Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Jonathan Daniels
Department: Port Everglades Division: Director’s Office
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO APPROVE Amendment No. 1 to the Public Transportation Grant Agreement (“PTGA”) between the Florida Department of Transportation (“FDOT”) and Broward County, increasing FDOT’s participation by $3,639,934 for the Environmental/Design/Construction phase of the Port Everglades’ Southport Turning Notch (“STN”) Expansion Project and the Southport Crane Infrastructure Improvements Project, requiring a 25% match of $1,213,311 from Broward County, and effective upon execution by FDOT; authorize the County Administrator to take the necessary administrative and budgetary actions to implement the grant; and authorize the Mayor and Clerk to execute same.
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Why Action is Necessary
Broward County Board of County Commissioners (“Board”) approval is required for the execution of Public Transportation Grant Agreements with the Florida Department of Transportation.
What Action Accomplishes
Provides additional funding for the Environmental/Design/Construction phase of the Port Everglades’ Southport Turning Notch (“STN”) Expansion Project and the Southport Crane Infrastructure Improvements Project.
Is this Action Goal Related
Yes
Previous Action Taken
None.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE PORT EVERGLADES DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS APPROVAL.
This item supports the Broward County Board of County Commissioners’ (“Board”) Value of "Ensuring economic opportunities for Broward’s diverse population and businesses" and the Goal to "Increase the economic strength and impact of revenue-generating County enterprises balancing economic, environmental, and community needs."
The Port Everglades Southport Turning Notch (“STN”) Expansion Project and Southport Crane Infrastructure Improvements Project are currently under construction, scheduled for completion in 2023. The state of Florida has recognized the importance of these projects to the region, and has provided previous FDOT funding to Broward County through a Joint Participation Agreement (“JPA”) approved by the Board on December 11, 2012 (Item No. 11) and supplements thereto, as well as a Bond Funded Agreement approved by the Board on August 25, 2015 (Item No. 6) to support the projects in an amount totaling $86,817,541.
On March 10, 2020 (Item No. 9), the Board approved a new agreement document titled Public Transportation Grant Agreement (“PTGA”) with FDOT covering the disbursement of an additional $6,975,510 in Fiscal Year 2019-2020 state grant funds, which required matching funds from Broward County in the amount of $2,325,170.
FDOT has approved for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 the disbursement of an additional $3,639,934 under this PTGA Amendment No. 1, which requires matching funds from the County in the amount of $1,213,311. With the execution of this PTGA Amendment No. 1 and previous funding, total project costs eligible for state grants are $129,910,648, with FDOT providing $97,432,985 of that amount and the County providing matching funds totaling $32,477,663.
Located in the Southport area of Port Everglades, the STN Expansion and Crane Infrastructure Improvements Projects will lengthen the existing Turning Notch from 900 to 2,400 linear feet, at the existing depth of 42 feet. The projects, currently under construction, will provide for up to five additional berths to increase berthing capacity at Port Everglades and provide additional crane rail and other infrastructure required to accommodate up to six new super post-Panamax cranes in Southport. The STN Expansion and Crane Infrastructure Improvements Projects are two of the Port’s strategic projects developed as part of the overall infrastructure needs identified in the Port Everglades Master/Vision Plan Update adopted by the Board on June 18, 2020 (Item No. 70).
Completing the projects is needed for Port Everglades to create adequate capacity (depth and width) to accommodate “Neo-Panamax” vessels that call at the Port today, as well as those that traverse the Panama Canal. It will enable Port Everglades to remain competitive with other ports and market to ocean carriers on the East-West and North-South trade lanes.
A requirement of this additional funding is to execute this PTGA Amendment No. 1 between FDOT and Broward County prior to disbursement of any funding. PTGA Amendment No. 1 is written in the standard FDOT format and has been reviewed and approved as to form by the Office of the County Attorney. FDOT will execute the Amendment after Board approval.
Source of Additional Information
David Anderton II, PPM, AICP, Assistant Director of Port Everglades, 954-468-0144, danderton@broward.org
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
Port Everglades Southport Turning Notch Expansion Project and the Southport Crane Infrastructure Improvements Project and matching funds are budgeted in the Port's five-year capital program.