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MIAMI RIVER COMMISSION 
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4600 Rickenbacker Cswy,
Miami, Fl. 33149
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Agenda item I, Land Acquisition:    Roger Hernstadt of Miami-Dade County is in charge of acquiring a temporary disposal site for dredged fill, but unfortunately he is on vacation until September 6, so Aleida Arrazcacta represented the county.  Arrazcacta reported that the County placed two ads in local publications soliciting berthing and fill locations.  The eight responses are being reviewed by the county, starting with the berthing locations.  The county is deciding whether to place a resolution on the proposed temporary disposal site, bound by NW 37^th Ave. on the west, NW 33^rd St. in the South, NW 36^th Ave. in the East and NW 35^TH ST in the north, on the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners agenda for September or October agenda.  Glenn Schuster, Army Corps of Engineers, is preparing the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) water quality application, and can’t complete it without a confirmed temporary disposal site.  The proposed vacant parking lot is five miles upriver.  Glen Schuster stated the further the site is from Biscayne Bay, the better for the water quality permit.
      Walter Revel offered his assistance in asking DEP Secretary Struhs to facilitate the application process, which according to Glen Schuster could take a year.
      Don Chinquina, Tropical Audobon Society, recognizes the need for dredging the Miami River and pledged his support to secure the proposed NW 36^th Ave and NW 33^rd Street temporary drying location.  In addition he asked that all available technology be utilized in an effort to provide a sound environmental dredging project.
       Miami River Commission managing director, David Miller, stated Representative Carrie Meek is on the appropriations committee and her concerns are the City and County working together in a partnership and identifying the drying location.  Rep. Meek worked to get the dredging funding last year and is willing to work for allocation this year.

Agenda item II, Status of Corps Surveys: Army Corps of Engineers Miami River Dredging project manager, Jerry Scarborough, reported the hydrographic surveys were completed.  John Bearce, Army Corps of Engineers, reported that the fieldwork is done, and the survey paperwork will be completed by August 25, 2000.  New arial photographs are included.  The Corp’s consultants will start taking samples of the sediment from the river no later than early September to determine the content of the sediment (is it sand, mud, how deep is the rock, etc.) and therefore, how long it will take to dry.  Once started the fieldwork should only take a few weeks.  In response to a letter from the County concerning the Project Cooperation Agreement (PCA), the Corps of Engineers will finish a draft of the PCA by the end of September.  The County will review it, provide their comments and revisions, and return it to the Corps.  Once everyone is satisfied, the PCA will be sent to the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters to be reviewed and approved.  The Corps will work on the DEP water quality permit application and engineering design of the project simultaneously. Once they have a confirmed temporary drying site.  The years of open public meetings concerning the dredging project and amount of sediment and water testing completed by the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Environmental Education will help expedite required permits.
     David Miller reported that in a preliminary meeting with Mr. Green and other DEP personnel they understood that the current contaminated sediment is flowing into bay due to vessel activity and during periods of heavy rainfall, and delaying the project is resulting in further damage.  The environmental improvement will greatly outweigh any temporary conditions caused by dredging.
     Glenn Schuster, Army Corps of Engineers, pointed out a report which stated that the contamination caused by turbidity of ship traffic is significantly greater than anything caused by the dredging itself.  The Army Corps of Engineers designs its projects to comply with all state and federal water quality regulations.

Agenda item III, Status of FIND Application: Diane Johnson, City of Miami Department of Real Estate and Economic Development, reported that the county is amending its Florida Inland Navigational District (FIND) grant application to include the City of Miami’s financial portion of the dredging project.  This amendment would add $300,000 to the County’s application for matching FIND funds for dredging.  Miami-Dade’s FIND application, requesting $300,000 of matching funds, was already approved.  FIND director, David Roach, told Mrs. Johnson that amending the county’s application to $600,000 of matching funds would result in less administrative work for FIND, than having two separate grants from the City and County.  The FIND Commission will vote on the matter August 19. 

Agenda item IV, Fact Sheet: At the July 31 Dredging Working Group meeting,  Miami River Commission Managing Director, David Miller, presented a draft dredging fact sheet which would be distributed to the public, press, politicians, etc.  He asked for any suggested revisions.  Receiving none, the fact sheet was adopted, and has been used in Miami River dredging presentations.

Agenda item VI, New Business: The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday September 13, 10 AM at the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office, 100 McArthur Blvd., Administration Bldg., 2^nd floor, and the meeting was adjourned.

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