Dick Bunnell opened the meeting and all attendees made self-introductions.  Rene Perez, Army Corps of Engineers, introduced himself to the group and informed everyone that he is the new project manager in charge of dredging the Miami River for the Corps.  Rene also introduced Loren Mason, the new Chief of the Environmental Planning Division up in Jacksonville.  Mr. Perez stated that they have received comments from the South Atlantic Division in Atlanta, Headquarters in Washington D.C. and from the Assistant Secretary of the Army of the United States on the Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP).  The Jacksonville Division is currently trying to respond to all of the comments.  They have responded to some already but they keep getting more comments.  The Jacksonville Division has been granted permission from the Atlanta Division to transmit the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week.  Mr. Perez stated that it will be published in the federal register on November 22, 2002.  The DMMP and the Project Cooperation Agreement (PCA) will be put together within the next couple of weeks.  They will be sent to the Atlanta Division and concurrently sent to Headquarters for approval.  David Miller asked Mr. Perez what is the current timeline for the dredging project.  Mr. Perez stated that the release of the Request for Proposals (RFP) would be January 30, 2003.  Bids will be received until March 17, 2003.  The selection process will take place between March 19 and April 16, 2003.  Permitting for this project could take up to three months, depending on the sediment disposal method.  The dredging will commence during the period of May 19 through July 16, 2003.  The attendees of the meeting urged the Corps to publish a draft RFP to aid in efficiency and to show the public that we are making progress in this project.

            Dick asked Carlos Espinosa to comment on the status of the Bank-to-Bank project.  The form for the mass mailing from the county has been approved.  The cover letter that will accompany the form is currently under review.  In total 326 letters will be sent out to riparian property owners by certified mail.  Carlos stated that he was expecting that the County attorneys would approve the letter very soon and the mailing could be sent out in a few days.  The Bank-to-Bank project encompasses 184,000 cubic yards of material per Corps sediment surveys.  Dick stated that the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) would match the City and County funds for dredging.  The City and the County are supposed to pay $2.5 million each for the federal dredging project.  This would mean that FIND would allocate a total of $5 million to the dredging project which Dick thinks should be spent entirely on the Bank-to-Bank option.  Roman Gastesi 

stated that we need to get Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funding for the Bank-to-Bank option. 

            The next river utility crossing meeting is scheduled for December 2, 2002.  Manuel Aguila, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), stated that they are moving ahead with their cable replacements.  Florida Power and Light (FPL) and the Water and Sewer Department (WASD) have their permits but still must relocate their utility lines in the River.  Bell South is in the process of meeting with the Corps about their utility crossings. 

            Tish Burgher stated that the FDOT utility crossing relocation project was going to start on Monday December 2, 2002.    The first relocation project will start at Flagler Street in order to coincide with the reconstruction of the bridge tender house.  She stated that they would be utilizing the same notification system that is in place to notify the various marine user groups for the 2^nd Avenue Bridge construction project.  She assured the group that unlike the 2^nd Avenue Bridge construction, there is flexibility in the schedule and there would be less impact on river marine traffic.  She is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to schedule river closure periods, but the closure period would be only about two hours.  Ms. Burgher introduced John Bolton the project manager for the FDOT utility crossing relocation.  They will be relocating utility lines at six different locations.  Mr. Bolton stated that the project would occur in the following order: Flagler, 27^th Avenue, 12^th Avenue, 5^th Street, 1^st Street and Brickell Avenue.  He stated that there would be no impact to navigation during the digging phase of the project; they would be conducting all of the work with a long line excavator off of a 25’x 40’ work barge.  The barge would be able to get out of the way for ships passing by.  Blue Water Marine has been subcontracted to do all of the underwater work.  The contract is $2.6 million.  Mr. Bolton stated that shipping and boat traffic would have to be halted during a two-hour window of time when the cables would be laid in the trenches.  He explained that FDOT is planning on having the entire relocation process finished by September 2003.  For each site they must dig up the old cable and a new trench and finally lay the new cable at each site.  This would occur during daylight hours only.  The cable is 4” thick and therefore does not bend easily, so Manny emphasized that the dredging must stay 10 feet from the bridge structures.  The relocation project will meet Corps standards.  The cable will be sunk 22’ below mean low water in soft sediment and 19’ below mean low water in rock substrate.  All of the material that is dug must stay on the river bottom.               

            The next Dredging Working Group meeting was scheduled for Wednesday December 18, 2002 at 10 am.  The meeting will take place at the Rosenstiel School Library Map Room.