TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Missie Barletto, Deputy Director of Program and Project Management
THROUGH: Mark R. Lauzier, City Manager
DATE: February 6, 2018
Title
CONTRACT RENEWAL WITH DB ECOLOGICAL SERVICES, INC. FOR MARINE TURTLE MONITORING SERVICES DURING THE 2018 SEA TURTLE NESTING SEASON
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Motion to renew the marine turtle monitoring services contract with DB Ecological Services, Inc. in the amount of $40,081 for the Marine Turtle Monitoring Services during the 2018 sea turtle nesting season; Project No. 2017-081.
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Background:
The City of Delray Beach holds a Joint Coastal Permit (JCP), Permit No.0303553-001-JC, with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for sand nourishment of the beach front with offshore borrow areas. The JCP has conditions specific to the beach nourishment / construction activities, marine turtle and manatee protection, monitoring and reporting. The JCP marine turtle protection conditions include annual surveying for marine turtle nesting activity and egg relocations (as necessary) during the nesting season.
Additionally, the City of Delray Beach cleans the beaches with mechanical equipment (beach tilling) and, as such, marine turtle nesting surveys, staking and egg relocations are required for the protection of the species. The sea turtles that nest on Florida Beaches are either endangered or threatened and are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 and Florida’s Marine Turtle Protection Act (379.2431, Florida Statutes).
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), qualifies and issues marine turtle permits under authority granted to the state through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The turtle conservation program requires reporting on hatching and reproduction success rates; also involves inventory and excavation of nests on Th...
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