North Bay Village selected WGI as a sub to Ribbeck Engineering to provide environmental, permitting, grant writing assistance, survey and SUE, and sustainable engineering services under this Professional General Architectural & Engineering Services (A&E) contract. This A&E contract involved the implementation of infrastructure improvements administered under the Roadway and Stormwater Management Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and resilient countermeasures and adaptation strategies identified in the Village’s Stormwater Master Plan to deliver innovative solutions on capital projects that strengthen infrastructure, enhance community resilience, and promote environmental sustainability.

The Village is an artificial, manufactured island municipality encompassed entirely by hardened shorelines (seawalls) with dockage and is uniquely situated in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve and tidal Outstanding Florida Waters synonymous with seagrass, corals, state lands, and other coastal marine benthic resources and habitat. WGI’s scope consisted of field data collection, site investigations including in-water (SCUBA) benthic resource surveys, environmental assessments and design avoidance and minimization, contamination assessments and remediation planning, environmental permitting and mitigation, sovereign submerged state lands authorizations, and protected species and habitat assessments. Services also included grant writing assistance to source funding to supplement to Bond Referendum, which received 66% voter approval in November 2022 approving issuance of up to $60M in general obligation bonds for roadway and stormwater CIP improvements.

Under this contract WGI was issued a Work Order and tasked with providing environmental and permitting services on the Harbor Island Drainage Phase I project. This CIP project consisted of roadway and drainage improvements including a seawall replacement with living seawall elements in Civic Park and a new pump station and stormwater injection well(s) to upgrade the flood protection level of service to Harbor Island. WGI conducted a site assessment, benthic resource survey, and contamination screening assessment and led environmental permitting with regulatory agencies (SFWMD Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) and state-lands authorization, USACE Section 10 Permit, and DERM Class I Coastal Permit) and consultations with the Services (National Marine Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). WGI also prepared a coral avoidance and rescue-relocation-mitigation plan.