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It is requested that the information herein presented be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting of July 18, 2000. On November 16, 1999, the Board of County Commissioners approved the Sebastian Area -Wide Scrub -Jay Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Subsequently, the HCP was endorsed, with minor revisions, by the City of Sebastian and the Indian River County School Board. On March 24, 2000, the HCP was formally submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), as part of an Incidental Take Permit application to release --317 platted scrub lots in the Sebastian Highlands for development. Issuance of that permit by the FWS is expected to occur in the next month. A main component of the HCP is the removal of sand pines (and some slash pines) from publicly owned scrub conservation areas identified in the plan, including the -407 acre North Sebastian Conservation Area (NSCA), in order to "open up" the tree canopy to allow establishment of low -growing oak scrub, which is the prime habitat of scrub -jays. Subsequently, periodic prescribed burns will be conducted as part of habitat maintenance. County staff has investigated the most cost-effective means to thin the sand pine canopy on the scrub conservation areas identified in the HCP to fulfill management commitments. As a result, county staff has negotiated a contract with Georgia-Pacific Corporation for selective removal of pines from the NSCA which contract is hereby presented to the Board for approval consideration. There are basically two alternatives regarding the removal of pine trees from scrub conservation areas. The first alternative is for the County, using either county staff or a private contractor, to cut the trees and dispose of the debris at the county landfill (or burn the debris with a debris burning permit). This first alternative would require an expenditure of county funds for such costs as staff time and equipment, or private contractor fees, as well as landfill tipping fees. The second alternative is for the County to seek a timber company that sees the timber as a commodity such that the company would remove the trees at no cost to the County, and in fact would pay the County some amount for the timber. Since the second alternative is more cost-effective and environmentally sound than the first alternative, county staff sought out a timber company for the task. In seeking timber companies that might be interested in the pine thinning project, staff's finding was that the NSCA, even though it is the largest of the County's scrub conservation areas (--407 acres), is considered a small project from the timber harvesting perspective. Therefore, it was difficult to find a company interested in the job, particularly since the property is remote from other timber removal projects. However, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, which in 1998 contracted with the County to remove timber from the Wabasso Scrub Conservation Area, is willing to work again with the County and remove timber from the NSCA. Based on the circumstance that Georgia-Pacific is the only timber company found willing to enter into a contract with the County, coupled with Georgia -Pacific's demonstrated competence in carrying out the Wabasso Scrub timber removal project, plus the fact that the County incurs no cost under the proposed contract, staff's position is that it is justified for the County to contract with Georgia-Pacific without going through a formal bidding process. Contract The proposed contract is modeled after, and virtually the same as, the previous Wabasso Scrub timber contract between Georgia-Pacific and the County. Under the proposed contract, Georgia-Pacific will coordinate closely with county environmental planning staff to ensure that the selective timber removal will July 18, 2000 88