Subject:
Title
Contract for the Save Our Indian River Lagoon - Melbourne Tillman Water Control District Mechanical Aquatic Vegetation Harvesting Project (Districts 3 and 5)
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Fiscal Impact:
This board action does not change the funding amount that was approved previously to come from the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Trust Fund
Dept/Office:
Natural Resources Management Department
Requested Action:
Recommendation
Authorize the Chair to execute contract number SOIRL 21-171 with Melbourne Tillman Water Control District for mechanical harvesting of vegetation from the District’s canals.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
The Board of County Commissioners, in regular session on February 9, 2021, approved the 2021 Save Our Indian River Lagoon Plan Update, which included the Melbourne Tillman Water Control District (MTWCD) Mechanical Aquatic Vegetation Harvesting Project to receive $1,011,976 of cost-share from the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Trust Fund.
This project is expected to remove 16,636 pounds of total nitrogen through the mechanical harvest of aquatic vegetation from miles of canals within unincorporated Brevard County and the City of Palm Bay. Mechanical removal is an alternative to chemical vegetation control. The harvested material will be removed with a long-reach excavator and then trucked off-site or disposed of in an area where nutrients will not leach back into the waterbody. The amount of nutrient removal will be verified through weight tickets for vegetation removed and certified lab analysis of nutrient content in the harvested vegetation.
The MTWCD requested edits to sections of the Board approved Save Our Indian River Lagoon contract template that do not apply to the pay-for-performance structure of this two-year project. These changes include edits to sections regarding Failure to Complete the Project and Funding Contingency. Per the attached contract language and its Attachment E, if the amount of vegetation harvested contains less than the 16,636 pounds of nitrogen estimated, the District will only be paid for the amount of nutrients actually removed, at $61 per pound. They will not be required to reimburse the County performance-based progress payments made for the amount of nutrients that are successfully removed each quarter. MTWCD will have the opportunity to finish the project and be reimbursed earlier than anticipated in the contract, as this would benefit the lagoon sooner.
If the District removes more than the contracted amount of total nitrogen, the cost for this overperformance is at their own risk, however they could request the County consider a contract amendment to reimburse them for additional costs associated with removing the additional nutrient loads. Such a request would have to follow the most current process adopted in the Contingency Fund Reserve Section of Save Our Indian River Lagoon Plan and its approval would be at the full discretion of the County.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Please execute two original copies of SOIRL 21-171 as provided in Attachment A.