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Wesley S. Davis From: Ed Fielding <efieldin@martin.fl.us> Sent: Monday, January 19, 2015 1:09 PM To: Wesley S. Davis; Drew Bartlett (drew.bartlett@dep.state.fl.us); Christopher B. Thomas (thomas.chris@epa.gov); Thomas Frick (thomas.frick@dep.state.fl.us); Carolyn S. Ansay (cansay@torcivialaw.com); Maurice Sterling - St. Johns River Water Management District (mstelring @sjrwmd.com); Kathy LaMartina (klamart@sfwmd.gov); Michael Durham Cc: Domenica Labbate Subject: IRL Council Interlocal Agreement Thank you Chairman Davis, Perhaps the most succinct response to questions raised by the copy of Commissioner Solari's memorandum you sent to me would be to quote from his own text. Page 5, item #7: "The first hour, of the August 18 meeting where I tried to generate a meaningful discussion about what I thought were essential issues was omitted from the minutes." Page 5, item #7: His further quoting from the minutes; "The minutes reflect that a discussion about the interlocal agreement took place, but nothing of substance is noted in the minutes that might be of help to any member of the IRL- NEP Advisory Board or the public, which would help them better understand the process and reasoning behind what was done by the design team." In other words, Commissioner Solari's viewpoint was unique from that expressed by the other 25 or 30 who were in attendance. In the time honored tradition, the group expressed their preferences by vote. After extensive discussion and several modified drafts during the past 10 months and further detailed discussion at the December 17`h group meeting, a final Interlocal Agreement was unanimously (save for one)accepted to be sent to the prospective Parties. St. Johns Water Management District and Martin County Commission have already formally approved the Interlocal; review by other Parties under way. As to the questions; a proposed structure for the new NEP (IRL Council) would consist of a Policy Board, Management Committee, staff (probably an executive director, deputy director, communications person and educational outreach person); Technical Committee and Citizens Advisory Committee. EPA would continue as an advisory non-voting member of the Policy Board. Management Board to be composed of those responsible for contributing contamination to the Lagoon. Anticipate this group will recognize levels and sources of contamination, accepting responsibility and agreeing to timetables for mitigation and eventual cessation. The Interlocal Agreement has been created through a multi -iterative process over 10 months, voted upon by the participants, which by the way was unanimous (save for one) and now made available by NEP staff to the Parties. The Design Group decided that it would be more appropriate for the Mission Statement to be formulated by the Policy Board. Funding: historic overhead funding by St. Johns Water Management District of about $400,000. annually; this has allowed the full $500,000. EPA funding to be used as match money for Lagoon projects. Ways to even further reduce the annual operating budget for the IRL Council are being discussed. It is anticipated annual overhead may be less than the previous $400,000. The Interlocal requires that the Policy Board create and 297