Up Next For Miami: $192 Million In Old And New funding To Deal With Flooding Streets, Rising Seas

[hatrack]

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City administrators have released a long-awaited list of the first round of improvements to be funded by the $400 million Forever Bond, approved by voters in the November 2017 election. Voters gave their government permission to borrow money on the municipal bond market and use a new property tax to pay for a range of public projects across the city.

The bond passed as an outgoing victory of then-mayor Tomas Regalado. With the election of Mayor Francis Suarez came a change to city hall’s administration. Under new City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, a mix of new and old administrators set about devising a list of projects in five categories promised to voters:

▪ $192 million for anti-flooding pumps, seawall improvements, drainage upgrades and other adaptation projects in the face of sea level rise.

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Part of this funding includes $10.3 million toward fighting sea level rise, although city staffers were quick to point out these projects avoid the major drainage basins of the city, which require larger scale solutions and will be addressed with the ongoing stormwater master plan. Williamson said with more details from the stormwater planners, the city can use bond money to pursue outside funding and matching dollars to pay for sea rise projects. “We also want to make sure that we can leverage other people’s money,” he said. “If we spend too much money upfront, we lose that possibility.”

The marquee project in the group is the sea-rise friendly revamp of Brickell Bay Drive, a low-lying coastal stretch of road that was swamped with storm surge in Hurricane Irma. If approved, this group of bond projects would include a million dollars toward a new design for the road, which could include a living shoreline or a park. Suarez said the city would seek matching funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. “It’s needed, and the residents have been asking for it,” he said. “It would protect thousands of people.”

Link to tweet

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https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article222651895.html

[mitch96]

1. This is like musical chairs

And when the music stops the rank and file will be with out a chair and the real estate investors will walk away laughing... Sure, get the people of Miami to pay for actions that will preserve the RE investors property.. Then when there is too much water, the RE guys will just walk away leaving Miami holding the bag.... of water. It's coming in a few decades... Miami/Ft Lauderdale and South Florida will be under water...... and worthless...
m

[safeinOhio]

2. Way too little

Way to late

$192 million, not even a drop in the bucket.