FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Fort Lauderdale city leaders held a large public forum to address and share their plans with frustrated residents to fix the city’s pipe system, which burst six times in one month.
Commissioners and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis spoke to a standing-room only crowd at city hall, Thursday night.
“We’ve come to the useful life of all these systems,” Trantalis said. “The fact that we haven’t been addressing them as quickly as we should have means that we need to accelerate our pace in responding to the need. The best thing we can do right now is get to work.”
During the forum, the mayor said the city is investing more than $500 million over the next five years to rehabilitate, replace and restore the water system.
Some residents, like Brucie Cummings, said they are encouraged by the mayor and city’s campaign to curb the chronic water conflict.
“I’m very pleased with what he said tonight,” Cummings said. “I’m pleased with the way they handled it. I’m worried about other things than the infrastructure.”
However, some residents, like Tim Meyers, said that more areas need to be addressed.
“What we want is for the city to be more proactive about looking at water during this crisis,” Meyers said. “Neighborhoods, front lawns, streets, roads, all that stuff is important, but they say all drains lead to the ocean, right? So eventually, it’s going to get into the waterways, and that impacts our economy in a big way, so that needs to be addressed.”
In the short-term, the city expects the problems to persist, and the next time a pipe bursts is anyone’s guess.
However, it’s a work in progress.
The city, to date, has installed five miles of new water mains in Victoria Park and is reinforcing over 36 miles of wastewater pipes.
While the work continues, the city is asking residents for patience.
“The reality is we could have another break tomorrow,” Trantalis said.
7News asked Trantalis if water bills of residents will be affected by the new construction. He said that is something the city will be looking into.
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