HomeMy WebLinkAboutExhibitCITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM
To: Arthur Noriega V
City Manager
Signed by:
FROM Juvenal`Tangy°ana FraBEC.F.M.
Director
Department of Resilience and Public Works
DATE: October 14, 2025 FILE:
SUBJECT: ISeeChange Bid Waiver Request
REFERENCES:
ENCLOSURES: ISeeChange Quote
The City of Miami Department of Resilience and Public Works (RPW) requests a bid waiver for procurement of
services from vendor ISeeChange. RPW and the Office of Resilience and Sustainability (ORS) have been
working with the ISeeChange team for more than two years to develop a platform and analysis for resident -driven
flooding insights. Today, the ISeeChange web platform and app is used as the City's primary resident reporting
tool for urban flooding and we have worked directly with the team to shape features to make the platform and
service even more useful to our operations and planning work.
As the City continues to manage flooding, resident reports via ISeeChange create a direct line of communication
to RPW staff to improve response to infrastructure operations and maintenance challenges. Reports are generated
regularly during storm events which helps RPW staff track flooding patterns, ground -truth modeling from the
Stormwater Master Plan, and strategically think about both immediate flood relief and long-term flood mitigation
solutions. During Tropical Storm Eta in November 2020, for example, ISeeChange data was the first to report a
drainage pumping emergency that we were then able to respond to swiftly. Bloomberg Philanthropies awarded
the City of Miami a silver level Smart City Certification in part for our department's use of ISeeChange to assess
and prioritize stormwater maintenance. Thanks to the customizations by the ISeeChange development team, the
platform integrates across City of Miami systems and is incorporated into a visualization of changing coastlines
with the data from 311 calls, emails to the city, and other types of climate alerts. This creates a one -stop -shop for
city departments to compile resident -generated information, and helps eliminate the data silos, as was noted by
the City's data scientist, Jennifer Hernandez, in an interview with Harvard's Data Smart City Solutions Center.
In addition, resident reports via ISeeChange helps contextualize needed flood mitigation investments and the
documentation provided by users has bolstered City applications for infrastructure funding. ISeeChange flooding
data from Brickell, Little Havana, Wynwood, Little Haiti, and Allapattah to secure approximately $20M in
stormwater resilience investment support from the State of Florida. We are waiting to hear on additional grants
from FEMA and HUD where we also used ISeeChange data to make a stronger funding case.
Currently the City only collects data on flooding from ISeeChange However, both RPW and ORS hope to
leverage the platform to enhance data collection on more issues such as urban heat, green infrastructure design,
pollution, and water quality. Going forward, RPW will continue to pay for flood monitoring services while ORS
will pay for any additional topics that are outside of RPW's responsibilities. This topic expansion is supported
not only by City of Miami but also the Knight Foundation, which for the next three years, is supporting
ISeeChange's expansion in South Florida with over half a million dollars in matching funds for projects with the
City of Miami, Miami Dade County, Florida International University, the Ocean Conservancy, and other local
partners. We look to continue using ISeeChange this storm season and for improving climate ready infrastructure
design, development, maintenance, and evaluation ahead of the future funding opportunities such as the Federal
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding and Resilient Florida. ISeeChange has already proven to improve
City outcomes in its efforts to address climate impacts and we hope to have the aid of this tool and platform to
inform our work moving forward.
Pursuant to section 18-85(a), as amended, RPW respectfully requests that competitive sealed bidding methods
are waived for the reasons stated herein. Said waiver shall need to be ratified, confirmed, and approved by the
Miami City Commission by a four -fifths (4/5ths) affirmative vote during an advertised public hearing.
ISeeChange Bid Waiver Request
October 14, 2025
Page 2 of 2
The City Manager's signature below confirms the approval of waiving competitive sealed bidding methods for
ISeeChange.
DocuSigned by:
avfLur NOVttia October 15, 2025 114:11:57 EDT
Arthur Noriega
City Manager
C372DD42A...
Date:
C: Natasha Colebrook- Williams, Deputy City Manager
Asael Marrero,RA, RID,AIA, ICC, Assistant City Manager
Annie Perez, CPPO, Director/ Chief Procurement Officer