Okaloosa County BOCC — September 20, 2016 — Legislative Priorities List 2017 Draft — reading text

Funding Statewide Beach Dedicate a minimum of $50M annually in funding from one or more sources for +$50,000,000 Management statewide beach management to replace the historical doc stamp allocation and trust fund. LEGISLATIVE Use of Tourist Taxes - Raise 10% cap for public safety uses. - Expand use of funding Reduces traffic congestion, improves public safety and aids economic growth to support public (jobs). transportation in the tourism corridors and to link tourism workers to jobs. 3  Proposed Legislative Priorities 2017 TOPIC STATEMENT or ADDITIONAL NOTES & BACKGROUND COST PROJECT Competitive Consultants We recommend keeping a We feel very strongly that procurement of engineering and other professional Negotiation Act (CCNA) close eye on Florida services should remain qualifications based. Currently, we can’t utilize our Reform Statutes, Section 287.055, existing Master Services Agreement (MSA) contracts for engineering services if referred to as the the cost of project construction is expected to exceed $2M. Because of that, a Consultants Competitive significant amount of time is spent going through the RFQ process, when we Negotiations Act already know which of our multiple consultants is most qualified – because we (CCNA). have already been through the RFQ process to obtain their services under a continuing MSA contract. The current process wastes valuable time (and money) of the requesting department, Purchasing, legal, BCC, and consultants. Raising the thresholds would increase efficiency, and we would still utilize the qualifications-based selection process and negotiate a fair and honest price. Below is language that was proposed in past legislative sessions (that was not passed), but we recommend it: Proposed Amendment to Florida Statutes, Section 287.055 On Page 1, between lines 11 and 12, insert, Section 1. Subsection (2)(g) of section 287.055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: (g) A “continuing contract” is a contract for professional services entered into in accordance with all the procedures of this act between an agency and a firm whereby the firm provides professional services to the agency for projects in which the estimated construction cost of each individual project under the contract does not exceed $25 million, for study activity if the fee for professional services for each individual study under the contract does not exceed $2,500,000, or, without being subject to the above monetary limitations, for work of a specified nature as outlined in the contract required by the agency, with the contract being for a fixed term, provided that the term of said contract is no longer than five (5) years and shall not exceed seven (7) years with extensions to complete work started during the term of the contract. or with no time limitation except that the contract must provide a termination clause. Firms providing professional services under continuing contracts shall not be required to bid against one another. Renumber subsequent sections Supporting Points – The statutory amendment is necessary to clarify an ambiguity regarding the definition of “continuing contract” in the Consultants Competitive Negotiation 4  Proposed Legislative Priorities 2017 TOPIC STATEMENT or ADDITIONAL NOTES & BACKGROUND COST PROJECT Act that was identified in a recent opinion of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO 2013-28; dated Dec. 12, 2013). The proposed amendment increases the monetary caps for an individual contract and study, and clarifies that the monetary limitations contained within the current law are not applicable for continuing contracts for work of a specified nature. The proposed amendment also eliminates the possibility of unlimited extensions on continuing contracts by placing an outer limit on timeframe for work. The amendment will permit local governments and private sectors entities competing for contracts to realize significant time and cost savings. 911 Funding - Expand use of funding If 911 revenue continues to decrease (due to the reduction of 911 fees), to include dispatch combined with increased costs of technology and infrastructure, the 911 activities. Division could potentially need County funding assistance to maintain critical emergency services. - Current 9-1-1 fee is Use of funding is currently limited to 9-1-1 call taking and communication $0.40 per telephone equipment. Legislation needs to be updated to reflect the ability to fund activity device (reduced from relating to dispatching the 9-1-1 call. For example, public safety radio $0.50 in 2015). Likely infrastructure, technology advancement (NextGen 9-1-1), salary of Dispatchers, not to increase until 2018 etc. Salary to include “total time” of Call Taker / Dispatcher for their entire or 2019. shift, not just the time on the phone with the 9-1-1 caller. Ambulance [and other] This bill was introduced Services Zero Balance last year. Recommend Billing keeping an eye out for similar legislation that would reduce revenue. Design-Build We recommend keeping a The state of Florida is a leader in implementation of design-build projects. This Procurement Reform close eye on Florida procurements process has enabled OCWS and other public entities (such as Administrative Code, FDOT) to complete projects with great quality construction and low/reasonable Chapter 14-91, that costs. For large or complex projects, the design-build procurement process pertains to the design- provides the best long-term solution. It also provides one company with all the build procurement responsibility/liability, instead of the traditional “design-bid-build- process. litigate”. There has been talk of amending FAC Chapter 14-91. At this point, 5  Proposed Legislative Priorities 2017 TOPIC STATEMENT or ADDITIONAL NOTES & BACKGROUND COST PROJECT we haven’t yet seen any proposed language changes, but we feel that the current process does not need to be changed. Self-Performance of We recommend keeping OCWS does a considerable amount of construction work with in-house Construction Projects an eye out for any bills forces. Most of the in house work performed is for pipeline jobs and lift related to Chapter 255 of stations, where we have specialized crews. OCWS staff strongly believes that Florida Statutes or the this saves us a considerable amount of time and money compared to other concept of a local alternatives. We also get a better quality product and have more flexibility with government self- construction scheduling. Our in-house construction crews have paved the way performing work. for our department to succeed on numerous partnerships and grant opportunities, such as Eglin AFB, the City of Ft. Walton Beach, NVRSB Regional Sewer Plant, and numerous water/sewer main projects. We recommend that the language in Chapter 255 of Florida Statues be left alone or the $300,000 threshold should be raised to provide for flexibility and efficiencies. Eco-Friendly Statewide Ban Consider a statewide ban on releasing balloons for graduation and sporting events for eco-friendly reasons. 6