Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Leonard Vialpando
Department: Resilient Environment Division: Natural Resources Division
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO APPROVE Agreement titled “Application to Request for Innovative Readiness Training Civil Military Partnership, project name “Memphis Reef Ball Relocation”” (hereinafter “Agreement”) between Broward County and the United States Department of Defense (“DoD”) for use of military labor to allow US military divers to extract and relocate artificial reef modules to a more stable location offshore of Broward County; authorize the County Administrator or her designee to execute the Agreement and any subsequent amendments or modifications that do not impose any additional material risk or financial obligation on the County, subject to review and approval by the County Attorney’s Office; and authorize the County Administrator to take all necessary administrative and budgetary actions to implement the executed Agreement.
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Why Action is Necessary
Agreements and amendments require approval by the Board of County Commissioners pursuant to Broward County Administrative Code Section 20.31.
What Action Accomplishes
Motion will allow US military divers to extract artificial reef modules from the ocean bottom that are subsiding into sand and relocate the modules to a nearby location that provides less sand subsidence and more stability.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☒County Commission
☐Go Green
☐MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
None taken.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE RESILIENT ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT AND THE NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board’s goal of a Resilient Community, “ensuring accessible, seamlessly integrated investments in renewable energy, sustainable practices, resilient infrastructure, and environmental protection”.
This motion supports a contract with the US Department of Defense (DoD) for the relocation of artificial reef modules placed offshore of Dania Beach in Broward County from their current location to a more suitable location within the artificial reef permitted area. The motion will authorize the County Administrator to contract with the DoD for military support. As the Agreement is not on County forms, it does not include standard County language. It further releases the DoD from liability for injury, loss, or damages to the County connected with the project and requires the County to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the DoD for any injury, loss, or damage to third parties.
In 2000, a total of 160 modules were placed offshore in approximately 40-foot water depth across an approximate 10-acre area. Over time, the modules subsided into the sand to a large enough degree to cause concern that the modules would become completely buried. The intention of this relocation operation is to save corals and other benthic species that are growing on the exposed surfaces of the modules from being buried as the modules sink into the sand, creating a more ecologically beneficial habitat for fishes, corals and other benthic organisms, and creating a unique area for recreational divers to explore.
In late 2024, a US Army engineer dive detachment assisted the County’s marine resources’ dive team in lifting approximately 52 of these modules and successfully moving them underwater to a more stable substrate a few hundred feet away. This operation not only benefited the County’s Artificial Reef Program and the community but also provided essential training opportunities to increase deployment readiness for the detachment. This Agreement will allow the project to continue so the remaining modules can be moved to provide similar benefits. The Agreement may be extended for one fiscal year if more time is needed to move the remaining modules.
Source of Additional Information
Monica Pognon, Director, Natural Resources Division, (954) 519-1476.
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
No fiscal impact.