Subject:
Title
Adoption of the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan 2024 Update, as recommended by the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizens Oversight Committee
End
Fiscal Impact:
The recommended plan update recognizes an $801,255 decrease in total revenues to be generated by the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Surtax over its 10-year life (decreased from $586.5 million to $585.7 million) with $27.2 million re-allocated for new or modified projects as follows: 5 wastewater - septic to sewer modifications; 6 stormwater treatment projects; and 2 environmental muck dredging projects. Additionally, the funds previously held in reserve for inflation have been allocated to each individual project that is not yet complete.
Dept/Office:
Natural Resources Management
Requested Action:
Recommendation
1) Adopt the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan 2024 Update, as recommended by the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizen Oversight Committee on January 19, 2024;
2) authorize associated budget change requests;
3) approve continued signature authority to the Chair (or authorized representative, in accordance with the threshold limits provided for in Brevard County policies and administrative orders) to execute agreements, task orders, change orders, contract renewals, amendments, and other contract-related documents, subject to review and approval by the County Attorney, Risk Management and Purchasing, as appropriate, for projects and programs approved in the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan;
4) approve authority for the Director of Natural Resources Management to execute no-cost time extensions up to one year total and approve the County Manager to execute no-cost time extensions up to two years total;
5) grant permission to advertise and competitively procure goods and services needed to implement projects and programs approved in the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan, subject to available funding; and
6) authorize staff to submit grant applications for leveraging cost share for projects and programs approved in the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
Each year, to account for new information and opportunities, the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizen Oversight Committee is tasked with recommending an Update to the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan (S.O.I.R.L.P.P.). The Committee has held monthly public meetings throughout the year to keep informed, gather ideas from the community, review potential changes, and recommend an annual plan update to the County Commission. The Committee’s annually recommended S.O.I.R.L.P.P. Update is posted on the Committee’s webpage for public access at least 15 days prior to being brought to the County Commission for consideration. The County Commission may adopt or modify the Committee’s recommended Plan Update.
An intergovernmental coordination meeting was held on July 11th, 2023 to review the process for submitting project requests to be considered for addition in the 2024 S.O.I.R.L.P.P. Update. Project requests for the 2024 Update were due September 29th. Project submissions are listed in the summary table and the detailed applications (attached) were reviewed by the Committee during a November 17th public meeting.
The draft 2024 S.O.I.R.L.P.P. Update (attached) includes nine (9) new projects and modifies five (5) previously approved septic to sewer projects. The draft 2024 S.O.I.R.L.P.P. Update allocates funding for a total of 371 projects over the 10-year life of the Plan, plus 942 individual quick connections to sewer, 1625 septic upgrades, and 20 miles of filter-feeding living shorelines. The plan also includes performance updates and refinements on multiple project types. To help readers find all areas of the S.O.I.R.L.P.P. that contain proposed updates or modifications, the attached Draft 2024 Update uses yellow highlighted text, table and figure captions to indicate additions and revisions.
The funds previously held in reserves for inflation have been allocated to each project that remains to be completed. Inflation is compounded from the year funds were approved for a project to the year the project is anticipated to be complete, up to a maximum of 5-years, based on the following inflation rates for each year: 2.6% for Plan Years 0-3, 7.8% for Year 4, 12.1% for year 5, and 6.0% for years 6-10. (Construction inflation rates are based on local bids and construction industry projections by edzarenski.com for non-residential construction.)
Significant changes in the draft 2024 Update include:
• Revising the revenue projection in response to economic fluctuations;
• Adding 9 new projects (6 local government, 2 county, and 1 private) at a cost of $23.1M;
• Modifying 5 septic to sewer projects to add $4.1M per requests from Utilities Services;
• Allocating inflation reserves to each uncompleted project in the plan with a 5-year cap;
• Adjusting homeowner cost share for septic to sewer quick connections to better reflect actual costs to property owners;
• Updating the stormwater basin list with the most cost-effective and feasible projects;
• Updating muck flux loading estimates based on the latest field data;
• Adding table 6-9 to show cost-effectiveness with and without inflation and other match; &
• Reporting on the costs, benefits, successes, and lessons learned from completed projects.
During fiscal year 22/23, actual tax collections were $66.9 million, which was $757,961 less than the $67.7 million estimated in the prior plan update. Using actual revenues collected in 2016 through September 2022, 3.6% for projecting revenue growth during the remainder of the 2023 calendar year, 2.1% revenue growth in 2024, and 1.9% revenue growth in 2025 through 2026, the estimated 10-year collections decreased by $801,255 from $586.5 million to $585.7 million. (Revenue growth rates for 2024-2026 are from the International Monetary Fund’s national projections of Gross Domestic Product Deflator Growth.)
In the 2024 Update, $196 million (42% of the Trust Fund) is directed to projects that improve the treatment of human wastewater through upgraded treatment of reclaimed water, connection of package treatment plants to central sewer, nutrient removal from treatment plant spray-fields and rapid infiltration basins, smoke testing to identify leaky sewer infrastructure coupled with funding to incentivize repairs, conversion of septic neighborhoods to sewer service, connection of septic homes to adjacent sewer lines, and upgrade of high-risk conventional septic to advanced septic systems. The 2024 Update allocates $172 million (37%) for muck removal, including stripping nutrients from the dredge outflow water. The 2024 Update allocates $74 million (16%) for stormwater treatment and vegetation harvesting, $10 million (2%) for restoration and $10 million (2%) for measuring project performance, and $3.5 million (1%) for public outreach, as illustrated in the cost allocation pie charts (below). The recommended changes are consistent with the County Commission’s 2019 shift in emphasis that reduced muck dredging down from 66% of the original allocation and increased human wastewater related projects up from 24% of the original allocation.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Send Clerk’s memo of Board action to Natural Resources