Stormwater Fees Raised As Resiliency Issues Dominate Budget Hearing

Florida House Rep. Nick Duran, D-Miami, meets with Key Biscayne Village Manager Andrea Agha during a tour to discuss resilience issues, Aug. 28, 2019. The Village is seeking to reverse a decision excluding beaches from the federal shoreline protection program run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Key News/Tony Winton)

Tuesday’s twin Village Council meetings laid bare divisions both on and off the dais over Key Biscayne’s resiliency plans, as well as what appears to be a widening gap between the Mayor and the Village manager. 

First, a crucial vote on increasing fees for upkeep and improvement of storm drains passed 6-1, despite a lone no vote by Council Member Ignacio Segurola. He said the fee increase was a  “half-measure” that did not adequately include condominium owners in solutions.

Next, a discussion on hiring a Chief Resilience Officer exposed differences between Council members and the Village administration — some of which saw some testy exchanges between Village Manager Andrea Agha and Mayor Mike Davey. 

In later comments, Council Member Ed London also sounded a note of skepticism, saying the words resiliency and sustainability “sound politically good these days.” 

Stormwaters brewing

The stormwater move will double monthly fees to $16.90 for condos and $26 for single family homes. This will generate an extra $880,000 to support debt refinancing needed for improvements estimated at $17 million over three years.

Segurola volunteered to help draft a question to the state Attorney General to clarify whether tax dollars can be spent on private roads and drainage systems now owned by condominiums. He will work with Village Attorney Chad Friedman. Unanswered Tuesday was whether the condo community will go along with the plans. Deeding property to the Village may require separate votes by condo owners, a review of documents shows.

In what was expected to be a tense discussion, Segurola said there was a misconception that condo owners want out of the fees. He said this is incorrect and that “they think it should go further and want in.”

Vice Mayor Allison McCormick urged unity, saying, “If we don’t look at this island and say, ‘water is coming, let’s figure it out together,’ then we’re going to just be sloshing around.”

On the issue of access to private property, Council Member London cited Star Island and Gables Estates, “some of the wealthiest communities in Miami,” as examples of public roads that are nonetheless guarded by security gates at their entrances.

Mayor Davey wanted to “stop talking and start doing,” asking Agha to schedule a discussion item at the October Council meeting.

“We have to get going on resiliency and sustainability issues on this island,” Davey said. “I want to be here in another 60 years.”

Moving things further in that direction, $600,000 was added into capital improvement projects for beach renourishment, a move Davey advocates regardless of the result with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study required before the island could even hope to be eligible for federal shoreline protection funds. Meanwhile, several Council members plan travel to Washington next week to pursue just that. 

The rhetoric of resilience

Davey’s sentiment echoed a number of impassioned pleas from the community for a greater focus on resilience. During public comments, four long-term residents – some experts in their fields – implored the Council to prioritize it in the budget.

“We are way behind,” said former Council Member Luis de la Cruz. Referring to a line in Agha’s budget memo, de la Cruz said, “I can’t believe we’re speaking in those terms.”

The line in question queried whether the Village has a “communications issue and not a resilience competency issue.” The confusion over the two seemingly unrelated disciplines has riled both public commentators advocating for a full-time chief resilience officer to be funded in the budget, and apparently also Davey, who asked for it and a separate communications role to be discussed at the second budget hearing Sept. 24.

Almost four and a half hours into the evening, Davey, frustrated by Agha’s presentation, asked for specific line items for the roles to be shown more clearly. “I need this broken down,” he said. 

“We need a briefing, Mayor,” Agha shot back.

Scrutiny of a new resiliency role came from London, who asked if there was enough work for a full-time position, and whether it should be contracted or in-house.

“I’m wary of creating jobs and bureaucracy,” he said at the meeting. Later London said he would need to know the job definition and responsibilities before making a decision. “What kind of person are they really looking at? Is it an engineer? Is it a business graduate?”

London did however vote for the stormwater fee hike, saying, “I would speed up the process and do more, quicker…I don’t need a resiliency officer to tell me that.”

Agha admitted in the meeting she “clearly needed” to revise the line.

“What I was trying to convey is that a large part of that role is to be able to understand the science, engineering and environmental planning elements – and to then communicate that in a way folks understand,” Agha later said.

It’s a notion that had backing from some on the dais, when Council Member Katie Petros advocated for the combined role, citing the chief resilience officer of Miami Beach as an example. “She is an English major,” said Petros. “The skillset of a resiliency officer is not an engineer or a scientist. It’s a communicator.” 

Agha later echoed Petros, saying Susanne Torriente at Miami Beach does hold a bachelor’s degree. in English. Asked how much technical expertise the role needs, she said, “We do need technical competence,” but that “we’ve got enough material and we’ve studied and planned enough. We need someone technically excellent to help synthesize.”

Torriente may have studied English, but she has also spent 29 years in local government in South Florida, at least six of which were largely focussed on sustainability issues. And, says Melissa Berthier, assistant director of the Miami Beach communications department, Torriente has a big role. “It’s not just sea level rise and climate change.” 

Asked if communications and resiliency should be together as one role, Berthier said no. “My office does a ton in terms of communicating resiliency,” she said.

Over at the City of Miami, Chief Resilience Officer Jane Gilbert earned a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science from Barnard College, according to John Heffernan, deputy director of communication, before a Master of Public Administration in Urban Community Development, Education from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

If Davey has his way Sept. 24, the position will be budgeted. “We are a pile of sand between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. Every project we do should involve resiliency and sustainability,” he said. 

As for Agha? “I do think we’ll get support. Nobody is going to be happy on every decision, but I think we will align.”