THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board’s Value of “Encouraging investments in renewable energy, sustainable practices and environmental protection” and Goal 4: Educate the public about the fragile South Florida ecosystems by providing the required additional marine law enforcement for protection and greater awareness of the manatees and their natural environment to the public, while promoting safe boating practices in the County’s waterways.
Approval of this item provides the Broward Sheriff’s Office with funding for a dedicated marine unit deputy to deliver patrol and enforcement services in support of manatee protection and conservation within the New River/South Fork New River/Dania Cutoff Canal loop, as required by the County’s Manatee Protection Plan (MPP). The County’s MPP includes three components: 1) Education and Awareness, 2) Boating Safety, and 3) Boat Facility Siting Plan. While the first two components have been in place since the early 1990’s, in early 2000 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) required that the Boat Facility Siting Plan be adopted as part of the MPP, requisite to the continued licensing of marine facilities and relevant to marine-based development in the County.
A multi-year planning and stakeholder engagement process was undertaken to produce a Boat Facility Siting Plan with the following elements and recommendations: 1) identification of Areas of Special Concern based on manatee presence and risk of boater interaction; 2) establishment of boat slip and dock density criterion; 3) identification of manatee conservation measures (education and law enforcement); 4) presentation of an implementation plan, specifically slip fees for the purpose of funding conservation.
On June 26, 2007 the Board of County Commissioners approved the Broward County Boat Facility Siting Plan (Item No. 49). On December 20, 2007, this plan was then approved by the FWC. On December 11, 2007 (Item No. 25), the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) established the Manatee Protection Plan Fund to cover all costs related to the MPP through 1) a new-slip development fee associated with the County’s Environmental Resource Licensing Program and 2) the annual Marine Facility Operating License Program.
Implementation
The MPP requires various conservation measures, including the services of a law enforcement officer to patrol Areas of Special Concern (ASC) identified in the MPP. These areas encompass the New River, the South Fork of the New River and the Dania Cutoff Canal. The ASC waterway segments are located within the law enforcement jurisdictions of various municipalities and unincorporated Broward County. As such, the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the FWC are the only law enforcement entities with the authority to provide enforcement services in all the areas mentioned above.
On April 28, 2009, the BOCC approved a 5-year Agreement with the Broward Sheriff’s Office for patrol services in the designated waterways (Item No. 59). On September 24, 2013, the BOCC approved an amendment to the Agreement extending the terms for an additional five years (Item No. 23).
To continue providing manatee protection by fulfilling the conservation and enforcement components of the County’s MPP, the Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division seeks to again contract with the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) in the continued delivery of marine patrol and law enforcement services within the ASC. Due to a shortage of officers, the FWC Division of Law Enforcement indicated it would be unable to commit the resources necessary to provide contractual services in marine patrol and enforcement consistent with the County’s MPP.
Approval of this Agreement will ensure year-round marine law enforcement services by a full-time armed uniformed deputy in a fully-equipped appropriately-marked patrol vessel required to fulfill the enforcement component of the County’s Manatee Protection Plan. This agreement provides BSO with $204,812 per year in delivery of these services. Expenses account for a full time patrol officer, patrol vessel (discounted), pickup truck required for towing, and scheduled vessel engine replacement. As the previous agreement expired on September 30, 2018, the current Agreement has an effective date of October 1, 2018.
The Agreement has been reviewed and approved as to form by the Office of the County Attorney.
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