{"id":52852,"date":"2025-11-19T16:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/52852\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T16:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:40:08","slug":"new-stormwater-study-aims-to-present-alternative-flooding-solution-key-biscayne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/52852\/","title":{"rendered":"New stormwater study aims to present alternative flooding solution | Key Biscayne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting a second opinion on a second opinion is what two Key Biscayne Village Council members and Village Manager Steve Williamson discussed during the Nov. 12 Ad Hoc Committee Meeting<\/a> regarding a new stormwater analysis being done by GIT Consulting LLC of Miami.<\/p>\n

While matters were eventually settled, the discussion at one point led to a testy confrontation late in the 49-minute, sparsely-attended meeting.<\/p>\n

At the forefront is a $50,000 maximum pay day for Georgio Tachiev, the principal engineer at GIT<\/a>, who is quite familiar with stormwater systems, not only on Key Biscayne but also throughout Miami-Dade County, to see if his suggested method of effectively removing floodwaters aligns with that of a more costly method being brought forth by the folks at AECOM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Georgio-Tachiev-200x300.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Georgio Tachiev.<\/p>\n

Black & Veatch<\/a> engineers also are part of both analyses and collect their share of costs.<\/p>\n

Contracting an independent third-party engineer for a design study that might reduce costs, but still be efficient enough to remove floodwaters off of streets after a turbulent South Florida storm, was the goal of the three-member Ad Hoc Committee of Michael Bracken, Ed London and Fernando Vazquez (who was unable to attend), each appointed by Mayor Joe Rasco.<\/p>\n

Early in the meeting, London called the $50,000 “absurd,” although Mike Houda, the program manager with Black & Veatch, who is coordinating Key Biscayne’s Resilient Infrastructure and Adaptation Program<\/a> (RIAP), later agreed to see if Tachiev could bring that cost down with his three “deliverables,” or presentation points, set for about Dec.10, Feb. 4 and April 1, with the completion date April 15.<\/p>\n

\"1687181021400.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Mike Houda.<\/p>\n

Overseeing what Tachiev brings to the table set forth a longer discussion on who should do that scrutiny, or if a meeting needed to be scheduled each week (for 16 weeks), something Bracken estimated at some $3,100 for each 30-minute meeting.<\/p>\n

“We’re on the fast train,” Williamson said. “Four months … we need check-ins. I don’t know if he has issues with (each) week. This is a fast-moving train. If it’s going in a direction that we might not see as being the right solution, then we have to be right there working with him.”<\/p>\n

London wasn’t comfortable with weekly oversights of a professional.<\/p>\n

“If it’s not the right solution, we don’t accept it,” London said. “If he needs more information from us, he’ll ask for it. We tend in government, I guess, to make a mountain out of a mole hill. You hire a qualified guy, a competent guy, let him do his job. To oversee the thing with a weekly meeting is overburdening to him.”<\/p>\n

Williamson said, “I think this is a critical project,” adding that scrutiny is necessary when “comparing apples to apples.”<\/p>\n

“We’ve given him the information he asked for,” London said. “This is not his first rodeo. You’re talking about the leading expert in the field.”<\/p>\n

Two resolutions were adopted by 6-0 votes during the October Village Council meeting<\/a> to allow the Village of Key Biscayne to issue a work order to GIT Consulting, LLC for Zone 1 alternative stormwater modeling and planning services in an amount not to exceed $240,810, should the project proceed.<\/p>\n

Two systems with one goal<\/p>\n

Williamson noted that the Village does have a serious flooding problem, first of all.<\/p>\n

“We had some really professional engineers develop one alternative,” he said. “My understanding is that we’ve been asked to put forward a second alternative, which I am very happy about, to be honest. If we don’t put the same engineer scrutiny on this alternative, then we’re really not looking at two alternatives. I’m not a qualified engineer and I don’t think anyone on the Council has those skills.”<\/p>\n

Bracken did not have an issue with the $50,000 price tag for the analysis.<\/p>\n

“I think this will be well spent,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"1600966515434.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Councilmember Michael Bracken.<\/p>\n

London said he has nothing against Houda, although he voted against having the Black & Veatch representative at the helm of these two alternatives, the first costing millions of dollars, he said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know (that) we’re getting the best value,” he said. “There are two systems to achieve the same goal — basically, get rid of the water. They (AECOM) have one system, which is basically gravity and a big pump system, and Georgio is proposing what I call a hybrid system — a combination of different things utilizing what we have.<\/p>\n

“So, basically, he’s going to come up with a different system than Black & Veatch. We’re going to say it makes sense, or it doesn’t make sense. As far as the level of service, he’s going to say, ‘This is what I can achieve, and this is what it’s gonna cost you.’ Black & Veatch, AECOM also is going to say, ‘This is what it’s gonna cost you.’<\/p>\n

“Maybe someone will get an extra cubic feet of water off the street and that’s gonna cost us X amount of dollars. Do we want to spend that? Do we think it’s worth it? It becomes a value decision — what are you spending, what are you getting, and that’s what Council will decide.”<\/p>\n

Mayor Rasco, who was attending in a non-official capacity, reiterated the importance of scrutinizing GIT’s work when he was asked to speak.<\/p>\n

“We are not going to treat GIT differently than any other vendor we use,” he said. “Let’s get that straight. This is for your protection. If the guy screws up, we can’t say we treated him differently. … If that requires a level of scrutiny, it requires a level of scrutiny.<\/p>\n

“I’m wanting (to get) where you want to get and that’s a comparison of the two systems and figure whether that makes sense for us or not. This is not rocket science. We hired a guy to do a job but, yes, it requires some oversight by our professional staff.”<\/p>\n

London, Williamson square off<\/p>\n

London wasn’t pleased to hear the Village’s appointed attorney say that Council members were not allowed to direct the contractor. That would be under the Village Manager’s purview.<\/p>\n

“We never said the Village Manager would be the one to direct … now you’re telling us not to talk to the contractor,” London said.<\/p>\n

“You can’t direct them to tell them something differently,” was the reply from the attorney on hand.<\/p>\n

“We’re trying to find an alternative that draws a true comparison,” Williamson said. “It has to be done pretty effectively.”<\/p>\n

Then, suddenly, the meeting soured.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know what word (fits best),” Williamson said, “disappointed, offended, saddened … but to think (that) you think I’m moving forward with a bias …”<\/p>\n

“Of course you are!” snapped London. “You have to be. You’re spending a million dollars on this thing so far.”<\/p>\n

“I’m not, Ed, I’m not,” Williamson replied. “I’m a professional and I hope you respect that.”<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

Steve Williamson.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of VKB<\/p>\n

“Of course you are, but it’s human nature, Steve,” London said.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m very interested in finding out an alternative, so I wish you would stop, in every step that we have a conversation, making an assumption that I have a bias. I don’t,” Williamson said. “I\u2019m trying to work with the committee in a way to give us an alternative that’s clear and understandable so we can make a decision. So, if you can take that out of your mind, I would appreciate it.<\/p>\n

“I’ve taken your bias out of it on percolation, so let us both take each other\u2019s bias out and find a solution that works for the Village. Then, we can have a true conversation.”<\/p>\n

London wasn’t done yet.<\/p>\n

“Steve, listen to me,” he said. “I believe that you believe, that you don’t have a bias. Okay, I really believe it.”<\/p>\n

“When you continually disrespect me, I get very sad,” Williamson said.<\/p>\n

“I’m not disrespecting you at all,” London chimed in.<\/p>\n

“No, what you said was disrespectful,” Williamson said before Bracken tried to interfere and maintain decorum.<\/p>\n

“If we can take this bias out, Ed, we’re going to get to a solution very clearly and we are able to make a decision. So, can we agree as two professionals, two men, to let’s take the b-(expletive) out of it and let’s get a real solution?”<\/p>\n

“Agreed,” London answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getting a second opinion on a second opinion is what two Key Biscayne Village Council members and Village…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25534,6163,2927,13542,126,123,125,124,17943,1584,16452,33181,127],"class_list":["post-52852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-ed-london","tag-flood","tag-flooding","tag-joe-rasco","tag-key-biscayne","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-solution","tag-steve-williamson","tag-stormwater","tag-stormwater-study","tag-village-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}