Okaloosa County BOCC — November 18, 2014 — Agenda — reading text

calculations, trucking receipts, or the known weights of individual pieces or reef units), and take a representative photograph of the artificial reef material on the barge or other deployment vessel immediately prior to deployment. DEPLOYMENT AND MATERIALS PLACEMENT During the deployment of the artificial reef material, the transport vessel must be effectively moored through double anchoring, be spudded down, or otherwise be held securely in place with minimal movement (+/-20 feet) to ensure accurate placement of the concrete patch reef on the bottom. Material must be arranged to provide habitat complexity as well as provide sand bottom forage area opportunities. Individual reef materials should not be widely scattered. Any machinery used to move and deploy the reef materials should be sufficiently powered/maneuverable and capably operated to ensure timely, effective and safe off-loading of materials. The tug or transport vessel shall meet all U.S. Coast Guard certification and safety requirements, be equipped with a working, accurate Global Positioning System (GPS) unit and other marine electronics including a working VHF radio. Effective and reliable communications shall exist at all times between the transport vessel, and the designated GRANTEE observer on site. Deployment operations will only be initiated when sea height in the operations area is no greater than two to four feet as forecast by the nearest NOAA weather office. Either the COMMISSION’s observer, the GRANTEE's observer or the subcontractor’s vessel captain reserves the right to suspend off-loading operations if positioning and other deployment objectives, including safety of personnel and equipment, are not being met. The tonnage of artificial reef material proposed for reef deployment by the contractor selected through the competitive bidding process based on an available funding amount of $140,000 provided by the COMMISSION and a required $100,000 match provided by the GRANTEE under this Agreement will be divided between two patch reefs. The tonnage of reef material available for artificial reef construction shall be distributed approximately equally between the permit area center points of the forty acre Fish Haven locations 13 and 14 in state waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Okaloosa County. Table 1 defines the permitted reef area center point locations and depths which are the proposed patch reef locations. Table 1 Permitted Reef | Patch Reef Latitude Longitude Area Name Name Depth (ft) Fish Haven 13 Alpha 30° 21.391’N | 86°32.876°W | .73 f MLLW Fish Haven 14 Bravo 30° 21.141°N 86° 36.874"W | -70 f MLLW The minimum vertical navigational clearances at Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) as specified in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory authorizations shall be Version 1.0 — June 2013 Attachment A, Page 3 of 12 Attachment A - SCOPE OF WORK Project Name: Okaloosa County Artificial Reef FWC Agreement No. 13243 Construction 2014-15 10. ll. maintained above the highest point of each patch reef in the Fish Haven 13, and 14 permitted areas. These clearances range from -33 to -38 feet (depending on the special conditions of the respective US Army Corps of Engineers permits identified by SAJ- 2011-03485(SP-SWA) (Fish Haven 13) and SAJ-2013-02668(SP-SWA) (Fish Haven 14) The GRANTEE's Contract Manager or GRANTEE's designated official observer shall observe and verify the accurate temporary marking by the contractor of the reef deployment locations to facilitate the contractor’s proper vessel positioning prior to anchoring in advance of reef materials deployment and to ensure the proper placement of the artificial reef materials at the center points of each artificial reef permitted area as indicated in Paragraph 6 Table 1. The markers shall be buoys of sufficient size and color to be clearly visible to the deployment vessel captain, and sufficiently anchored and with sufficient scope so that the buoys will not drift off the designated deployment site prior to deployment. The COMMISSION will not pay for materials placed outside the boundaries of the permitted reef areas as described in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory permits indicated in Paragraph 7, above. Precise GPS placement of marker buoys that do not shift position during deployment operations are important to insure the reef is constructed within the permitted area and at the designated center point locations of each permit area. The COMMISSION will not pay for materials used in construction of a patch reef that do not meet the minimal navigational clearance requirements as described in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory permit conditions for the respective permit areas. Precise depth measurements during construction are important to insure the reef is constructed within the permitted navigational clearance. The GRANTEE's Project Manager or GRANTEE's designated official observer shall remain on site during the entire deployment phase of the operation and confirm the GPS coordinates of the individual artificial reef placements as well as the maximum vertical relief of the constructed reefs using a fathometer after the reef construction has been completed. Both the GRANTEE and its contractor shall have on site current nautical charts of the deployment areas, with the permitted Fish Haven areas indicated on the chart. The proposed patch reef coordinates and the corner coordinates of the reef sites will also be in possession of the GRANTEE's observer and the contractor when on site. The GRANTEE 's observer shall also be in possession of a copy of the Army Corps permits for the areas where the deployments are taking place. The GRANTEE shall be responsible for insuring that all permit condition terms are complied with. ALLOWABLE EXPENDITURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE REEF PROJECT Funds from this Agreement may be expended on the activities listed pursuant to Chapter 68E-9.004(1) (a), F.A.C. No more than $5,000 or 10% (whichever is less) of project funds granted under the program may be expended for ‘engineering services’. Any funds required in excess of this amount must be provided by the applicant. See Chapter 68E- 9.004(1) (a), F.A.C. for the complete list of eligible activities. Version 1.0 — June 2013 Attachment A, Page 4 of 12 Attachment A - SCOPE OF WORK Project Name: Okaloosa County Artificial Reef FWC Agreement No. 13243 Construction 2014-15 12. 13. If the GRANTEE chooses to conduct a post-deployment SCUBA assessment at the deployment location(s) (this is not required, but is an eligible activity for reimbursement under Chapter 68E-9.004(1)(a), F.A.C.), in order to be eligible for reimbursement, work must be completed prior to the grant expiration date and the following items, at a minimum, must be included: a. Methods: name and type of vessel, anchored or live boated, type of GPS unit(s), divers, survey methods; b. Conditions: cloud cover, wind speed and direction, sea conditions, visibility, water temperature, currents; c. Chronology: dive plan, start and end of each dive, dive profile, maximum depth, dive time, distance and bearing searched; d. Coordinates: Describe the GPS unit(s) used to navigate to the site (model number). Describe whether differential or WAAS coordinates were recorded. Compare the dive locations to deployment location numbers. How well do they match the published numbers? e. Physical observations: Describe the number and size of material observed. What is the proximity of concrete pieces and pre-cast units to each other? What percent material was damaged or partially damaged as a result of the material transport and deployment process? Are there material outliers dropped away from the patch reef? What is the maximum and minimum relief of the site? How do these observations compare to the Material Placement Report Form information submittal? f. Footprint area: Measure the approximate total area covered by each patch reef through standard in situ survey practices. g. Biological observations: Describe any fishes observed, or other general biological observations. h. Video and photographs: Provide representative still and/or video footage of each deployment location (digital format preferred when available). LIABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR REEF MATERIALS Upon initiation of the handling and movement of these artificial reef materials by the GRANTEE's contractor, all liability, risk of loss and responsibility for the safe handling, storage, transportation and deployment of the materials shall be borne by the contractor. This liability, assumption of risk and responsibility shall remain with the contractor until the materials are deployed at the permitted reef site in accordance with the specifications in this Agreement. B. BACKGROUND Chapter 379.249 Florida Statutes creates the Florida Artificial Reef Program to enhance saltwater opportunities and to promote proper management of fisheries resources associated with artificial reefs for the public interest. Under the program, the COMMISSION may provide grants and financial and technical assistance to coastal local governments, state universities, and nonprofit corporations qualified under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code for the siting and development of artificial reefs as well as for monitoring and evaluating such reefs and their recreational, economic, and biological effectiveness. Chapter 68E-9 Florida Administrative Code defines the procedures for submitting an application for Version 1.0 — June 2013 Attachment A, Page 5 of 12 Attachment A — SCOPE OF WORK Project Name: | Okaloosa County Artificial Reef FWC Agreement No. 13243 Construction 2014-15 financial assistance and criteria for allocating available funds. The purpose of this rule is to govern the development of state and federally funded artificial reefs, the review and ranking of project applications eligible for funding, and the administration of funds from the Florida Artificial Reef Program. This artificial reef construction project was selected for funding by the COMMISSION based upon ranking of competitive applications submitted to the Artificial Reef Program pursuant to the criteria for allocating funds described in Chapter 68E-9, Florida Administrative Code. . SUPPORT OF COMMISSION MISSION Construction of these artificial reefs will create marine hard bottom habitat with well-planned stable and durable artificial reefs for purposes of providing marine reef fish habitat, marine recreational fishing and diving opportunities, and reduced user conflicts by providing additional recreational fishing and diving locations within state waters off Okaloosa County. The proposed artificial reefs will make marine fisheries resources available for the long term benefit of local Florida residents and visitors. . DEFINITIONS The terms and abbreviations used herein shall have the meanings as defined below. i. “Artificial reef’ means one or more manufactured or natural objects intentionally placed on the bottom in predominantly marine waters to provide conditions believed to be favorable in sustaining, or enhancing the spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity of Florida’s managed reef associated fish species as well as to increase the productivity of other reef community resources which support fisheries. Included in this definition are artificial reefs developed with one or more of the following additional objectives: enhancement of fishing and diving opportunities, fisheries research, and fisheries conservation/preservation purposes. ii. “Permitted area” means an area with discrete boundaries inside of which one or more artificial reefs may be located and for which all required permits and authorizations have been obtained. These active permits and authorizations include: artificial reef permits issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and/or the Army Corps of Engineers and other permits, licenses, or authorizations required by