THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTIONS.
This item supports the County Commission’s Value: Encouraging investments in renewable energy, sustainable practices and environmental protection; and the Goals: Seek funding for, implement policies and pursue projects promoting, the use of alternative energies and sustainable practices; and Proactively lead in the planning, design and construction of projects supporting resilience and climate adaptation, including coordination with other entities to foster resilient design as part of local and regional projects, especially shore protection efforts.
This item allows for the four Compact Counties to pool $150,000 each in funds over three years to support the continued engagement of the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) in facilitating and coordinating Compact activities, and for Broward County to act on behalf of all the Compact Counties in contracting with ISC for these services.
The success of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact has been underpinned since its inception by the coordination and facilitation services provided by the Institute for Sustainable Communities and/or staff currently employed by ISC. These efforts have included coordinating and facilitating meetings of the Compact Staff Steering Committee; facilitating workshops with stakeholders; preparing a four-county regional greenhouse gas emissions inventory and assessment; participating in the planning and execution of each of the seven annual Regional Climate Leadership Summits convened to date; creating and managing the Compact website; developing the Regional Climate Action Plan (RCAP); coordinating the RCAP implementation workshops and Resilient Redesign adaptation strategy charrettes; writing and editing grant proposals; conducting a municipal implementation survey; facilitating communication among Compact partners; providing a webinar platform for Compact use, providing remote and on-site support for various Compact activities, and participating in many other activities.
ISC staff are intimately familiar with the individuals, issues, priorities, and processes relating to Compact history, progress, and needs, and their valued advice, mediation skills, and leadership have helped to guide the Compact process and are acknowledged by the Compact partners to be essential to the continued implementation of the Compact and Regional Climate Action Plan (updated in 2017). The Scope of Services attached to the ISC agreement provides for the coordination of and support for twice-monthly Staff Steering Committee calls, biennial Staff Steering Committee retreats, annual Summits, Compact fundraising support, Regional Climate Action Plan implementation workshops, Compact communications efforts (including website content development and maintenance and quarterly email newsletters), and other short- and long-term tasks as identified by the Compact Staff Steering Committee.
ISC support of Compact activities was delivered from 2013 through 2015 under a $975,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation. The four Compact Counties then agreed in 2015 to each pursue $60,000 annually for Compact activities, and those sums were allocated in each County’s budget in the succeeding Fiscal Years, and a previous Interlocal Agreement formalizing this joint support for ISC's services was executed in June 2016. In 2016 and 2017, therefore, ISC's services were retained through the $200,000 contributed jointly each year by the Compact Counties under the Interlocal Agreement and $200,000 contributed each year by the Kresge Foundation.
This new Interlocal Agreement continues the arrangement under which Broward County has agreed to serve as the fiscal agent for the other three Compact counties to contract with ISC, supported by $200,000 ($50,000 from each county, including Broward) from the appropriated funds described above. The Kresge Foundation has committed to a final $500,000 of direct support to ISC ($200,000 each year in 2018 and 2019 and $100,000 in 2020). When combined with the Kresge Foundation funds, the total budget for ISC’s Compact activities for 2018 and 2019 will be approximately $400,000 per year and $300,000 in 2020.
In contrast to the previous Agreement with ISC, under which quarterly invoice amounts varied based upon completion of various deliverables, the new ISC Agreement provides for equal payments of $50,000 to ISC each quarter. ISC will provide a quarterly narrative reporting detailing the activities performed, and any information related to personnel, hours, or tasks requested by the Contract Administrator which demonstrate sufficient justification for the quarterly invoice. Equal quarterly payments to ISC also correspond better to the equal payments received from the other Compact counties and allow for more straightforward budgeting and accounting.
The agreement with ISC is retroactive to January 1, 2018, providing for payment for services which commenced in January 2018.
The Purchasing Division has approved a Sole Source/Sole Brand designation for the Institute for Sustainable Communities. The County Attorney’s Office has provided final review and approval as to form. |