Sunswept water mains: $15.1M replacement, Nov. 4 vote

Pembroke Pines plans to replace the water system under the Sunswept neighborhood. City staff put the whole project at $15,120,000. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, the City Commission is asked to choose the engineering firm that would design it and oversee construction.

The firm recommended by a city evaluation committee is Chen Moore and Associates of Fort Lauderdale. The award is item 11 on the consent agenda for the 6:30 p.m. Nov. 4 meeting. Consent items are usually approved together in one vote unless a commissioner pulls one for discussion.

What the city wants done

The city’s request for qualifications, issued Feb. 10, gives three reasons for the work: the age and condition of the pipes, customer service complaints, and the need to improve reliability. It says some water mains are too small and will be upsized to meet minimum standards for household use and firefighting.

The work it describes includes:

• new water mains, with the old ones abandoned
• new water service lines to homes
• new meters, meter boxes and dual check valves
• moving water meters from rear yards to the front of properties
• replacing fire hydrants
• reconnecting private plumbing to the new services
• street restoration, with milling and resurfacing to be considered

The solicitation says meters in Sunswept sit in rear yards “with inadequate piping that require relocation to the right-of-way.” It also covers adjacent commercial areas.

The money

Those are staff estimates from the solicitation. No contract price exists yet. Under Florida’s consultant selection law, the city ranks firms on qualifications first and then negotiates a fee with the top one. The Nov. 4 motion directs the city manager to negotiate that contract.

The solicitation estimated the job would run from Aug. 1, 2026, to Feb. 1, 2028. The firm was not ranked until Oct. 22, so that start date has already passed. The city has not published a revised schedule.

How close the vote was

Ten firms applied. A five-member committee of city engineering and utilities staff narrowed them to three, then heard presentations Oct. 22, according to the committee minutes. The final scores, out of 100, were close, according to the evaluation tabulation:

Chen Moore won by 0.28 points. If talks with it fail, the committee’s motion says the city moves to the next-ranked firm.

What the winning firm found

Chen Moore’s proposal gives more detail than the city’s own documents. These are the firm’s figures from its early review, not final design numbers:

• about 48,000 feet of water main, or roughly nine miles, from 2 to 12 inches across
• about 21,000 feet of that is asbestos cement pipe, which the firm said “has reached the end of its service life”
• about 25 properties along NW 81st Avenue appear to have the main running behind them, and the firm proposes moving it to the front so city crews can reach it in an emergency
• about 35 fire hydrants, most of them on the edge of the neighborhood, and the firm expects much of the work to involve spacing hydrants to current fire standards

The firm said it is weighing open trenching, pipe bursting and horizontal directional drilling. It said the street is the likely place for the new main because power, communications and parts of the old main already sit in the swales. Building the new main first and then switching each home over would limit how long residents go without water, the firm said.

What it means for you

• If you live in Sunswept, nothing changes yet. Design comes first, and construction is a separate contract the city would bid later.
• If your meter is in your backyard, it is likely to move to the front. The solicitation includes reconnecting private plumbing to the new service, so ask the city who pays for the work on your side of the meter once design begins.
• Expect street work once construction starts. How much depends on the method the city picks.
• Questions about your water service go to Pembroke Pines Utilities customer service at 954-518-9000. A water or sewer emergency after hours is 954-986-5011. More numbers are on our who to call at City Hall page.

You can speak on any agenda item at the Nov. 4 meeting at City Hall, 601 City Center Way. The same agenda carries the SW 196th Avenue widening design contract and the new community events board. Current street closures are on our road construction page.