FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After six pipes recently burst to spill about 126 million gallons of sewage in Fort Lauderdale, commissioners are ready to spend about $65 million in a new sewer main.
During a meeting Tuesday, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis listened to City Manager Chris Lagerbloom’s new plan to replace a sewer main that runs across the city.
The $65 million will partially come from a $200 million bond to repair the aging system, Largerbloom said.
“We want to make sure that people understand the need here,” Trantalis said.
Lagerbloom wants to install a more durable 48-inch pipe with high-density polyethylene and repair the old 54-inch pipe that has been operating since 1973 to turn it into a backup.
“That is the pipe that is an issue here,” Trantalis said. “It’s broken in three places.”
Lagerbloom estimates it will take Murphy Pipeline Contractors and David Mancini Sons Inc. about 18 months to complete the project.
There was some tension during the public meeting. Bill Brown, a Fort Lauderdale resident, said the community needs to “stop the finger-pointing.”
Charles King, a Fort Lauderdale resident, believes officials aren’t moving fast enough.
“We all know there is an emergency,” King said, adding that “there needs to be an urgency.”
The city will be hosting another public meeting on the subject at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 100 N. Andrews Ave.