Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Joseph Morris
Department: Port Everglades Division: Director’s Office
Information
Requested Action
title
A. MOTION TO APPROVE State-Funded Grant Agreement (“SFGA”) between the Florida Department of Transportation (“FDOT”) and Broward County for the completion of a pilot project to install and test radiation detection sensors on a container gantry crane at Port Everglades at an estimated project cost not to exceed $1,000,000, with FDOT funding 100% of the project costs, with the County being responsible for paying any cost overruns; authorizing the Mayor and Clerk to execute same; and authorizing the County Administrator to take the necessary administrative and budgetary actions to implement the grant.
ACTION: (T-11:15 AM) Approved.
VOTE: 8-0. Commissioner Davis was inaudible during the vote.
B. MOTION TO ADOPT budget Resolution within the Port’s Capital Fund for Fiscal Year 25 in the amount of $1,000,000 to recognize grant funding and create a new capital project for radiation detection sensors for container gantry crane.
ACTION: (T-11:15 AM) Approved Resolution No. 2025-203.
VOTE: 8-0. Commissioner Davis was inaudible during the vote.
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Why Action is Necessary
Broward County Board of County Commissioners’ approval is required to accept funding under an SFGA with FDOT and to create a new capital project and budget grant revenue not anticipated in the adopted budget.
What Action Accomplishes
Creates a new capital project and provides FDOT funding for a pilot project to test a new radiation detection technology attached to a container gantry crane.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☐County Commission
☐Go Green
☐MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
None
Summary Explanation/Background
THE PORT EVERGLADES DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS APPROVAL.
The Port Everglades Department was advised in July 2023 that an earmark of $1,000,000 had been included in the Florida Department of Transportation’s (“FDOT”) Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Work Program to fund a pilot project to test the installation and operation of radiation detection sensors mounted on the spreader of a container gantry crane. The spreader is the part of the crane that connects to and lifts a container on and off a ship.
Currently, all containerized cargo that is imported into the United States must be scanned for radiation before leaving the port and entering commerce. To meet that requirement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) operates and maintains radiation portal monitors (“RPM”) at three locations where cargo exits the port at Eller Drive, McIntosh Road, and at the gate connecting the port to the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility operated by the Florida East Coast Railway immediately adjacent to the Southport area of Port Everglades.
The earmark was supported in the Legislature by State Representative LaMarca and identified Port Everglades as the location that the pilot project would be conducted, and the Port Director agreed to allow port facilities to be used for the pilot testing. Safe Port Terminals LLC (“SPT”) was identified by the state as a vendor with the capability to perform the pilot testing; however, due to state funding restrictions, the funds must be provided to a public port through a state-funded grant agreement (“SFGA”). The County intends to execute a separate agreement with SPT as a reasonable source to conduct the pilot project, and SPT will be reimbursed from the state funds for eligible project costs up to $1,000,000. That agreement will also provide that all eligible project costs exceeding $1,000,000 will be the responsibility of SPT.
The funding from FDOT will be used by SPT to install a radiation detection device on one container spreader to be used on a single container gantry crane to test the application of the detection technology for improved safety of container terminal operations. This device is intended to reduce the risk of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosives (“CBRNE”) events and address safety/security risks with technology systems that deter illicit activity. The pilot project will utilize advancements in Artificial Intelligence, computing, and sensors to detect radioactive material in a container as it is being lifted on or off a ship, and would send real-time alerts to CBP for further analysis and action.
Eligible reimbursable costs for the project include the coordination, environmental work, design work, installation activities, including connections and cables; fabrication, system integration, and testing required to install a functioning radiation detection device at Port Everglades. The SFGA requires all reimbursable project activity to be completed by June 30, 2026.
This SFGA is a standardized FDOT format. FDOT will execute the SFGA after Board approval. During its review, the Office of the County Attorney noted the following risks and sought modifications to the SFGA, but they were largely rejected by FDOT:
1. County responsibility for cost overruns.
2. County responsibility for failure to comply with law or grant terms, including some procurement statutes that do not appear to be applicable to the Project.
3. County indemnification of FDOT.
The Office of the County Attorney did receive some minor modifications to the SFGA from FDOT, such as the inclusion of County’s Sole Source provisions from the Procurement Code and clarifications that this is not a “construction” project; however, the other risks identified above will be mitigated by including language to shift these risks to SPT through a separate agreement. Based on the foregoing, the SFGA has been reviewed and approved as to form by the Office of the County Attorney.
Source of Additional Information
Glenn Wiltshire, Deputy Port Director, Port Everglades Department, 954-468-3504, gwiltshire@broward.org
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
The pilot project will be 100% funded by FDOT up to $1 million. This action recognizes the additional unanticipated grant revenue to offset the cost of the project.