Subject:
Title
Brevard County Shore Protection Project, Agreements for Restoration of the South Reach and Mid Reach Project Areas.
End
Fiscal Impact:
No county funds are required to cost-share an estimated $69,141,600 in federally funded beach renourishment.
Dept/Office:
Natural Resources Management Department
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested that the Board authorize the Chairman to execute the following agreements, subject to approval by the County Attorney of final documents substantially in the form of the attached: 1) Cooperative Agreement Between the United States of America and Brevard County Florida for Rehabilitation of the Brevard County, Florida Shore Protection Project, South Reach; 2) Cooperative Agreement Between the United States of America and Brevard County Florida for Rehabilitation of the Brevard County, Florida Shore Protection Project, Mid-Reach Segment; 3) Memorandum of Agreement Among the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, Regarding the Use of Outer Continental Shelf Sand Resources for Shore Protection and Restoration.
End
Summary Explanation and Background:
On April 20, 2000, Brevard County executed a Project Cooperation Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for initial construction and periodic renourishment of the North and South Reaches of the Brevard County Shore Protection Project over the 50-year life of the Project. On August 31, 2016, Brevard County entered into a Project Partnership Agreement with the Army Corps adding the Mid Reach segment to the Brevard County Shore Protection Project. The Project successfully protected upland property within the project area during Hurricanes Ian and Nicole but suffered significant beach erosion. The County worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to quantify storm-related beach erosion within the area and seek emergency restoration funds. As a result of that assessment, the Army Corps is in the final stages of approving renourishment of both the South Reach and Mid Reach using 100% federal funds. Current estimates for the work are $20,559,400 for the 3.8 mile South Reach and $48,582,200 for the 7.8 mile Mid Reach. No County funds are required by the Army Corps to complete this beach construction.
Subject to final approval by Army Corps leadership, the Corps tentatively plans to renourish the South and Mid Reaches between November 2023 and May 1, 2025. To meet this schedule, two agreements must be executed with the Army Corps to utilize Flood Control and Coastal Emergency funding and a three-party memorandum of agreement must be executed with the Army Corps and BOEM to allow the use of the offshore sand. Preliminary drafts of these agreements are attached for consideration by the Board. Approval of these drafts before final copies are available is essential to meet the Army Corp’s goal of advertising the construction project in August 2023. Final copies for review and execution cannot be provided until the federal review/approval processes are complete. Final documents will be approved by the County Attorney’s Office prior to execution by the Chairman. The Board previously approved the execution of similar draft documents on September 19, 2017 and July 9, 2019.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
If final documents are provided by the federal government prior to the BOCC meeting date, attachments will be updated to allow execution at the meeting. If not, Mike McGarry (Mike.McGarry@brevardfl.gov <mailto:Mike.McGarry@brevardfl.gov%20>; 321-537-1779) or Leslie Snyder (Leslie.snyder@brevardfl.gov <mailto:Leslie.snyder@brevardfl.gov>) with Natural Resources will coordinate the final document execution and attestation.