Subject:
Title
Adoption of the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan 2025 Update, as recommended by the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizens Oversight Committee
End
Fiscal Impact:
The recommended plan update recognizes a $20,444 increase in total revenues to be generated by the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Surtax over its 10-year life (increased from $585.71 million to $585.73 million) with $9.245 million re-allocated for new projects as follows: 3 wastewater projects; 11 stormwater treatment projects; 4 restoration projects; and 1 aquatic vegetation harvesting project.
Dept/Office:
Natural Resources Management
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested the Board of County Commissioners adopt (or modify and adopt) the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan 2025 Update, as recommended unanimously by the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizen Oversight Committee on January 17, 2025; and maintain the following administrative authorities provided by past Board actions with the inclusion of grants agreements in number 2 below:
1) authorize associated budget change requests;
2) approve continued signature authority to the Chairman (or authorized representative, in accordance with the threshold limits provided for in Brevard County policies and administrative orders) to execute contracts, agreements, task orders, change orders, contract renewals, amendments, other contract-related documents and grant agreements, 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;
3) 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;
4) 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
5) authorize staff to submit grant applications for leveraging cost share for projects and programs approved in the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan.End
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 (SOIRL) Project Plan. 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. Pursuant to Brevard County Ordinance 2016-15, the Committee’s annually recommended SOIRL Project Plan 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, 2024, to review the process for submitting project requests to be considered for addition to the 2025 SOIRL Project Plan Update. Project requests for the 2025 Update were due September 27th. Project submissions are listed in the summary table and the detailed applications (attached) were reviewed by the Committee during a November 15th public meeting. The Citizen Oversight Committee voted unanimously to recommended funding nineteen (19) of the twenty-one (21) requests, and also stipulated that for the South Beaches Wastewater Treatment Plan Upgrade and the Port Saint John Wastewater Treatment Plant Replacement, staff are to conduct a review and enter into an agreement only up to that amount that is demonstrated to be the cost-share for nitrogen load reduction benefits exceeding regulatory requirements, and confirm that the Port Saint John Replacement project will indeed be needed, based upon plans for a regional facility.
The draft 2025 SOIRL Project Plan Update (attached) allocates funding for a total of 428 projects over the 10-year life of the Plan, including the nineteen (19) new projects plus 942 individual quick connections to sewer and 1,469 septic upgrades. The draft 2025 plan also includes performance updates and refinements on multiple project types. To help readers find all areas of the SOIRL Project Plan that contain proposed updates or modifications, the attached Draft 2025 Update uses yellow highlighted text, table, and figure captions to indicate additions and revisions.
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 0-4, 7.8% for Year 5, 17.3% for Year 6, 6.5% for Year 7, and 3.5% for Years 8-10. (Construction inflation rates are based on local bids and national construction industry statistics for infrastructure construction costs.)
Significant changes in the draft 2025 Update include:
• Revising the revenue projection up $20,443 in response to economic fluctuations;
• Adding 19 new projects (9 local government, 6 county, and 4 non-profit) at $9.245M;
• Updating inflation reserves for each project in the plan that is not yet complete;
• Increasing the maximum homeowner cost share for septic upgrades to $20,000;
• Reporting on the costs, benefits, successes, and lessons learned from completed projects.
During fiscal year 23/24, actual tax collections were $68.3 million, which was $413,162 less than the $68.7 million estimated in the prior plan update. Using actual revenues collected in 2016 through September 2024, 2.761% for projecting revenue growth during the remainder of the 2024 calendar year, and 2.4% revenue growth in 2025 through 2026, the estimated 10-year collections increased by $20,443 from $585.71 million to $585.73 million.
In the 2025 Update, $238 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 2025 Update allocates $212 million (37%) for muck removal, including stripping nutrients from the dredge outflow water. The 2025 Update allocates $87 million (15%) for stormwater treatment and vegetation harvesting, $12 million (2%) for restoration and $10 million (2%) for measuring project performance, and $4 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