Residents may not realize how much money goes underground in Miami Lakes. The town has undertaken 16 stormwater remediation projects, estimated to eventually cost $33.9 million.
Stormwater improvements have been underway since 2021, to alleviate flooding and improve water quality.
“You’ll see the construction with the excavation of the dirt and you’ll hear the noise, but once you’re done, all you see is new asphalt, new pavement or new striping,” said Public Works Director Omar Santos Baez. “You’ll know it’s there because they’re taking in the water.”
Of the 16 projects: Three are completed, eight are in construction and five are in the permitting and design phase.
“The goal is to complete or be close to completion of [all the projects] by Dec. 31, 2024,” Santos Baez said.
On Aug. 8, the town council awarded nearly $7 million in contracts. They are funded through three programs: $18.2 million from municipal bonds issued in 2021 and a federal America First Rescue Plan grant of $15.7 million.
A $660,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is funding a drainage project in the gated Royal Oaks community.
The council unanimously approved spending on these projects on Aug. 8:
• Commerce Way: $3,117,881 for drainage improvements; $170,894 for construction, engineering and inspection services to 300 Engineering Group.
• Royal Oaks: $1,650,418 for the first addition drainage improvement project; $138,791 for work order 7 for civil engineering to 300 Engineering Group.
• Royal Pointe: $102,650.60 to EXP U.S. Services, Inc., for engineering; $879,226 to RG Underground Engineering Inc. and $788,876 to Hartec Group Inc. for construction.
Also on Northwest 158th Terrace, $111,967 to Calvin Giordano and Associates, Inc. for engineering.