committee to amend the SWMMP so as to modify the design criteria for a “tailwater elevation” to be increased from 0.5 FT-NAVD to 2.7 FT-NAVD for all tidal boundary conditions.
On May 11, 2016, the Mayor and City Commission adopted Ordinances 2016-4009, amending Chapter 54 of the City Code entitled “Floods” to define City of Miami Beach Freeboard, and modify how grade elevation and height are defined due to flooding and climate change.
On June 8, 2016, the Mayor and City Commission adopted Resolution 2016-29454 which amended the SWWMP to incorporate AECOM’s, the City’s stormwater consultant, recommendations to modify the level of service design storm, future crown of road, and seawall height.
At its April 23, 2014 meeting, the City Commission approved Resolution 2014-28580 accepting the recommendations of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Flooding and Sea Level Rise to design and implement the upgrade of the City’s storm drainage system to meet the new design criteria set by the City Commission with a potential estimated cost of $400 million and with the completion time of 3 to 5 years.
At its May 20, 2014 meeting, the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) presented the funding strategy for this program, and recommended the issuance of three separate $100 million stormwater tranches. The first bond was issued in July, 2015, the second bond was issued in December, 2017, and the third bond issuance is anticipated in fiscal year 2022.
An Engineer’s Report is required and included in the bond documents that are assembled for the issuance of a municipal utility revenue bond. The report represents the official statement with regards to the City’s stormwater system including the proposed projects to provide a comprehensive solution to meet the increasing performance, permitting and regulatory requirements.
The planned improvements identified in the Series 2015 Bond Engineer’s Report were tabulated and totaled $431,941,516. The planned improvements identified in the Series 2017 Bond Engineer’s Report totaled $658,940,087. The increased total reflects changes made to the SWWMP between the two reports.
Initially, not all of the neighborhoods were programed to receive complete reconstruction of the neighborhood stormwater management system, as the program was focused on the extremely low lying and most vulnerable areas. Between July 2015 and December 2017 varying directives from the Flood Mitigation Committee, the Blue Ribbon Panel on Flooding and Sea Level Rise, other consultants, as well as the City Commission refined (and continues to refine) the program. As these refinements were made over that time period, a more detailed cost estimate was developed based upon, among other factors: 1) detailed stormwater models were developed for each of the neighborhoods within the City and as such a more detailed cost estimate was able to be developed, 2) more areas of the City are now contemplated to be served by the public infrastructure (i.e. instead of the traditional standard of the road rights-of way plus a 25-foot wide strip on either side, the stormwater system is currently being designed for half of any waterfront lot and the entirety of all interior lots), 3) construction costs (unit costs) utilized in the initial cost estimate have been updated to more accurately reflect actual unit costs being charged by Contractors working within the City limits as opposed to “regional” values, and 4) the concept of a firm installed capacity and mechanical redundancy for areas served by pumping systems increases the size and/or number of pumping units.
It is important to note that, the cost estimates reflected in the 2015 and 2017 engineer’s reports, and the reports themselves are/were based on AECOM’s understanding of the stormwater program at that time, and in the case of the 2017 report, the then standard 5-year / 24-hour design storm consisting of a 24-hour rainfall of 7.5 inches, and neither includes the costs associated with the installation of permanent generators.
As the Stormwater Management Master Plan continues to be refined, the total cost of the city wide improvements will also be adjusted. Additional factors that effect the total cost include increases in construction and material costs as well as permitting requirements.
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