Okaloosa County BOCC — August 16, 2016 — Gulf Consortium (RESTORE Pot 3) - Project List — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: August 16, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Roland Sims Jr. SUBJECT: Gulf Consortium (RESTORE Pot 3) - Project List DEPARTMENT: County Administrator BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The County Administrator's Office (CAO) requests that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approve a list of project ideas compiled by staff and any other additional ideas that the BCC may wish to consider adding for RESTORE Act Pot 3 funding. CAO also requests that the BCC authorize staff to prepare and submit Project Nomination Forms to the Gulf Consortium for potential incorporation into the State Expenditure Plan. BACKGROUND: The Gulf Consortium has voted to equally share Florida's RESTORE Act Spill Impact Component funding allocation (approximately $293 million) among the 23 member counties, and to develop the State Expenditure Plan (SEP) through a county-driven process whereby each county proposes and sponsors projects that meet its particular needs and priorities. The final aggregate suit of projects sponsored by the 23 member counties and adopted by the Gulf Consortium will constitute Florida's SEP, which will be submitted to the Governor for review and comment. After the Gulf Consortium has received and addressed the Governor's comments, the Governor is expected to submit the SEP to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council for review and approval. Upon the Restoration Council's approval of the SEP, grant applications may be submitted for individual projects. At this point, it appears Okaloosa County will receive approximately $12.7 million through this funding source, dispersed over a 15-year period. The initial step in this process is the nomination of eligible projects, programs, and activities to be considered for further evaluation and refinement, and for potential inclusion in the SEP. County staff has compiled the attached list of possible project ideas to be nominated by submitting the SEP Project Nomination Form for each project. The list is broken down by County department, listed in order of priority, as initially recommended by the department. The BCC may now wish to consider adding other projects or programs or re-prioritizing the list. Staff will then proceed to fill out the forms for each project and submit them to the Clerk's Contracts & Grants office, who will officially transmit to the Gulf Consortium for consideration before the September 2 deadline. Please note that the County response is non-binding at this stage of the process. The information provided by each of the 23 member counties will be compiled, summarized, and presented to the full Gulf Consortium at its September 13 Board of Directors meeting. Future project applications, sub-awards, or any other agreements will be brought back to the BCC for consideration and approval. A County Contract Internal Coordination Sheet will be presented at the appropriate time in the future, when the County is entering binding documentation. OPTIONS: Approve or deny. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends BCC approval of the attached list of project ideas and any other additional ideas that the BCC may wish to consider adding for RESTORE Act Pot 3 funding. Staff further recommends BCC authorize staff to prepare and submit Project Nomination Forms to the Gulf Consortium for potential incorporation into the SEP, and authorize the office of Contracts and Grants to electronically submit the Project Nomination Form including delegation of electronic signature authority on behalf of the Chairman. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator