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4 Florida' Environmental Consulting, Inc. March 1, 2022 Indian River County B.O.C.C. 180027 1h Street Vero Beach, Florida 32960 Re: Bid Number: 2022016 Annual Bid to Maintain and Operate the WRWWTF Wetland System To Whom it may concern: )2-F.2 First, please allow me to reiterate that FEC won this bid, we have managed this system before, and the incumbent has lost his protest. We believe there is only 1 way to do the right thing, and that is to award the contract to FEC as justly earned. Second, please see the comparison photos of our previous contractual period vs the current incumbent. You can clearly see the difference in work ethic. Our work demonstrates a desire and ability to manage the system appropriately. We treated undesirable vegetation, promoted re- establishment of appropriate vegetation, we restored control structures, all while most importantly meeting the effluent water quality compliance requirements. That demonstrates our qualifications and a success story with the County. Further, we had worked with the County to have a Kiosk built to help inform the public as to what the primary function of the system is. Which is first as a water treatment wetland to reduce nutrient inputs to the lagoon, and then second as a man-made but native wetland system and Great Florida Birding Trail location. Indecently that organization as well as the general public is a stakeholder in this project. Currently, our public educational signage is no longer displayed in the kiosk, and the materials have not been replaced by the incumbent. We also worked with the County Utility Department to have the Boardwalk refurbished, which is now overgrown with exotic invasive vegetation, has fallen into disrepair, and is now closed to the public yet again. Additionally, we had been recommending muck and cattail harvesting during our contractual period and even added it to the Operation and Maintenance Manual as would be a required mechanism in any closed treatment system. We recommended 1 cell at a time, when funding became available, until the entire system was refurbished, but that was still being analyzed by the County at the time. Then 3 months after our contract expired, a purchase order was issued to refurbish the discharge -cell of the system, as we had originally recommended. However, in this case after $74,000 worth of work was completed, the refurbished cell has been neglected and is now in out of compliance again. None of the native plantings were maintained and the cell has been overrun by cattails once again negating all the County's gains and expenditures. 1835 20th Street • Vero Beach, Florida 32960 Phone: 772-299-4791 • Fax: 772-778-3617 • E-mail: flenv@fl-env.com qq-1