Osceola County commission approves Lake Toho project 5-0
The developer must resolve transportation issues within 30 days or the order will be void, commissioners say.
Mark Pino

Sentinel Staff Writer

April 3, 2008

During the course of three meetings lasting about 12 hours, county commissioners heard the most public comment about a single development in recent memory.

Residents near a project that could bring about 10,000 people to an area between Kissimmee and St. Cloud spent hundreds of hours studying developer D.R. Horton's plan. They fought against the massive development, known as Toho Preserve, and at the same time they negotiated for concessions from the developer for better environmental protections and larger buffers from existing homes.

Monday night, commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the project's development order. But the company has 30 days to work out transportation issues or the order will be void.

As the first of six massive developments along the eastern shore of Lake Tohopekaliga, approval was viewed as key because it sets the tone for the other five developments that could bring about 100,000 residents to that stretch south along Lake Toho.

"I'm as happy as I can be under the circumstances," said Nancy Smith, an attorney who was part of the group opposing the project. "I'm still very disappointed with the buffers. I'm disappointed with them building anything out there. We did the best we could. They had high-priced experts, and we didn't."

Hundreds of residents attended a planning commission meeting on the project earlier this year. When the project hit the County Commission, dozens spoke at length about their objections to the development.

There will still be opportunities for public comments as the project continues through the development pipeline. Smith said her group will stay vigilant.

Smith added she is still concerned about the availability of water amid water restrictions and what appears to be a statewide water crisis.

Commissioner John Qui�ones felt the residents' involvement led to some key changes in the plan.

"You had a lot of good minds putting time and effort into this," he said. "They came up with some good comments and recommendations."

Qui�ones said he never viewed the project parochially.

"I felt very strongly that this was an Osceola issue and that it affected everyone," he said. "At no point did I ever think this was one district versus another. This is where my children are going to grow up. I care about the transportation system and the quality of life here."

Qui�ones said commissioners sent a message to other developers about environmental and transportation concerns.

Supporters of Toho Preserve said the mixed-use development on nearly 1,600 acres is the kind of project the county spent years to encourage with its new growth plan.

But Smith and others lamented that it was not compatible with existing zoning of surrounding neighborhoods.

That's why opponents fought for large buffers. In some places, those will be 200 feet or more. In addition, the company plans to protect hundreds of acres of wetlands and wetland buffers.

"In concept, the county has decided we need all those people to live here," Smith said. "The people who moved here for the country decided that what we really need is cities."

Smith complimented commissioners and staff for working with the critics. She is also proud of the scrutiny the development order received.

"It is bittersweet recognition that residents have a say," Smith said. "They said they plan to use the development order as a standard for ones coming up."

Siesta Point project renewed

SARASOTA COUNTY — After being stalled for more than a year, Benderson Development Co. is moving ahead with plans for Siesta Point, a proposed high-density, mixed-use development at U.S. 41 and Stickney Point Road.

Neighbors have been complaining for months that the former mobile home park has become an eyesore at one of the most prominent gateways to Siesta Key.

Today, Paul Blackketter, a project manager with Benderson, is scheduled to meet with homeowners in the Siesta Key Association to detail plans for the 25-acre site, which could include retail, residential, hotel and office development.

Developers and county planners say Siesta Point could become a trend-setter for intensive "new urbanism" redevelopments which are likely to crop up all over the region.

As a first step, Blackketter intends to lay out details for a planning meeting that would include residents, county officials, architects, planners and Benderson representatives. The session -- known as a "charrette" -- would allow input from all the players as far as design and density.

That meeting would take place in late spring or early summer.

"I want to develop a good, positive relationship with the people in the neighborhood," Blackketter said.

Benderson officials say Siesta Point has been stalled as they awaited changes to the comprehensive plan, the county's blueprint for growth.

The plan has to be amended before the developers could do the kind of urban infill they want, said Blackketter and Mark Chait, Benderson's director of Florida leasing.

In the meantime, Benderson has hired security and fenced off the site and put up opaque panels to try to quell residents' frustration.

"We can't clear it until we know what we can do with it," Blackketter said. "And we can't know until the county develops the tools and methods to be able to develop it."

Sylvia Weiss, a Midnight Pass Road resident who has voiced her concerns to both the county and to Benderson, is looking forward to today's meeting.

"The county has been touting Siesta Beach and Turtle Beach, and to have visitors pass that trailer park is just a disgrace," Weiss said. "Until there's movement, I would rather see an empty lot there. I can't see how difficult is is to get permits to get rid of those trailers."

Weiss embraces the idea of improvements to the area, but she fears that Benderson has been so busy with its University Town Center project that the company has all but forgotten about the 25 acres leading to Siesta Key.

But from the beginning Benderson officials said they wanted to use the tools of "new urbanism," which calls for developments to include places where people can live, work and shop, without ever having to own a car.

Matt Lewis, a county planning manager, said a public hearing on the changes is expected for May.

Then the specifics would be sent to the state and, if approved, would come back to the county.

The new zoning could be approved and included in the comprehensive plan in the fall. Each new development would then have to go through a separate rezoning, including public hearings.

It is an undertaking that has been two years in the making with Siesta Point as the first real project in the works.

In that time, Southwest Florida's economy has been in a downturn largely because of the real estate slump. But Benderson, a private company with deep pockets, has continued with projects along University Parkway and now Siesta Point, something the company says is evidence of its faith in the region's long-term housing and retail prospects.

It also demonstrates a belief that Siesta Point fits in with the community's need for "new urbanism" projects, Benderson officials said. Such projects can be highly profitable because increased density and diversity of uses allows developers to maximize the land they buy.

Under Benderson's proposal, the 25-acre project would include a 220-room hotel, 265,000 square feet of retail and 575 homes, along with office space and parking. That would all be near public transportation and include affordable housing for people who want to work within the district.

Under the proposed zoning, Siesta Point would have to include interconnected streets and routes for pedestrians and bicyclists, tree-lined streets, a neighborhood park, architectural diversity and space.

The idea is to create a sort of self-contained downtown or a center of commerce.

"It gives you a sense of place," Blackketter said. "Instead of driving to get goods and materials you can walk. You can bike, walk or catch the bus for anything you want."

But nothing is final. The new zoning requires the charrette so that neighbors have an opportunity to help design a project that has less impact on them.

For Weiss, the Midnight Pass resident, that means no high-rise buildings, though she likes the idea of apartments and a hotel: "Something that makes it nice."

Lewis, the planning manager, said Siesta Point-like redevelopments are likely to happen in many areas of Sarasota County during the next several decades.

"What we're looking at is making it possible for all major commercial centers to rebuild in this manner," he said. "In the next 20 or 30 years, all of them will rebuild."

 

State ranks near bottom in school spending
By LAURA GREEN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Florida confirmed its reputation as a state that's cheap when it comes to funding education according to a new report released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week.

Out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, Florida ranked second-to-last in spending compared to relative wealth.


For every $1,000 of residents' personal income, Florida spends $33.51 compared with the U.S. average of $43.34. Comparably poor Georgia ranks 13th, spending $48.21 for every $1,000.

Residents in South Florida and parts of the Treasure Coast, also bear an uncommon share of the burden.

Though local school districts spend less on education per student than the national average, they tend to pay a much larger portion of the bill.

Local funding in property-rich Palm Beach and Martin counties accounts for 70 percent and 74 percent, respectively, of all education spending, compared with 48 percent for the average U.S. school district. St. Lucie County is closer to the norm. It ponied up 55 percent of total school funding in 2006.

Palm Beach County is more generous than Treasure Coast school districts when it comes to spending per student, but it still pays only $8,345 compared with a national average of $9,138. Martin spends $7,674 and St. Lucie $7,239 per child.

The U.S. Census Bureau this week released detailed public school finance figures for every U.S. school district from the 2005-2006 school year as part of an annual report.

Given the state's budget crisis, local school districts will be forced to cover even more of the cost to educate Florida's children, said Vern Pickup-Crawford, a lobbyist for Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie county school districts.

The state employs a Robin Hood formula, which takes money from districts with high property values and healthy tax rolls and feeds a portion to poor districts. There have been three lawsuits in the 30 years since the formula was enacted, Pickup-Crawford said. The courts upheld the formula in each case.

States kick in about 47 percent of revenue for a typical U.S. school district. In Florida, that number falls to 40 percent. But because of the wealthy-donor formula, the state contributes just 18 percent of Martin County's school funding and 23 percent of Palm Beach County's. St. Lucie gets 36 percent of its funding from the state.

Years of record enrollment growth also forced local school systems to spend a disproportionate share of their funding on new school construction, maintenance and renovation.

St. Lucie County spent 41 percent of total expenditures on capital costs compared with a national average of 11 percent. Martin followed with about 29 percent and Palm Beach 25 percent.

Since the 2006 figures were reported to the Census Bureau, enrollment has declined slightly in Martin and Palm Beach school districts. St. Lucie County is expected to continue growing into next school year.

City wants Evans mediated
April 3, 2008

OCOEE - Ocoee commissioners voted to go into conflict resolution with the Orange County School Board and County Commission about Evans High being moved to a rural settlement near the city.

The unanimous decision came during a Tuesday City Commission meeting, Ocoee Mayor Scott Vandergrift said.

Commissioner Gary Hood was absent from the vote.

The next step is to send the resolution, along with a letter that states the conflict and recommends a date and place for the meeting, to the School Board and the County Commission.

A meeting must be scheduled within about 30 days of receiving the letter, Ocoee City Attorney Paul Rosenthal said.

In the resolution, Ocoee commissioners explain why they're going into conflict resolution.

They say the School Board made an agreement with Ocoee in 1994 saying they would protect the Clarcona Rural Settlement.

This is the proposed site for the new Evans High.

The County Commission is involved because of reports that it would consider a request for Evans High to be built on a smaller plot that wouldn't intrude on the rural settlement, the resolution said.

Even if the school is built on the land, but outside the rural settlement, the city is against the move because it could have "potential adverse impacts" for Ocoee residents.

The commissioners are in favor of a new Evans High being built but want to keep it in Pine Hills, Vandergrift said.

"Pine Hills has a right to keep their school," Vandergrift said.

The residents of Pine Hills have had little input on deciding whether Evans High moves near Ocoee, Vandergrift said.

If no agreement is reached in the conflict resolution, the city would be able to sue the School Board and County Commission.


Mark Schlueb, Gabrielle Finley, Bianca Prieto, Kevin Spear, Rachael Jackson and Susan Jacobson of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Information from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel also was used.

 

A NEW PLACE FOR WATER TO 'GROW'

Drought's silver lining: reservoir

ARCADIA You might want to put those prayers for rain on hold.
Although Southwest Florida is going through a drought as bad as the 2000-01 dry spell, the regional water system is actually fairly flush. That is partly due to the screeching halt of the real estate market, and partly because of extra pumping of underground wells by both Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Meanwhile, arid conditions are speeding construction of the 6 billion-gallon reservoir in DeSoto County that is supposed to make future droughts less scary.

"Construction is easier during a drought," said Theresa Connor, Sarasota County's water resources manager. "It's easier to move dirt than mud."

The reservoir was scheduled to be completed by Montana contractor Barnard Construction Co. in October 2009, after the end of Florida's rainy season. That likely would have left the structure as Florida's largest empty swimming pool for a while.

But construction is moving along so quickly that Patrick Lehman, executive director of the Peace River water authority, is predicting it will be done in early June.

So, instead of missing the four-month wet season when Florida gets nearly 60 percent of its rainfall, it looks like the reservoir will be open and storing water the entire season. Even a "normal" rainy season will fill the reservoir.

That would amount to nearly a year's supply of water in reserve for the authority's four customers -- Charlotte, DeSoto and Sarasota counties, and North Port. As of April 1, the authority's current reservoir -- with a 625-million gallon capacity -- and underground wells hold a little over a month's supply of water.

The reservoir by itself would not make the region "drought-proof," Lehman said. "But it's a tremendous step."

While much of the region's water comes from wells, the water authority's supply comes from the Peace River. At the same time the reservoir is being built, the authority's water plant is nearly doubling its pumping capacity.

The hope is that the plant's ability to pump 90 million gallons a day from a hopefully rain-swollen Peace River will quickly fill the reservoir.

The mile-wide reservoir's construction site is so large that giant excavators look like specks of dust in aerial photos. The reservoir is being built on land that had gone from agricultural to scrub with dots of pine, oak and palmetto. But over the last four months, bulldozers, excavators and about 100 employees have the land looking like a giant dirt farm, or the surface of a particularly desolate world.

The $61 million reservoir -- originally estimated at $49 million, but bids came in higher than expected -- will be surrounded by a four-mile-long perimeter road.

The water will be contained by a 38-foot high berm that encircles the reservoir. Hauling the dirt to build that berm is by far the bulkiest of Barnard's construction tasks.

The dry weather is perfect for that work.

The region has been in a water emergency for more than a year now and the water authority's reserves are down to about 32 days. On the surface that appears to be a far more precarious situation than the region faced on April 1 of last year when 80 days of water was stored. A bone-dry May and June dwindled that amount to a two-week supply.

But deals between the authority, Manatee and Sarasota counties have water officials confident that they will make it through April, traditionally the state's driest month.

Sarasota County has a contract with the authority to provide 3.5 million gallons of water a day, which is enough to supply about 20,000 homes. Since December, though, the county has instead been shipping 2 million gallons a day to the authority.

That is because the state granted Sarasota County a permit to pump more water from its Carlton Wellfields and Manatee County is shipping an extra 5 million gallons a day south. The flow of water from Manatee County to Sarasota County to the Peace River helped add about 50 million gallons to the authority's reservoir in March, even though rainfall was below normal that month. In all, these deals created a swing of 7 million gallons a day, said John Zimmerman, Manatee County's water division director.

Schools will have say in future growth

MANATEE COUNTY — When the real estate market was red hot, Manatee school officials could do little more than grumble about the glut of new developments that led to school overcrowding.

But if that kind of growth returns, the School District will be a key player, and possibly a deal breaker, in the approval process for new housing projects.

County commissioners are expected to approve a change to the Comprehensive Plan today that adds a rule of "school concurrency."

That means future housing developments will not win approval unless the district confirms that the area's schools can handle the influx of new students.

The rule puts schools on par with roads roads, sewers or any other infrastructure when it comes to assessing a development's impact on the community.

"The School Board definitely has to sign off" on new development, said Kathleen Thompson, planning manager for Manatee County.

The rules work like this. If a developer wanted to build 1,000 homes on a former farm in Parrish, essentially overwhelming a school there, the school district could block the project or require the developer to prepay impact fees, or to provide land or cash for a new school to accommodate those new students.

A 2005 state law requires most counties and cities in Florida to create their own concurrency plans this year. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, who pushed for the law, called it the "pay as you grow" plan.

Sarasota and Hillsborough counties were part of a six-county pilot program that began using concurrency shortly after the law's adoption.

Growth was particularly strong in Manatee County during the housing boom. Schools here added an average of 1,200 students a year between 2000 and 2006, one of the highest growth rates in the state.

The number of additional students has since leveled off to several hundred a year, resulting from a sharp decline in the number of new homes in the area.

The new concurrency plan requires district and county planners to review long-term population projections every year and work together to plan future school needs.

"This is a good thing," said Amy Anderson, a district planning manager. "It's going to help the school district and county government coordinate better."

The School District, the county and the cities of Holmes Beach, Bradenton, Palmetto and Longboat Key signed off on the terms of the deal in February.

Today's County Commission approval would cement that deal in the Comprehensive Plan. Palm Beach County has used a similar concurrency rule since 2002.

Last modified: April 3,

Wildlife rescues do more harm than good, says FWC

This is the time of year when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission receives calls about abandoned fawns and other animals that people believe may be in need of rescue.

However, the rescue could do more harm than good.

After giving birth, adult wildlife must forage to provide food for themselves and their young, leaving their newborns for short periods. Having some basic knowledge of wildlife and the survival skills animals employ can help avoid misdirected rescue attempts of animals that don’t require rescuing.

One of the most common targets of misplaced rescues is baby deer, temporarily left in a safe place while their mothers feed nearby. Many people who find young fawns mistakenly assume they have been abandoned, when in reality its parents are in the process of ensuring the infant’s survival.

“In most cases, it absolutely is not in the fawn’s best interest to try and rescue it,” said Allan Hallman, wildlife biologist at the FWC’s Camp Blanding Field Office.

What typically happens is that someone discovers a young deer waiting for the return of its mother, Hallman said. Often these discoveries are made in palmetto patches or in recently burned areas that are relatively bare, where a doe has placed her new offspring for protection. Such settings help depress the fawn’s scent, which provides good protection from the keen nose of a predator.

People discover these seemingly abandoned baby deer and become concerned when the parent is nowhere in sight. The would-be rescuer falsely believes the young animal will perish unless it is saved or taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center.

Unfortunately, actions of this kind usually have the opposite effect of a rescue. The stress created by changing the baby animal’s diet and surroundings is often fatal. Should the rescued fawn somehow manage to survive the rescue, its return to the wild becomes impossible because of human imprinting or a lack of survival skills. Had it not been removed from the wild, the young deer would have learned the necessary survival skills from its mother.

If you find a fawn or other baby animal, the FWC recommends that you not touch it; but quietly leave the area. Touching the animal may cause the mother to reject it because it is contaminated with human scent.

Here are some important facts that can help determine if a baby bird needs rescuing. According to biologists, the only time a baby songbird should be rescued is when it is on the ground and has almost no feathers, when the bird is injured by pets or its tail is less than a half-inch long, and it cannot hop around on its own.

If you find a baby songbird that you are sure needs rescuing, several things will help ensure its survival. Place the baby bird in a tissue-lined box that has air holes in the top, and keep the box in a warm spot away from drafts and air conditioning and out of direct sunlight. It is imperative that you do not give the bird either food or water. After you have ensured the bird’s safety, call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in your area. To find a rehabilitator contact the local FWC office, the humane society or a veterinarian. Some veterinarians work closely with wildlife rehabilitators and can be a good source of advice.

For more information on Florida’s wildlife and what you can do to help, go to MyFWC.com/critters/wildlife.htm.

Newest mosquito species being watched
By Kate McCardell
Published: April 2, 2008
The next time a mosquito lands on your arm, you might want to take a second to tell it “Welcome to Florida” before you slap it to death.
The ill-fated mosquito might be a Culex coronato, the newest recorded mosquito species to enter Florida since the 1990s, according to a state expert.
The Culex coronato is the 79th species of mosquito to make a home in Florida, most likely for the same reasons that the state draws in so many tourists — the warm weather and abundance of water, according to John Smith, center director and professor of entomology for the Public Health Entomology Research and Education Center at Florida A&M University.
The newest mosquito species to Florida, which does not yet have a common name, came from South America and spread into Mexico, then Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and eastward, said Smith.
“It was making its way across Louisiana and was found in the stretch of states leading over to us,” said Smith. “I fully expect it will make it all the way across Florida and completely cover the state.”
He said the Culex coronato was discovered in Florida in the fall season of 2005.
“Since then it has spread further eastward and we’re closely monitoring its spread across the state,” said Smith. “This past year we found it in Bay, Leon and Gadsden counties. Our first find was in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Washington counties.”
Florida’s newest mosquito species is a vector of disease, said Smith, but they so far appear to be “fairly mild-mannered and mostly not an aggressive biter.”
“The Culex mosquitoes in general tend to be the dirty mosquitoes,” said Smith.
He said the species is capable of transmitting mosquito-borne diseases such as the St. Louis encephalitis virus and the West Nile virus.
“Right now, its role in disease transmission is a big question mark. It does not have a history of mosquito-borne disease thus far in the United States; but in lab studies they’ve found the species is capable of transmitting such diseases.”
Smith said the current emphasis is in tracking the species’ spread through surveillance systems that include a network of mosquito traps through out the region.
The Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services is currently funding extended surveillance of mosquitoes from Holmes to Leon counties, covering a nine-county area, said Smith.
Smith said that, with mosquito bites in general, the likelihood of a person contracting a mosquito-borne disease is greater in the months from June to October.
“It sort of follows the hurricane season,” said Smith. “That’s when you need to be most concerned about being bitten by mosquitoes.”
He said the timing is based on the fact that it takes a while for disease organisms to build in the environment. By June, the diseases have spread through the mosquito and bird populations.
“Early in the year the probability of any sort of mosquito-borne infection is not that great, but later on in the year, allowing mosquitoes to bite you is a very risky thing,” said Smith.
He said wearing repellent can help.
“DEET repellents are excellent. Aside from that, because some people have sensitive skin to DEET, there are some alternatives. Ones that contain picaridin work. Also, lemon oil and eucalyptus is a botanical alternative. All three are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control. We’ve done studies here on them and they all work quite well. You may have to reapply them if you’re outside a while, but they work,” said Smith.
Smith also suggested that residents should eliminate all standing water around their homes.
“If water stands in the summer when it’s hot outside, just five days is enough time for a mosquito to go from egg to adult,” said Smith.
Those who fear they may have contracted a mosquito-borne disease should contact their physician, he said.
“Headache, fever, stiff neck are the classic symptoms,” said Smith.

Power plant possible for Suwannee?

Staff

Progress Energy Florida, one of the main wholesale suppliers of electricity to the region, said Tuesday that future power needs could be met by quadrupling the capacity of its Ellaville plant in western Suwannee County.

The need for additional power is identified in Progress Energy’s 10-Year site plan, an annual forecast of generation needs, filed with the Florida Public Service Commission Tuesday.

A new plant on the Ellaville site would meet these needs and could be in the county’s future, a Progress spokesman said. The new facility would be in operation by 2013 and would generate about 1,200 megawatts of electricity, compared with the existing plant’s output of just under 300 megawatts. A megawatt (MW) is one million watts.

Under PSC rules, Progress will issue a request for proposals (RFP) to meet the need for the additional power. The company plans to submit its own proposal (also known as the “self-build” option) to meet this need with a combined-cycle natural gas unit to be built on company property near the Ellaville plant.

The self-build option calls for replacing the three oil-fired steam units at the Suwannee plant with natural-gas generators.

The RFP process will take several months to complete and will result in the selection of a third-party or Progress Energy Florida. Once a proposal has been selected, the company will seek approval from local, state and federal agencies. If the self-build option is selected, the company will also ask the PSC to rule on the need for the new capacity.

If the Suwannee site is chosen for the project, construction and related activities are expected to add several million dollars to the local tax base and regional economy.

The existing plant, the first stage of which went into operation in 1953, would remain in operation during construction of a new facility. Cost estimates are not yet available.

Neighbors say no to sprayfield

By Vanessa Fultz, Democrat Reporter

vanessa.fultz@gaflnews.com



The county commission must decide whether to grant a special permit for an O’Brien man to operate a sprayfield.

Raymond Howard, of O’Brien, operates a business that pumps out septic tanks. He is seeking a permit to use a 2.81-acre tract in O’Brien as a sprayfield for the disposal of waste.

Several neighbors spoke out against the operation at a public hearing March 18.

Margie Caparelli, a nearby neighbor, took issue with the smell.

“If you stick your head in a sewer tank, that’s what you smell,” she said.

Another neighbor, Lyle Kittle, was worried about water contamination.

“You’re taking sewage from around the county and putting it near my home,” he said. “What’s going to prevent it from eventually getting into my water?”

Yet another neighbor, Jo Perrone, said the operation would cause nearby property values to decline.

“We have lots of neighbors trying to market” their property, he said.

However, a relative of Howard’s took issue with these observations.

“The smell you referred to, it is not coming from there,” said Crystal Avery, a family member. “They’re not dumping there yet.”

Avery said the smell was from nearby farms where chicken growers are spreading manure.

Nita Howard, who is married to Raymond Howard’s late father, also disputed the neighbors’ claims.

“I wouldn’t be standing here if I knew it would be hurting children and anyone else in the neighborhood,” she said.

“These scenarios are all overblown,” said Ellen Vause, president of Florida Septic, Inc. in Hawthorne, who represented Howard at the hearing.

Vause said Howard has met all requirements of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Environmental Health and other agencies.

Vause said the material in question is septage (household waste) that is neutralized through a lime stabilization process before it is disposed of. Howard’s property has the amount of dry soil necessary to act as a filter, she added.

Some neighbors wanted to know how the operation would be monitored to ensure compliance with government standards. Others were not satisfied with Howard’s having met EPA and DEP requirements.

“What if EPA is wrong?” asked one audience member.

“If this request is denied and Mr. Howard is put out of business it would be a travesty,” said Jim Ward, another citizen at the hearing.

Ward noted the need for a local facility to receive such waste.

“It’s got to have somewhere to go,” he said.

Commissioner Randy Hatch said Suwannee County doesn’t have a waste treatment facility that accepts septage, which may not be transported across county lines for disposal.

Commissioners will review documentation presented and promised to do a site visit to the property before making a decision at a future meeting

 

Environmentalists filing lawsuit to stop golf course development in Collier By NAPLES DAILY NEWS STAFF Originally published 11:13 a.m., April 2, 2008 Updated 11:13 a.m., April 2, 2008 Environmental groups are filing a lawsuit today in federal court in Fort Pierce to try to stop a controversial golf course from being built in the Cocohatchee Slough in northern Collier County, said Audubon of Florida and Collier County Audubon Society policy advocate Brad Cornell this morning. The lawsuit over the Mirasol project alleges that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the project violates various federal laws meant to ensure clean water and to protect endangered species such as the Florida panther and wood stork. The groups filing the suit are the National Wildlife Federation, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Collier County Audubon Society and Audubon of Florida. Today's lawsuit is the latest in a series of state and federal challenges environmental advocates have launched over development in the Cocohatchee Slough. Check back at naplesnews.com later for updates on this story States (notice Florida isn't one of them) suing EPA to move on global warming Citing Supreme Court ruling, allies want to force rules within 60 days MSNBC staff and news service reports updated 1 hour, 46 minutes ago BOSTON - A coalition of states is suing the Bush administration to force it to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that rebuked what justices called inaction on global warming. The Supreme Court said in April 2007 that carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is a pollutant subject to the Clean Air Act. The court directed the EPA to determine if carbon dioxide emissions, linked to global warming, endanger public health and welfare. If that is the case, the court said, the EPA must regulate the emissions. The 18 states, two cities and 11 environmental groups said in a court filing set for Wednesday that the EPA has not issued a decision on regulation. Their court filing seeks to compel the EPA to act within 60 days. “The EPA’s failure to act in the face of these incontestable dangers is a shameful dereliction of duty,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. The Sierra Club, which is also part of the lawsuit, accused the Bush administration of favoring industry. "While this administration has done everything possible to make a mockery of the rule of law in this country, it’s still stunning that they refuse to yield even to the high court," said Sierra Club climate counsel David Bookbinder. EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said the Supreme Court required the agency to evaluate how it would regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and other vehicles but set no deadline. The EPA plans to include the evaluation in a broader look at how to best regulate all greenhouse gas emissions, not just those from vehicles, he said. Otherwise, a mash of laws and regulations could emerge rather than the “holistic” approach the administration favors. “We want to set a good foundation to build a strong climate policy of potential regulation and laws we can work toward and actually see some success,” Shradar said. EPA chief signals go-slow approach EPA administrator Stephen Johnson last Thursday told lawmakers that the agency would not be rushed into deciding. Such action "could affect many (emission) sources beyond just cars and trucks" and needs to be examined broadly as to other impacts, he wrote the leaders of the House and Senate environment committees. Johnson said he has decided to begin the process by seeking public comment on the implications of regulating carbon dioxide on other agency rules that cover everything from power plants and factories to schools and small businesses. That process could take months and led some of his critics to suggest he was shunting the sensitive issue to the next administration. "This is the latest quack from a lame-duck EPA intent on running out the clock ... without doing a thing to combat global warming," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass. He is chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Johnson said that if CO2 is found to endanger public health and welfare, the agency probably would have to curtail such emissions from other sources as well. That could affect a range of air pollution, from cement factories, refineries and power plants to cars, aircraft, schools and off-road vehicles. "Rather than rushing to judgment on a single issue, this approach allows us to examine all the potential effects of a decision with the benefit of the public insight," Johnson wrote. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, noted that Johnson has had nearly a year to respond to the court but "now, instead of action, we get more foot-dragging." "Time is not on our side when it comes to avoiding dangerous climate change. This letter makes it clear that Mr. Johnson and the Bush administration are not on our side, either," Boxer, D-Calif., said in a statement. EPA staff: Draft rule shelved Senior EPA employees have told congressional investigators in the House about a tentative finding from early December that CO2 posed a danger because of its climate impact. They said a draft regulation was distributed to the Transportation Department and the White House. The EPA officials, in interviews with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said those findings were put on hold abruptly. Johnson has said that enacting tougher automobile mileage requirements in December meant that the issue had to be re-examined. The plaintiffs in Wednesday's court action include attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, plus the city of New York, and the mayor and city council of Baltimore Water, water everywhere, but none to use — how will Central Florida deal with water crisis? Published 4-02-2008 By Pat Hatfield BEACON STAFF WRITER Central Florida, with its myriad lakes and rivers, atop the Floridan aquifer, might seem to have water to spare. But water-management experts say it is a mirage. Resources are overused and drying up. Local governments are scrambling to find enough water for residents and businesses over the next 20 years. Representatives from local governments and utilities gathered in Sanford March 28 at a daylong meeting organized by the St. Johns River Water Management District. Their goal: figure out how to make enough water available, at a price people can afford to pay. *** Whatever happens, Central Florida residents can count on one thing: The cost of water will rise dramatically, as we turn from groundwater drawn from the aquifer, and toward plants that draw and treat water from rivers or the ocean. The Water Management District says we will need 200 million gallons of water a day from alternative sources by 2025. Some areas will need it by 2013, a mere five years from today. In 2006, an estimated 2 million people lived in the roughly 1,200 square miles that make up the Middle St. Johns River Basin — including Orange, Seminole, Lake and Volusia counties. That number is expected to grow to 2.6 million by 2020. *** The cost of alternative water will vary, depending on the size and type of the plant. Seminole County Environmental Services Director John Cirello said water from the Yankee Lake Project will cost local governments $2.80 to $3.82 per thousand gallons, about three times what it costs them to pump it from wells. Flagler County and the City of Palm Coast are boldly going where no local utility has gone, to seawater, which they expect will cost $6.86 or more per thousand gallons. *** Desalting seawater is much more costly, and uses much more energy, than filtering out the small amount of salts and other matter from river water. However, seawater proponents, like Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon, say surface-water plants that use river water are a short-term fix to a long-term problem. Water manager expect the river-water solution will last no longer than 20 years. *** The Coquina Coast seawater plant is being planned by Flagler County, the City of Palm Coast, Volusia County, St. Johns County and Marion County. Engineers are looking at the possibility of either a ship-based or land-based plant along the coast. Water would be piped inland to an interconnected series of pipelines that would connect with customers. Landon said Coquina Coast officials are talking with U.S. Sen. John Mica's office and the Army Corps of Engineers about federal sources of funding, in addition to funds from the St. Johns River Water Management District. He anticipates construction of the plant could begin in 2010. Under discussion is the possibility of eventually running three such plants along Central Florida's coast, to provide up to 127 million gallons of water a day. DeLand won't build plant, at least for now At the meeting in Sanford, City of DeLand Chief Engineer Keith Riger presented DeLand investigation of building a plant on the St. Johns River near State Road 44, in partnership with Volusia County, Deltona, Orange City and cities in Lake County. The plant could draw around 64 million gallons per day. That project is on hold, Riger said. All nine utilities considering that project are also considering getting involved with other projects, particularly the Yankee Lake and Lower Ocklawaha River projects. The City of DeLand filed a letter of intent to participate with Seminole County in the Yankee Lake plant. That means the city is willing to be a partner, given certain conditions, purchasing water from when the Yankee Lake plant is completed. In its first phase, the plant would draw 5.5 mgd or more for irrigation purposes in Seminole County only. In later phases, it will process 80 million gallons to 85 million gallons of water a day for regional use. There's a hitch in that plan: The St. Johns Riverkeeper, St. Johns County, the City of Jacksonville and others are taking legal action to block the Water Management District's go-ahead for Yankee Lake. Riger said he expects that conflict to be resolved. Seminole County's Cirello said he intends for the Yankee Lake project to proceed. He's not sure what the best solution for Central Florida will be. "I've given this a lot of thought, and I'm not sure what's best for the groundwater," Riger said. Riger sees no problems with withdrawing small amounts of river water, but he's not certain at what point that will cause harm. A similar uncertainty is the basis for the legal action to stop Yankee Lake. The plaintiffs complain the St. Johns River Water Management District hasn't adequately studied the effect of large withdrawals on the St. Johns and its tributaries. "It will take 15 times the energy to treat seawater," Riger said. That creates a big carbon footprint, as well as added expense. Simply conserving water can go only so far, Riger said. "There's not enough conservation to solve the problem," he said. The Water Management District is requiring a two-thirds reduction in water pulled from the aquifer over the next 16 years. "By 2024, we're supposed to reduce groundwater to a third, two-thirds less than we're using today. We can't do that by conservation or restricting growth," Riger said. Under DeLand's current consumptive-use permit, its utility department draws 6.35 million gallons of day of water, strictly from wells. In 2008, that's expected to grow to 6.38 million gallons a day. By 2024, that will be have to be reduced to around 2 million gallons a day, and the city will need 8.5 to 9 million gallons a day from alternative water sources, such as the river or the ocean. A plant along the river by DeLand may become a reality in the future, but not now, Riger said. A few hundred thousand dollars would have to be committed to prepare a preliminary report for the Water Management District's review by the end of April to secure matching funding from the District, and that isn't going to happen. *** Some at the Sanford meeting complained about having to make financial commitments to projects by the end of April, when the Water Management District itself hasn't completed a two-year study of the effects of water plants on the river. But Water Management District Department of Resource Management Director Hal Wilkening said results of that study would cause minimal design changes to their projects, at worst. He said the Water Management District plans to pay $15 million a year toward sustainable sources of water, even if the state slashes funding for the program because of budget cutbacks. The district will continue its emphasis on multi-jurisdictional projects, giving them funding priority. *** Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon said he was disappointed so little time in the meeting was devoted to the environmental impacts of tapping the river, or to talk about conservation measures that could reduce the amount of water localities will need. His group is challenging Water Management District approval of the Yankee Lake project, citing environmental concerns. - pat@beacononlinenews.com

Too bad Kevin failed to mention that Dade City has objected to the density of the Citrus Ridge project. So... neighboring county residents think the density is too high for a transition into a rural protection area, the city thinks the density is too high for them and county staff recommended following the city's proposal for lower density. Seems the only people who think this is a good idea are John Gallagher, our county administrator, Robert Sumner, our former county attorney and Joel Tew, the developer's attorney. What's wrong with this picture?   Rally Planned Against Project By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The Tampa Tribune Published: April 2, 2008 DADE CITY - Residents of the Tank Hill neighborhood will host a rally Thursday evening to oppose Citrus Ridge, a subdivision proposed for land on the city's western flank. The rally will start at 7 p.m. at the Dade City Garden Club, 13630 Fifth St. The hourlong event will include maps of the project and discussions about its potential effects. Clearwater-based Bayshore Broadway has proposed turning 112 acres on the north side of St. Joe Road into a 358-home subdivision built along the lines of retro-style communities with alleys and front porches. Uradco, the development arm of Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, owns the land. The property sits within a county-designated transition zone from the city's high-density grid to a less-dense rural character. Opponents of the project, including many residents of the nearby Tank Hill community, say Bayshore's proposal is out of sync with the surrounding land uses. They also say traffic from the neighborhood will cripple already-congested St. Joe Road and storm runoff will flood areas downhill. Rally organizer Debbie Parks said her group hopes to muster more opposition to the rezoning of the site. That rezoning will be considered by the county planning commission April 9 in New Port Richey. "There are questions that need to be answered," Parks said Tuesday. "We're not getting answers." Bayshore has encountered resistance to its development plans since first submitting them to Dade City officials two years ago. The earliest plans for the project called for 450 homes - a figure that made city officials so uncomfortable they declined to annex the property. City commissioners have been invited to the rally, Parks said. In November, Bayshore cut its housing figure to 400. County Administrator John Gallagher and the Development Review Committee shrank that further to 358, roughly equal to the city's overall density of 3.2 homes per acre. The developer complained that the county's proposal wouldn't work financially. Nevertheless, in January, Bayshore returned to the review committee with plans for 358 homes. That decision won the project the committee's blessing, but earned it no support on Tank Hill. Residents continued to assert the project will overload roads, schools and drainage in the area - an argument they'll repeat at Thursday's rally. "We're trying to alert all the people in this area about what this development will create," Parks said. Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

Project study yields dispute By Chuin-Wei Yap, Times Staff Writer Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 8:24 PM HUDSON — In a strongly worded e-mail to County Administrator John Gallagher, a retired top official of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who is steering a 2,300-acre development proposal in Hudson criticized one of Pasco's most senior environmental officials for making "permitting almost impossible" on a channel crucial to the development. Robert Carpenter, former commander of the corps' office in Jacksonville, blasted county biologist Robert Tietz for delays after Tietz suggested an examination of Pasco's coastal resources, including sea grass. Carpenter told Gallagher in a March 21 e-mail that Tietz "is not on our side." Pasco County and the developers of the Sunwest Harbourtowne project, which calls for more than 2,000 homes, an 18-hole golf course and 540,000 square feet of stores and offices, are jointly working on a channel to access the Gulf of Mexico from Hudson. The county is taking the lead in getting the channel approved. Sunwest officials said last year they had found a route for the channel that would avoid any impact to environmentally sensitive sea grass off Hudson. "My blood is boiling!" Carpenter wrote to Gallagher. "I need some help. You have to read the e-mail Mr. Tietz sent after having 85 days to review the county park/channel … He is not on our side. His action is required for FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) permit. … Please help. Internal correspondence and actions like this make permitting almost impossible. I am amazed at his boldness." The state DEP is reviewing the proposal and awaiting a response from Pasco and Sunwest by next Wednesday on a variety of questions the department had asked about the channel, including its impact on sea grass. Carpenter was apparently enraged by a March 13 e-mail Tietz had sent county officials and consultants. Tietz outlined the work he's been doing to analyze Pasco's sea grass and other coastal resources, and proposed a workshop with county consultants to discuss his findings. "My comments are intended to assist in developing a plan at the local level that will make the park and canal eminently permittable by those folks and agencies that are regulators," Tietz wrote. He said his study isn't just for the Sunwest development but for Pasco's long-range planning needs. Tietz made clear that he's not opposed to the project, and in fact believes it would complement Pasco well. "My perspective on those land-based resources to be protected, preserved and enhanced by the park development is that it is an ideal situation and great opportunity for the residents of Pasco County, and an attractive and valuable addition to the Nature Coast concept," he wrote in his March 13 e-mail. Pamala Vazquez, DEP's spokeswoman, said the department's April 9 deadline can be extended. She said it's not unusual for the department to grant extensions, and that in such cases, the DEP only denies applications if the applicants consistently refuse to provide adequate responses. There are no rules on when applicants should request extensions, Vazquez said. Tietz, who has worked on environmental issues in Pasco since 1982 and is a respected figure among local environmentalists, never got a copy of Carpenter's criticism but another county official read it to him. Tietz told the Pasco Times on Friday that he felt Carpenter was "just being a bully." "Pasco currently has no map showing where our coastal resources are," he said. "We've got the tools now." Gallagher dispatched Michele Baker, his chief assistant, to make peace. "Bob (Tietz) didn't do anything wrong," Baker said Tuesday. "But he was probably doing more than the minimum required. He probably didn't do a good job communicating with PBS&J" — referring to the project consultants who forwarded Tietz's e-mail to Carpenter — "and he's promised to maintain better lines of communication with them." PBS&J, an engineering consultant, works for both the county and Sunwest on this project. Baker said she thought Tietz was acting "with the very best of intentions." She said the county is trying to learn from its mistakes in an earlier unrelated project to dredge a different Hudson channel, which ran into years of problems because of terrain and funding. A Sunwest spokeswoman, Becky Bray, said Carpenter was out of town Tuesday. She said Pasco has signed off on the channel and attached county park. "It is very frustrating when the county has its approvals and is ready to move to the next step and someone wants to start over," Bray wrote in an e-mail to the Times. As the process moves forward, lots of agencies will review the park and the channel's environmental standards, Bray said. Tietz has now scheduled a meeting with PBS&J on Friday, Baker said. Has Tietz been ordered to stop his review of coastal resources? "No," Baker said. "But he's been asked to hurry up and get some closure." Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at cyap@sptimes.com or (813)909-4613. Hernando Beach dredging permit may come by week's end By Barbara Behrendt, Times Staff Writer Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 7:44 PM BROOKSVILLE — Hernando County commissioners on Tuesday signed an agreement for the county to accept $6-million from the state for the long-awaited Hernando Beach Channel dredging project. That means that if the state Department of Environmental Protection tells Hernando officials that the two needed permits will be issued, the county can accept those millions. The overall project is expected to cost $9-million, with Hernando County paying the balance. Commissioners got even better news from the assistant county engineer who has been heading up the project. Gregg Sutton told them that he expects notice by the end of this week that the first permit, the one needed to straighten and lengthen the channel, will be issued. The other permit needed from the state, the one which will allow the county to dump the spoils of the dredge on the upland portions of a parcel owned by the Manuel family on Eagle Nest Drive, will come in another week or possibly longer, Sutton said. If the DEP issues a notice to permit the project, citizens have 21 days to file formal opposition. Some residents near the dredge spoils site have said they will oppose the move, which agency officials say could tie up the long-overdue project for months or longer. Residents objected to the filling of wetlands on the Manuel property, something the county says has been dropped from the plan. They also worry about the truck traffic and question why the county worked so hard to put the fill on the site owned by the prominent Manuel family, which plans to develop the land. Sutton said a permit is also in process with the Army Corps of Engineers and he was optimistic it will be approved soon as well, paving the way for bidding the project and beginning dredging by late summer. "This summer?'' asked a skeptical commissioner Diane Rowden. "This summer,'' Sutton said. Also Tuesday: •Commissioners agreed to allow Spring Hill Fire Rescue to keep a modular building at Station 3 at Spring Hill Drive and Whitewood Avenue. The building was to have been removed when the renovation of Station 3 was done. The plan was to use the building at the site of the next station improvement project, interim Chief Mike Rampino told commissioners. But with all the budget constraints, Rampino said fire officials have not decided whether to move forward with other improvements or to use the building for office space or even a temporary fire station elsewhere on Spring Hill Drive as suggested in the recent fire study. •Commissioners turned down a request to rehear a case in which the Hernando County Radio Control Club was allowed to continue its use of a 40-acre site on Benes Roush Road to fly their model airplanes. Commissioner Chris Kingsley asked if anyone wanted to hear the case and all the board members shook their heads. "Let it be, as the Beatles said,'' said commissioner Jeff Stabins. •Clerk of the Circuit Court Karen Nicolai presented commissioners with the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report including the annual audit, which was clean and contained no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses. Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1434. River lovers wary of gas plant plan By Asjylyn Loder, Times Staff Writer Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 2:37 PM Progress Energy announced plans Tuesday to quadruple the size of its power station on the banks of the Suwannee River, stirring protests from environmentalists concerned the project could harm an ecosystem already beset by drought. The St. Petersburg utility said the addition of 1,200-megawatt natural gas plant will be far cleaner than the power station's existing oil plants, which were built in the 1950s. But environmentalists worried that the new plant will need more water and emit more pollutants along a river already suffering from the side effects of industry and growth. The existing power station, near Ellaville in north Florida, has several small generators with a combined capacity of close to 300 megawatts. The new plant will produce enough electricity for about 250,000 homes. "It's a little terrifying," said Annette Long, president of Save Our Suwannee, an environmental group. "We are concerned. That area of the river is already impacted." The utility offered few details on the impact to air and water quality. Buddy Eller, spokesman for Progress Energy, said that new technology is far cleaner than the aging oil-fed power plants on the site. New transmission lines will follow existing corridors, limiting its impact. The utility also anticipates that the new plant will use less water. The existing plant siphons 174-million gallons per day from the Suwannee River, Eller said. The water runs through the plant to cool it and is returned to the river. He didn't know how much water the new plant would use. The new plant will be far larger and will run more often. Long worried that the expansion could further affect a troubled stretch of river. Water levels have been low, interfering with the sturgeon, increasing the concentration of pollution, leading to salt-water intrusion, and contributing to harmful algae and fish kills, she said. She said she had to carry her canoe over parts of the river recently because water levels were so low. Progress Energy announced the plans Tuesday in conjunction with filing its 10-year plans with state regulators. The utility followed Florida Power & Light in Juno Beach and Tampa Electric. Both utilities recently announced plans to expand their use of natural gas. Progress Energy didn't say how much it would cost to build the new plant, but estimated that transmission lines would cost about $80-million. The utility has yet to finalize its plans. The cost of similar projects varies widely. Florida Power & Light is paying a combined $1.3-billion to build two similarly sized plants in Palm Beach County, said Pat Davis, spokeswoman for Florida Power & Light. Tampa Electric estimated the cost of a similar but smaller 555-megawatt plant at $555-million, said spokesman Rick Morera. Progress Energy last year completed a 520-megawatt natural gas plant at a cost of $267-million, plus another $60-million for transmission lines, Eller said. Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or (813) 225-3117.     Why Rubio's equity loan is our business BY ANA MENENDEZ Some people go to the supermarket and forget to buy milk. State House Speaker Marco Rubio gets a $135,000 equity loan and forgets to disclose it. So it goes: Memory is an untrustworthy friend. But Monday, Rubio was laughing. ''I'm sorry,'' he said between chuckles, ``I'm still puzzled on why this is newsworthy.'' I'll explain. But first a recap: The Miami Herald reported Saturday that Rubio had quickly amended his financial disclosure forms after the paper asked why they were missing the loan from US Century Bank. Rubio called the omission ``an oversight.'' The bank, whose board of directors includes prominent supporters, had extended the $135,000 equity line 37 days after Rubio and his wife bought a $550,000 home in West Miami in late 2005. NO RISE IN VALUE But it's not that the home gained more than $100,000 in value in a month, Rubio explained: He had frozen the price before the house was finished. US Century chairman Ramon Rasco backed Rubio: ``The appreciation did not take place over 37 days. He signed a contract to purchase the house preconstruction over a year before. In '04 and '05 we had the biggest run-up in prices we've seen in our history.'' Those were heady days. Rubio wasn't the only one to benefit. In the context of Miami's real estate insanity, Rubio's quick profit is less disquieting than his judgment. The reason politicians are required to disclose their financial dealings is to ensure transparency. Those of us who send our tax dollars to Tallahassee have a right to know the friends and business partners of the politicians entrusted with our money. If Rubio is going to ally himself with developer Sergio Pino against slots, we need to know that he's banking with him. If Rubio enjoys the support of Floridians for Property Tax Reform, we need to know that Jose Cancela, involved with the pro-tax-cut group, is also on the board of US Century. And if Rubio does run for county mayor later this year, voters need to know that the bank that holds his loans is run by men who might be pleased if the county extended the urban development boundary to allow development in what is today farmland. In addition to Rasco, US Century's board includes Pino, Armando Guerra, Agustin Herran and Carlos Garcia. Those men are affiliated with Neighborhood Planning Co., which has partnered with Lennar and the Easton Group to develop some 800 acres outside the UDB. CONNECTING THE DOTS Rasco acknowledged the connection Tuesday, saying Lennar was ``leading the effort to present the plan.'' He added: ``Back to the bank, I don't know how I can convey that we don't make loans to curry political favor with anyone.'' Understood. If I ran a bank, I'd probably give Rubio a loan too. Why not? He's a respected member of society who earns more than $300,000 a year. But if I were Rubio, I might think twice about banking with US Century. If some day Rubio is mayor of Miami-Dade County and his bankers want the UDB extended? Forget corruption -- it's hard to say no to friends, especially ones who lend you cash. Rubio told me the UDB should be kept in place in ''the short term,'' which he described as ''five years.'' And then what? Politicians have tremendous power. Developers have tremendous appetites. That's why, even when everything is aboveboard, dealings between the two must be disclosed. Then the only faulty memory voters will have to worry about is their own.   Largest Fla. power companies need to increase electricity output TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida Power & Light will need to increase electricity production by 25 percent over the next decade to meet rising demand, the company said Tuesday. In a document outlining its plans for the next 10 years filed with state regulators, the state's largest electric company said it expects to have more than 5 million customers by 2017. Electricity usage will also increase by 16 percent for each residential customer by then. FPL plans to build new nuclear generators at its Turkey Point facility south of Miami and to upgrade existing nuclear generators there and in St. Lucie County to deal with the growth. The company said it also plans to aggressively pursue alternative sources of energy, including solar power, and is also seeking to build a new natural gas generator at a plant in Palm Beach County. The state's second largest electric company, St. Petersburg-based Progress Energy Florida, also filed an outline of its plans over the next decade with the Public Service Commission Tuesday. It said it will seek to build a new natural gas generating unit at its existing plant in Suwannee County in north Florida. The new generator, if it goes forward, would replace three 1950s era oil-buring plants at the Suwannee County facility in an effort to lower emissions and improve efficiency, the company said. Progress said previously it wants to build two new nuclear generators that would start running in 2016 and 2017. The natural gas plant would be ready sooner, likely in 2013. Progress serves 1.7 million Florida customers. FPL serves 4.5 million Florida customers in 35 counties. Panel Considers Water Action Plan Proposal outlines incentives, penalties to encourage more conservation. By Tom Palmer THE LEDGER  Write an email to Tom Palmer Tom Palmer Environment Reporter Dept.: Metro Desk (863) 802-7535 tom.palmer@theledger.com Your Name:  Your Email:  Subject:  Message:    LAKELAND | We're in a drought, but apart from giving a token nod to the fact by declaring April as Water Conservation Month, what kind of real conservation efforts are going on locally? At the moment the effort seems to be limited to reminders about water restrictions stuffed in water bills, conservation tips on government Web sites and conditions on water permit renewals in which local officials promise to do better than they did in the past. The future will provide a more specific approach if Polk County's proposed Water Conservation Action Plan is any guide. The plan, which is still being studied by the county's Water Policy Advisory Committee, goes well beyond the gentle persuasion that seems to typify most of the local water-conservation efforts. One proposal would be to treat violations of water restrictions more seriously by: Increasing fines for violations and using the revenue from fines to pay for the enforcement effort. Using neighborhood volunteers to help code enforcement officers and police to spot violations. Making the enforcement uniform throughout the county. "We're trying to find an effective way to fund water conservation,'' said Pamela Reynolds, Polk's water conservation coordinator, who said that enforcing watering rules has not been a high priority in the past. Committee Chairman Marian Ryan agreed. "The water management districts say conservation is the easiest water supply, but it is the bottom of our priorities,'' Ryan said. In addition to trying to find a way to more aggressively enforce watering restrictions, some of the other water conservation measures included in the plan are: Plumbing retrofits for homes and apartments. Rain and moisture sensor rebates. Establishing monetary incentives for people who don't have automatic irrigation systems, or who use alternative water supplies for irrigation. In addition, the plan calls for setting up a monitoring program to measure water-use efficiency to determine how much water is being saved. Reynolds said there is no estimated cost for implementing the plan, which will require approval by the County Commission. But Roger Griffiths, one of the committee members, said county officials may face resistance from the general public because they feel they're being misled. "We're not conserving, we're asking people to reallocate the water to someone else,'' Griffiths said. "That's why the general public is not backing this.'' He said the problem is that water management districts continue to issue permits because the law requires them to do so as long as the request for the water is for "a reasonable and beneficial use.'' Reynolds said while there isn't a water-supply shortage in Florida, there is a shortage of relatively cheap, easily exploitable water supplies. Under the current regional agreements, Central Florida water managers have agreed not to issue new permits for wells drawing water from the Floridan aquifer after 2013, which has pushed utilities to seek more alternative sources. Those alternative sources include treated sewage, stormwater and siphoning water from rivers and lakes. Mike Britt, another committee member, said the challenge will be managing water supplies farther into the future, such as to 2030 and beyond to accommodate growth. "The growth is not going to stop,'' Britt said. "It's our job to enforce that to some extent.'' Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. His blog on the environment is at environment.theledger.com. Lake may scale back growth plans because of water worries Robert Sargent Sentinel Staff Writer April 2, 2008 TAVARES Lake County may scale back its growth plans to save water and thousands of acres of vital wetlands. Officials have worked for more than two years to overhaul the county's comprehensive development plan -- a blueprint for growth that estimates a 60 percent population increase during the next 17 years to more than 463,000 people. Along with the effects of other counties' growth, the steep impacts in Lake are expected to outpace available underground drinking water in just five years. Many cities that run public water utilities will be forced to pay hundreds of millions to tap into alternative water supplies from lakes and rivers. But if left unchecked, the Floridan Aquifer still could be heavily affected by owners of private, self-supply wells. A draft report from the St. Johns River Water Management District shows how groundwater withdrawals exclusively from new self-supply wells across east Central Florida could inflict a devastating toll, dropping aquifer levels by up to 2 feet and possibly damaging more than 4,000 acres of wetlands in Lake County by 2030. County Commissioner Elaine Renick, who also sits on the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, says the environment is too much to risk even for that segment of water users. So on Tuesday she urged the County Commission to consider scaling back Lake's proposed comp plan to prevent increasing population densities and to better safeguard the environment. "It's really kind of staggering," Renick said of the water demands. She met with St. Johns experts to discuss the new water report last week, and she said she hopes local governments will work closely to address demands on the environment. "The water discussion has always been so interwoven with the growth issue -- I don't know how you separate the two," Renick said. Lake has about 290,000 residents. A proposed overhaul of the county's comp plan could allow for as many as 463,500 people in 2025. Rob Kelly, a member of Lake's Local Planning Agency and president of the Citizens Coalition of Lake County, said proposed development isn't needed to meet that population goal -- the county already has approved enough residential development to more than double that number. "The densities in the comp plan need to be scaled back to meet the 2025 population projections," Kelly said. "The currently approved comp plan has enough approved parcels and development in it to accommodate more than a million people in Lake County." Kelly argues that the looming water crisis best exemplifies the need to control growth: "It's going to cost everybody dearly unless they choose to operate differently in the future." St. Johns officials want to meet with Lake's governments in the next few weeks. They will go before the Lake County Water Alliance at 5:30 p.m. April 9 in Leesburg. Officials also want to address county commissioners and planners with each of Lake's 14 cities that provide water utility services to residents. Barbara Vergara, the St. Johns director of water-supply management, said those utilities will see huge cost increases to provide alternative water to customers. "Utility providers are looking at costs going up two to three times higher," Vergara said. Outside of customers who use public utilities, Lake now has about 50,000 water wells that are privately owned and operated. Water used by those self-supply wells is expected to increase from 12.4 million gallons a day in 2005 to 35.8 million gallons by 2030. That increase would support an extra 105,476 people in unincorporated areas of the county, according to the district report. Throughout east Central Florida, the demand is expected to increase from nearly 37 million gallons a day to more than 70 million between 2013 and 2030. That could drop the Floridan Aquifer by up to 2.2 feet, according to the new report. The groundwater drop could harm about 4,202 acres of wetlands. About 4,178 acres of that is in Lake County. Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909. Developments on eastern shore of Lake Tohopekaliga in Osceola County approved Sentinel staff reports 3:54 PM EDT, April 1, 2008 The first of six massive developments along the eastern shore of Lake Tohopekaliga in Osceola County was approved unanimously by county commissioners Monday night. Residents near a project that could bring around 10,000 people to an area between Kissimmee and St. Cloud spent hundreds of hours studying and fighting developer D.R. Horton's plan. After meeting over three consecutive Mondays, commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the project that will be built approximately 1,600 acres. The company has 30 days to work out transportation issues or the order will be void. As the first of six developments of regional impact, approval was viewed as key because it sets the tone for the other five developments that stretch south along Lake Toho and will bring about 100,000 residents to the county. Supporters of the project said the mixed-use development on nearly 1,600 acres is the kind of project the county spent years to encourage with its new growth plan. But opponentss lamented that it was not compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. Consultant: X-way brass made me do fundraising Ron Pecora, who was fired, says he was pushed to help with political campaigns. Dan Tracy and Jay Hamburg Sentinel Staff Writers April 2, 2008 Four leaders of the area's toll-road agency pressured their former marketing consultant to raise money for politicians, the jilted executive has charged in sworn testimony. The claims by Ron Pecora of Winter Park provide the first public glimpse of what might be in a sealed report that details political fundraising at the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority. The document, closed to the public since it was completed by an Orange County grand jury in October, did not allege any criminal wrongdoing. But the report -- called a presentment -- did contend that developers exert too much influence in the political arena, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar said when he announced the grand jury had completed its work. Pecora, during a nearly eight-hour deposition given last month and recently obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, said he has a copy of the presentment and maintained he was pushed to obtain money for political campaigns. He specifically mentioned that he was approached by "the chairman of the authority. It [fundraising] was requested by the executive director of the authority. And it was requested by two board members of the authority." Though he typically charged the authority hourly rates of up to $100, Pecora said he collected campaign pledges for free. 'Part of the work' "I considered it part of the work that was required in order to keep my contract with the expressway authority. But there were explicit instructions given within my firm that we did not charge for the political-fundraising tasks that we were asked to do," he told Dan Gerber, an Orlando lawyer hired by the agency to investigate alleged overbilling by Pecora. Pecora stopped short of naming names during the deposition. He would not elaborate on who compelled him to seek political contributions when reached by phone Tuesday. "I think it [his testimony] speaks for itself," Pecora said. "Surely, it [the presentment] will come out." The chairman during the latter months of Pecora's 12-year tenure with the authority was Winter Park developer Allan Keen. The executive director was and remains Mike Snyder. Keen's attorney, Bob Leventhal, said, "Fundraising in itself is part of the system, and if no laws were violated, then any complaints at this time are merely sour grapes and meant to deflect scrutiny from Mr. Pecora's actual conduct." Keen resigned from the board of the toll agency in January 2007, saying he needed to focus on fighting false allegations against him. Snyder, reached on vacation, said, "In all my years of public service, I have never been involved with political fundraising." He would not comment further. Previously,Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty said that Keen helped raise money during Crotty's two successful runs for mayor. Crotty replaced Keen as the board chairman. On Tuesday, Crotty said, "There was never any pressure from this board member at any time to raise money for my campaigns." Pecora also said in his deposition that Crotty asked him for an internship for his teenage daughter. Crotty said he talked to Pecora about his daughter's interest in the communications business, but she ended up spending only a day shadowing at Pecora's office. The grand-jury report has remained sealed because Keen asked the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach to halt its release. Under Florida law, the presentment can be closed to the public to allow those who were named in it to challenge the findings or request that it remain secret. The appeals court has not indicated when it might rule. Pecora's deposition was taken March 4 as part of a billing dispute between him and the authority. He was fired in October 2006 after Snyder said Pecora had received authority money for work that was never done. The Guetzloe angle Pecora countered in public and in the deposition that the real reason he lost his $1.7 million contract with the agency was because he would not defend the authority's relationship with Doug Guetzloe, a well-known toll opponent and anti-tax activist. Guetzloe's firm was hired and paid $107,500 by Pecora's firm for producing, among other things, a short report and research on why people dislike paying tolls to drive on the expressway's 100-mile system. "This all comes back to the one issue: I would not lie for Chairman Keen and the executive director, Mike Snyder, about the hiring of Doug Guetzloe," said Pecora, who described his firing as "vindictive." In a related deposition given to the authority, Guetzloe said he was recruited by Pecora for advice on a variety of matters, including a potential toll increase. Pecora, however, said in his deposition that Guetzloe called him first and told him he would be working for the agency. Both Pecora's deposition and Guetzloe's sworn statement were part of an investigation by the expressway authority into alleged billing discrepancies by Pecora. That probe yielded 19 boxes of affidavits, financial records and supporting material. Settlement reached The expressway settled with Pecora last week. It absolved him of any future claims, even though the authority initially contended he owed the agency more than $400,000. In exchange, Pecora agreed to pay the agency more than $8,300 for work that was never done on a Spanish-translation project and to drop claims that the agency owed him more than $140,000 in unpaid bills, plus a suit he filed against the authority for defamation and wrongful termination. Last year, Pecora told investigators that Keen had asked him through an intermediary for $2,600 worth of free theme-park tickets for a friend. Investigators charged Pecora with bribery for providing the tickets. Keen was not charged. Pecora agreed to do 100 hours of community service in return for dropping the felony charges. Dan Tracy can be reached at dtracy@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5444. Jay Hamburg can be reached at 407-420-5673 or jhamburg@orlandosentinel.com.   Decline in building permit purchases affects city of Tallahassee budget By Julian Pecquet DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER The slowdown in home construction is having ripple effects not only in the private sector, but on local government as well. The city of Tallahassee's building inspection fund is projecting a $1 million deficit in a $3.9 million budget this year, and the city is considering raising permitting fees to make up the difference. That rankles some home builders. "Why are we in a $1 million deficit?" asked Dale Fuller, the executive officer of the Tallahassee Home Builders Association. "Because we're not building homes. Why would you increase the fees on something that no one's buying?" The number of residential building permits issued has declined steadily the past few years from a high of 1,297 in 2005 to 1,065 in 2006 and 827 in 2007. Between October and January this fiscal year, only 114 permits were issued. "Right now, people are not jumping into new houses," said Ronnie Spooner, the city's building official. "It's just too scary." To make up the difference, the city is considering several options besides higher fees, including transfers from the general fund and not replacing people who leave or retire. The division of building inspections has 42 employees, and about two-thirds of them have the skills to conduct inspections, Spooner said. It's supposed to be self-supporting. Transfers from the general fund would mean less money for services such as parks and police, at a time when the city has already eliminated $6.2 million this year as a result of state-mandated property tax cuts. But the other two options would have an impact on home buyers. Cutting the number of inspectors who sign off on the building, electrical, plumbing, gas and mechanical safety of homes could lead to longer delays before homes are certified for occupancy. And higher fees would likely be passed on to home buyers, Fuller said. Spooner said the city has been considering raising the fees because the $1,063 average for a 2,000 square foot home is less than Leon County's $2,132. Fuller said higher fees aren't a good option, but eliminating staff through attrition could mean a shortage of inspectors when business picks up. "The problem with cutting people in government is there's so many strings attached," she said. "Once you cut a position, you don't know if you're going to get it back." She said members of the association's government affairs committee will meet Thursday to look at how Tallahassee's rates compare to other cities and come up with proposals on how to reduce the deficit. Contact reporter Julian Pecquet at (850) 599-2307 or jjpecquet@tallahassee.com. County Commissioners' Stimulus Drive To Continue By Jim  Konkoly of Highlands Today Published: April 1, 2008 SEBRING — Forget about suspending impact fees to stimulate the slowed-down local economy. But don't think the Highlands County commissioners have given up on finding other ways to help jump start the county's stalled business climate. Those were the two messages the county commissioners sent Tuesday as they voted, unanimously, not to temporarily suspend impact fees, as Commissioner Guy Maxcy proposed three weeks ago. "I think the idea of trying to stimulate the local economy is still a good idea and other proposals were raised and need to be pursued," Commissioner Barbara Stewart said after the vote to kill the idea of suspending the fees collected on new construction to cover future infrastructure costs. Cutting property taxes and streamlining the bureaucratic process for getting building permits and inspections are among the ideas that should be considered, Stewart said. Maxcy agreed, and said he'll consider other ideas to stimulate the local economy in the near future. He added that he'll begin work on other ideas in a few weeks, after he recoups a bit from three weeks of being in the bright spotlight of a heated debate over his impact fee idea. Maxcy joked that he felt like a hunter who chased a raccoon up a tree, then found a battle bigger than he bargained for as the raccoon viciously fought back. Like that fictional hunter, Maxcy said, he needs "some relief." One idea raised by Maxcy, Stewart and others is to reduce property taxes for the county's next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. "A real practical way to stimulate the economy is to get people to work," Commissioner Andy Jackson said. And, he said, while the private sector makes its own decisions on launching or delaying building projects, the county could try to start its scheduled building projects as quickly as possible. "You need to get people to work," Jackson said. Commissioner Edgar Stokes supported cutting property taxes to help boost the economy. To encourage spending that creates jobs, Stokes said, "the best way is to give taxpayers a break and lower the millage." In order to drop property taxes, commissioners will look toward budget cutting as work on the new county budget begins next week. Work on the budget will hit high gear about mid summer. At an emergency meeting on Friday, the Highlands County Citizens Advisory Committee on Impact Fees voted 9-2 to recommend that the commissioners reject a temporary suspension of impact fees. After the committee vote, Maxcy said he was dropping a proposal to suspend impact fees but would keep searching, and asking, for ideas on boosting the economy. Bob Horne, a Sebring resident, asked commissioners Tuesday to suspend the 20-cent per gallon county taxes on gasoline as a way to boost the economy. Horne, though, was mistaken in using the 20-cent figure. County taxes on a gallon of gasoline total 12 cents, said Assistant County Administrator Ricky Helms. Horne said dropping the 12-cent per gallon tax would still help. Helms, though, said that would leave no way to pay for road maintenance and building, and the county would have to lay off 100 workers and pay for their unemployment checks. Jackson said suspending the county's 12 cents collected on every gallon of gasoline sold would not stimulate the economy in Highlands County, in part, because a substantial part of gasoline sales are by non-county residents who are just passing through on U.S. 27. State sues over insurance company's failure Suit seeks money that homeowners are now responsible for paying Florida's insured property owners are on the hook for nearly $800 million to pay claims for the failed insurance companies of the Poe Financial Group. State officials would now like Poe and its top executives to pay up as well. The Florida Department of Financial Services filed a lawsuit last week against officers, directors and affiliates of Poe for more than $100 million in damages. The suit, filed in Tallahassee, contends that the Poe officials paid themselves hefty dividends even though they knew the companies were headed to insolvency. The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which pays the claims of defunct insurers, has so far spent $1.2 billion to cover 46,600 claims from Poe's three insurance companies. That is about four times the original estimate since Tampa-based Poe was seized by state regulators in May 2006, felled by huge losses from Hurricane Wilma in 2005. FIGA is again this year charging all Florida liability policies a 2 percent assessment to clean up Poe, the largest insurance collapse in state history. That charge, which adds $50 to a $2,500 premium, includes homeowners, commercial property, medical malpractice and aircraft insurance policies. "Florida's insurance consumers were forced to foot the bill when the Poe companies became insolvent so that policyholders could have their claims paid," said state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. "We will aggressively pursue any opportunity to recoup additional funds to reduce the assessments levied against Florida's insurance consumers," she said. FIGA expects to need another $123.5 million to cover the remaining claims from Atlantic Preferred Insurance Co., Florida Preferred Property Insurance Co. and Southern Family Insurance Co. The agency will collect $790 million from the assessments on policyholders. Reinsurance and liquidation of company assets will help pay the rest. Poe was the state's fourth-largest property insurer with 320,000 policies, including more than 20,000 in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Most of those policies had been taken out of the high-risk portfolio of the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which wound up taking most of them back. Poe was founded by former Tampa mayor Bill Poe Sr. His Poe and Associates insurance agency is still in business.   Commission considering some industrial buffers Proposed ordinance would require sound barriers, paved roads at most sites Benjamin Roode Wednesday, April 02, 2008 TAVARES - Residents living next to proposed industrial sites could avoid some of the sights and sounds associated with heavy industry. Lake County commissioners Tuesday approved on first reading an ordinance that could require business owners with new industrial developments to put up sound barriers, keep their buildings more than 100 feet from property lines, keep dust-generating materials under wraps and pave and water roads on the property to keep down dust. Residents from the Arlington Ridge subdivision, through attorney Leslie Campione and resident Bob Merriam, said the ordinance was not anti-business and in fact made it easier for a business to know exactly what it has to do to get started in Lake County. A nearby cement plant and its operator have been good stewards when it came to requests from Arlington, they said. The new ordinance would make sure all new industrial developments would do the same. The proposal was a "clear, common-sense guideline of how to be good neighbors," Merriam said. County staffers recommended commissioners cut out any noise level restrictions from the ordinance, instead suggesting the ordinance refer to a countywide noise ordinance staff was compiling. Campione said that worried some of the residents because it might mean the county couldn't impose noise requirements beyond what was set in the other ordinance. Commission Chairman Welton Cadwell asked the ordinance to be rewritten to allow commissioners to set tougher standards. Merriam reminded commissioners the proposal would benefit more than his development. "It protects... the entire county," he said. Commissioners must consider the proposed ordinance a second time because it changes development regulations. Pilot who crashed in Quincy faults trees By Nic Corbett DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER A report recently released by the National Transportation Safety Board reveals that the small plane that crashed in Quincy in late February had 3.5 gallons of fuel in its four tanks. But the pilot, Bill Hix, of Walsenburg, Colo., said that wasn't enough fuel to power the engine, which he needed to avoid a 50-foot obstacle in the way of the runway. "People in Quincy ought to cut those trees down," he said. "I think they're a hazard." Hix crash-landed Feb. 27 into an oak tree, where his plane was suspended 40 feet from the ground. Hix tried to climb down but the branch he stepped on gave way. He was seriously injured, but has since recovered. His surgeon told him the casts on his wrist and kneecap may come off Friday. First-responders rescued his wife, Sally Hix, and a friend, Joe Piper, who were passengers stuck in the tree. They suffered minor injuries. Hix was flying cross country and planned a fuel stop at the Tallahassee Commercial Airport, about 14 miles east of Quincy. But once he arrived, he discovered the airport had recently quit selling fuel. Hix decided to fly to the Quincy-Gadsden Airport to refuel there. However, the Cessna 177B he was piloting had consumed more fuel than he anticipated because of strong headwinds, which were greater than forecast. He was flying at a lower altitude to avoid turbulence. The cause of the crash has not been released yet. The report for the small plane that crashed Feb. 9 on Ocala Road in Tallahassee has not been released. Contact reporter Nic Corbett at (850) 599-2161 or ncorbett@tallahassee.com. Rating Candidates On the Environment By Tom Palmer  Write an email to Tom Palmer Tom Palmer Environment Reporter Dept.: Metro Desk (863) 802-7535 tom.palmer@theledger.com Your Name:  Your Email:  Subject:  Message:    The environment is usually not a big issue in presidential campaigns for reasons that pass public understanding. It may be that political reporters aren't interested or very well informed on the subject. It may not be a story that lends itself to quick-and-dirty sound bites or YouTube videos. I was curious how the candidates ranked among environmental advocacy groups, which is fairly easy to check. The first place to go is the League of Conservation Voters. The first entry I found was their scorecard for the second session of the 109th Congress. The scores are based on a 100-point scale. The results: Sen. Hillary Clinton: 89. Sen. John McCain: 41. Sen. Barrack Obama: 96. What do these scores describe? The scorecard is based on what the league considers seven key votes that came before the Senate. Three of the votes involved oil drilling offshore in Florida or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one involved weatherization assistance for low-income residents, one dealt with reversing funding cuts to federal wildlife agencies and two dealt with the kind of independent scientific review of projects undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But to be fair, it's probably more useful to look at a broader environmental record. The scorecard also included each candidate's environmental voting records for 2005, 2006 and 2007. Clinton scored 73 in 2007 (she missed four votes), 71 in 2006 and a 95 in 2005. McCain scored 0 in 2007 (he was absent for all of the votes), 29 in 2006 and 45 in 2005. Obama scored 67 in 2007 (he missed four votes), 100 in 2006 and 95 in 2005. To look at more details, go to http://www.lcv.org/. The League of Conservation Voters isn't the only group that scores politicians on their environmental voting record. Defenders of Wildlife is another group that rates Congress with issues of its own. That group's rating involved five votes on such issues as energy and purchase and protection of conservation lands. McCain missed all five votes and had no score. Clinton and Obama got a 100 percent rating for the two votes in which they did participate. There's apparently no penalty on Defenders' ranking for missed votes. What these rankings don't tell is how Senate votes will translate into executive action once someone becomes president. The League of Conservation Voters in February listed questions journalists should ask presidential candidates about global warming, one of the biggest environmental issues. But there are a multitude of other environmental issues, such as funding for the recovering and protection of endangered species, protecting the public from air and water pollution and making sure the decisions are based on science instead of politics, as has been alleged numerous times during the current administration. The next president will have plenty of environmental issues to be decide. TREK TEN TRAILS The Friends of the Parks Foundation will host the seventh Trek Ten Trails guided hike at Polk County's Saddle Creek Park Nature Trail on Saturday at 9 a.m. Trek Ten Trails is a year-long program designed to inspire residents to become more active in the outdoors. An approved geocache has been placed along each of the 10 trails. Waypoints using GPS units and written instructions for locating each trail's cache are provided in Trek Ten Trails Celebrate Nature Passport Journals. The journals are available at each guided hike. Collectible hiking medallions, custom-designed for each of the 10 featured trails, will be available for purchase at each monthly event as well Medallions are also available at FITNiche Fitness Shoes and Apparel and Edgewood Drive Shoe Repair in Lakeland and at Historic Bok Sanctuary in Lake Wales. For more information Trek Ten Trails link on the Friends Web site: www.friendsoftheparks.net . For additional information contact Marian Ryan 863-293-6961 or Glenda Mink 863-534-4340. BACKYARD BIRD COUNT RESULTS Polk County birders turned in 65 checklists from 14 locations in the Great Backyard Bird Count that was held Feb. 15-18. This annual winter count is a fun way to check up on midwinter bird populations in North America. Winter Haven was the leader with 19 checklists, followed by 16 in Lakeland and 11 in Auburndale. Lakeland birdwatchers turned in the highest number of species, which was 91. Statewide, the leader was Tallahassee, where participants turned in 437 checklists containing 151 species. Statewide 280 species were reported from 3,493 checklists. There was a bright spot. We beat Georgia this year, which tallied 221 species from 3,135 checklists. Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com. His blog on the environment is at environment.theledger.com. Boca Raton developer appeared to be drunk, police say By KEVIN DEUTSCH Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Tuesday, April 01, 2008 BOCA RATON — Greg Talbott, a major developer and land owner whose drunken outburst once led to the city police chief's resignation, was arrested early this morning on charges of DUI , battery on an officer and resisting an officer after police stunned him three times with a Taser. Officers found Talbott, 53, slumped over and sleeping in the driver's seat of his parked black 2006 Bentley with its lights on and engine running in the of 2800 block of Northwest 2nd Avenue shortly before 1 a.m., police said. When Talbott was arrested in 2005 after a drunken fracas outside a downtown restaurant, former Chief Andrew Scott shielded him from a trip to county jail, which ultimately led to his resignation. On Tuesday, an officer awakened Talbott in his front seat after police got a report of a "suspicious black vehicle." She said she smelled alcohol, noticed Talbott's bloodshot eyes, and heard slurred speech. Talbott appeared "disoriented" and told the officer he didn't know where he was, but thought he was near his home at 250 NE 5th Avenue, police said. When officers turned on their in-car video camera and began a DUI investigation, Talbott refused to cooperate, police said. On the video, Talbott is inside his Bentley talking on his cell phone, apprising someone of his run-in with the cops. One officer asked Talbott to hang up. Talbott twice refused before officers pulled him out of the car. Police said the wealthy land baron grabbed an officer's arm and refused to let go. They tried to handcuff him, but when he continued to flail his arms, an officer stunned Talbott's upper back three times with the Taser. "What are you doing to me?" screams Talbott, who also unleashed a barrage of curse words at the officers. "I can't believe you're doing this to me!" Talbott's yells coincide with the buzz of the Taser. His belly is flat on the ground as officers surround him, but he fails to relax his arms behind his back, which prompts the officers to tell him to stop "resisting." Talbott, who has a pacemaker and has survived five heart attacks, was handcuffed on the ground. He suffered a small cut on his forehead which required medical treatment, police said. His mug shot show's him with a bandage above his left eye. Talbott could not be reached for comment. The developer has a checkered history with the city police department. In September 2005, officers alleged that a drunken Talbott battered his wife, a restaurant manager and an off-duty police officer outside the Luna Pazza restaurant. In what Scott called a "possibly career-ending decision," he ordered his officers not to send Talbott to the Palm Beach County Jail. Talbott later claimed he was the victim of police brutality during the arrest. The police union accused Scott of illegally interfering with Talbott's arrest. Scott said he intervened because he was concerned about Talbott's health. Scott resigned as chief in 2006 after a no-confidence vote by the police union prompted by the Talbott incident. In September 2006, Talbott was placed on a year's probation and sentenced to community service after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of assault on a police officer and resisting an officer without violence for the incident outside the Luna Pazza. The state attorney's office dropped three other misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and disorderly intoxication against Talbott in return for his guilty plea to assault on a police officer and resisting arrest without violence. He was ordered to attend a 12-week anger management course and perform 10 hours of community service. Today's arrest comes during a period of financial upheaval for Talbott, the second largest owner of commercial property in downtown Boca Raton. In February, Seacoast National Bank of Stuart recently sued to foreclose on two Talbott properties in Boca, including the former La Vieille Maison restaurant. In an interview, Talbott blamed the tanking real estate market for his failure to pay on $5.5 million in loans. Around the same time, another of Talbott's lenders, Fifth Third Bank of Cincinnati, starting trying to sell off $49 million in loans made to Talbott, including loans on prime property along Palmetto Park Road, in downtown Boca Raton. The loans are cross-collateralized with Talbott's palatial, 11,800-square-foot Intracoastal home on 5th Avenue. The next owner of the loans could conceivably foreclose on Talbott's properties if he is late with a payment. Fifth Third characterized Talbott's loans as being in default, and said he is having "liquidity problems," according to an offering memorandum by Mission Capital Partners, a New York investment firm hired to sell off the loans. Talbott's has a net worth of $107 million, largely tied up in real estate, but has liquid assets of only $4 million, the memo said. But Talbott in February refused to call his Fifth Third loans bad. "The loans are not in default," he said defiantly. "It is not true that the loans are nonperforming." Although a number of local real estate developers knew about the loan sale and were already eying Talbott's properties, Talbott himself did not learn about the pending loan sale until notified by a Palm Beach Post reporter. Although upset to hear of the sale, Talbott was even more angry to learn that Fifth Third, in the offering memo, disclosed the existence of a deal to sell four Boca properties to developer Tom Crocker for $50 million, or $753.70 a square foot. Crocker is assembling land in downtown Boca for a pedestrian corridor known as "the spine." In March, Talbott and wife, Mimi, fired back against Fifth Third, filing a $180 million lawsuit against the bank and Mission Capital for blowing the lid on the Crocker deal. The lawsuit says the deal is now in jeopardy. On Tuesday, Mission Capital's Peter Tobin said the loan sale is on hold because of the litigation.