Okaloosa County BOCC — January 5, 2016 — Approval of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Policy Documents — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: January 5, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Elliot Kampert SUBJECT: Approval of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Policy Documents DEPARTMENT: Growth Management BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Request approval of revision to County's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise policies pursuant to 2015 Federal Transit Administration Triennial Review. BACKGROUND: In order to receive federal funds to operate the County's public transportation program, the County must establish policies to ensure that Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) are not excluded from participating in County DOT-assisted contracts. The DBE goals and policies currently in effect were adopted in February of 2012 and revised in 2014. During the 2015 Triennial Review of the transit program, the reviewers determined that the mandatory DBE reports had not been consistently filed by the required deadlines. As a result, the 2015 Triennial Report requires that the County's DBE policies be revised to provide clearer direction for the filing of the reports. To this end, and as recommended by the Federal Transit Administration, the following language has been added under Section 26.11, Record Keeping Requirements, of the County's DBE policies: The deadline for submitting these reports is June 1 for the period October 1 through March 31, and December 1 for the period April 1 through September 30. Prior to these deadlines, the reports must be submitted within the TEAM-Web system and marked “Ready for Regional Review.” The Transit Coordinator and Grants Manager is responsible for accurate completion and timely submission of these reports. The Transit Coordinator and Grants Manager may receive information to assist in completing the reports from the Purchasing Director or his/her designee who works closely with the DBE community in identifying potential DBEs and alerting them of potential contracting opportunities. In the absence of the Transit Coordinator and Grants Manager, the responsibility of accurate completion and timely submission of the semi-annual DBE reports goes to the Grants Specialist. Once the reports are timely downloaded into TEAM-Web, Okaloosa County will notify the FTA Region IV Civil Rights staff via e-mail that the reports are in TEAM-Web and are ready for regional review. Per 49 CFR Part 26.11, Federal Transit Administration grantees are to submit semi-annual “Uniform Report of DBE Commitments/Awards and Payments.” In addition to the above language, the DBE Objectives and Policy Statement has been revised to reflect a change in staffing, and designates the Transit Coordinator and Grants Manager as the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Liaison Officer. OPTIONS: The Board may approve or not approve the proposed revisions. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners approve the revisions to the County's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise policies, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Objectives and Policy statement which shall be transmitted electronically to the Federal Transit Administration and other agencies as applicable. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator