With an alternative to the Big Dig stormwater plan now being considered, the Key Biscayne Village Council is set to decide Tuesday whether it will turn off the spigot of taxpayer dollars flowing to an engineering firm overseeing the ambitious project designed to address future sea-level rise.
It won’t be easy. The $308,000 work order for Black & Veatch expands far beyond the Resilient Infrastructure and Adaptation Plan – the formal name for the Big Dig. At last account, the Village spends more than $300,000 a month to Black & Veatch and AECOM, another engineering firm.
The money flow follows a strategy promoted by billionaire Jay Faison, whose companies urge coastal municipalities to invest in expensive infrastructure, creating projects that for engineers, contractors, equipment manufacturers and construction businesses. The Independent last year detailed the connection between Faison and Village Manager Steve Williamson.
Williamson said a consulting position with a Faison non-profit to lobby municipalities and their residents for big stormwater projects – called Flood Defenders – ended before he was hired by the Village.
The Big Dig, which includes burying utility lines, raising roads, and fortifying the coastline, is estimated at $320 million. Zone 1 of the project, which encompasses the K-8 school, saw its price tag double last year to $85 million.
The flow of dollars to Black & Veatch intensified last month when it was learned the VIllage paid it $20,000 to fill out paperwork so Key Biscayne can qualify for a low interest state loan.
“I think the work orders were for $33(million) and they’d spent $20 (million) by the time we came to the meeting,” London said. “I think you should take a look at the application. If you’ve never seen it. I’m sure we could have filled it out ourselves.”
London has long been a ‘no’ vote for money allocated to Black & Veatch and was the impetus behind the Village seeking an alternative to the Big Dig. Independent readers chose him as 2025 Newsmaker of the Year after his opposition led Mayor Joe Rasco to appoint him to a review committee with Council Members Fernando Vazquez and Michael Bracken.
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The Independent also detailed before a Thursday workshop a report on the new plan developed by GIT Consulting and engineer Giorgio Tachiev. It envisions using the existing drainage pipes aided by wells that would store water until rain subsides and then send it into the Biscayne Bay with smaller, less expensive pumps.
The Big Dig aims to upsize stormwater pipes and use big pumps to push the water to new outfalls after it has been treated to meet new Miami-Dade County water quality standards.
READ: Small dig engineer raises questions about Key Biscayne’s $320 million flooding plan
Tachiev on Thursday outlined the new concept for council members. For his part, Williamson seemed to embrace the presentation that could derail his signature project. “This is an important step. This is the first workshop that we have had at the council level to talk about the alternative approach of addressing our flooding in Zone 1,” he said.
FILE – Council Member Ed London speaks to Village Manager Steve Williamson before a council meeting, July 1, 2025 (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
What became apparent during the workshop is that the “Small Dig” plan has hurdles of its own. Vazquez – a former AECOM engineer – said he was concerned about using existing outfalls and pipes without a thorough video examination.
“You don’t know whether that pipe has root intrusions, or whether there’s, you know, God forbid, I don’t know something inside,” Vazquez said.
Tachiev briefly addressed water quality, saying green infrastructure could help treat water locally. He said directing the “first flush” (initial runoff) underground via injection wells would also address treatment needs, potentially simplifying outfall discharges.
“So far, what we have done here is theoretical,” Tachiev said. He is developing a more detailed plan that Williamson said he expects in April.
As for the Big Dig, AECOM has it 100% designed and the project is ready to be sent out to bid, setting the stage for the $308,000 work order to Black & Veatch to supervise that process. That vote, put on hold last month, is in front of the Council Tuesday.
London is, of course, a ‘no’ vote but the question is whether there will be signs of wavering among his peers, which could be an indication the Big Dig is in trouble — since it takes a supermajority to approve any borrowing for the infrastructure project.
FILE — Council Member Fernando Vazquez speaks about the Big Dig project at a Key Biscayne Village Council Meeting, Jan. 14, 2025 (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
Williamson said, in a memo to the Council, that if the work order is not approved then staff would need to take over for the Garden District stormwater project – which is separate from the Big Dig – manage the analysis of the GIT plan, and do its own permitting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Feasibility Study – just to name a few of his bullet points.
“In addition, the Village would lose access to Black & Veach’s deep technical bench and multi-functional team, which currently provides engineering expertise,” Williamson said.
London said he is tired of Black & Veatch becoming entrenched in the Village to the point that the Council is held hostage. London has sometimes argued the Village could hire its own technical staff at lower cost and greater accountability, but has not offered a formal motion to do so.
“Basically, we’ve been using them as our project engineer, our project manager, our project supervisor, whatever you want for a project we’re not even doing or haven’t done,” London said.
“They also want $50,000 to supervise GIT,” he said. “That’s also crazy.”
Vazquez, speaking after the workshop, said: “What this Council is doing now is that you’re creating the battle of the engineers. You’re going to have a solid opinion from two professionals, and now we’re going to have to dictate which.”
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JOHN PACENTI is a correspondent of the Key Biscayne Independent. John has worked for The Associated Press, the Palm Beach Post, Daily Business Review, and WPTV-TV.