M E M O R A N D U M
To: Honorable Mayor and Town Council
From: Rafael G. Casals, Town Manager
Date: September 27, 2017
Re: Issuance of a Purchase Order to AMEC Foster Wheeler, to provide additional Professional Services developing the Town’s Watershed Master Plan
REQUEST
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A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CUTLER BAY, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGER TO ISSUE A PURCHASE ORDER TO AMEC FOSTER WHEELER ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE, INC. (F/K/A AMEC ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE, INC.) TO DEVELOP THE TOWN’S WATERSHED MASTER PLAN; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The Town of Cutler Bay (the “Town”) adopted Resolution Number 12-56 on October 17, 2012, authorizing the issuance of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Professional Services for the development of the Town’s Flood Mitigation Plan. On February 20, 2013, the Town awarded RFQ #12-03 to AMEC Foster Wheeler. On June 20, 2013, the Town executed a Professional Services Agreement with AMEC Foster Wheeler for the development of the Town’s Flood Mitigation Plan via Resolution #13-14.
Watershed is frequently used to refer to the entire area that water flows across, under and through on its way to a common body of water, such as Biscayne Bay. A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it flows or runs off into the same place. For the South Miami-Dade watershed this means that all of the water in this part of the County flows into Biscayne Bay, either from a canal, through a wetland or through the aquifer. One of the main functions of a watershed is to temporarily store and transport water from the land surface to the water body and eventually on to the ocean.
The objective of the Watershed Master Plan is to prove the Town with a tool that can be used to make decisions that will reduce the increased flooding from developing on a watershed-wide basis. Stormwater management regulations can reduce the future flood threat from a developing area, but a Watershed Master Plan goes further in predicting the rainfall/runoff relationships within the watershed, and in locating existing problems and identifying potential future problems. Understanding the watershed’s behavior will help to ensure that established stormwater management regulations will prevent flood damage due to future development.
As part of this Purchase Order, AMEC Foster Wheeler will be providing the following Professional Services:
Phase I
Ø Collection of Data
Ø Examine the Impacts of Groundwater, Sea Level Rise and Climate Change on Stormwater System
Ø Modeling of Watersheds
Ø Summary of Data
Phase II
Ø Stormwater Master Plan Preparation
Ø Develop Stormwater Regulations
The Town has been an active participant in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) Program, which encourages communities to voluntarily implement standards, policies, and programs that go above and beyond the minimum NFIP regulations in return for lower flood insurance premiums. The participation and documented activities in FEMA’s CRS Program has earned the Town a current classification rating of six (6), which results in an annual savings of twenty percent (20%) to all property owners who purchase flood insurance policies. The Watershed Master Plan would aide in advancing from a CRS classification rating of a six (6) to a CRS classification rating of a four (4), which will save Cutler Bay policy holders an additional $388,488.00 per year. A CRS classification rating of a 6 saves policy holders on average $147, a class 5 saves $183, and a class 4 saves an average $220 on the cost of flood insurance annually. Currently there are only 4 communities in the country with a CRS class 4 rating. They are the following:
Ø Arizona, Maricopa County
Ø Florida, Palm Coast
Ø North Carolina, Charlotte
Ø South Carolina, Charleston County
The cost of Professional Services for the Watershed Master Plan will be funded through the Stormwater Utility Fund.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Town Council approve the attached Resolution, authorizing the Town Manager to issue a Purchase Order in the amount of $62,700 to AMEC Foster Wheeler, to provide additional Professional Services developing the Town’s Watershed Master Plan.