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MIAMI RIVER COMMISSION 
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Miami, Fl. 33149
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e-mail: mrc@rsmas.miami.edu

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The Miami River Commission Dredging Working Group meeting was called to order at 10 AM at Conference Room A at the offices of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP located at 5300 First Union Financial Center, 200 South Biscayne Blvd., Miami, Florida. Working Group members in attendance are listed on the attached sign-in sheet.

Discussions: Co-Chair Scott Mitchell opened the meeting. Dick Bunnell was unable to attend today’s meeting.

Land Acquisition: Scott asked Roger Hcrnstadt to provide an update on the County’s acquisition of land to be used as the temporary drying site for dredged spoils. Roger stated the county is trying to obtain a 10-acre parking lot by the Jai Alai building. The property is currently owned by the aviation department and is to be used for parking areas during airport construction and expansion. Meetings between county departments concerning the use of this property for the dredging project vice overflow airport parking are proceeding. The main issue is that other suitable parking areas to replace the Jailai parking must be found.

The county is also proceeding with advertising for other private properties along the river that may be suitable for the dredging project. Questions and general discussion ensued.

The group was very concerned that the county would pursue the Jai Alai property for 6-8 months, similar to their efforts with the intermodal property issue and possibly miss out on available private properties. Roger stated that if a suitable private property became available the county would go forward with the private property lease. Scott Mitchell was concerned with the Sailai property because the airport and American Airlines may be against using the property for dredging and he was concerned that aviation funds may have been used to purchase the property and this may pose another hurdle in acquiring this property. Roger agrees with Scott, but still believes this property is viable for the dredging project. Don Chinquina, Executive Director of Tropical Audubon Society, inc. stated his organization is not opposed to the dredging project and is supportive of the group; however, he is concerned about other land sites that may be in neighborhoods and stressed the need for an industrial type site for the temporary drying area. Discussion ensued with no substantial resolution. David Miller asked if there was a timeline for a decision on the property as he was concerned that if a decision is not made soon, Miami- Dade County may again lose funds appropriated for the project. Roger stated the newspaper add requesting property has a deadline of July 28, 2000. Roger also stated that his position with the dredging project was supposed to be a little side project and it is now taking up 50% of his time. [This was of concern because senior county officials advised the Miami River Commission that the dredging project was a priority issue. With millions of dollars at stake, it should not be considered a “side project”.]

Discussion ensued about the timeline for finding and water quality permitting and whether we again will possibly lose federal funding.

Use of the FEC Bicentennial Park Slip for Sediment Disposal:
This issue was raised at the last meeting and was scheduled for further discussion at this meeting. Jerry Scarborough, ACOE, advised the group that the Army Corps is not going tO take a position on the use of the slip as that is the responsibility of the local sponsor. Dianne Johnson, City of Miami, provided a copy of the City of Miami deed for the park and the information revealed that park and slip are basically a land grant from the State that covers the submerges lands and it was dated 1919. The City will work with the County if filling the slip with dredged spoils is an option. City officials feel that filling or partially filling the slip would be advantageous to the city. Jerry Scarborough felt that it would take years and years to convince environmental agencies and organizations that utilizing the slip is feasible and therefore the Corps will not pursue that objective as they believe it will just prolong and already unbelievably long project! Jerry said if other entities want to pursue this avenue then OK, but the Corps will not pursue this endeavor. Don Chinquina guarantees the environmental community would be politically and pragmatically against utilizing the slip as a final site for contaminated dredged spoils. Susan Markley DERM advised that the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve Act would be another hurdle to overcome. David Miller will discuss this issue with environmental organizations. The group agreed that under no circumstances would the “slip” issue slow down the conventional upland disposal plan for the sediments.

Summary of FIND meeting: Dianne Johnson, Susan Markley and David Miller met with David Roach, Executive Director of Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND). The resultof the meeting was that FIND would enter into a local agreement with the County and/or City to provide matching funds for the dredging project. The City of Miami will make a presentation at the next FID Board of Commissioners meeting. David Roach was very receptive to the local agreement and will recommend that procedure at the FIND board meeting.

Army Corps issues: Jerry Scarborough will initiate the submission of the water quality permit without the land acquisition and will modify the permit once we get the land issue resolved. The Corps will be requesting a variance from the Department of Environmental Protection. Preliminary meetings with the DEl’ indicate they understand the need for a variance and will look favorably at the request. Jerry advised that a Corps hired consultant is currently conducting an updated survey of the river sediment and this report should be done by August 2000.

Fact Sheet on Contaminated Sediments: David Miller, with technical assistance from DERM and the Army Corps, developed a fact sheet to explain to the public what “contaminated sediments” really means. All members were asked to review the sheet and provide David with any comments.   

New Business: David Miller advised the group that there is a line item in the House of Representatives budget for $4 million dollars for Miami River dredging. This is significant because the budget submitted by the Clinton Administration did not contain any funds for Miami River dredging. This appropriation is the result of hard work by oui South Florida delegation and they deserve full credit for tins appropriation. Final federal budget approval will occur near October 1, 2000, when the President signs the budget.

           The next meeting was scheduled for August 10, 2000 at the U. S. Coast Guard office. The meeting adjourned at 12:00 Noon.

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