| | | | | | | |  | ITEM 9.
Parks and Recreation - Consent |
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| | | | | | | | | DATE: | February 18, 2020
| | DEPARTMENT: | Parks and Recreation
| | REQUESTER: | Jesse Lavender
| | TITLE: | Approve Multi-County Extension Agent Agreement |
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| | | | | | | | | I. | MOTION REQUESTED | | | A.) Approve an Interlocal Agreement between the University of Florida Board of Trustees for the benefit of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, part of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Lee County, Charlotte County, Collier County, Glades County, and Hendry County.
B.) Authorize the Chair to execute Interlocal Agreement on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners. |
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| | | | | | | | | II. | ITEM SUMMARY | | | Approves cost sharing of four multi-county agricultural agent positions within Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Hendry counties for a period of five years with automatic five year renewals, providing one of the parties does not present an objection.
The agents will deliver services to livestock, citrus, and commercial vegetable industries that reside in Lee County. The agents will also provide educational support, ensuring that the crop varieties they grow and the management methods they use are all backed by the best science available to the commercial agriculture industry and offer support for the urban sector.
The cost sharing is based on the proportionate acreage per contributing County of farmland for citrus, vegetables, livestock, sugar and pasture. The original 2009 cost sharing agreement for these positions has recently expired. Lee County’s portion for FY 19/20 is $21,950.41. Funding for this item is included in budget. |
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| | | | | | | | | III. | BACKGROUND AND IMPLICATIONS OF ACTION |
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| | | | | | | | | | A) | Board Action and Other History | | | | On 11/17/09, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved the initial Interlocal Agreement with the University of Florida Board of Trustees for the benefit of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, part of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Lee County, Charlotte County, Collier County, Glades County, and Hendry County. This was a result of a request by Hendry County Extension Service for regional governments to participate in the cost of four multi-county agricultural agents in the region, based on acreage of farmland for citrus, vegetables, livestock, sugar and pasture. These are the agents who provide the core consulting services to commercial agriculture.
As the second largest industry in Florida with over $160 billion in total output, agriculture requires an abundance of supporting factors. Agricultural agents offer supplementary knowledge for growers including Florida-specific fact sheets and other technical documents; on dozens of crops, production systems, best management practices, facilities and equipment, maintenance safety, risk assessment, proper herbicide application, pest management, soil testing, alternative crops and more all based on-in-state research and experience.
The cost for the Multi-County Extension Agents’ salaries, fringe benefits, transportation and travel needs as well as administrative support staff are to be shared between the Contributing Counties and Hendry County proportionately, and the University.
On 05/11/10, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved an Addendum to change the effective date of the agreement to 10/01/09 to correspond with the terms set forth in the agreement.
On 07/06/10, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved an additional Addendum to change the annual leave and sick leave accrual to provisions that reflect those used by the University.
Lee County’s portion for FY 19/20 is $21,950.41 and the Interlocal Agreement is for a period of five years with automatic five year renewals providing one of the parties does not present an objection.
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| | | | | | | | | | D) | Analysis | | | | The ability of the Extension Service to serve the needs of commercial agriculture has diminished to the extent that there is a limited number of extension agents with the necessary experience and technical expertise available to serve the needs of the commercial agriculture in the Contributing Counties. Multi-County Extension Agents have the ability to cross county lines and work throughout Southwest Florida alleviating the need for extension agents in each of the Contributing Counties.
For the last ten years, the implementation of this interlocal agreement has proved to be beneficial for the citizens of the Contributing Counties.
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| | | | | | | | | | A) | Current year dollar amount of item:
| $21,950.41 | | | B) | Is this item approved in the current budget? | Yes | | | C) | Is this a revenue or expense item? | Expense | | | D) | Is this Discretionary or Mandatory? | Discretionary | | | E) | Will this item impact future budgets?
If yes, please include reasons in III(D) above.
| No | | | F) | Fund: General Fund
Program: Parks and Recreation Operations
Project: Multi-County Extension Agent Interlocal Agreement
Account Strings: KH5722000100.508120 | | | G) | Fund Type? | General Fund | | | H) | Comments:
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| REVIEWERS: | | Department | Reviewer | Action | Date | | Parks and Recreation | Lavender, Jesse | Approved | 2/5/2020 - 4:12 PM | | Budget Services | Guttery, Angela | Approved | 2/6/2020 - 9:46 AM | | Budget Services | Winton, Peter | Approved | 2/7/2020 - 8:39 AM | | County Attorney | Trank, Mark A. | Approved | 2/7/2020 - 10:08 AM | | County Manager | Brady, Christine | Approved | 2/10/2020 - 11:59 AM |
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