Pinecrest water vote fails; no to $15 mil for 739 county water hookups

Pinecrest water vote fails; no to $15 mil for 739 county water hookups

Pinecrest voters rejected a plan Tuesday that would seek $15 million in bonds to pay for approximately 18.5 miles (98,000 linear feet) of pipeline infrastructure so 739 properties can connect to Miami-Dade County water. The vote came down to 63% against and 37% for taxing themselves an additional 23 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, […]

Pinecrest voters to decide if they’ll pay extra taxes to get county water

Pinecrest voters to decide if they’ll pay extra taxes to get county water

Voters in Pinecrest have been asked to decide by next week whether the village should issue $15 million in bonds — the largest in the village’s short history — to provide access to the last 739 properties that do not have Miami-Dade drinking water and add fire hydrants. If the referendum passes — it’s a mail-in ballots […]

More money, less scrutiny in Miami Dade water projects

More money, less scrutiny in Miami Dade water projects

If there is anything we should have learned from the discovery last year that the mayor’s best friend was making $200 an hour as a subcontractor on a Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department project is that these contracts need a little more scrutiny. But it looks like we learned nothing because they aren’t getting it. […]

Public gets view of $13 billion in South Dade water projects

Public gets view of $13 billion in South Dade water projects

During the next two decades or so, the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department will undergo and oversee the largest capital improvement program in the county’s history — with $13.5 billion in projects just in the southern part of the county. Members of the public will get a chance to hear about these projects — which […]

Lester Sola gets a $30K raise and everyone wants his job

Lester Sola gets a $30K raise and everyone wants his job

Bill Johnson‘s departure from Miami-Dade’s Water and Sewer Department for greener pastures at the state have already cost the county at least $30,243. That’s how much his replacement, Internal Services Director Lester Sola, gets in a raise for taking over his position on March 1 (not including benefits). Sola, a former Elections Supervisor who oversaw […]

Bill Johnson leaves county nest just as billions get ready to fly

Bill Johnson leaves county nest just as billions get ready to fly

From the timing-is-everything department. Water and Sewer Department Director Bill Johnson, who used to be director of the Port of Miami, has been tapped by Florida Gov. Rick Scott as head of Enterprise Florida, which recruits corporations to relocate to Florida and tries to retain companies that are thinking of moving. It’s a really soft […]