July 29, 2021

Mayor Charles Burkett

Town of Surfside
9293 Harding Ave
Surfside, Florida 33154

Dear Mayor Burkett,

Thank you for your letter dated July 23 regarding access to the Champlain Towers South building collapse site, and
for all your collaboration in responding to the unthinkable tragedy that befell Surfside during these last several
weeks.
The safety and wellbeing of every single resident of Miami-Dade is my top priority as Mayor. It's essential that we
get answers and accountability about exactly what happened to bring about this tragedy, for the victims and their
families and to ensure a disaster like this never happens again.
As we have discussed in numerous conversations, the building collapse site is the scene of an investigation being
conducted by the Miami-Dade Police Department in coordination with the state attorney and a full technical
investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It’s vital that the investigation move
forward as speedily as possible while maintaining the integrity of the collapse site and all evidence, and as a result
access to the site has been limited.
Additionally, earlier today, the Court-appointed Receiver Michael Goldberg issued a letter stating that no other
person, entity, or party other than NIST and those necessary for the County to perform the investigation should be
given access to the property while it’s under County control. As we have endeavored to make clear to the Town, all
requests for access to the site will be carefully considered and accommodated as soon as it’s possible to do so
without compromising the investigation or the site. As such, we arranged for you to have a tour of the collapse site
today, Thursday, July 29.
In your letter you mentioned concerns about the safety of other buildings in Surfside including Champlain Towers
North and the need for additional inspections. We were encouraged to hear that your initial inspection found no
urgent concerns about the structural integrity of Champlain Towers North – and accordingly, the Town chose not to
evacuate that property – as detailed in numerous news reports including here and here.
The best evidence to indicate safety concerns with Champlain Towers North or any other sites are samples taken
from those individual buildings. Given the concerns outlined in your letter, we urge you to complete any additional
inspections that may be needed of Champlain Towers North, and any other buildings under your jurisdiction that
you do currently have access to, in order to ensure the safety of those structures and of the residents without delay.
Following the building collapse, Miami-Dade County conducted an audit of all high-rise buildings at the recertification
point under County purview to identify and swiftly take action to correct any issues. We urge all municipalities to do
the same for buildings under their jurisdiction and strongly encourage you to conduct any additional inspections that
may be necessary to ensure the safety and welfare of Surfside residents. Should evacuation of any buildings be

111 N.W. FIRST STREET • 29TH FLOOR • MIAMI, FLORIDA 33128-1930 • (305) 375-1880 • (305) 375-1262
required, we stand at the ready to deploy the Office of Emergency Management, Homeless Trust, Community Action
and Human Services, and any other resources needed to support displaced residents.
Finally, to address your concerns regarding the hiring of a forensic engineer by the County, this process is well
underway. As you know, all work has been stopped on the collapse site as we address potential safety concerns
related to the perimeter wall raised by Surfside’s engineer, Mr. Kilsheimer, and the shoring and bracing work
required will likely take a few weeks to complete. The County’s forensic engineer will be ready to undertake work
investigating the collapse as soon as it’s safe to resume our efforts on the site.
At the same time NIST’s full technical investigation is ongoing. While we anticipate their final conclusions will not
be ready for some time, NIST provides other regular updates on their investigations including:
• The website created to keep the public informed of NIST’s activities.
• Federal Advisory Committee Meetings: The National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Advisory
Committee meets on a regular basis to hear updates on the progress of NCST investigations,
implementation of recommendations resulting from previous investigations, and activities related to their
readiness to respond to events. These meetings are open to the public and all supporting agendas and
materials are made available to the public.
• Annual reports to Congress: Under the NCST Act, the NCST Advisory Committee and NIST are required
to submit annual reports to Congress with updates of ongoing investigations, implementation of
recommendations resulting from previous investigations, and activities related to their readiness to respond
to events.
• Progress reports: In addition to the above materials, NCST investigations typically provide interim progress
reports.
We look forward to continuing to work with you to take all possible steps to investigate the cause of the collapse,
and to protect the lives and safety of our residents.
Sincerely,

Daniella Levine Cava

Mayor

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