RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — The city of Riviera Beach is hiring more consultants to help run its special utility district serving the city and some surrounding areas.
US Water Service Corporation, based in New Port Richey, will receive $1.2 million to provide a variety of services for six months. According to city staff, the utility is experiencing department staffing shortages and various issues with maintenance.
The Special Utility District Board, which is made up by members of the Riviera Beach City Council, fired its utility director in July and its assistant director Steven Doyle left the department as well.
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Their departure comes after WPTV found the city waited about seven months to notify the public about the city’s drinking water testing positive for E.Coli in June 2023.
Our news team has also reported extensively on problems in the utility over the last eight months.
US WATER
The consultant will add three staff members for six months, three staff members for six weeks, 2,000 hours of maintenance support and management resources.
US Water will provide a distribution manager, a maintenance manager and a water quality improvement specialist for six months.
According to the scope of services, the distribution manager will oversee the daily operations of the water distribution system to ensure reliable and compliant delivery of water. The maintenance manager will address the significant backlog of maintenance work for the water treatment and distribution systems. The Water Quality Improvement Specialist will try improve both the disinfection process and the aesthetic qualities of the water, including color and clarity, by providing revised chemical dosing and protocols.
US Water will also provide two manager positions and an equipment start-up specialist for six weeks. According to the scope of services document, the equipment start-up specialist will try to start already installed equipment to reduce lime in the water and maintain proper pH levels not in use.
“In conclusion, the introduction of these supplemental positions within the Riviera Beach water utility is a strategic step towards addressing the systemic issues identified in our assessment,” the document reads. “By filling these critical roles with skilled professionals, we will enhance our capability to manage and improve the water distribution and treatment systems effectively.”
NEW WATER TREATMENT PLANT?
At Thursday night's meeting, engineers predicted most of the new water treatment plant will get built by the end of 2027. Officials still don’t have an estimated cost for the plant since design work isn’t close enough to completion, but they predicted a groundbreaking in the middle of 2025.
Officials pitched a new water treatment plant as a solution to lingering problems with the city’s water system. Its current water plant was originally built in 1958 to serve about 13,000 people.
Council members previously said the plant is about 25 years past its life span and data from the US Census Bureau shows the city’s population is about 39,000 people.
Nigel Grace, who is a consultant hired by the city of Riviera Beach, said the plant will become obsolete once the new regulations for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) become law. The FDA’s website said those laws go into affect in 2029. He also presented alternative plans like improving the current plant built in 1958.
Construction was supposed to start in 2021. The cost was originally $150 million, but WPTV found it increased to $300 million due to delays.
WATCH: Rates may rise to fund new Riviera Beach water treatment plant
The city has still not completed the design process due to various delays, including firing its director in June, and council declining to pick a design option in April 2024.
A consultant hired by the city said the design process is at various stages but around 40% to 60%. Back in April, consultants and engineers said that process would be at 90% by August 19.
Finance Director Randy Sherman said at previous meetings the city doesn’t have debt capacity to build the plant, therefore it would likely have to raise rates on customers.
Grace also presented a third option, which would require the city purchase water from a different utility and retire the current water treatment plant. He said this will likely cost more money while not having control.
City Manager Jonathan Evans said many of the city’s wells are also not operating, which required more than $4 million in repairs authorized at a previous meeting.
WPTV’s Ethan Stein found the city has a problem with limescale in its issues, which stops water meters from working properly leading to monthly bills of more than $1,000.
WATCH: Residents billed by Riviera Beach say high water bills don't 'add up'
At Thursday's meeting, Evans said the board will get a monthly update on construction of the water plant.
