Page 16 - Layout 1

TLBC0220.qxp_Layout 1 1/29/20 12:43 PM Page 14

Mayor’s Message

he series of sewer main breaks that transpired in late December in Rio Vista,
Victoria Park and Coral Ridge has truly been an unfortunate event for the
T Fort Lauderdale community. The impact on people’s lives and our precious
environment is distressing.
I want the community to know that this City Commission is committed to ensuring
that our water, sewer and stormwater systems will keep pace with the demands that
we have put on them. We cannot have sewage regularly flowing through our
streets, yards and waterways. It is unacceptable.

We intend to invest as much as possible as fast possible across all our vital
infrastructure — not only our sewer system, but our water and stormwater utilities as
well. In this article, I’m going to discuss our sewer plans in particular.
When this commission took office in March 2018, we vowed that infrastructure
would be a top priority. In fact, one issue that led me to run for mayor was my
frustration with the pace of infrastructure improvement. It was something we sorely
needed.The fact is we have made major strides after inheriting an untenable
situation. The issues we are now addressing did not occur overnight - and cannot
Dean Trantalis be fixed overnight.
Mayor
dtrantalis@fortlauderdale.gov It took us time to assemble new leadership at the top of city government and in the
Public Works Department. Extricating the city from the annual raids on our utility
reserves to pay for general operations has been equally difficult given the level of
City Hall, 8th Floor
100 N Andrews Ave dependence that the prior administration created.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 So, what is this new course this commission has charted?

We have launched a five-year plan of major undertakings and are putting in place
Office Contact
Scott Wyman the means to fund this important work so the city can be resilient, competitive and
Chief of Staff to the Mayor secure in the evolving world of the 21st century. Even before the December breaks,
swyman@fortlauderdale.gov plans had been drawn up and we were already at work.
954.828.5004
The irony of what occurred is that this City Commission allocated money to begin
the rebuilding of the 54-inch line days before it broke. That financing was based on
engineering plans that were already shovel-ready. The city manager has used his
emergency purchasing authority to fund a design/build project to immediately
replace it. That work should be completed within 90 days.

This commission also has approved the long-term fix: the replacement of the entire
seven miles of collection line from its start at the Coral Ridge Country Club to the
sewage treatment plant at Port Everglades. The city manager plans an innovative
approach with a pair of contractors working together to compress the construction
schedule to a very quick turnaround of 18 months. The old line will then be
revitalized with liner sleeve technology so we will have a backup pipe that can
used should a break occur on the other.
In all, four major projects are now underway in response to the December events.
The speed and scope of this action speaks to this commission’s commitment to the
community to greatly improve infrastructure.

With our sewer, we are ahead of schedule in addressing an action plan that the
city set with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 2017. In all, we

14 The Landings & Bay Colony