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Commissioner Macht commented that Dr. Fletemeyer's letter of May 6, 1997, in the back-up, was the most amazing thing he had ever read, especially on the first page where the "Chevy" and "Cadillac" version is mentioned. Commissioner Adams explained that the "Chevy" and "Cadillac" terms were used when first negotiating with Dr. Fletemeyer, that we did not want the "Cadillac", just the "Chevy" monitoring on the turtles. That was what had been negotiated with the State. So, what he was saying in the letter is that we have left the "Chevy" and gone back to the "Cadillac." Commissioner Macht felt the letter was a comedy sketch and read portions of the letter so the public would be aware. What really got to him was the line that there probably are not enough turtles to count here, they want to go down to Palm Beach County and count their turtles. He could not vote for this. Commissioner Ginn stated she could not vote for it either. Public Works Director James W. Davis recapped what had been an "interesting" negotiation with Florida Department of Environmental Protection in order to have them approve the logistics and the procedures for tracking the sea turtle hatchlings as they try to maneuver over the PEP reef. He gave history of the conceptual program that was developed originally, with agreement that the details were to be worked out later. Coastal Engineer Jeffrey R Tabar has been working out the details with DEP. They have come to some kind of middle ground, with the State easing some of their requirements and we have come a little bit beyond our original scope of work. This has been laboriously negotiated. Director Davis had a hard time understanding some of the need for this since he was not a sea turtle -tracking biologist. But, he assured them that some middle ground had been reached and the cost amount had been reduced. He suggested this needed to be decided quickly because the nesting season is here and we must do this as a part of the 3 -year test plan for the PEP Reef program. Uwe do not resolve this this month, we will lose the July opportunity to do the work. Commissioner Macht believed that the truth of the matter is that DEP is requiring us to do this as a punitive action. DEP had opposed the PEP Reef at the start. He felt it was ridiculous and a sham. Commissioner Adams added that we did get the permit with the proviso that we worked something out to do this summer. She advised that there is quite a bit of difference in the dollars and what is being done, that everything in the letter is not being done. Director Davis concurred and added that the County has reduced the consultant's scope of work from $10,580 down to $5,000. It includes renting one GPS unit and the purchase of another. He assured them the purchased GPS would be useful for many County projects. Commissioner Adams felt it was important to monitor the turtles, but wanted to see what DEP did with the information when we do all this. It was very frustrating to have to deal with 57 June 10, 1997 SOCIIII I P;,GE tl' Y