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OR <br />INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Board of County Commissioners <br />THROUGH: John A. Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator <br />PREPARED BY: Andrew Sobczak, Planning & Development Services Director <br />DATE: February 7, 2024 <br />SUBJECT: Gifford Customer Convenience Center Landscaping Project <br />It is requested that the data presented herein be given formal consideration by the <br />Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting on February 20, 2024. <br />DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS <br />During a recent project development review meeting with members of the Gifford <br />community, staff was asked to explore the possibility of completing a landscaping <br />beautification project for the frontage and entrance of the Gifford Customer Convenience <br />Center (i.e. transfer station) located at 490141St Street. This beautification would involve <br />the removal of exotic and invasive plant material, and the design and installation of native <br />landscaping. <br />ANALYSIS <br />The Gifford Customer Convenience Center is one of 5 convenience centers in Indian River <br />County, and its frontage and entrance contain nuisance exotic vegetation and various <br />unmaintained plant species. <br />To complete this project, staff will develop a scope that includes the removal of nuisance <br />exotic vegetation from the subject site's frontage, protection of the existing viable native <br />vegetation, and replanting of open areas with new native vegetation. Staff will then initiate <br />a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the landscaping design, exotic removal, and installation <br />of new native landscaping. Following that process, the selected proposal will be brought <br />back to the Board for approval. <br />FUNDING <br />The County's Tree Mitigation Fund was created as an alternative for developers to pay a fee <br />for the removal of native trees from development sites when relocation or avoidance is not <br />possible. Per Code Section 927.11(1)(d)3.c. funds collected under this provision shall be used <br />for "native re -vegetation of restoration areas on public conservation lands; for relocating trees <br />or for planting trees on public -controlled lands; for nuisance invasive plant <br />eradication; or for other similar uses that enhance native tree and native vegetation <br />protection and restoration in unincorporated Indian River County." <br />16 <br />