Riviera Beach USD approves $2.42 million change order, receives updates on water‑plant work

The City of Riviera Beach Utility Special District on Sept. 10 approved a change order not to exceed $2,422,818.02 to the Haskell CDM Smith joint venture to design and construct one additional Floridan aquifer well, perform additional pilot testing, make roadway and drainage improvements on Avenue L, and modify pretreatment systems for the new water treatment plant.

The measure, listed as Resolution 24‑25UD, passed unanimously during the special utility district meeting. The board heard a series of contractor updates beforehand from the city's owner's representative and vendors working on the existing and new plants.

Nigel Grace, the city’s owner's representative with Brown & Caldwell, told the board the change order stems from two developments during design: the plant’s design capacity increased from 12 million gallons per day (MGD) to 14 MGD, creating a need for additional raw‑water supply, and pretreatment sampling and piloting showed more extensive pretreatment will be required than originally planned. Grace said additional piloting and engineering work — including a roughly $700,000 pilot investigation described during the meeting — are included in the requested change order. "That also necessitated the design of a much more elaborate pretreatment system that was not originally envisioned," Grace said.

Contractor updates described the status of wells, testing and interim maintenance. David Schumann, project manager for Global Tech, said mechanical and electrical rehabilitation of four wells (identified in the meeting as wells 921, 871, 961 and 805) is nearly complete and should finish in September, with disinfection and pumping tests to follow. "For the 4 that we're working on right now, we anticipate mechanical and electrical work to be finished by the end of the month," Schumann said.

Mike Hoisington of the Haskell/CDM Smith joint venture gave a field update, including upcoming packer tests and pump testing at Avenue L and Avenue U sites, pilot‑hole drilling and the planned mobilization for a deep injection well by Florida Drilling next month. He said temporary pumps will be ordered for newly developed surficial wells so the city can use them to supply the existing plant until the new plant comes online.

Mike Miller, project manager for US Water on the existing plant, described ongoing maintenance: near‑completion of degasifiers (air strippers), a phased filter rehabilitation and a four‑week pilot test of chemical adjustments aimed at reducing color and improving finished water quality. Miller said distribution work also continues, including unidirectional flushing in neighborhoods. He told the board the district plans to transition more operations to city staff beginning Oct. 1 and that US Water will provide on‑the‑job training and standard operating procedures.

On membranes and final treatment selection, the project team reported the final design will use ultrafiltration ahead of the finer nano‑filtration membranes to protect the latter and meet emerging contaminant targets such as PFAS. A CDM Smith representative explained federal PFAS limits now in rulemaking require utilities to meet levels below 4 parts per trillion by 2029, and that transition to membrane technology is part of meeting that requirement. "So our job transitioning to membranes and why this is also important for the city is to get in compliance with that rule in 2029," a CDM Smith speaker said.

The board also received a timeline for construction pricing. City and JV representatives said bid documents are being returned by the market; the bid opening is scheduled for Sept. 25, proposals will be evaluated at the end of the month, and the team is targeting mid‑October — roughly Oct. 15 — to begin GMP (guaranteed maximum price) negotiations and to present a full GMP package. "The bids come in or the bid opening for us is September 25 ... our goal. Yes. October 15," a project representative said.

During public comment, a resident asked about total project cost and financing and urged clearer, less technical explanations for residents. City and project staff summarized known funding steps in response: South Florida Water Management District has recommended approximately $24 million in grant funding for the project to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the city has a State Revolving Fund (SRF) application under review with a large, phased request submitted. Project staff said the SRF application is scheduled for DEP prioritization at the February listing meeting, where principal forgiveness decisions may be made.

The board's approval of Resolution 24‑25UD authorizes the finance director to make payments from project account 23039 in an amount not to exceed $2,422,818.02. The motion carried with recorded affirmative votes from Priscilla Davis Peneer, Bruce Guyton, Krishnamo Miller Anderson, Glenn Spiritus and Chair Shirley Lanier.

The district's next steps, the project team said, are to continue GMP negotiations, complete remaining well development and pilot tests, finalize pretreatment design for ultrafiltration, and advance grant and loan packaging with DEP, the South Florida Water Management District and federal funding partners. The board set a follow‑up schedule tied to the GMP timeline and the next regular USD meeting dates.