R4R JULY NEWSLETTER
Advocating for Resilience
through
EDUCATION - COMMUNICATION - ADVOCATION - COLLABORATION
Dear Residents for Resilience (R4R) members,
I hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying your summer! A warm welcome to our new members who join us daily. As our membership grows, so does our collective voice, and we are thrilled to have you on our team! If you are interested in getting more involved in our advocacy for flood mitigation, storm resiliency, safe and clean drinking water, or our fight to restore the health of our priceless waterways, please let us know. We have committees forming for each of these critical issues, and your participation would be invaluable. Also, if you are interested in joining our R4R Board or Expert Advisory Committee please contact us at res4resilience@gmail.com.
Speaking of Critical Issues
South Florida was once again hit by an extreme weather event last month. The recent deluge of rain and wind caused massive flooding, transforming roadways into rivers and leaving homes and businesses struggling to cope with water damage. This rain bomb led to thousands of power outages, road closures, including a stretch of I-95, airport cancellations, and hundreds of stalled and ruined cars. These storms are now happening more frequently and seem to be growing in intensity. For your well being and safety, R4R strives to keep you informed on the most up-to-date flood data and storm resiliency information as you will see below. Stay safe!
Broward County Technical Advisory Committee Update
Check out Tricia Halliday’s update on the latest Broward County Technical Advisory Committee meeting held on June 21, 2024. Alongside important data on this June's extreme weather event, Tricia and I had the pleasure of attending three insightful presentations, along with the Climate Resilience Unit. These presentations emphasized the importance of resilient and innovative solutions in our ongoing battle against climate change.
We are grateful to the County for inviting us to these informative meetings. One of our R4R slogans is “it’s hard to care about what you don’t know about,” so I encourage you to attend future meetings. Their presentations provide a wealth of information and underscore the urgent need for comprehensive and sustainable approaches to flood management and resiliency planning.
Upcoming “Water-logged” Events
I also invite you to attend our "Water-logged - Weathering the Storm”, webinar series coming this fall! Hear updated flood risk data, from top flood and storm resiiency specialist, who will also share information and tips on how to fortify our homes and neighborhoods against future extreme weather events. This knowledge could potentially lead to lower insurance rates. Stay tuned for more details!
Concerns Over City of Fort Lauderale Waterway Cleanup Contract
Another issue that has caught the attention of our members is the Fort Lauderdale Commission agenda item, M4-24-0553, later re-designated as M11-240676. This item involves a $4.5-7 million contract for “waterway clean-up” with the Aquatic Control Group from Miami.
Initially, this agenda item (M4-24-0553) was scheduled for a vote at the June 18th Commission meeting. However, due to various reasons—including the substantial volume of objections received from our community—it was pulled from the agenda. It reappeared as M11-240676, now under the title "Waterway Cleaning and Algal Control," and was subsequently approved at the July 2nd meeting.
While we are thrilled to see such a significant financial commitment to our waterways, several aspects of this contract have prompted a strong response from our community.
Key Concerns:
Questionable Bidding Process: Many members have raised concerns about the transparency and fairness of the bidding process for this contract. There is a strong sense that the process was rushed and lacked the necessary scrutiny to ensure the best possible outcome for our waterways.
Short-Term Chemical Solutions: The contract appears to focus heavily on chemical treatments and short-term fixes such as herbicide and algaecide applications. These methods, while effective in the short run, do not address the root causes of waterway pollution and could have long-term adverse effects on our marine ecosystem and wildlife.
Lack of Natural Remediation Strategies:
There is a notable absence of long-term, natural remediation solutions in this contract or any city waterway clean-up efforts. For the past few years, R4R has repeatedly advocated for sustainable methods such as enhanced living seawalls, biochar filters, mangroves, and other long-term nature-based solutions, including oysters, which could provide lasting improvements to our marine water quality.
These methods not only align with ecological principles but also have the potential to create a healthier, more resilient marine ecosystem that benefits both the community and local wildlife, along with aiding in shoreline storm protection.
We were informed that this contract primarily covers canal garbage and debris pickup, costing $681,543.60 annually, and that any delay in its approval would halt all trash removal services on our canals and waterways until a new contract could be drawn up and agreed upon, potentially taking up to a year.
Not wanting to risk the discontinuation of garbage removal services, we chose not to attend the July meeting to again request the item be pulled from the agenda. However, I did express our ongoing concerns in an email to all Commissioners and the Mayor. Commissioner John Herbst was the only one who responded to our email, expressing support for our concerns.
* A quick FYI--R4R just received an email from the city stating that this contract is being reissued to bid, with the same scope and line items, and is scheduled to close on or around July 24th.
Call to Action
I have a meeting with Fort Lauderdale City Manager, Susan Grant, next week to discuss more comprehensive and sustainable approaches to waterway management, including our Educational Waterway Remediation Pilot Projects. Reaching out to our City Leaders to show your support for our recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I have included their email addresses below. Your voice is crucial in advocating for long-term remediation efforts that will benefit our community and environment for years to come. See our proposed Waterway Remediation Projects below!
Together, we can push for the changes needed to ensure our waterways are not only clean today but healthy and thriving for future generations.
Thanks for your support!
Suzee
Contact Information:
Mayor Dean Trantalis: dtrantalis@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner John Herbst: JHerbst@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Warren Sturman: wsturman-fortlauderdale.gov@shared1.ccsend.com
Vice Mayor Steven Glassman: SGlassman@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman: pbeasleypittman@fortlauderdale.gov
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contact us at:
res4resilience@gmail.com
