15-RFP No. 2026-007 - Sea Turtle Nesting Monitoring.pdf

TOWN OF PALM BEACH

RFP No. 2026-007 - Sea Turtle Nesting Monitoring

RFP No. 2026-007 - Sea Turtle Nesting Monitoring 1

The Town of Palm Beach requests proposals from qualified firms to conduct daily monitoring of marine turtle nests from March 1st to October 31st as required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection

(FDEP).

The Scope of work includes daily monitoring and documentation of all nesting activity including identification and categorization of false crawls and reporting of nesting success and hatching success. Reporting includes all requirements specified by the FDEP Beach Management Agreement, as well as authorizations from US Fish & Wildlife Service and Army Corp of Engineers. Monitoring to conform to the protocol established by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Marine Turtle Conservation Handbook. This contract includes:

a. Monitoring/reporting of sea turtle nesting activity throughout the Town of Palm Beach

b. Monitoring/reporting of lighting sources visible from the beach berm elevation

c. Monitoring/reporting of escarpment formations

d. Monitoring/reporting of nesting seabird and shorebirds within project boundaries

e. Nest marking for the purpose of nest avoidance by beach cleaning equipment

f. Management of marine turtle survey zones and data management and compilation for the entire BMA area

g. Report submittals FWC required nourishment spreadsheets, FWC SNBS Spreadsheets and

FWC NPA spreadsheets

I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Contractor shall provide all necessary labor, management, supervision, trucks, gas, oil, safety equipment and any other materials and equipment necessary to perform these services. Requirements for performing these services are as follows:

1. The Contractor shall notify the Contract Administrator in the event of scheduling delays, changes or comments/complaints received from the general public.

2. Contractor’s employees shall present a neat, clean, well-groomed appearance and shall conduct themselves in a respectable manner while performing the duties of this bid and while on Town Property.

3. Contractor’s employees shall wear uniforms at all times while on the job. Name of contractor shall be on shirts. Uniforms are to be free of holes, paint and oily stains. Shirts are to be worn at all times while working in the Town of Palm Beach.

4. Any questions regarding this operation (Sea Turtle Monitoring Services) shall be directed to the Contract Coordinator.

5. A safety vest, meeting FDOT standards, shall be worn at all times when employee is working in roadways or right-of-ways.

6. The Contract Coordinator shall meet with the contractor to review areas serviced by contractor’s employees.

7. All vehicles shall be plainly marked with the company name.

RFP No. 2026-007 - Sea Turtle Nesting Monitoring 2

8. The Contractor shall have their crew supervised by a qualified foreman. As a fully authorized agent of the Contractor, the foreman must be capable of making on-site decisions to perform the work in accordance with the specifications contained in this Bid. Foremen, to the satisfaction of the Contract Coordinator, shall be capable of verbal and written communication in the English language, and shall be able to effectively communicate with the service workers.

9. If any area that the contractor services does not meet Town specifications, contractor will be required to perform the work until specifications are met at no additional cost to the Town of Palm Beach. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in contract termination.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

1. Nesting Activity

a. Equipment. The Contractor shall provide all labor, equipment and materials to provide daily monitoring within the identified area and perform all work in strict accordance with the specifications and performance standards herein and the referenced Specific Conditions of the FDEP Beach Management Agreement. A global satellite positioning system (DGPS) shall be used to document locations. Positions shall be recorded in state plane coordinates.

b. Permit. Individuals conducting the monitoring shall possess appropriate expertise in the protocol being followed in the BMA and hold a valid Florida Administrative Code (FAC) 68E-1 permit issued by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The contractor shall provide a copy of this permit together with the bid submittal and must perform all work in strict accordance with all requirements of their FWC permit as well as the Town’s Joint Coastal FDEP Beach Management Agreement. Staff conducting nesting seabird and shorebird surveys should have proven shorebird identification and avian survey experience The contractor shall provide qualifications and experience with the bid submittal.

2. Report Requirements.

a. Daily data report sheets shall record all data as outlined in the FWC Marine Turtle

Conservation Handbook.

b. All data reporting to FWC will be provided on the Nourishment Monitoring Spreadsheet or other spreadsheet requested by FWC.

c. Provide BMA data management oversight.

d. For each false crawl and each nest: Identification of species and record of DGPS coordinates.

e. For a representative number of nests (not less than 25% total nests or as determined by FWC): Identification of species; nest condition (natural, predated, inundation);

incubation time in days; hatching success (number of hatched eggs, unhatched eggs, alive in nest, dead in nest, alive pipped, dead pipped, number predated) and any evidence of disorientation.

RFP No. 2026-007 - Sea Turtle Nesting Monitoring 3

3. Report Delivery. Reports shall be submitted electronically to the Town of Palm Beach Public Works Department, FDEP, FWC at the following email addresses:

Town of Palm Beach Public Works Department Sara Gutekunst, Coastal Coordinator sgutekunst@TownofPalmBeach.com

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Bureau of Protected Species Management Attention: Marine Turtle MarineTurtle@MyFWC.com

Florida Department of Environmental Protection Attention: JCP Compliance jcpcompliance@dep.state.fl.us

The contractor shall copy the Town of Palm Beach on report transmissions to all the above parties.

4. Time - Monitoring shall be performed as outlined in the FWC Marine Turtle Conservation

Handbook. Monitoring shall be completed prior to mechanical cleaning of an area.

5. Personnel Identification - Monitor(s) shall wear a shirt or hat with the company name on it or otherwise identify themselves as a sea turtle monitor. The FWC permit and photo identification should be carried at all times.

6. Vehicles - If an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) is used, tire pressure shall not exceed 10 p.s.i.

7. Lighting Surveys - Procedure and Reporting Requirements:

As referenced in the BMA, two surveys shall be conducted of all lighting visible in the beach management area using standard techniques for such a survey.

8. Escarpment Formations - Procedure and Reporting Requirements:

Visual surveys for escarpments following the completion of a beach nourishment project shall be made immediately after completion of the project and for 3 subsequent years as directed in the BMA. Escarpments that exceed 18 inches in height for a distance of 100 feet shall be reported to FWC and USFWS. An annual summary of escarpment surveys and actions taken shall be submitted to FWC.

9. Nest Marking for Beach Cleaning - Procedure and Reporting Requirements:

Within the project area, all nests within ten (10) feet of the normal high tide line and beach access sites are to be marked with clearly visible stakes. Each nest must have an additional marker at the base of the dune or seawall to ensure that the nest can be found should the on-beach markings be lost. Surveys are to be completed as early as possible following sunrise. The Town is requesting prices for only Town’s public beaches. Currently beach cleaning activities are performed only on the Town’s public beaches; therefore, at this time, monitoring is only necessary for those areas.

mailto:MarineTurtle@MyFWC.com

RFP No. 2026-007 - Sea Turtle Nesting Monitoring 4

10. Turtle Monitoring Locations

a) Reach 1 - Sand Transfer Plant – Lake Worth Inlet

1. North Side of Inlet – Inlet North Jetty to a point 200 feet north.

2. South Side of Inlet – Inlet south jetty to a point approximately 3000 feet south, between

R-76 and R-79.

b) Reach 2 - Onondaga Ave to El Mirasol (approximately R-78+ 500 ft to R-90 + 400 ft)

c) Reaches 3 and 4 – Mid Town Beach area from the El Mirasol to Banyan Rd (R-90 + 400 ft to

R-102 + 300 ft).

d) Reaches 5 and 6 - Banyan Rd to Sloan’s Curve (R-102 +300 ft to R-116 + 500 ft)

e) Reach 7 - Sloan’s Curve to the Ambassador Hotel (R-116 + 500 ft to R-125).

f) Reach 8 – Ambassador Hotel to the southern limits of the Town of Palm Beach (R-125 to R-

134).

11. Nesting Seabird and Shorebird Monitoring - Procedure and Reporting Requirements:

Visual surveys performed by trained individuals with experience shall be conducted in all potential beach-nesting bird habitats within the project boundaries that may be impacted by construction or pre-construction activities through August 31st or until all breeding activity has concluded, whichever is later. If breeding is confirmed, the contractor will notify the FWC Regional Species Biologist at (561) 625-5122 within 24 hours. All breeding activity will be reported to the FSD website within one week of data collection.