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1 <br /> Summary Minutes:Special City Commission Meeting November 13,2015 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida <br /> Jordan Cheifet gave a Power-Point Presentation noting two questions: is using coastal <br /> structures the right solution for Beach Management for Sunny Isles Beach; and, if they are <br /> the right solution, are they feasible to get them permitted, designed, and installed. He gave <br /> the project history that it is a Federal Shore Protection Project managed by the U.S. Army <br /> Corp of Engineers, and the local sponsor is Miami-Dade County. This project has placed <br /> sand on the beach four (4) times since 1988, most recently in 2001 when two submerged <br /> breakwaters were installed at the north end of the City to help stabilize the beach. The Phase <br /> I Study evaluated some of the local coastal prophecies, identified some erosion hot spots in <br /> the City, and provided some initial preliminary recommendations. Some recent erosion in <br /> the City prompted the City to update this report with new information and to look at the <br /> feasibility of using coastal structures as part of the ongoing Beach Management Plan. He <br /> said it is important that we all have a basic understanding of the coastal properties white sand <br /> is moving on our beaches. The winds, the waves, and the currents all of these properties, <br /> even the size and shape of a grain of sand on the beach,contribute to what you see when you <br /> walk up and down the beach. They all contribute to what is going on and so it is vital that we <br /> understand these properties as we formulate our recommendations moving forward. <br /> Mr. Cheifet said back in May, he and Penny Cutt along with some City staff did a site visit <br /> and they drove the beach. They started on the north end near Golden Beach and drove all the <br /> • way south to Baker's Haulover Inlet. Why did they do it, they wanted to see it first hand as <br /> opposed to looking at photographs. They were looking at the shape of the beach, the width <br /> of the beach, the slope of the beach, the condition of the dunes and seawalls, and all of this <br /> helped them form their recommendations. They observed that the beach is generally wider as <br /> we go further south, and so this means that the sand is moving from the north to the south, <br /> and it is not being replenished on the north end, there is no sand coming into Sunny Isles <br /> Beach from Golden Beach. They also observed some of the erosional hot spots at the north <br /> end near Ocean 1 and Ocean 2 Condominiums,and also the recent shoreline retreat adjacent <br /> to the Newport Pier. He showed some photographs taken from the Pier and you can see the <br /> shoreline retreat just within the last six (6) months. <br /> Mr. Cheifet said when you think of beach management, we can't just think of Sunny Isles <br /> Beach,we need to think of it more regionally. These are projects in Broward County and as <br /> he had mentioned, sand moves from the north to the south at a rate of about a mile a year. <br /> These projects that are done in Broward County, that sand that is placed on the beach is all <br /> moving south into Sunny Isles Beach, and he noted the yellow dots on the shoreline map he <br /> showed,those are completed projects. And so the maintenance dredging of Port Everglades, <br /> the truck haul project in Hollywood that is placing 150,000 cubic yards of free sand that is <br /> moving into Sunny Isles Beach. Also there is a planned project to bypass space around Port <br /> Everglades, starting next year they are going to start pumping the sand across the inlet at a <br /> rate of about 50,000 yards a year. That sand is also going to make its way south,and that is a <br /> continuous source of new sand that will eventually make its way onto our beaches. Similarly <br /> as we move south into Miami-Dade County, specifically Sunny Isles Beach, as you walk <br /> down Collins Avenue there are lots of condominiums going up, and when they dig their <br /> foundations, underground parking, and basements, all of that beach compatible sand gets <br /> placed on the beach, and so that is maintaining the beach width. As these projects continue, <br /> that is more free sand for the City that is getting added to the local beach system. <br /> 2 <br />