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Commissioners back change orders that will add 180 sewer connections amid complaints about mapping and costs
Summary
Miami-Dade County commissioners approved change orders that county staff said would add about 180 properties to the sewer system, while Commissioner Bermudez pressed the administration for better underground-utility mapping and tighter controls on costly change orders.
Miami-Dade County commissioners voted to move outstanding pulled items, including change orders the administration said will expand sewer service to roughly 180 properties, after a lengthy discussion about the frequency and cost of contract change orders.
Commissioner Kionne L. G. Bermudez (name used in transcript as 'Commissioner Bermudez') said he would support the items but strongly criticized change-order practice, saying it fuels public frustration. “Change orders can happen because people under bid,” Bermudez said, adding, “Change orders can happen because we don't know what the heck we have.” He urged the administration and county attorneys to explain the additions on the record and signaled he would continue pushing for process fixes in his committee work.
Roy, a county project manager in administration, told commissioners the change-order at issue arose after project staff installed a new water line and concluded the old line could be rehabilitated for redundancy at lower total cost. “The cheapest way that our project managers estimated it could be done was with the contractor that was already on the scene,” Roy said, explaining that using the incumbent contractor avoided remobilization costs and was judged most efficient.
Bermudez pressed for confirmation the county maintains a log of underground utilities; Roy said the county does maintain mapping but faces two problems: older utility acquisitions sometimes lack accurate as-built maps, and lengthy survey-to-construction timelines allow private utilities to alter subsurface conditions between the survey and project award. “When our contractor gets there, there's things that aren't on the survey that sometimes impacts them,” Roy said.
Commissioners and staff described change order 3D as expanding sewer connections by about 180 properties, a benefit the administration argued was cost-effective for the county. After discussion, commissioners moved the pulled items and the chair called for the vote; members answered “Aye,” and the motion passed. The transcript records the procedural vote but does not list a full roll-call tally.
What happens next: commissioners did not adopt a new policy at this meeting to change procurement or mapping practices; Bermudez said he will continue to press the administration and legal staff in committee to develop process changes aimed at reducing large, surprise change orders.
Clarifying details: the transcript identifies change order 3D as adding about 180 properties to sewer service; no total dollar figure for those change orders was specified in the discussion.
Outcome: Motion to move the pulled items (including the change orders discussed) carried by voice vote; the record shows affirmative responses but does not provide a numerical roll-call in the transcript.
