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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA BOARD MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners THROUGH: John A. Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator THROUGH: Richard B. Szpyrka, P.E., Public Works Director PREPARED BY: Eric Charest, Natural Resources Manager Ia SUBJECT: FDEP Grant Agreement 231112 (Indian River County 2022 Hurricane Ian and Nicole Recovery Project) DATE: June 6, 2023 DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS Much of the State of Florida's shoreline sustained beach and dune erosion from Hurricane Ian (category 4 storm in late September 2022) and Hurricane Nicole (category 1 storm in November 2022). Based on significant erosional damage, on December 16, 2022 Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 4A, which allocated $100 million dollars to support beach nourishment projects within 16 counties most impacted by the hurricanes, of which Indian River County was identified. With information submitted by Indian River County, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's (FDEP) Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection issued the Hurricanes Ian and Nicole Recovery Plan for Florida's Beach and Dune System (December 9, 2022) which was used as the basis for allocating the funding approved by the Governor's office. Laws of Florida Chapter 2022-272 Senate Bill 4A, authorized the FDEP to waive match requirements for local governments and provided non-recurring funds for damages related to Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole for beach erosion projects as identified in Section 161.101 (22) Florida Statutes (F.S.). The FDEP has granted $4,080,388.00 to the beaches within Indian River County. As beach management Sectors 1 and 2 within the County are managed by the Sebastian Inlet District (SID) under a Memorandum of Understanding, the funds associated with Sectors 1 and 2 ($334,696.59) have been assigned to SID under a separate grant. Indian River County has been allocated $3,745,691.41 of the available funding under Local Government Funding Request Grant (LGFR) 231112 to be used for Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole beach erosion projects consistent with the FDEP's recovery plan identified above. The attached agreement commits the FDEP to providing up to $3,745,691.41 of State funding to cover non-federal Project costs for the specific projects identified in the Grant. It should be noted; this Grant is based on reimbursement and the County would be responsible for the up -front costs associated with construction. Reimbursement would take place at a later date once all of the County's costs are deemed eligible per the Grant standards. The County continues to work with representatives from the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Act (FEMA), to secure Federal funding for these projects, and the federal share shall not affect the cost sharing percentage of the non-federal share. 293