Okaloosa County BOCC — November 4, 2012 — FAC Consortium Newsletter — reading text

EPGenaee® LM be e FLORIDA Gulf Consortium Newsletter COUNTIES December 2012 Alt About Florida 2" meeting of Gulf Consortium focuses on organization On November 28"", the Gulf Consortium held its 2"! meeting in Sarasota, Florida. The focus of the meeting was to provide delegates with updates on RESTORE activities as well as adopt many administrative measures to secure the future of the Consortium. At the first meeting of the Consortium, Commissioners Desloge and Robinson were asked to speak with the Governor's office regarding a partnership between the state and Consortium. Commissioners Desloge and Robinson proposed that a formal motion be proposed inviting the Governor to work with the Consortium as a partner to better serve the citizens of Florida. The motion was passed unanimously. A 2" motion was adopted forming a subcommittee of the eight disproportionately impacted counties so they could meet and determine their formula for distribution which was not outlined in the RESTORE Act. The Subcommittee has already met and that update is provided below. Finally, many motions were made to establish the administrative procedures for the Consortium. Most importantly, delegates adopted a process for the election of officers. Anyone wishing to serve as an officer in the Consortium — Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer — must notify Doug Darling by December 21, 2012 either by email or U.S. Mail. Additionally, the candidate’s Board of County Commissioners must approve their candidacy by the next Consortium meeting scheduled on January 18, 2013. Other administrative items adopted were to approve: Commissioner Grover Robinson as the Administrative Officer, the contract for interim manager and interim general counsel and financial policies and procedures. The next meeting of the Gulf Consortium will be held January 18, 2013 in Pinellas County. Additional meeting details will be sent as they become available. Reminder for Election of Gulf Consortium Officers As mentioned above, if you are interested in serving as an officer for the Gulf Consortium please express your intent to the Interim Manager Doug Darling by email or U.S. Mail. The offices available for election are Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer. You may submit your name for any or all officers. For example, if you submit your name for Chairman and are not elected, by submitting your name for Vice Chairman, you can also run for that office. If you are elected to a higher office, your name will automatically be removed from further consideration. Your intent to run for office in the Gulf Consortium must be approved by your Board of County Commissioners before the next Consortium meeting on January 18"" and your intent to run must be received by Doug Darling no later than December 21°. The federal Gulf Coast Ecosystems Restoration Council (GCERC) holds its 1° meeting in Mobile, AL. On Tuesday, the Gulf Coast Ecosystems Restoration Council held its first meeting in Mobile, Al. The council is tasked with developing a plan to restore the environment and economy after the BP oil spill. Several Gulf Consortium members and staff attended the first GCERC (Federal Council) meeting. The Council was comprised of six federal agency representative and the five Gulf Coast State representatives. Florida's Representative is Mimi Drew, appointed by Governor Scott. Ms. Drew is former Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection and since leaving the Department has been the state’s foremost expert on its recovery efforts from the spill including being responsible for the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) and the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. The Council provided a timeline for developing a plan and guiding principles. The Council intends to publish a draft of its proposed recovery plan by the end of 2012 followed by several public meetings held throughout the Gulf States in late January and February 2013. The Council then hopes to publish a revised Comprehensive Plain in March 2013 with the Final Plan in July 2013. The Council also adopted guiding principles that will be used in the development of the Plan and can be found in the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force Report here: http:/Awww.epa.gov/gulfcoasttaskforce/pdfs/GulfCoastReport Full 12-04 508- L.pdf Committee of 8 Disproportionally Affected Counties adopts formula On December 7th, the committee of the eight disproportionally affected counties met to discuss a formula for the local distributions outlined in the RESTORE Act. Unlike the formula adopted for the non-disproportionately impacted counties, a formula was not outlined in the RESTORE Act for the eight. The committee formed and elected as Chair, Commissioner Yeager (Gulf) and Vice Chair, Commissioner Robinson (Escambia). All eight counties(Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton) were represented. Franklin chose to abstain during the chair elections. The Committee discussed several options for the allocation but passed unanimously a percentage split based on several elements, three of which are contained in the RESTORE Act. The final percentages adopted for fund distribution are: o BAY 15.10 1% o ESCAMBIA 25.334% O FRANKLIN 8.441% o GULF 6.743% Oo OKALOOSA 15.226% oO SANTAROSA 10.497% oO WAKULLA 4.943% o WALTON 13.712% In addition to adopting a formula, the Committee of the Eight Disproportionately Affected Counties is encouraging each of the eight counties board of county commissioners to adopt a joint resolution approving the formula. The joint resolution formally adopts the allocation formula and can be found here.