Okaloosa County BOCC — August 1, 2017 — FY 2018/19 Local Government Funding Request - Inlet Management — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: August 1, 2017 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Chris Holley SUBJECT: FY 2018/19 Local Government Funding Request - Inlet Management DEPARTMENT: Tourist Development Department BCC DISTRICT: 2,4,5 STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Request approval to submit a FY 2018/19 Local Government Funding Request application for a feasibility study for supplemental sediment excavation. The purpose of the FY18/19 application is to obtain additional state participation to further reduce the County’s required contribution to the feasibility study which has already been approved by the Board. BACKGROUND: The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Restoration Assistance, is accepting funding requests from Florida Local Governments for the FY 2018-2019 Beach Management Funding Assistance Program. This includes funding assistance for inlet management as well. East Pass channel requires maintenance dredging approximately every 3-4 years in order to allow vessels access to the Gulf of Mexico. This dredging is very costly and is in the range of $2-$4 million per dredge event. The time between these dredging events can be lengthened with the creation of a supplemental sediment excavation area. The purpose of this area would be to provide additional capacity within the channel for sand deposition without significantly decreasing the depth of the channel. Potential savings from decreased dredging requirements would be considerable. Additionally, this would provide high quality sand for beach restoration utilizing an in-shore, economical source. The Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners approved the FY2017/18 application for these grant funds for a feasibility study for supplemental sediment excavation. The State/County cost sharing for this grant is 75%/25%. The County was successful in its application and $191,402 in FY17/18 State funds are available for this study. However, due to lack of sufficient appropriations, this dollar amount is less than the 75% State share. Therefore the current FY18/19 request is for the remainder of the unfunded $350,000 estimated study cost totaling $94,798, with $71,099 being the State share and $23,699 being the County share. The application will be ranked against other projects around the State that are seeking funding. If the County’s application ranks high enough to be funded, a grant agreement will be brought back to the Board at a later date. Due to time constraints and an August 1st, 2017 application deadline, staff was unable to schedule this agenda item for the south end of the County. OPTIONS: Approve or Deny RECOMMENDATION: Recommend Board authorization for 1) Chairman to sign the Resolution and 2) delegation to the Grants Administration office of electronic signature authority and electronic submission of the application, grant agreement if awarded, and other grant-related documents as may be required during the term of the grant. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator