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Mayor’s Message continued

Commission also ended the past practice of raiding utility spring to build a new station. Plans are now advancing to
reserves to balance the budget. That ensures money is make this happen.
available for more improvements.
By moving forward aggressively with improvements to
We must take this work to the next level, and there is no critical infrastructure, we will be better prepared for major
time to waste. I have urged city staff to lay out Phase 2 this storms or accidents and can avoid the frequent problems
fall. I want us to put forth what’s next in ensuring our water that come with aging plants and pipes. The federal, state
and sewer infrastructure is as resilient as possible. One and local governments need to come together to discuss
critical element is Fiveash. As you may remember, outside these needs and how to pay for them.
experts told us that the plant is at significant risk of failure. When the water main was punctured, Gov. DeSantis and
The commission will receive a recommendation in the next
his emergency preparedness director, Jared Moskowitz,
few weeks on whether to undertake a top-to-bottom reached out immediately offering help. They gave us quick
upgrade or build a new plant.
access to the state’s bottled water reserves, sending some
Flood preparations are also needed. Dorian came upon us 100,000 bottles of water.
at a point during a king tide cycle. Consequently, flooding The fire departments for Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-
would have been substantially worse. The city is working to
Dade counties also supplied tanker trucks to assist with fire
upgrade its seawalls and has projects designed and ready suppression if needed.
to go to make improvements in areas that currently
experience the worst flooding. In past hurricanes, restoring electricity has been a top
concern. With Dorian, there was an FPL staff person
The city has long said that the police station is in such poor present in the city’s emergency operations center to
condition that it likely could not withstand hurricane-force provide smoother communications regarding their
winds. Fortunately, voters approved a bond issue this
operations. City management also believed there were
improved communications with Broward
County and other municipalities before,
during and after the storm.

I cannot thank enough our team here at City
Hall. Throughout both ordeals, we were able
to provide continuous communications to the
public as well with updates posted on the
city web site and across social media. Our
community was always in touch with events
as they were occurring.
In closing, please remember that Dorian’s
passage is not an end to our need to be
vigilant of dangerous weather. Hurricane
season runs until the first of December, and
we should expect that more storms could form.
Also, I urge everyone to do what they can to
assist our neighbors in the Bahamas. Many
efforts are underway to provide support, and
they are in desperate need of the help. n
Sincerely,

Dean Trantalis
Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale

12 The Landings & Bay Colony