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Item #05b Approval of the Resolution of the Army Corps. of Engineers Permitting for the Ocoee Crown Point PUD by Purchasing Credits at a Mitigation Bank Ocoee, florida AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET Meeting Date: July 7, 2015 Item # 5 b Reviewed By: Contact Name: David A. Wheeler, P.E. Department Director: Contact Number: 407-905-3100, Ext. 1504 City Manager: Subject: Approve the Resolution of the Army Corps. Of Engineers Pe fitting for the Ocoee Crown Point PUD by Purchasing Credits at a Mitigation Bank Background Summary: The City purchased the Coca-Cola property in 2000 and has moved through the development process to create the Ocoee Crown Point PUD. As part of that development process permits were required to be obtained from various agencies including the St. John's River Water Management District (SJRWMD) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE)for wetlands impacts and mitigation. The original permits from both agencies required mitigation in the form of wetland preservation throughout the site and wetland enhancement along Staten Branch and smaller select areas. The wetland enhancement along Staten Branch did not fair well as the water levels in Lake Apopka have lowered and the enhancement areas were no longer properly hydrated. The City was able to resolve the mitigation issue with the SJRWMD and received a permit modification from them in 2012. The USACOE permit generally followed the SJRWMD permit but had its own regulations for the required wetland enhancement and preservation. The existing USACOE permit has expired and requires a modification to resolve the incomplete enhancement mitigation area. Due to changes in the USACOE regulations, the USACOE now requires the purchase of credits at a fresh water wetland Mitigation Bank as opposed to onsite wetland enhancement or preservation. The attached e-mail from VHB, Inc. and enclosures detail the USACOE process of splitting the application into two permits and the purchase of the credits in the Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank. To resolve the outstanding issues with the USACOE permitting process for the Ocoee Crown Point PUD, the City will need to purchase 0.44 credits from the Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank for the price of$8,800.00. Issue: Should the City accept the permitting conditions for the United States Army Corps of Engineers permits? Recommendations: The Engineering Department recommends that the City Commission approve the purchase of fresh water wetland credits from the Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank to resolve the permitting with the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the Ocoee Crown Point PUD, with the funds to come from the Wekiva Basin Project budget. Attachments: 1) E-mail from Arte Roman, of VHB, Inc., on the USACOE permitting issue. 2) Letters from Mitigation Marketing, dated June 19, 2015. Financial Impact: The proposed funding for the purchase of the fresh water credits from the Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank shall come from the Wekiva Basin Project budget. Type of Item: (please mark with an 3e) Public Hearing For Clerk's Dept Use: Ordinance First Reading XX Consent Agenda Ordinance Second Reading Public Hearing X Resolution Regular Agenda Commission Approval Discussion& Direction Original Document/Contract Attached for Execution by City Clerk Original Document/Contract Held by Department for Execution Reviewed by City Attorney N/A Reviewed by Finance Dept. ,© N/A Reviewed by 0 N/A 2 Wheeler, David From: Roman, Arte <ARoman @VHB.com> Sent: Friday,June 19, 2015 1:08 PM To: Wheeler, David Subject: RE: Ocoee Crown Point Permit App and Mitigation Attachments: Ocoee Crown Point NWP Availability Letter of Credits.pdf; Ocoee Crown Point Modification Availability Letter of Credits.pdf David, Since our last conversation,I was able to get the wetland quality WRAP scores approved by the ACOE. Therefore,I went ahead and had the mitigation bank write two letters stating that they have the available credits and what the potential costs will be. I figured you can use these for funding requests. In summary, the mitigation for the permit modification (for the previous impacts)will cost $6,800, and the mitigation for the Nationwide (for the future impacts)will cost $2,000. Let me know if you have questions. Arte Arte C. Roman Project Scientist P 407 893 4791 www.vhb.com From: Roman,Arte Sent:Thursday,June 04, 2015 9:59 AM To: 'Wheeler, David' Subject: FW: Ocoee Crown Point Permit App and Mitigation David, Here is a summary of the conversation I had with the ACOE concerning the Ocoee Crown Point Army Corps permit application. Jim Carr(Army Corps reviewer) called after he consulted with his supervisor as to the proper and most efficient way to handle this permit"modification". I put modification in quotes since it is not a true modification of a permit (since it expired) but a modification to the mitigation requirement. At this point it is more of a compliance issue and they are trying to help get us back into compliance with the mitigation requirements. The way they will handle this is to divide the application into two parts. The first part is to modify the mitigation for the wetlands already impacted (Wetlands 1C and 2, see attached). Unfortunately, they will not easily accept preservation as mitigation for these impacts. A few years ago,the Army Corps changed their rules and now require all mitigation to be provided by purchasing credits at a bank, unless you can prove that onsite mitigation is more valuable and regionally significant than purchasing bank credits. In this case, preserving these onsite wetlands (which already have a level of protection) would not be considered more valuable. To get more value,you would need to enhance these wetlands (e.g. through treatment of exotic vegetation) and then maintain them in good condition in perpetuity. The Army Corps legal department would also need to approve a new conservation easement that is acceptable to them. This would add several months to the process, as it takes a long time to go through their legal review process. Therefore,the Army Corps suggests (and I agree based on the effort and cost) that we purchase credits to offset the impacts. The second part of the review would be to authorize the remaining proposed wetland impacts (Wetlands 1A and 1B, see attached) under a new permit. Since these impacts are less than 0.5 ac,this would be processed as a Nationwide Permit(a 1 cheaper and much faster permit to process). Mitigation bank credits would also be required in this case (per description above). I went ahead and prepared a wetland impact analysis using a WRAP analysis for all of the wetlands. I calculated the need for approximately 0.5 WRAP credit. There is a WRAP bank within this basin that sells for$20K per credit. Therefore, mitigation for all of the past and proposed wetlands would be approximately $10K. Please let me know if you have any more questions. As discussed,I will submit my WRAP scores to the ACOE to see if we can get them approved. Arte Arte C. Roman Project Scientist withb Same people.Same passion. Fresh look. 225 E. Robinson Street,Suite 300 Landmark Center Two Orlando,FL 32801 P 407.893.4791 I M 321.246.4169 I F 407.839.4008 aroman @vhb.com Engineers I Scientists I Planners I Designers www.vhb.com This communication and any attachments to this are confidential and intended only for the recipient(s).Any other use,dissemination,copying,or disclosure of this communication is strictly prohibited.If you have received this communication in error,please notify us and destroy it immediately.Vanasse Hangen Brustlin,Inc.is not responsible for any undetectable alteration,virus,transmission error,conversion,media degradation,software error,or interference with this transmission or attachments to this transmission. Vanasse Hangen Brustlin,Inc.I infot vhb.com 2 \\FLORDATA\projects\60825.11\cad\ev\planset\ACOE\Site Plan w-wetland impacts.dwg \. — —..—___, V\ ?\\_‘ \ .... ..._......i ili (<.',p,1\11 r W At,. ETLAND # 1C N d . IMPACT COMPLETE fill 1)... 0.27 AC ` WETCA D b AMP tO � O 1r .F∎ 1 WETLAND # 1B k� Q 7 -'- IMPACT �` '' . 0.17 AC \ ENTRANCE , , • ... A x ■, .,„ X01 ELEMENTARY ma m 00 --e:;;;-°,1: ° POND SCHOOL Pk' 4A i* ' ' - ftlialftwil woo /ill II Lttto:.::.:......,:,. , /- ■ -irli 4. 411 . ...: , ,, POND POND Legend POND _ COMPLETED WETLAND IMPACTS•• 0.63 ACRES v.".-.-e PROPOSED WETLAND IMPACTS :•••t t4 0.23 ACRES WETLAND # 1A WETLAND PRESERVATION IMPACT 6132 ACRES 0.06 AC ��.�,�:�. 6.51 ACRES PRESERVATION OI 01 LAKE APOPKA ..,„,■• SOVEREIGN SUBMERGED LANDS OHW EL. 67.4 34.07 ACRES ,`�;`' ,�. STATE—JURISDICTION ONLY PURPOSE: Environmental Permitting 22t F4 .4 DATUM:NGVD ' i k" u} 4 4.07 ACRES ADJACENT PROPERTY OWNERS: •sjjj{Z kti Leeds Holding Southeast Incorporated . , NOTE: TOTAL WETLAND 1 PRESERVATION =•Howard B.Lefkowitr,President 1900 Summit Tower Boulevard,Suite 260 46.38+1.22+5.28+4.25=57.13 ACRES Orlando,FL 32810 APPLICATION BY: CITY OF OCOEE Crown Point PUD Exhibit 8 •0�% N , b 225 E.Robinson Street,Suite 300 Site Plan Orlando,Florida 32801 1 407.839.4006 1--1 Certificate of Authorization#3932 April 2015 0 400' 800' 1,600' Miti Lition N1arkeliii di al r: ti -i ;ugr�cu' Flr�ri, June 19, 2015 City of Ocoee c/o David Wheeler 150 North Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, Florida 34761 Subject: Ocoee Crown Point Modification, Federal Credits Availability Letter of Credits Dear Mr. Wheeler, This letter confirms that Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank under Army Corps of Engineers Application# 199502208; will provide thirty-four hundredths (0.34) freshwater federal mitigation credits from the Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank for the purchase price of$6,800.00 for the Ocoee Crown Point Modification. Once we have received a deposit for the sale of these credits it is agreed that the credits will be reserved until the final permits are received. At that time the remaining balance will be due and the credits will be transferred. Please keep in mind that purchasing credits from a mitigation bank eliminates any risk or responsibility from the developer. Purchasing mitigation credits from a permitted mitigation bank legally transfers all the risk to the mitigation banker. We appreciate you considering Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank as part of your mitigation plan. Please contact me if you need additional information. Sincerely, d.�4C 1 _ ; / , Victoria K. Colangelo Mitigation Marketing, LLC 407-481-0677 PO Box 540285 Orlando, Florida 32854 Telephone 407.481.0677 Facsimile 407.648.3866 Mltioationr Thrketina com i '1 itigati on •)\�1arketin o tip ^ti. r t■,. '}. .ughnu Flcrr11 June 19, 2015 City of Ocoee c/o David Wheeler 150 North Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, Florida 34761 Subject: Ocoee Crown Point NWP, Federal Credits Availability Letter of Credits Dear Mr. Wheeler, This letter confirms that Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank under Army Corps of Engineers Application# 199502208; will provide one tenth (0.1) freshwater federal mitigation credits from the Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank for the purchase price of$2,000.00 for the Ocoee Crown Point NWP. Once we have received a deposit for the sale of these credits it is agreed that the credits will be reserved until the final permits are received. At that time the remaining balance will be due and the credits will be transferred. Please keep in mind that purchasing credits from a mitigation bank eliminates any risk or responsibility from the developer. Purchasing mitigation credits from a permitted mitigation bank legally transfers all the risk to the mitigation banker. We appreciate you considering Lake Louisa Mitigation Bank as part of your mitigation plan. Please contact me if you need additional information. Sincerely, Victoria K. Colangelo Mitigation Marketing, LLC 407-481-0677 PO Box 540285 Orlando, Florida 32854 Telephone 407.481.0677 Facsimile 407.648.3866 l'it gationr,�'nrketing corn