Draft MOU in the Works: NFCU willing to Pay Up to $2,000,000.00 of Master Planning Expenses for OLF 8

NFCU has agreed, under certain terms and conditions
to reimburse up to $2,000,000.00 toward our
master planning expenses related to OLF 8 in Beulah

County Staff and Officials at Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) are working on a draft MOU that will delineate terms and conditions for NFCU to reimburse the County up to $2,000,000.00 dollars in expenses related to the master planning of our recently acquired property out in Beulah known as OLF 8.

The generous offer from NFCU --- to pay these costs --- allowed the County to shift $1.3 Million of Restore Act funds from the master planning of OLF 8 over to the ST Engineering Aerospace Jobs project (project Titan) at the Pensacola Airport.  This shift enabled the County to cobble together the additional $5 Million dollars necessary to secure that deal with the City, Triumph Gulf Coast, and ST Engineering Aerospace.  (Once that deal gets rolling--it will be a MASSIVE economic development win for our entire county!)

If the NFCU draft is acceptable to the BCC, the master planning efforts for OLF 8 could begin to move very, very  quickly.  Because this is simply an initial working draft, I am not linking the document here.  Once it is in it's final draft form, I will link the final draft document to this blog.

Some Specifics of this particular draft MOU:

*  Calls for the creation of a new position and the hiring of this newly created billet-an "Independent Project Manager" --by the County, with the specific task of managing this particular master planning project (NFCU and County to split the costs 50/50).

*  Calls for a 7-Member selection committee to rank the top three firms. (3 county staff, 4 NFCU appointees)  BCC will have final say in final ranking and final selection, with NFCU reserving the right to provide input and comments.

*  Calls for public input throughout the process

*  84-Acre purchase of a portion of OLF 8 by NFCU shall be "outside" this process and not subject to


 master plan study.

*  Specifies how NFCU will reimburse county-paid invoices as frequently as monthly during the project's timeline, up to 50% of the actual costs (not to exceed $1,000,000.00) through firm selection, project development, and draft master plan submittal to BCC.

*  Specifies how NFCU will reimburse final 50% of actual costs not to exceed $1,000,000.00 upon final adoption of  master plan by Escambia BCC

The draft MOU acknowledges the county's obligation to follow all state and local laws, rules, and regulations regarding the solicitation of this master planning firm.  Additionally, this draft recognizes the fact that the BCC will have the final say in both the initial selection of the firm, and of the final acceptance of this firm's deliverable to the county.

Considering the vested interest NFCU has in this adjacent property, Considering all the GOOD that NFCU brings to our community and region,  considering the fact that NFCU has agreed with the compromise document that was bargained between residents, staff, and NFCU that will guide this master planning process (and that allows us to stay in the running for up to a $30 Million dollar grant from Triumph Gulf Coast for jobs creation out here on the field)--considering all of this I believe the document presented is fair and reasonable.  It gives NFCU a seat at the table, protects their interests, while respecting the BCC's final approval authority over both the selection of the firm and the approval of the final document.

I look forward to discussing this with my counterparts at the April 4th meeting...