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Item O1 MEMORANDUM Office of the County Administrator TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Thomas J. Willi County Administrator DATE: March 2, 2006 SUBJECT: County Divisions' Monthly Activity Report for February, 2006 MONTHL Y ACTIVITY REPORT - FEBRUARY 2006 KEY WEST AIRPORT . Successfully completed National Incident Management System (NIMS) training. We have now begun the process to bring all of our emergency and operational plans and procedures into NIMS compliance. . Made continued progress with the architectural and engineering work on the new McCoy Terminal complex. The first set of complete plans and specifications have been received. . We have been informed by the FAA that our grant funding package that will be delivered to us in August of this year will be $10,181,012, the largest single year amount ever for Key West and Marathon airport projects. Included in that amount is $1,411,500 to help us with hurricane repairs to both facilities. . Monthly passenger totals are up again for the Key West International Airport. Totals for the month are 56,939, up 4.3% over the same period last year. . Mter two months of negotiation, we now have a signed contract from Gulfstream International Airlines, The Continental Connection, to provide air service to the Florida Keys Marathon Airport beginning in November of this year. The cities served from Marathon will be Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale. From those two hubs, passengers will be able to directly connect to any other destination in the Continental Airlines system. Gulfstream also has code share arrangements with United and Northwest Airlines. . Updated the F AQ section of our portion of the web site. HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND MARATHON AIRPORT . Held a meeting with tenants of the Florida Keys Marathon Airport regarding Airport Master Plan Update, Runway/Taxiway Centerline Separation Issue, Runway Extension Considerations, Canopy Rehabilitation, Mold remediation, Hurricane Damage Repairs to Terminal and T -Hangars, Commercial Air Service Initiative and 1 Proposed Airport Improvement Projects. . Completed a core curriculum program on Enhancing Your Housing Strategies. . Participated in discussions with Commissioner Nelson, County Administrator, Interim County Attorney, Chairman of Monroe County Planning Committee and outside special counsel regarding the coordination of Affordable/Employee Housing Initiatives. . Hosted the Middle Keys Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Young Eagles Rally at Florida Keys Marathon Airport. . Finalized Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Real Estate Development Services document for four (4) affordable/employee housing projects and submitted to Legal and Purchasing Departments for publication of advertisement. . Initiated real restate appraisals for Geiger Key Marina. . Initiated drafting revisions to the Florida Keys Marathon Airport Emergency Plan. . Initiated drafting General Aviation Security Plan for Florida Keys Marathon Airport. . Coordinated with Security/Operations Chief at Key West International Airport regarding the development of a Part 139 Security Plan for Florida Keys Marathon Airport for commercial air services. Web site Updates: . Compiling information to be included on a Housing and Community Development Division webpage. EMPLOYEE SERVICES Web site Updates: Benefits: Updates of KPHA Provider Directory Turnover Numbers to Date: January turnover: 1.29% Resignations: 7 Terminations: Retired: none Deceased: none none 2 Activities: . Personnel Policies and Procedures Board voted by ERC members. Alternate seat is a tie-members will vote to break tie. Once all seats are filled a meeting to elect Officers will be scheduled in addition to notifying all employees to submit any recommended changes to the Policy. . Disability Training held for employees in middle keys. Approximately 28 employees attended. Training for upper keys will be scheduled in March. . EEO Officer provided a presentation for Black History Month at the Social Services Nutrition Sites. . Risk Management in process of securing Builders Risk Insurance for Murray Nelson Government Center and the Key West International Airport. Also in process of obtaining quote from Florida League of Cities for separate Liability Insurance for Key Largo State Park. . Risk Management is in process of analysis/updating of all County building addresses with County's Wind/Flood Policies and the recent appraisals. . Safety office: Mold in Sheriff Administration Building-worked with Public Works to provide workspace for employees during mold eradication. Cement roofing falling in County Attorney's Office-worked with Public Works to remove loose cement. . Safety Accident and Review Board Meeting held (February 9th): Discussed Hurricane Wilma and the post-disaster incidents related to the hurricane. Strategies were developed to prevent future accidents - Sheriff now has a procedure to help prevent future injuries specific to the individuals working at the Animal Farm. . Audit performed (Feb 13th & 14th) with PGCS (Workers' Compensation Third Party Administrator): Plan being administered well. . RFP in process for Workers' Compensation Third Party Administrator and Excess Insurance Carrier. Bids expected to be distributed in April. . Salary Survey completed for Florida Department of Environmental Protection. . Met with Charles Benz-Healthy at Work-regarding possible future Wellness Programs for employees. . Guideline to drug test employees for $100 property damage raised to $1,000. All Division Directors were informed to notify all Supervisors. 3 . Division Director attended 2 day Sterling Team Consensus Meeting in Orlando. Site Visit at organization scheduled for March. COMMUNITY SERVICES . Continued meetings with the library staff and learning about their operations; have met with Big Pine Key and Islamorada in February. . Updated the Florida Keys Council for People with Disabilities web site and Channel 76 Power Point Presentation. Added picture to Division Director's Page. . Met with the new Monroe County Project Manager. . Attended Stress & Time Management Seminar at Harvey Gov't Center. . Several staff attended 2-day NIMS Training. . Began working on the upcoming ADA Seminar that will be held on April 17, 2006 in Key West and obtained BOCC approval for expenditures. . Staff has been hampered by the frequent inability to access the Internet. Nutrition . Local artists, including some new entertainers, provided eight concerts. This included special Valentine's Day celebrations. One performer, Libby York, is an internationally renowned jazz artist. . Calvin Allen, Equal Opportunity Officer and Attorney with Monroe County Human Resources, presented Black History Month Programs at all four Nutrition Sites/Senior Centers in the county. . The Nutrition Program developed and submitted a grant proposal to the Alliance for Aging of Dade and Monroe Counties for funding of its programs through the Older Americans' Act grant. This procedure must be completed every three years. In-Home Services . The proposal for Older Americans Act funding was completed and submitted to the Alliance for Aging in Miami. . In spite of several staff absences, services have continued for the clients. Social Services - Transportation Program . A full-time driver has been assigned to drive the Big Pine Key route, which is expanding. 4 . Special Needs Registry is in the process of its annual renewal process. . Special Needs Registry and its Pet Friendly Sheltering Program have mailed letters to the animal lovers' community throughout the Keys to request volunteers for our Pet Friendly Shelters. The shelters are for pets of our Special Needs Clients who have been pre-registered. . Social Services - Welfare Program . In an effort to assist as many clients as possible, 50 LllIEAP letters were mailed to customers from Key West to Plantation Key. We are awaiting their responses for winter assistance. The Department of Community Affairs notified us of a change in poverty guidelines for low-income home energy assistance. The new guidelines are slightly more generous and should allow additional family units to get help through this program. . Planning has begun on redistributing the case load in a more equitable manner. . Staff attended the following meetings: Healthy Start Board Meeting the Salvation Army Board Meeting and a Hurricane Staff Follow-up Meeting. Bayshore Manor . Emergency Management Plan updated and found in compliance with Monroe County Emergency Management. . Director of Literacy Volunteers of America Monroe County has been visiting the residents twice a week with reading and writing activities. This is grant funded. . Key West Women's Club provided a wonderful Valentine Social on February 16, 2006 with entertainment provided by Key West Council on the Arts. . We have regular visits with representatives of St. Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church and Key West Fifth Street Baptist Church. . Public Works continues to make post hurricane Wilma repairs on the baseboards and walls. Monroe County Public Library Web site Updates: . The situation with VTH has improved-three of the five branches now have access to the site and those calendars have been updated. This is especially valuable at this time of year when branch activities are at their peak. Key West and Big Pine Key are still unable to access their sites, and their calendars remain unfortunately stagnant. . 10,842 public access PC sessions were provided to the public in January-a 10% increase over the previous year. Subscription database usage was 2,188% higher 5 than the same period in 2004. This increase continues the upward trend seen in recent months and is greatly due to the new online resources we are providing our customers and publicity efforts from our web site. . The Library's Horizon Information Portal server was out of service during much of January, but February is seeing some improvement. HIP had record high usage during October 2005 with 11,506 searches conducted by users at home and in-house. In January 2005, only 7,696 searches were performed. We are still trying to reconnect with some of these users and let them know that this popular service has been restored. Activities and Events: . Friends-sponsored programs featuring presentations by popular authors, especially local authors, are continuing in Key West, Big Pine Key, and Marathon, and the other branches are looking into similar possibilities. . County-wide circulation numbers were 8% higher than in January of 2005. There was a significant increase (30%) in circulation of audio-visual materials, such as Books on CD and DVDs. Managers are concentrating on increasing these collections to meet the growing demand. This is expected to be a high priority in budget planning for next year. . The Libraries welcomed 50,000 customers in January. This is a 24% increase over the previous month and 2% over the previous year. If there is any doubt about the season being here, take a look at any of the five Library branches and you will see the proof. . 321 new library cards were issued in January, an 8% increase over the previous year. We interpret these various statistics to mean that use of the Library's traditional services are steady, even increasing somewhat. Additionally we note evidence that use of online resources and newer formats are increasing immensely. We will continue to evaluate and implement new resources in formats that our customers find convenient and valuable. Examples of future technologies include: downloadable audio books and assistance via instant messaging. . The Islamorada Library is the proud recipient of a $ 12,000 donation from the Friends in the form of a new circulation desk, a welcome change from the previous non- computer friendly, non-ergonomic version. . Tax help from AARP continues to be available at the Key Largo and Islamorada branches weekly throughout the tax season, and all branches are providing tax forms for patrons who still prefer the paper format. . The Library Director has completed the final submissions for the Federally-funded e- rate program, to subsidize telecommunication costs; last year the Library system received over $ 40,000.00 in credits toward the phone bills. 6 Extension Services . The Horticulture Extension agent gave a presentation at the Marathon Garden Club Wonder Garden lecture series entitled "Planting a Signature Xeriscape Landscape". . The Horticulture Extension agent developed a Horticulture educational booth at three regional garden club events; Key West Botanical Garden Plant Sale, Marathon Garden Club Plant Sale and Upper Keys Garden Club Garden Walk. . The 4-H agent worked with teen members of the "The Marathon Seasons of Service (SOS) team to develop a plan to teach the American Red Cross storm awareness curriculum entitled Masters of Disaster to younger students. There are a total 16 teens involved with 4-H SOS in Marathon and a total of 26 teens involved with the Upper Keys Team. Both the Upper Keys Team and the Marathon Team will become chartered 4-H clubs in 2006. . The Marine Extension Agent was an invited participant to a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Ad-Hoc Grouper Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Panel meeting in Tampa. The purpose of this first meeting was to outline conceptual parameters for a Gulf grouper fishery IFQ program to reduce or eliminate the economic and social inefficiencies caused by the current system of fishery quotas and trip limits. GROWTH MANAGEMENT Building Department . The building Department has received 6 new laptop computers for use by the field inspectors. . Held two staff meetings (Upper and Middle Keys offices) to update staff on interim changes and to improve customer service and employee morale. Planning Department . Completed all the Goal 105 Agenda Items for the March BOCC meetings. . Completed the Tier Maps for GOAL 105 deadline Code Enforcement . Competed first two Team meetings with entire Growth management staff for Team Building, Customer Service and systems review and input . 386 new cases . created 172 complaints . 97 notice of violations . 51 were no bldg permit . 9 abandoned vehicles 7 . 11 abandoned watercraft . 31 unsafe buildings . issued 4 citations . closed 311 cases . issued 3 curtsey notices . gave the director 44 cases for review . performed 29 fema inspections . performed 195 reinspections for hearing . performed 243 initial inspections . issued 7 stop work orders . Held first Growth management Team Meetings in Upper and Lower Keys MARINE RESOURCES: Marine Proj ects . Have been working with DRC (hurricane emergency debris contractor) to sub- contract for the removal of marine debris, abandoned vessels, and lobster trap debris. . Have been working with DRC and others to obtain debris removal site accessible by water. . Have been working with FEMA to have the marine clean-up effort accepted as part of the Wilma hurricane declaration. . Have removed approximately 25 hurricane related abandoned vessels from the Marathon area (in advance of placing FEMA trailers on the haul-out site) and have pulled a similar number from the Boca Chica area. Pump-out Boat . Pump-out Captain also making the rounds to local marinas and other marine facilities informing them of the County's pump-out service . The Pump-out boat is averaging ten to fifteen pump-outs per day. . Operations will shift to 4 week days and 1 week-end day to ensure contact with boaters who work during the week and are not present on their boat during normal working hours GIS . Contract complete with FDOT for aerial over flights of Keys. . Wolpert ground control survey work complete. . All of aerial photography has been completed. . Anticipated completion of process of aerial photography data - September / October 2006. . GIS staff has completed changes to the Tier maps in preparation for their final adoption. . We have completed GIS data development in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as they prepare a new biological opinion based on requirements sent out in Judge Moore's ruling on the FEMA-FWS lawsuit. 8 . New GPS now working in the field. Began work on detailed assessment of Special Protected Area (SPA) lands within Tier Three properties. . Have been working with ESRI (ArcInfo Software Developer) to assess current and future needs for GIS software. Intent is to improve product availability, efficiency, and cost. . New data structure for GIS files in development- . GIS Planner position filled - John Brian Davison of Orlando, Florida will begin work with us the beginning of the second week in March. EMERGENCY SERVICES . Reinstituted quarterly in-service training for fire companies. This quarter's focus has been on standardized annual hose testing and developing a standard operating procedure to support this. . Division representatives met with the Key West Chamber of Commerce's Governmental Affairs Committee to hear their concerns regarding mandatory hurricane evacuations and the economic impact which results. . Began scheduled debriefings of logical groupings of Emergency Support Function (ESFs) regarding Wilma and the 2005 hurricane season in preparation for the 2006 hurricane season. The Fill Shelter operation was critiqued this month. . Copies of the Local Mitigation Strategy have been provided to all Monroe county Library Branches. . Emergency Management hosted a two-day introductory training session required for upper level managers in the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Forty- one additional county staff will receive certification in IS-I 00, IS-200, IS-700 and IS- 800. Web site Updates . The Monroe County Fire Academy website has completed initial development and has been moved from private ownership by the Chief Training Officer to access through the County web site. . A link to the Local Mitigation Strategy has been created on the County website. PUBLIC WORKS . Completed free residential hurricane dumping program. 9 . Completed labor portion of Cat B Emergency Protection Measures for Hurricane Wilma reimbursement. . Worked on many hurricane repair projects, including replacement of vehicles and equipment. . Utilized continuing contract with Michael Ingraham to provide plans to replace tiki huts at Veterans' Park destroyed by Hurricane Wilma; applied for building permits for same. . Had delineators installed along a portion of the road through Higgs Beach to stop illegal parking. . Working w/System Administrator for MP2 work order system to improve system reporting. Web site Updates: . Received update for VTH web site, had picture updated for PW Management. ENGINEERING Freeman Justice Center -The Contractor is finished with the 2nd story columns, slab and shear walls. Change Order Request # 9 for the re-design of the security system has been approved. The cost is $23,822.23 for the re-design. Change Order Request # 10 to change from EIFS to brick & stone has been denied. We are working on Change Order Request # 11. This is at the request of the 16TH Judiciary and will be paid for out of Judiciary funds. It is the addition of "Add Alternate # 7", Premium Grade Millwork, $147,000. The Judiciary asked to delete the jury seating ($29,000.) and is to provide the seating at their cost. Key Largo Skate Park - Installation of the Skate Board park equipment should be completed within the next week. Engineering is working with the County Attorneys office and the YMCA, who will be operating the park, to resolve questions about waivers, fees, insurance, operating hours. North Key Largo Fire Station -Demolition of the existing building is complete, site work has been started and the contractor is working on the grade beams, plumbing and ground slab. Watson Field - Big Pine Key - The contractors have installed the seepage trench and paved the future parking area along Watson Blvd. Remaining work includes installing a new fence, constructing concrete walkways and ramps to the restrooms, and painting lines and installing curb stops in the parking area. 10 Hurricane Debris Clean up - Hurricane debris haul out of the mile marker 102 site was completed on February 1 ih. Soil samples were collected and we are awaiting the DEP closeout letter. Haul out from the MM25-Summerland debris site was completed on February 24th. The County and contractor will meet with the owners within the week to agree on site restoration. Some white goods and household hazardous waste remain at the MM 9 site. This material should be removed within the next two weeks. Invoicing issues with both DRC Inc and RW Beck have been resolved. Beck has been paid approx. $460,000; with three additional invoices totaling $280,000 pending. This does not include Hurricane Wilma invoices. DRC invoices totaling $1,550,000 have been submitted to Finance. These invoices represent work during Dennis, Katrina and Rita. Several Hurricane Wilma invoices totaling $1,385,000 are being reviewed. Wastewater: . A cost estimate to complete the remaining projects within the unincorporated areas and Monroe County's commitment was compiled for presentation to Representative Sorenson's office. . After reviewing the treatment options for Big Coppitt Key, the FKAA and Monroe County will be recommending the construction of a wastewater treatment plant on Rockland Key. . A detailed review of the cost comparison to construct a gravity or vacuum collection system for the Big Coppitt sewer basin is underway to determine the least expensive system. . Letters were mailed to Stock Island trailer park owners for input on onerous KW Resort Utility contract requirements. . House Bill 99-395 and 749 were reviewed with regard to the effect of proposed legislation on Monroe County's wastewater program. . An initial nutrient credit allocation for on-site system replacement at Baypoint was calculated in coordination with Growth Management, DOH, and DCA. TECHNICAL SERVICES . Systems Analyst position for Marathon is filled- James Perry will be returning to Technical Services March 6,2006. . Sr. Systems Analyst position is filled- Eric Udell will be returning to Technical Services March 13,2006. . Staff is installing the new 100 computers under the technology fund 57 have been installed as of 2/28/06. . Interviewed 2 applicant's for Sr. Network Position. . Closed over 172 work orders this month. 11 . MCTV has held 12 live broadcast meeting this month. . Staff got the exchange server running on the new server. . Staff Install new ISA server. . Installed two new Anti-Virus servers. . Installed windows update server. . Rolled out the new Systematic virus on all computers. . Did away with the old 192.168.21 sub net. PROJECT MANAGER TO CO. ADMINISTRATOR . Continued research needed to revise current Purchasing Policy and applicable Administrative Instructions. . Held meeting on 2/6 with Division Directors and Langton Associates to introduce strategic planning process for development/grant writing. Langton will assist with the completion of the Public Library Construction Grant due to the State on 4/1/06. . Worked with Langton, Emergency Management, and Grants Acquisition to plan Hazard Mitigation Grant Program training for Division Directors and other staff scheduled for 3/9. . Facilitated the completion of the inter-local agreement between Monroe County and Miami-Dade County that reconfigured the South Florida Employment and Training Consortium and South Florida Workforce Board into the South Florida Workforce Investment Board (SFWIB). . Appointed by Mayor McCoy to serve on the SFWIB representing Monroe County government. . Currently working with SFW, to obtain humanitarian funding from National Emergency Grant to fund a caseworker(s) for Paradise Interfaith Network (PIN). PIN is dedicated to long-term recovery for individuals impacted by hurricanes and other disasters. . Appointed by County Administrator to represent Monroe County on the Board of Directors for the Southernmost Homeless Assistance League (SHAL); attended regular board meeting (2/1) and strategic planning session (2/22). 12 . Attended the 2/15 BOCC meeting and met with Commissioner Spehar on 2/16 re: progress on special needs FEMA applicants. 13