New Commissioner Kanjian to quit builders board

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, August 31, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — New Palm Beach County Commissioner Bob Kanjian said he will leave his seat on the local builders association's board of directors at the end of the year.

The Gold Coast Builders Association has actively lobbied the county on various matters and had a prominent voice when the county developed a program requiring a portion of homes in new developments to be priced in the "affordable" range.Four political action committees run by the builders association endorsed Kanjian during last year's school board race.

Kanjian is president of Building Solutions LLC, which markets homes to home builders and buyers.

Sworn into office last week to replace Warren Newell, who resigned in July and faces federal corruption charges, Kanjian said his participation on the Gold Coast Builders Association board has decreased since his election to the school board last year.

A member of the builders board since 1998 who once served on its executive committee, Kanjian said he will leave because "one of the biggest reasons is I can't get the time" to remain active.

On his school board campaign Web site, Kanjian listed himself as a board member of the Florida Home Builders Association, the statewide arm of the building lobby.

But Kanjian said he had not been an active member since he was elected to the school board.

Lykes Bros. Drops Out

By Douglas Carman of Highlands Today

Published: August 31, 2007

SEBRING — Highlands County's efforts to preserve several plots of land along the southern half of the county had a major setback last week when Lykes Bros., an owner of 68,000 acres near Fort Bassinger, withdrew its Rural Land Stewardship application.

In a second blow, the state Department of Community Affairs, who approves the Rural Land Stewardship designations, began drafting new rules earlier this month. This has bogged down the efforts from Atlanticblue, which owns the 65,000-acre Blue Head Ranch west of Lake Placid . It's now the only remaining participant in Highlands County for the land designation.

Following what several sources described as weeks of consideration, Mark Morton, the senior vice president of Lykes Bros. Inc., sent an undated letter last week to County Commissioner Guy Maxcy stating that "Lykes has reevaluated its priorities and resources, and has decided not to proceed with RLS designation at this time in Highlands County ." Lykes will still carry out the application for its 265,000 acre plot in Glades County , connected to Highlands County part of its property. Multiple phone calls to Morton and his Naples office Thursday were not returned.

The stewardship could have allowed for densely built miniature cities similar to Ave Maria near Naples , had it been carried out.

Atlanticblue still plans to move forward with it, but they're waiting to see what the DCA will require for their application while they draft the new rules for the stewardship, said Lisa Jensen, the Chief Operations Officer of Atlanticblue.

Late July, the DCA criticized the County Commission 's letter of intent to have stewardship designations for Atlanticblue's property and for Lyke's property. In that letter, Thomas Pelham, the secretary of Florida 's Department of Community Affairs, who needs to approve the Rural Land Stewardship applications, stated that it was only willing to approve one of the applications.

Pelham wrote that the two lands on opposite sides of the county, along with the new development rights sought by Lykes and Atlanticblue for both lands, could actually "encourage urban sprawl, undermine rural character, threaten the viability of agriculture, and fragment ecosystems."

County Administrator Carl Cool was not sure why Lykes Bros. withdrew its application, but he didn't suspect the DCA's criticism had anything to do with it. The DCA's new rules, however, took Atlanticblue by surprise in his opinion, and he expected that to slow them down.

Jensen did not want to call it a slow down, but said that Atlanticblue did not have a timeline for its stewardship application.

"We're being prudent and thoughtful with the DCA, especially in light of the DCA's considerations and the rule-making process," Jensen said.

Commissioner Maxcy did not know how this would impact the county's preservation efforts, but he guessed that the county's application would be easier with only one landholder applying, in light of the DCA's objections last month.

The Rural Land Stewardship is a designation that would allow a developer to set aside large tracts of either agricultural land or undeveloped areas with valuable natural resources such as creeks. In exchange for maintaining those lands, the landowner can pick up "credits" to develop other areas at higher densities than what would normally be allowed, provided that the resulting development could support itself economically.

Swimming ban on temporarily at state park

By ANNE SPENCER

Jackson County Floridan

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Just in time for Labor Day weekend, swimming is prohibited at Florida Caverns State Park .

The closure is timely, however, for health's sake, according to park manager Brian Fugate.

The swimming spot is known as Blue Hole.

The extended drought is to blame. The water that normally reaches two sets of steps, where swimmers enter, has receded more than halfway. The only water with any depth is next to the diving dock, but it's lower than its usual 6 to 7 feet.

Fugate says the lowest level usually is 3 feet at the steps.

Algae is growing on the water and its color is brown. The water is moving so slowly it's not apparent it is. One can't imagine how anyone would want to swim the way it now looks.

Fugate said Wednesday that Blue Hole was closed last week.

"The health department has been testing regularly and up until last week it was okay. Last week the bacteria went up to the level the health department deemed unsafe."

When water is stagnant, the bacteria level rises. Also, Fugate said, "Water that's not moving in hot weather, the heat contributes to bacteria growth."

The park manager explained the source of Blue Hole. It's not the same as Blue Springs at the county's recreation area.

"Technically, we would consider (Blue Hole) a river vent, though we do get some spring water here," Fugate said. "The majority of the water is coming from the same source as the Chipola River .

"And with the drought conditions we've had all summer, we're not getting as much water since the river levels have dropped in the Chipola. The water that would normally have come from that source is not reaching Blue Hole."

Blue Springs is fed by springs erupting under the water. The underground water stream there is called the Floridan Aquifer.

To advise of the swimming ban, Fugate said the information is posted on the park's Web site, added to the information available by phone, and posted at the entrance to the park. In addition, a sign is posted on each side of Blue Hole and yellow tape stretched across the entrance to the steps.

The park still has much to offer, with the guided cave tour the most popular. There are trails for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding (bring your own horse); picnic shelters; and facilities for camping and canoeing.

According to the latest figures, the park had nearly 100,000 visitors in the year 2006-07, which was more than 5,200 over the previous year. The park is located on Caverns Road (County Road 167).

Entering the park costs $4 per vehicle up to eight people. For a pedestrian, a bicyclist or any other person in a car, the cost is $1.

Just driving through the park and stopping to take in nature makes for a good day. The temperature drops under the trees and a person feels cooler looking into the dark forest.

Guided cave tours cost $8 per person ages 13 and up, $5 for ages 2 to 12 and otherwise free. Visitors can see and learn about the various cave formations and the geology, history and wildlife of the cave.

The park is the site of other caves as well, but they're not open to the public.

At the Visitor's Center, there are maps, exhibits, artifacts and a video going most of the time. On the bottom floor, visitors will find a gift shop.

For more information or for reservations, call 482-9598 or go to the Florida State Parks Web site.

For information on the Blue Springs Recreation Area, call 482-2114 or 718-0437.

It will be open every weekend through the end of September.

This weekend the hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday. The entrance fee is $2 per person.

The rec area is located on Blue Springs Road (County Road 164), north of Marianna.

Scientists unlock mystery of red tide

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- After 20 years of study, researchers have finally found a way to duplicate the chemical chain reaction that produces the toxins in red tide..

The finding could be a very early step in protecting seaside communities, shellfish beds, marine mammals and humans from the periodic outbreaks of the dangerous tides.

Being able to create the toxins in a lab will help scientists learn more about how they are created by red tide.. Not all red tides are poisonous.

The findings could also make algal toxins much more available to scientists studying their potential pharmaceutical applications.

"Now that we can make these complex molecules quickly, we can hopefully facilitate the search for even better protective agents and even more effective (cystic fibrosis) therapies," said associate professor Timothy F. Jamison at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of a report about the process in today's edition of the journal Science.

Scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota say any discovery that furthers understanding of the red tide toxin is good news.

"The MIT discovery opens a window on a very fundamental natural process by which an algae -- a relatively simple life form -- can produce brevetoxins that can be harmful to humans and marine animals," said Glen Shen, executive vice president for research at Mote.

Shen said that until now, replicating toxin production has been extremely difficult.

"This potentially will provide scientists who study these organisms with the ability to use the same trick in a laboratory setting so that they can then explore the possibility of any therapeutic value that these organisms may have," Shen said.

Red tides occur when water temperature and salinity encourage overproduction of some algae and plankton.

A massive red tide struck the Southwest Florida shelf in 2005, leading to areas of dead sea bottom and killing manatees. Another caused by a different species struck from Maine to Cape Cod in 1972, and others have occurred in that region since.

In 1985 chemist Koji Nakanishi of Columbia University suggested that the algae used a cascade of chemical steps to produce the complex red tide toxin molecule. But until now, researchers have been unable to demonstrate such a reaction in the laboratory.

MIT associate professor Jamison and graduate student Ivan Vilotijevic were able to jump-start the reaction, which then proceeded to form the chemicals. A key was conducting the reaction in water, Jamison said.

Most reactions are tested in organic solvents, but they found that when water was added the reaction took place more quickly and directly.

"The trick is to give it a little push in the right direction and get it running smoothly," Jamison said. He speculated that the dinoflagellates that produce the chemicals in nature jump-start the reaction using an enzyme.

One of the chemicals produced is brevenal, related to the red tide toxins, shown to have potential as a treatment for cystic fibrosis. The research was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Merck Research Laboratories, Boehringer Ingelheim and MIT.
Staff writer Cathy Zollo contributed to this report.

NASA: More storms will come with global warming

by Associated Press

WASHINGTON — As the world warms, the United States will face more severe thunderstorms with deadly lightning, damaging hail and the potential for tornadoes, a trailblazing study by NASA scientists suggests.

While other research has warned of broad weather changes on a large scale, like more extreme hurricanes and droughts, the new study predicts even smaller events like thunderstorms will be more dangerous because of global warming.

The basic ingredients for whopper U.S. inland storms are likely to be more plentiful in a warmer, moister world, said lead author Tony Del Genio, a NASA research scientist.

And when that happens, watch out.

“The strongest thunderstorms, the strongest severe storms and tornadoes are likely to happen more often and be stronger,” Del Genio said in an interview Thursday from his office at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York . The paper he co-authored was published online this month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Other scientists caution that this area of climate research is too difficult and new for this study to be definitive. But some upcoming studies also point in the same direction.

With a computer model, Del Genio explores an area that most climate scientists have avoided. Simple thunderstorms are too small for their massive models of the world’s climate. So Del Genio looked at the forces that combine to make thunderstorms.

A unique combination of geography and weather patterns already makes the United States the world’s hottest spot for tornadoes and severe storms in spring and summer. The large land mass that warms on hot days, the contours of the atmosphere’s jet stream, the wind coming off the Rocky Mountains and warm moist air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico all combine.

Del Genio’s computer model shows global warming will mean more strong updrafts, when the wind moves up and down instead of sideways.

“The consequences of stronger updrafts are more lightning and bigger hail,” he said.

On a normal sunny day, updrafts are less than 1 mile per hour. In a big rainstorm that is not severe, it’s about 2 mph. In a severe storm they could be 20 to 30 mph. The faster that updraft, the worse the storms.

The Southeast and Midwest lie in the path of most of the most dangerous of these storms.

However, the new study also forecasts danger for the Western United States . It predicts lightning will increase about 6 percent as the amount of carbon dioxide — the chief global warming gas — doubles.

Previous studies have shown that the West will get drier, making it a tinderbox for more wildfires. This study shows that there will be more matches in the form of lightning strikes to start those fires, Del Genio said.

One general benefit of global warming is decreased wind shear, which is the speed of side-to-side wind as the altitude rises, Del Genio said. That would moderate the effects of updrafts.

However, during certain times of the year and under the right conditions in the Midwest and Southeast, wind shear will increase. Combine wind shear and updrafts, and damaging winds result, the scientist said.

Other pending and recent research, especially from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, point in the same general direction, said several scientists who weren’t involved in Del Genio’s study. But they said research in this area is so new that the NASA study is not the final word.

“It’s certainly a plausible result,” said Leo Donner, a climate modeling scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab in Princeton, N.J. Donner earlier this year came out with a study predicting more heavy rain as temperatures rise.

Harold Brooks, a top scientist at NOAA’s severe storms laboratory in Norman , Okla. , has soon-to-be-published studies finding results similar to the new NASA study, especially when it comes to hail. Some of the severe hail that should be increasing could be baseball-sized and come down at 100 mph, “falling like a major league fastball,” he said.

He said it’s not possible to predict more tornadoes will result from climate change, however.

Jerry Mahlman, who used to be NOAA’s top climate model expert, said that a decade ago then-Vice President Al Gore asked if global warming could cause more tornadoes. Then as now, Mahlman said that’s something that’s just too detailed to derive from complex climate models.

Mahlman, a scientist who has long warned about the dire consequences of global warming, cautions against going overboard on climate change links: “I’m beginning to suspect that global warming is dynamically much less sexy than people want it to be.”

On the Net:

NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/moist—convect ion.html

'Scary' housing market tumbles

A federal index of residential sales confirms Central Florida 's fears: Prices are falling.

Jerry W. Jackson

Sentinel Staff Writer

August 31, 2007

Prices for single-family homes are down throughout Central Florida , in some areas for the first time in nearly a decade, according to a highly regarded federal index whose latest results indicate the slowdown in residential real estate is widespread and real.

The second-quarter index from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight shows prices for homes falling in Metro Orlando as well as in Volusia and Brevard counties and statewide.

"It is a scary market," University of Central Florida Finance professor Stanley D. Smith said in analyzing the numbers released Thursday.

The index is based on repeat sales or refinancing of the same properties over time, an approach that eliminates some of the variables in the local Realtors' monthly median-price figures, which are not drawn from the same types of houses in the same locations each time.

The Realtors' data have already shown a couple of year-over-year declines in median price so far in 2007.

The federal index is also considered a conservative measure of home-price appreciation because it uses data only from homes financed with conventional loans. So the second-quarter decline, while slight, means that people with good credit in good neighborhoods -- not just subprime-mortgage holders in marginal areas -- are starting to see a sag in home prices.

Biggest drop in decade

The 0.3 percent drop in the index for the four-county Orlando metro area -- Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola -- is the first since the second quarter of 1998 and the largest since a 0.41 percent dip in the second quarter of 1997, the federal data show.

Several local economists have concluded recently that, because the Orlando area's economy is stronger than those of most other regions of the country in terms of indicators such as job growth and foreign investment, the housing slowdown is not likely to be as severe or prolonged as elsewhere.

Hank Fishkind, an Orlando-based private economist, said on his weekly WMFE-FM radio show that, "While recovery may be some time off, it is clear that Florida 's housing markets have bottomed out." He said areas more overbuilt than Metro Orlando will take longer to recover, and while he expects prices to be flat for the next 18 to 36 months, he does not expect them to decline further.

UCF's Smith, who studies the report each quarter for the Mortgage Bankers Association of Central Florida, said the collapse of the nation's subprime-lending market -- home loans with higher interest rates for borrowers with weaker credit -- is not yet fully reflected in the index numbers, so the slump probably has not hit bottom yet.

Soaring defaults in the subprime market have triggered a chain reaction felt around the world in recent weeks, with many lenders closing their doors and others cutting back, even in economically healthy areas such as Orlando .

A general tightening of credit last week prompted the Federal Reserve to inject billions of dollars into the money markets and reduce bank-borrowing costs to prevent the nation's capital markets from grinding to a near halt.

"Things have gotten worse," Smith said, since the federal housing report's first-quarter index showed that Metro Orlando's housing-appreciation rate actually was improving, rising 1.48 percent after five straight quarters of diminishing returns.

Coastal counties decline

For the hard-hit Brevard County metro area, the second quarter's 1.76 percent drop was the fourth straight quarter of declining prices -- a full year's worth -- as measured by the federal index. The Volusia metro area turned negative for the first time in the second quarter, down 1.48 percent, though the market has been losing steam almost every quarter since late 2005.

Statewide, Florida posted a 0.75 percent dip in prices, the second straight quarterly decline and the state's worst showing in two years.

Viewed over the past five years, however, home appreciation statewide has totaled 95 percent, Smith noted, and the recent dips are mild in comparison. All three Central Florida metro areas have done even better than that during the past five years -- up 97 percent in Brevard County , 101 percent in Volusia County and 97 percent in Metro Orlando.

Realtors say the market has become even more frustrating in recent weeks, though, as lenders have tightened credit standards, making it tougher for everyone to get a home loan, regardless of income.

It is particularly tough now for first-time home-buyers at the lower end of the price scale and for borrowers looking for "jumbo" loans of more than $417,000, said Roseann Lutz, broker agent for Citrus Ridge Realty Inc., which specializes in the Four Corners area west of Walt Disney World.

"Those are the ones they had the most trouble with," she said. "The biggest challenge is getting a buyer qualified for a loan," because lenders are now "being particular about who they give loans to."

Aside from that, she said, many potential home buyers are still on the sidelines, not even looking at homes, while would-be home sellers continue to flood the market with properties, seemingly oblivious to the slowdown and hoping to cash in on the past five years' worth of paper gains.

"For every one sale we make, we're getting 12 listings," Lutz said. "It's just been really, really hard."

Home builders are slashing prices on new properties because of the record slump in that market, and many existing-home sellers who have equity to work with are having to slash their asking prices, too, in an attempt to attract interest.

So far, Lutz said, the late-summer market is stagnant despite all that.

"The phone is just not ringing."

Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.

Citizens may triple some premiums
By Paige St. John
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU

Unfettered by legislative mandates to keep rates down, Citizens Property Insurance is eyeing premiums for its commercial hurricane coverage nearly triple what it now charges.

The proposed changes to fewer than a thousand commercial policies are so dramatic, members of the state-run insurer's actuarial committee on Thursday shied from calling them increases.

''When you have not looked at a rate in 10 years, I believe what we're doing today is 'establishing' wind rates,'' said committee chairman Richard DeChene. ''We are making it equal to what is sound, actuarially, in the marketplace today.''

Despite great focus on what Citizens' charges more than 1 million residential customers, the state-run insurer had left business rates untouched until recently, when the consumer-backed fund was ordered to expand its commercial coverage.

Citizens' Board of Governors, and then the Office of Insurance Regulation, must still accept the proposed average 273-percent increase in premiums for wind-only coverage of commercial businesses in high-risk coastal areas.

Hurricane insurance for a $500,000 business near the coast in Escambia County , for example, would go from $1,615 a year to $4,023, and in Santa Rosa County, it would go from $2,384 now to $8,636.

In Brevard, the change is from $2,384 to $5,791 while Indian River businesses now paying $3,614 would pay $7,671.

In Collier, the change is from $2,384 now to $9,859, and in Charlotte, businesses now paying $2,411 would pay $8,878.

Rates for a $500,000 business in Lee County now range from $1,615 to $2,411. They would increase to a range of $2,818 to $8,487.

The Legislature in January authorized Citizens to take over commercial insurance being offered by a separate fund, and to expand later this year to offer all-perils coverage to businesses statewide.

Citizens is still developing those rates and rules, and those policies may not become available until mid-October, staff said Thursday.

Osteen zoning revisions OK'd

By SARA KIESLER
Staff Writer

DELTONA -- City commissioners and Volusia County Council members approved a compromise Thursday night at the final joint meeting to decide the future of roughly 4,000 acres east of State Road 415.

Before the meeting, the city and county had widely different visions of which properties would be zoned commercial -- 40 acres were in the county's plans compared to 260 in the city's.

But after Commissioner David Santiago presented a plan to remove the commercial designation from rural areas like Maytown and Enterprise roads and add more of the zoning near S.R. 415 and the end of Doyle Road, almost all elected members were pleased.

Commissioner Zenaida Denizac compared the compromise to an engagement before couples say "I do."

When Santiago added that the city had no plans for strip mall types of development, County Chairman Frank Bruno said, "that's music to our ears."

However, at least one County Council member wasn't satisfied. Councilwoman Pat Northey, who represents Deltona and the Osteen community east of S.R. 415, said it was still too much commercial zoning for her.

"The commercial is going to change the face of Osteen," she said.

The joint meetings between the county and the city began in early 2006 after Deltona tried annexing portions of the land for its future economic development needs, and the county fired off two lawsuits. Both governments agreed to drop the activities if they could map out a plan both could live with.

Though 200 residents from the area showed up at an Aug. 22 information session displaying the tentative future land uses for the area, mostly requesting to keep the zonings the same as the county had them before, Deltona City Hall was relatively quiet Thursday night.

Devitt Harrison, a new resident to the area, was one who did speak up and ask that the municipalities beware of suburban sprawl. His wife, Denise, later said the couple work in Baldwin Park, near Orlando, which has been talked about as an example of mixed-use development for the area, and that a Baldwin Park would not fit in Osteen.

"We moved out to Osteen for a reason and it's really scary to see the Wal-Mart and the traffic this is going to bring," Denise Harrison said.

Mark Pell, who with his family owns land along S.R. 415, has lived in the area for decades. He said Osteen is just a memory and the area should be allowed to become more commercial.

"The whole (S.R.) 415 corridor is going to be commercial," Pell said. "This will just feed the bureaucracy for 10 more years."

The next step is for county and city planners to get together, design standards and collect data on the number of actual commercial and residential units that will be allowed before the land-use changes can go before the governing bodies for votes.

sara.kiesler@news-jrnl.com

Department store could rise on bioscience spinoff land

By DEANA POOLE

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, August 31, 2007

LAKE PARK — The group charged with protecting land for Scripps spinoffs is poised to do just what former Gov. Jeb Bush feared: allow vacant land eyed for biotech to be used for retail.

In its first significant task, the bioscience land protection advisory board was asked Thursday to review plans to build a Kohl's department store on 14 acres along Congress Avenue in Lake Park.

The land, zoned industrial, was included in the 8 million square feet that north county leaders promised would be available for spinoff companies.

They also promised to protect that land by using a bioscience overlay, a planning tool that makes it tougher to change the zoning.

Bush, who helped bring The Scripps Research Institute to Florida, repeatedly warned Palm Beach County that there was "no room for compromise" in his requirement of 8 million square feet of research and development space for spinoffs.

Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Joe Russo said he personally assured Bush that land intended to fulfill his vision of a "biotech cluster" wouldn't be converted to commercial and residential.

"This is something we told him that wouldn't happen," Russo said. "And here we are."

The problem: The group couldn't really say no.

Lake Park hasn't changed its long-range planning guide to include a bioscience overlay. Neither have Riviera Beach nor Mangonia Park. This delay means that property owners there haven't been notified that they will be included in the overlay - or had the opportunity to voice opposition.

The seven-member advisory board withheld final action until next month, but instructed its attorney to prepare a detailed resolution justifying why the group isn't objecting to the rezoning.

County Commissioner Karen Marcus reminded the advisory board that the north county plan exceeded the 8 million-square-foot requirement, so there would be some flexibility to accommodate Kohl's.

But if more requests keep coming, she said, it could be a problem.

Many members worried that this situation could open a Pandora's box and that other municipalities would try to convert land set aside for biotech.

John R. Smith, Bush's appointment on the board, made his position clear: "I'm not going to be as amenable in the future."

Jupiter Mayor Karen Golonka said the situation shows the importance of having the overlay. Had it been in place, it wouldn't be so easy to build a Kohl's there, she said.

Patrick Sullivan, Lake Park's community development director, said that with only 3,600 housing units, the town depends on retail.

The town, which totals 2.3 square miles, also is home to Target, Lowe's, a new Wal-Mart Superstore and other big-box retailers.

"If we have the chance to land a big retailer, we need to take it," Sullivan said.

Kohl's, a familiar name to Midwesterners, made its move into Florida in 2005. It has more than 800 stores in 45 states. It will open a store in Jensen Beach in October.

Sullivan said the town plans to provide plenty of other land, both vacant and with existing buildings, for biotech spinoff companies.

He said the town's proposed overlay, excluding the land for Kohl's, will contain 330 acres - about half the town's nonresidential land.

"I think we're doing more than our fair share," he said.

This is interesting and scary at the same time. As dedicated as some of us are to preserve our quality of lives, there are those out there just as dedicated to subdividing the entire state. Click here for a link to a page from a blog intent onpaving over Polk County.

Attorney pick leaves doubts

Jake Varn's ties to developers have some concerned about conflicts of interest.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT and DAN DEWITT, Times Staff Writers
Published August 31, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Prominent attorney Jake Varn acknowledged to the City Council that he has represented many developers over the years and, yes, conflicts of interest could arise if he were to be the city's new attorney.

But he said his office would deal with any conflicts that emerge. He added that he has only the city's best interests at heart.

"I have no agenda but to help you folks do whatever you folks need to do for the city," Varn said Wednesday evening just before leaving City Hall to return to Tallahassee.

He did not wait for the council members to make their decision. He did not need to. When the council ranked the candidates, Varn was the winner.

Not every council member cheered the choice.

Before the interviews began, council member Joe Bernardini said he didn't want to give a ranking to the three lawyers, out of the five applicants, who have ties to developers. "It's asking the fox to guard the hen house," he said.

After the decision, Bernardini was not thrilled. "I feel like I was given lemons," he said Thursday. "I'll make lemonade and hopefully it will be good."

He said that if a contract is reached with Varn, he will try to give him the benefit of the doubt until the attorney proves otherwise.

The council will begin negotiating a contract with Varn to replace David La Croix, who announced several months ago his intention to step down at the end of September. Varn's application letter lists his fees at $225 per hour to conduct city business, half the rate he charges his other clients.

Varn of Fowler White Boggs Banker P.A., was one of five applicants for the job. The council's second pick was Joseph Poblick, city attorney for Zephyrhills; third place was Brooksville's own Hogan Law Firm.

Varn opened his talk with the council by noting that he has represented numerous developers who have brought projects before the board. In some cases, his involvement with the clients is done. In others, it is not.

He told the council that he would try to avoid getting into any conflicts of interest. His letter applying for the job pointed out that he would be the attorney sitting with the council at meetings but if a conflict were to arise, another member of his firm would be there instead.

While Varn, 65, made it clear he has no intention of moving from Tallahassee, he does have a small office in Brooksville.

Varn urged the council to pick an attorney they would feel comfortable with since the relationship was important. "You need to be happy and your lawyer needs to be happy," he said.

Bernardini said Thursday that he would "just have to live with" the fact that Varn was chosen. "He stated himself that we have to be comfortable with the attorney and I'm not comfortable."

City Manager Jennene Norman-Vacha said Thursday she knows there could be perceptions of a conflict but that the city would work through those. She also noted that some of Brooksville's land development rules are in need of updating.

Varn's areas of legal specialty include environmental, land use, administrative governmental and transportation law. In addition to years in private practice, he was the first general counsel for the Southwest Florida Water Management District and served as the agency's assistant executive director.

In 1979, then-Gov. Bob Graham appointed Varn as secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, a job he held until 1981 when Graham appointed him secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation.

Joe Murphy, the chairman of the conservation committee for Hernando Audubon who also briefly worked as Brooksville's redevelopment coordinator in 2006, wondered what the council was thinking in picking Varn.

Considering the city's recent scandals involving police Chief Ed Tincher and the Brooksville Housing Authority, Murphy said he thought Brooksville would want to avoid Varn's potential conflicts of interest.

"It's almost impossible to believe the city of Brooksville would put itself in this position again," he said.

"If City Council members want the public to have faith in their decisions, they should go the extra mile to have both the appearance and the reality that everything is in the public interest," Murphy said, and hiring Varn "does not pass the smell test."

"Jake Varn is an excellent attorney and if I were a developer, I'd hire him. But he's not a good attorney for the public."

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

Jake Varn selected as Brooksville city attorney
By TONY MARRERO lmarrero@hernandotoday.com
Published: Aug 30, 2007

BROOKSVILLE — The city council tapped Jake Varn as city attorney Wednesday, dismissing the notion that he is too cozy with developers.

Varn, a senior attorney in the Tallahassee office of the Fowler, White, Boggs and Banker Law Firm, came out on top over four other applicants.

The council heard presentations from all five applicants and volleyed a few questions at each. Then each council member ranked their three top choices without discussion.

Council member Lara Bradburn was absent due to a work-related scheduling conflict.

Bradburn interviewed each candidate separately and submitted her picks, but they were not included in the tally after City Attorney David La Croix advised the council that doing so could run afoul of state law.

Varn, however, was also Bradburn’s top pick.

Joseph Poblick, city attorney for Zephyrhills since 2006, came in as the council’s second choice. The Hogan Law Firm of Brooksville was third.

In his presentation, Varn touted his 35 years of experience as an attorney, most of them specializing in land use, environmental and administrative law.

The Tallahassee resident has represented cities and counties, and served as the first counsel to the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Varn, a Brooksville native, told the council he is at the age and point in his career when he can be “finicky” about what kind of lawyering he does.

“I think this is a critical time for the city and I want you to have good lawyers to help you along the way,” Varn said. “I’ve done better than I deserve and now is the time to give something to you folks.”

Varn, who earned his law degree in 1972 from the University of Florida, offered to represent the city for $225 per hour, which is half his usual fee. Varn told the council that he and his wife will not be moving to Brooksville, but that he would use his office here “as home base” while serving as city attorney.

He acknowledged concerns about his ties to developers.

He said his work for prominent Brooksville landowner Tommy Bronson is “complete.”

Varn said his firm has a “system” to identify any potential ethical dilemmas.

“If there’s a conflict, we can’t take the work,” he said. “It’s pretty simple.”

There almost certainly will be issues that come before the council in which Varn will have to recuse himself.

Varn said he is still working with Land Mar Group LLC, the developer of the huge Southern Hills Plantation community near the city’s southern border. He warned the company will be applying to the city for permits and zoning changes for 900 acres the city recently annexed in that area.

Hernando County filed suit against the city to challenge that annexation; the lawsuit is still pending.

Varn also represents the developer of the Majestic Oaks subdivision off Mondon Hill Road, and Sierra Properties, the developer of the proposed Hickory Hill project in Spring Lake.

But, he said, “I have no agenda but to help you folks do the best for the city.”

Council member Joe Bernardini wasn’t convinced.

Bernardini expressed his concerns before interviews even began, saying he had “problems with three of the firms that represent big developers.”

“It’s like asking the fox to guard the henhouse,” Bernardini said.

Poblick boasted that he would dedicate his time to Brooksville and Zephyrhills. Part of his contract with Zephyrhills stipulates that he does not represent developers, which “would allow Brooksville to be assured my advice is unbiased,” Poblick said.

Bernardini said Poblick would have represented “a fresh start who did not have ties to anybody.”

Mayor David Pugh ranked Poblick as his top choice but said Varn also has a vast well of experience and a large firm behind him.

Pugh said he is confident that Varn and his firm will be “professional enough to identify a conflict and address it.”

In an interview Thursday, Bradburn said she is convinced that Varn has “a sincere affection for his hometown.”

She said his work for prominent developers is, in fact, a plus.

“It’s good to have him on our side rather than against us,” she said.

The other applicants were Carole Joy Barice, an attorney with Fowler and O’Quinn in Orlando who has served as counsel for several Florida cities including Altamonte Springs, Deltona and Ocoee; and Kristie Kroslack, a recent transplant to Brooksville who served for six years as assistant county attorney in Lee County.

Bradburn said Barice had offered to fill in as city attorney if she was not selected. Bradburn, citing impressive progress in Altamonte Springs during Barice’s tenure, said she would encourage her fellow council members to take Barice up on that offer on the occasions that Varn must recuse himself.

Tom Hogan showed up with seven other attorneys, saying the firm would tackle the city attorney job “with a team approach.”

Most officials agreed that, while only five applied, all the applicants would have made worthy legal advisors for the city.

“I’m impressed by all of them,” La Croix said before the results were announced.

La Croix’s last day is Sept. 30. Officials hope to have a contract with Varn drafted for the council to review during its Sept. 10 regular meeting.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted at 352-544-5286.

Consultant: CSX Plan to Cost Polk $729,789

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

BARTOW | Growth doesn't pay for itself and forces local officials to choose between increasing taxes or cutting services, a Tallahassee consultant told county commissioners Wednesday.

Glenn Robertson, a former budget director for three Florida governors, developed the "budget impact template," which he uses to analyze population growth and the cost of providing services, determining how much it costs to serve new residents.

Robertson's presentation to Polk commissioners was an outgrowth of a study he did on the fiscal impact of the proposed CSX freight terminal in Winter Haven . That study was paid for by Lakeland businessman C.C. "Doc" Dockery, who opposes the CSX proposal.

Dockery arranged Robertson's appearance before the commission.

"I don't believe that, politically, we have admitted that growth does not pay for itself," Dockery said.

Robertson said his analysis showed the CSX facility would generate $729,789 more in demand for services than the project would generate in county taxes. Normal county growth, without CSX, would mean a total projected deficit of more than $2 million for Polk.

He said his template allows local officials to project how increased demand for services caused by new development and the arrival of new residents affects county budgets and the ability to provide services.

State planning officials have recommended that the 1,250-acre CSX project be reviewed as a development of regional impact, but Robertson said his analysis went beyond the DRI analysis, which typically is confined to infrastructure and environmental issues, such as traffic, water supplies and endangered species.

"Not many of the models look at the impacts on general services," Robertson said.

Commissioner Jean Reed said Robertson's findings "substantiates a lot of things we were feeling and points out the need for impact fees and putting growth where the infrastructure exists."

Commissioner Bob English asked whether this template is applicable to smaller developments, such as a 200-home subdivision in the Lakeland Highlands.

It could be used for that, Robertson said, explaining the template allows planners to plug in any applicable numbers to measure the impact.

English said he'd like to see county staffers use Robertson's template in growth decisions, but wanted to know how much it would cost the county to use it.

"I just gave it to you," Robertson said.

Commissioner Randy Wilkinson asked how Robertson's analysis deals with situations like those that the county encounters in Poinciana, where people live in Polk County and want county services, but work and shop in Orange or Osceola counties.

"That compounds the problem of not paying taxes in Polk County ," he said.

Robertson said county staffers could incorporate that into their analysis.

[ Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. ]

Reservoir Checkup Sees 'Severe' Cracks

By MIKE SALINERO The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 30, 2007

TAMPA - Cracks in the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir are severe enough that Florida 's top dam engineer is traveling here this week to inspect the facility.

Reports released Wednesday by the state Department of Environmental Protection describe "severe" cracks in the soil-and-cement wall on the inside of the embankment enclosing the reservoir. The reports were backed up Wednesday by Richard Cantrell, interim director of the DEP's Southwest District, who called the cracks "significant."

The reports seem at odds with statements by Tampa Bay Water engineers who maintain the cracks were anticipated and that repairs over the past several months are nothing more than "general maintenance."

"I think the specific distinction we need to make is this is a maintenance issue versus a structural issue, which this is not," Tampa Bay Water spokeswoman Michelle Rapp said.

Cantrell and Tampa Bay Water officials insist the cracks have not compromised the integrity of the 360-foot-wide walls, and that there is no danger the walls will erode and rupture. The walls have a drainage system, plus a tough fabric liner to prevent erosion.

"Nothing about the cracking that has occurred to date puts the integrity of the dam surrounding the reservoir in risk," Cantrell said.

Yet Cantrell said the cracks are serious enough to warrant further inspections by agency engineers. He said he was comfortable that Tampa Bay Water's efforts to close the cracks with grout will contain the problem.

"Tampa Bay Water is in fact out there grouting these cracks, fixing these cracks," Cantrell said. "That's how you deal with this kind of impact on soil cement."

Storms Wants More Information

The explanations did not satisfy state Sen. Ronda Storms, a Valrico Republican and former Tampa Bay Water board member. Storms said she was disappointed when she asked the DEP for documents related to inspections made at the dam and received a copy of one e-mail.

"I'm not satisfied with the documentation," Storms said.

She wrote Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday to ask for an independent verification of the reservoir's structural integrity and to verify that the cracking is typical for reservoirs of this size. Storms also wanted to be assured that the cracking was not caused by sinkholes.

A Crist spokesman said the governor received the letter but decided to leave the DEP in charge of the investigation.

News of the cracking alarmed some residents in the small community on Wendell Avenue in east Hillsborough County , outside the reservoir.

"Can you imagine what it's going to be like in 10 years if this is what happens after two years?" said Charlayne Penrose, who can see the berm from the driveway of her 2 1/2 -acre property. "I'm very concerned."

Some residents said they've thought about moving but can't afford to, given escalating land prices. Even if they could move, they might have trouble finding buyers given the proximity of the reservoir, a mile to 700 feet away in some places.

Others complained that they weren't told about the cracks, even though workers have tended to them for three months.

Dry Weather Caused Cracks

Tampa Bay Water engineers say the cracks developed when dry weather caused water levels to drop. The receding water stressed the cement-and-soil covering, said Tampa Bay Water engineer Mandy Rice.

"There's no steel in it, no rocks in it like concrete," Rice said. "It's for erosion control from rain and wave action."

Rice said the covering was chosen because it's less expensive than chunked rock called riprap, a common bank stabilizer.

Engineers noticed the first cracks in December, and more developed as the water continued to drop to 2.5 billion gallons in July. It was the reservoir's lowest level since it started operating in 2005. Some cracks are 70 feet long. One inspection report by an independent engineer hired by Tampa Bay Water said some of the cracks were 5 to 6 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches deep.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham, who sits on the Tampa Bay Water board, said he was not told about problems at the reservoir, and he intends to get more information on the cracking.

Rapp, the Tampa Bay Water spokeswoman, said work on the walls was described in semimonthly reports to board members along with other maintenance items.

Tampa Bay Water supplies wholesale water to public utilities in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, and Tampa , St. Petersburg and New Port Richey.

The Young reservoir can store as much as 15 billion gallons and was built to store water from rivers during the rainy season. It can provide more than 60 million gallons a day during the dry season.

New Channel 8 producer Steve Andrews and Tribune reporter Rich Shopes contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

Environmental committee chairman tours area

Legislation is discussed to protect Marion 's springs

BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER

SILVER SPRINGS - During a boat ride up the Silver River , thin, needle-shaped long-nose gar cut through the water.

Water birds, including double-crested cormorants and blue herons are perched on branches along the banks. Turtles sun themselves on logs jutting out of the water. Alligators lurk near the surface.

But on this Wednesday, local environmentalist Guy Marwick was more interested in some of the other sights along the river. There were the exposed roots of the cypress trees along the banks, for example, which are the result of decades of soil erosion, Marwick said.

There were the two-toned trunks of some cypress trees, which showed where the river's high water mark was decades back. Near the head spring and the Silver Springs theme park, Marwick pointed to the algae bloom that spread across the once white sand river bottom as nitrate levels rose over the last five to 10 years.

"I come back and I'm looking today and it's heart-breaking," Marwick said. "It happened that quickly."

Marwick, the chairman of the Silver Springs Basin Working Group, has spent more than 30 years scuba diving, swimming and boating on this river. Wednesday's boat ride was no pleasure cruise, however.

Marwick, Marion County Commissioner Barbara Fitos and county and Department of Environmental Protection staff were touring the river with state Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, the chairman of the Florida Senate's Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee.

Saunders says there are plans during the next spring session in Tallahassee to introduce legislation at the state level specifically to protect Silver Springs as well as Rainbow Springs in the Dunnellon area.

He said the state measure is intended to complement, not compete against, the county's proposal for tighter restrictions on development in the designated protection zones around Rainbow Springs and Silver Springs, which cover most of the county outside the Ocala National Forest .

The state law would also serve as a model for future springs protection legislation, Saunders said.

He also said he plans to start in Marion County instead of beginning statewide as failed attempts in years past did. When the bill heads to committee in November, Saunders expects it will call for the establishment of minimum flows and levels in the rivers the springs feed, and total maximum daily loads, which refer to the amount of pollution a water body can handle without a reduction in quality.

During a nearly two-hour meeting with Saunders before the boat tour, Fitos and Marion County Water Resources Manager Troy Kuphal explained that the protection of the quality and quantity of water that these springs produce was linked to some of the most pressing issues facing the county now.

For one thing, there's a lack of money to expand the county's water and sewer systems when 70,000 nitrate-producing septic tanks are in the ground and 70,000 more could go in around Marion .

"We can do what we want with Rainbow Springs," Kuphal said, "but if 30 [thousand to] 40,000 more septic tanks go in, we're fiddling while Rome burns."

Kuphal also said the tens of thousands of vested, still-undeveloped residential lots in that area could affect groundwater flow to the springs, with private wells exempt from the consumptive use permitting process.

Then there was the St. Johns River Water Management District study into alternate water sources - including the potential pumping of 100 million gallons a day from the Ocklawaha River , which Silver Springs and the Silver River feed.

Marwick said the environmental impact of that can't be determined until minimum flows and levels are established.

Kuphal voiced concern that the Florida Legislature could pass legislation pre-empting local government's ability to protect groundwater quality by regulating fertilizer use. Saunders said that would not happen next year - his last in the Senate before term limits compel his retirement - because he is the chairman of the committee through which such legislation would have to go.

County officials also said they did not want the possibility of future state legislation for springs protection slowing the county's own development regulations, which could go to a vote in October.

"We are at a critical tipping point right now," Fitos said.

Christopher Curry may be reached at 352-867-4115 or chris.curry@starbanner.com.

Drought lingers while water tables continue to fall

By Ira Mikell, Free Press Reporter

The Suwannee River Water Management District is reminding all residents that a water shortage advisory remains in effect and will not be lifted until the area receives a sufficient amount of rainfall in order to bring water tables back to their normal levels. "The drop in groundwater levels is due primarily to a long-term rainfall deficit," district officials said.

Residents are urged to voluntarily restrict indoor and outdoor water use. According to Lafayette County Public Works Director Donnie Land, if everyone works together to conserve water usage, firefighters will still be able to have the water they need to combat and put out any fires that flare up.

SRWMD suggests that you landscape your yard with plants that are drought-resistant, clean your sidewalk and driveway with a broom rather than with a water hose, turn off your faucet while you are brushing your teeth, and install devices that will help save water.

The advisory was implemented in Nov. 2006 by Louis Shiver, Chairman; J. P. Maultsby, Vice Chairman; Georgia Jones, Secretary/Treasurer; and, Kelby Andrews, Donald R. Curtis, Jr., N. David Flagg, O. J. Lake, and Sylvia Tatum, Governing Board Members.

For additional information on how you can help conserve water as well as about the current drought situation, visit www.dep.state.fl.us/drought. See related story on page 4A

Public will continue to have access at Round Lake

By DEBORAH BUCKHALTER
Jackson County Floridan

August 29, 2007

The Jackson County Commission on Tuesday rejected a request to close public access to Round Lake , which a private citizen claims to own.

On a motion by Edward Crutchfield, the board denied the request and turned management of the access points over to the county recreation department.

That decision, made at a public hearing on the matter, drew applause from the roomful of people who protested the closure.

Joe Shores , on the other hand, wasn't happy. Shores, who requested the closure, and his lawyer, John Bischof, say it's not over.

Shores wouldn't comment on what his next move might be, but his lawyer said Shores wants to resolve the issue amicably in a way that protects him from liability.

The county was given dedicated access to the lake years ago via a boat ramp and a small public beach. Generations of local families have fished and boated there through the years, and many learned to swim there.

Many of those long-term users spoke of those memories at the meeting as they fought for their access to the lake.

Shores, according to courthouse records, has been paying taxes on the lake bottom for years, and he claims ownership of the land.

Shores said he has no intention of closing the lake to the traditional users who have come there for years for peaceful relaxation. His problem, he says, is with the growing crowd of outsiders who have discovered the lake in the last year or so.

In that time, he said, the frequency of troublesome and potentially dangerous incidents has increased.

He described circumstances involving broken beer bottles, profanity, nudity, unsafe boating and, in one case, shots being fired from a BB gun.

He said he thinks the county, by leaving the access open, is in effect leaving him vulnerable to lawsuits that could arise in the event of an injury or litigation based on other problems.

He wanted county commissioners to sign off on a hold-harmless type of agreement, but on the advice of county attorney Frank Baker, it is unlikely to do so.

Jeremy Branch cast the lone no vote when Crutchfield's motion came to the floor. He said that, while he wants to preserve public access to waterways, he wasn't convinced that the county wasn't creating a liability for Shores.

A new development in the matter that came to light Wednesday may help decrease some of the problems Shores has cited.

Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Hatcher said that, as of noon Tuesday, the county came into ownership of the land around the boat ramp. The state, which owned it until Tuesday, had offered that property to the county back in June and the deed came in the mail Tuesday.

Now, Hatcher said, the county can start maintaining and controlling it.

County park rules will come into play going forward. That means no alcohol and no firearms are permitted on the premises, and the park will be closed from sunset to sunrise. Animals must be on a leash and under control of their owners.

Hatcher said the property was initially purchased by the federal government on the advice of Ladybird Johnson back in the 1960s. It was subsequently deeded to the state Department of Transportation.

The county must keep it open to the public as a condition of ownership, Hatcher said. Otherwise, it reverts to the state.

Clean-up of the underbrush in the area began Wednesday, he said, and will continue.

"We're going to go and keep it clean like we do all our parks: cut the grass, clear up the underbrush, clean it up and maintain it as a normal occurrence," he said. "We're not nearly done yet, but we've done some weed-eating and picked up some trash. It has some beautiful live oaks that you can't really see for the undergrowth, but soon we hope to have it so you can."

The sheriff's office will also be asked to patrol the area regularly, as it does other county-controlled parks, he said.

The land surrounds the boat ramp and runs about 350 feet along U.S. Highway 231 and about 400 feet down on the water.

Hatcher said he hopes the county's stepped-up involvement will mean good things for all involved. "We want to be a good neighbor down there and give the public a good access and recreational opportunity."

Meanwhile, Shores continues to talk with his attorney about his options in the matter.

It may prove to be a complicated legal matter; while Shores has been paying taxes on the lake bottom, it remains unclear who might own the water above and who might wind up being named as a vulnerable party in case of litigation.

Shores' attorney focused on Baker's answer when asked at the public meeting Tuesday about that issue in general terms of liability. "It depends," Baker said, such a question couldn't be answered in a vacuum. Bischof said he interpreted that answer as an admission that his client might indeed be vulnerable to legal actions.

Land Healed, But Not Rancor

By STEPHEN HAMMILL The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 30, 2007

Millions of tax dollars were spent. Allegations of pollution and fraud were hurled. Lawsuits were filed. A family lost its land.

The decades-long legal wrangle pitted the Martin family - brothers Charles, Billy and James - against Pinellas County government officials.

The object of their bitter dispute: an excavation pit and landfill the Martins owned in Hillsborough County , just east of the Pinellas-Hillsborough border and adjacent to drinking-water wells owned by Pinellas.

Pinellas officials maintained the pit and material the Martins dumped in it harmed the wells. The brothers denied the allegation, and in return accused the government of destroying their livelihood and taking their land for less than it was worth.

Restoration of the Martins' former land is scheduled to be completed next month. Pinellas officials tout the accomplishment of transforming a barren pit into a lake surrounded by greenery and scattered homes.

Vestiges of the long feud remain, though.

James Martin died in 2003. His son, Richard Martin, still is quick to mention a court-ordered cleanup of the pit in the early 1980s during which the only hazardous material recovered was a 5-gallon bucket containing a tar-like substance.

Meanwhile Charles "Chuck" Rainey, a Pinellas commissioner from 1967 until 1996, says he and his colleagues never backed down from their contention the Martins dumped objectionable debris in their pit.

"We wouldn't have gone that far if we didn't believe they were," he said.

Years-Long Conflict

The back-and-forth allegations, government orders and legal actions involving the Martins' pit came during the "water wars" that raged in the Tampa Bay area for a quarter-century beginning in the early 1970s. Local public officials frequently accused their counterparts in adjacent communities of half-truths and misdeeds as everyone struggled to ensure their constituents' taps would keep flowing with fresh water.

The formation in 1998 of Tampa Bay Water, a regional water cooperative, helped quell the bitterest disputes among counties and municipalities.

That year, Pinellas County bought the Martins' land and agreed to take responsibility for its restoration as part of a legal settlement.

Dredges have reshaped the pit's steep edges into gentle slopes of a manmade, 58-acre lake. Half a dozen homes sit on land with frontage on the lake. The balance of the property, to the south, has been leveled with fill material.

Robert Peacock is overseeing the restoration. Planning for the effort started in 1999, and work at the site began about three years ago.

"The construction of the borrow pit all those years ago prevented the normal flow of water into the [Brooker Creek] Preserve, and that's what we're trying to bring back," Peacock said.

Pinellas County acquired a 75-foot-wide strip of land around the lake's perimeter. When the restoration is completed, the county will give that land back to homeowners.

"We're all working diligently to have this project finished on time," Peacock said.

Pit Of Contention

Charles, Billy and James Martin, third-generation Floridians, bought 75 acres in northwest Hillsborough County in the early 1960s. Back then, the area was dotted with freshwater swamps and cypress trees.

Pinellas County and its Eldridge-Wilde water wellfield were just west of the Martins' land.

In the early 1970s, James Martin began digging a pit on part of the property. Excavations such as his, often called borrow pits, provide dirt to support foundations of roads and buildings and can generate substantial profits for landowners.

Martin dug his pit just as disputes about public drinking-water supplies were escalating among leaders in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

The family fought to keep Pinellas from pumping too much water from the Eldridge-Wilde wellfield. They maintained the pumping harmed cypress trees on their property.

Years later, Pinellas officials would say an illegal dump adjacent to the pit, operated by Charles and Billy Martin, was the real culprit.

James Martin eventually filled his pit with trees and brush, chunks of concrete and other construction rubble. Hillsborough County 's Environmental Protection Commission learned of the dumping in December 1981 and ordered him to stop.

That's when the real trouble began. James Martin ultimately spent 94 days in jail when, in 1987, he failed to comply with a judge's order to remove debris from the pit.

" Pinellas County said the Martin brothers were contaminating the land," said Mike Stevenson of Hillsborough County 's land excavation reviews and permitting department.

A court-ordered cleanup didn't reveal substantial pollution, though. During the three-year cleanup, the only hazardous waste found was the 5-gallon bucket filled with a dark, sticky substance.

Consequences And Accomplishments

The years-long dispute is chronicled in thousands of pages of public documents. It cost Pinellas County millions of dollars and financially scarred the Martin brothers. For years the dug-up pit remained an eyesore, a target of pro-environment activists, and a potential drowning hazard.

Pinellas officials, Hillsborough and state environmental leaders, and the Martins reached a shaky settlement in 1993. James Martin dropped his lawsuit against Pinellas, and that county stopped trying to collect a $4.2 million judgment against him. Pinellas officials agreed to buy and restore the site.

The agreement allowed Pinellas to sell some of the property after restoration to recoup part of the cost of buying and reshaping the land.

The pit kept growing in size. Southwest Contracting's contract to restore the site included a provision allowing the company to sell dirt removed from the property - about 900,000 cubic yards.

Peacock says construction of the original pit destroyed about 12 acres of wetlands. The restoration, he says, aims to re-establish the natural flow of water across the property, which benefits the Brooker Creek Preserve.

'A Sad Ordeal'

Richard Martin, who lives east of the former pit, says the real reason Pinellas officials bought his family's land was to sell more dirt. The environmental benefits of the restoration, he maintains, were secondary.

"When they purchased the land from my father they knew there was extra dirt there," he says. "We had to sell for as little as $3 a yard, but they let Southwest [Contracting] pull out dirt and sell it for $8 a yard."

"We had to sell everything to them," he says. "They froze every asset that my family had. It's a sad ordeal."

Richard Martin says his father, James, agreed to settle with Pinellas officials only because the family was out of money. The Martins were portrayed unfairly in the media and mistreated by the courts, he says.

"We were never allowed a jury trial," Martin says. "That's what gets me."

When the land's restoration is completed, Richard Martin has an option to buy back 17 acres facing Tarpon Springs Road . He says he hasn't decided whether to do so. He wants to see how appraisers will value the parcel.

"If I'm not getting it for a reasonable sum, it doesn't seem fair," Martin says. "Now you want to sell me what was my property to begin with at an inflated price?"

Rainey says the Martins may have been victims, but they weren't the only ones. Pinellas officials and residents were blamed for water-related problems because many of their wellfields were in other counties.

"Yes, we were protecting our wellfields," Rainey says. "We couldn't afford to lose one."

TIMELINE

Early 1960s: The Martin brothers, Charles, Billy and James, buy 75 acres in northwest Hillsborough County , adjacent to Pinellas County 's Eldridge-Wilde water wellfield.

Early 1970s: James Martin begins digging a pit on part of the property.

Mid-1970s: The Martins fight to keep Pinellas from pumping water from one of its wellfields, maintaining heavy pumping is damaging cypress trees on their land.

1982: Hillsborough commissioners reject James Martin's request to expand his pit from 10 to 40 acres, citing concerns that more digging could adversely affect the Eldridge-Wilde wellfield.

Pinellas County sues Hillsborough County and its commissioners after they reverse their decision and allow expansion of the pit. Records show all five commissioners who voted in favor of the reversal received campaign donations from the Martins.

Pinellas also sues James Martin.

1983: James Martin countersues Pinellas County and its commissioners.

A court-ordered inspection uncovers no substantial pollution. A judge orders James Martin to clean up the pit.

1986: James Martin testifies Hillsborough Commissioner Jerry Bowmer solicited a $6,000 bribe from him for a change in his vote. Three years later Bowmer is sentenced to prison, along with two other Hillsborough commissioners, Joe Kotvas and Fred Anderson, for accepting bribes.

Pinellas Judge Fred L. Bryson orders the Martin brothers to pay Pinellas County $4.2 million for testing and cleanup of the pit, ruling they had contaminated nearby water wells.

1987: James Martin is sentenced to 94 days in jail for contempt of court.

1993: A settlement is reached among Pinellas County , the Martins and environmental agencies for Florida and Hillsborough County . James Martin drops legal action against Pinellas, and the county stops trying to collect its $4.2 million judgment against him.

1996: With the pit now dug up and unusable, Hillsborough County commissioners vote to take legal action against Pinellas County to force partial restoration.

1998: Pinellas County agrees to pay James Martin $1 million for the pit and commits to restore the land and turn it into a lake. Pinellas, in turn, can sell the property to recoup restoration expenses.

2005: Reclamation work begins.

2007: Water flow to Brooker Creek Preserve is restored. Seventeen acres are filled for possible resale to Richard Martin.

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com.

Housing decision delayed by roads

A town-size plan would require millions in highway improvements

By DOUG SWORD

doug.sword@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY -- Worries over pending cuts to the county's road-building plans have delayed -- and may even scuttle -- plans for what would have been the region's biggest affordable housing project.

Over much of the last three years, the county has encouraged Sarasota developer Billy Springer to construct the town-sized Palmer Place in exchange for his promise that half of the project's 1,488 homes would be affordable. For much of that time, neighbors have opposed the project, mainly because of the traffic it would add to narrow rural roads in the area two miles east of Interstate 75.

But the possible delay of a $6 million county road improvement project for Palmer Boulevard threw the long-sought housing project into limbo Wednesday. State rules require the traffic caused by new developments to be addressed through road improvements. If the plans to improve Palmer Boulevard are scrapped, the project would violate those traffic concurrency rules.

Although the project faced a final vote Wednesday, Springer asked at the last minute that the commission delay its decision until after setting its road-building budget next month.

So the issue, which drew well-organized opposition from about 40 neighbors, was delayed to a Dec. 11 hearing before the commission.

At a minimum, Palmer Place would add at least $400 million worth of construction to the county's tax base, according to the low-end of estimates from the developer.

In exchange for high density in the semi-rural area, the developer promised that half the 1,488 homes would be affordable. That would make Palmer Place the biggest project of its kind in the state. It would also make the Community Housing Trust of Sarasota County one of the biggest affordable housing land trusts in the country.

As part of the deal, the developer would donate the land that the affordable homes are built on to the land trust. Owning the land would allow the land trust to help keep the homes affordable even if the real estate market took off again and the homes were resold.

Whether the county funds the $6 million for nearby road projects is a "make-or-break decision" for the project, said Charles "Dan" Bailey Jr., Springer's attorney. While the developer could pay for part of the costs, "it cannot anywhere approach the $6 million we're talking about," he said.

After the vote, Springer said he has invested too much in the project to walk away from it. Negotiations with the county on the affordable housing project have been going on for three years, he noted.

"This community really needs affordable housing," he said.

Asked if the project could absorb the cost of the road improvements and still be profitable, Springer said, "we're going to take a look at it."

The request to delay the vote may also have been prompted by concerns over the outcome. Springer said that based on comments made by commissioners during the hearing, he thought three of the five commissioners were set to vote against Palmer Place .

Neighbors' arguments against the project dominated the three-hour meeting, which was capped by the unexpected delay.

Their main point was that the semi-rural roads in the area could not handle the traffic from the 3,000-plus people that would live in Palmer Place , and that schools in the area were already at capacity. They also objected to the affordable homes in the development being "segregated" by a four-lane road and walls from the part of the project where houses are expected to sell for $400,000 to $800,000.

"This is NIMBYism in disguise," said Martina Guilfoil, executive director of the housing trust. NIMBY is an acronym for Not In My Backyard, referring to the tendency of neighbors to oppose such projects.

"If not in this neighborhood, where?" Guilfoil asked. There aren't big tracts of land" for a project like this west of the interstate.

Neighbors showed up in force wearing little yellow stickers with question marks featuring the statement "We have questions." They also were organized, providing statistics to support their position that Palmer Place would be too dense for what they called a "countryside setting."

And neighbors found problems with the project that the county missed.

For instance, Palmer Boulevard from Webber Road to the project's entrance at Iona Road is a two-way street whose lanes are only 10 feet wide.

County rules do not allow projects that would add traffic to a road with lanes less than 11 feet wide, so the developer had to promise to widen the boulevard.
Miami condo project vote investigated

State prosecutors are reviewing a controversial vote by the Miami City Commission to approve a Coconut Grove condo project next to Mercy Hospital .

Posted on Thu, Aug. 30, 2007

BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ

mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com

Two close associates of Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones provided 'professional support' to a condo project that passed the Commission on a 3-2 vote

· Court overturns approval of Miami River condo

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle is reviewing the Miami City Commission's April approval of a controversial Coconut Grove condo project to be built by development powerhouse The Related Group on land adjacent to Mercy Hospital .

Miami-Dade state attorney's office spokesman Ed Griffith declined to specify what prosecutors are looking at, saying: ``We're reviewing the matter, and are proceeding appropriately.''

Opponents have accused Related of heavy-handed tactics in winning city approval on a 3-2 vote.

Related's plans proved so contentious at City Hall that in March city commissioners endured nine hours of debate on the issue -- only to postpone a vote for another month.

Even before then, Related had called in some reinforcements to drum up support for the idea -- an expanded ''professional support team'' that included two close associates of Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.

Related attorney John Shubin confirmed Wednesday that political strategist Barbara Hardemon and former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler, Spence-Jones' political mentor, did work for the project.

Both supported Spence-Jones during her 2005 campaign. Neither returned phone calls seeking comment.

The Related team paid Hardemon less than $50,000 and Carey-Shuler between $50,000 and $100,000 for ''community public relations,'' Shubin said, adding that the pair did not lobby city officials on behalf of the project.

Spence-Jones, who voted for the project, said the hirings had nothing to do with her decision.

''That's insulting to me as an elected official, like I can't make a decision or a choice about something or vote on an item that I feel is the right thing to do,'' she said.

``As long as Spence-Jones didn't take a quarter, didn't take a dime, what did I do wrong?''

Spence-Jones said she has not been contacted by prosecutors and was not aware the hirings took place when she voted.

`NEVER HIRED'

Earlier this week, Spence-Jones told The Miami Herald she had been informed by both Carey-Shuler and Hardemon that they had never been hired by Related.

''It's always been communicated to me, period, that they were never hired, period, by Related,'' Spence-Jones said Monday.

AFTER APRIL VOTE

Wednesday, Spence-Jones said she found out sometime after the April vote that the pair had become involved. She said she couldn't remember who told her, and did not mention it two days earlier because she thought Mercy Hospital was paying Hardemon and Carey-Shuler.

Related's condos would be built on land previously part of Mercy's campus, and the hospital and developer worked as a team in getting the project approved.

The project, to be built by Related in conjunction with Boca Raton-based Ocean Land Investment, has been challenged in court.

Opponents include Coconut Grove residents who say that the proposed three towers -- rising as tall as 310 feet -- will overshadow their neighborhood.

Also fighting the condos: supporters of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, who argue it will ruin Vizcaya's picturesque views.

The Daily Business Review first reported Wednesday that the project, dubbed 300 Grove Bay Residences, had caught prosecutors' attention.

City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, an opponent of the project whose district includes the Grove, called news of Related's hirings ``very troubling.''

''There could be a very strong persuasive argurment that that was influencing the commissioner,'' Sarnoff said, referring to Spence-Jones.

Meanwhile, the state attorney's pending criminal probe could complicate the civil lawsuits challenging Related's right to build.

MOTION FILED

Assistant State Attorney Joseph Centorino filed a court motion seeking Wednesday to prevent former City Manager Joe Arriola and former Miami Chief of Operations/Assistant City Manager Alicia Cuervo from testifying in the civil suits until the criminal investigation is complete.

During public hearings on the condo project earlier this year, opponents pointed out that Cuervo had left the city to work as Related project manager on the job.

During an initial project review last year, while Cuervo was still an assistant city manager, Miami's Planning Department called the condos outsized.

After Cuervo took a job with the project's developer, city planners decided to recommend approval of a zoning change needed for the condos to be built.

Cuervo declined comment Wednesday.

Jury: Boca condo owed $8.1M over Wilma damage

By JANE MUSGRAVE

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, August 30, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — In what was described as a victory for condo owners who are battling their insurers, a federal jury on Wednesday found that QBE Insurance acted in bad faith and ordered the company to pay a Boca Raton condominium $8.1 million for damage it sustained in Hurricane Wilma.

Although less than the $12.1 million Chalfonte Condominium was seeking, the verdict ultimately could pave the way for the owners of the 378 units in the oceanfront twin towers to recover more than $30 million from the insurance giant, said Chalfonte's attorney, Daniel Rosenbaum.

In agreeing that the insurance company acted in bad faith when it said the condo's hurricane damage didn't even meet its deductible, the jury set the stage for a second trial in which the state's biggest condo insurer could be ordered to pay three times the initial award.

Further, in a finding that will force U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks to plow new legal ground, the jury found that a provision of QBE's policy didn't comply with state law.

Florida law is specific about how an insurance company must alert policyholders that their hurricane deductible is different from that for their general coverage. The law not only dictates what words must be used but also the size of the type.

In the case of QBE, the jury found that the words were different and the type was smaller than state law allows.

It is unclear exactly what Middlebrooks' options are to remedy the apparent error, Rosenbaum said. But he said he would ask the judge to order QBE to refund Chalfonte's $1.6 million deductible.

"This is a huge case in terms of its importance in all the cases where the insurers are wearing people down through the legal process," Rosenbaum said. "I think the message to QBE is that they cannot treat the insured that way. They can't beat them down and beat them down."

William Berk, a Miami attorney who represents QBE, pointed out that the jury verdict was nearly $4 million less than Chalfonte was seeking.

In addition, Chalfonte's $1.6 million deductible will be subtracted from the jury award.

Further, he said in an e-mail message, the policy language that the jury found violated state law was approved by the Florida Department of Insurance.

Rosenbaum countered that QBE also will have to pay about $1 million in interest that has accumulated since Chalfonte filed its claim.

The owners also are automatically entitled to recover the roughly $500,000 they spent on attorneys and other costs to battle QBE in court, he said.

The jury's decision came after about five hours of deliberation at the conclusion of a seven-day trial.

QBE maintained that Chalfonte exaggerated its damages, using the estimated 110 mph winds of the October 2005 storm as an excuse to unnecessarily replace windows and sliding glass doors that sustained no damage.

Although experts hired by Chalfonte said the frames and glass in more than half of the windows and 80 percent of the sliding doors had to be replaced, QBE experts countered that fewer than three dozen needed replacement.

One of their experts, adjustor John Wareham, admitted during the trial that he had been convicted of insurance fraud 20 years ago and lied to state regulators about it.

Chalfonte spent roughly $13 million on repairs. When QBE finally adjusted the claim in March, it found the condo sustained $460,000 in damage.

Since the record hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, QBE has been a defendant in lawsuits that have claimed it both denied and delayed payments to its insured.

It provides coverage to 1,800 condominiums in Florida with a combined insured value of $33 billion - more than any other state insurer, records show.

An Australian-based company, it does business in the state through Florida Intracoastal Underwriters.

QBE already had come under fire from the beleaguered owners of the 1515 Tower in West Palm Beach, which was hammered by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004. After it denied coverage for the nearly $20 million in damage claimed by the owners of the 30-story tower along the Intracoastal Waterway, the condominium filed suit.

However, when a mock jury found that condominium residents had blamed the hurricanes for pre-existing damage, residents decided to settle the suit for $2.25 million.

The company, which reported a 56 percent increase in net profit in the six months ending June 30, faces about two dozen lawsuits in South Florida. Rosenbaum said he has about 10 pending cases.

Chalfonte is still a QBE customer. Now, however, instead of paying about $331,000 annually for coverage, it pays $1.3 million.

Winter Park split but OKs growth plan for next decade

Christopher Sherman

Sentinel Staff Writer

August 30, 2007

Winter Park city commissioners have adopted a plan that will govern the city's growth for the next 10 years.

The 3-2 vote came after hours of debate. Depending on which side of the vote they were on, commissioners saw the comprehensive plan as more strict or more permissive when it comes to redevelopment.

Commissioner John Eckbert, who voted for the plan late Monday night, said that for the first time it includes an overlay map that defines maximum building heights citywide.

"This is a much more strictly managed growth comp plan than we've ever had before," Eckbert said.

But from the perspective of Mayor David Strong, who voted against the plan, it leaves open the door for more large four-story buildings downtown.

"I think it's a step backwards," Strong said.

Joining Strong in the opposition was Commissioner Margie Bridges. Commissioners Doug Metcalf and Karen Diebel supported the plan.

Strong mainly objected to measures that will allow parking garages not to be calculated in the mass of buildings downtown and a provision that will let developers request a fourth story for downtown buildings.

"That allows The Carlisle and The Douglas Grand to be replicated endlessly," Strong said.

Winter Park will send the plan to Tallahassee for final approval in mid-September. An answer is expected by the end of October.

Christopher Sherman can be reached at csherman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6361.

Florida isn't the only place with water problems:

Brazil River Dispute Highlights Larger Issue by

Julie McCarthy

Morning Edition, August 29, 2007 · Brazil's most hotly contested public conflicts today are often about water.

President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva says hydro-electric energy is a sine qua non for the development of South America's biggest economy. But environmental and indigenous groups increasingly oppose massive engineering projects.

The proposal to divert part of Brazil's mighty Sao Francisco River to the vast drought-prone Northeast epitomizes the debate.

No other river, the Amazon included, has such a hold on the imagination of Brazilians. "Old Chico," as the Sao Francisco River is affectionately, called has been immortalized in folklore and celebrated at Carnival.

Now, this legendary river is at the center of one of Brazil's most ambitious infrastructure schemes to divert some of its waters to the impoverished northeast. The rural areas there are Brazil's poorest, according to the World Bank. But critics variously assail the $2.3 billion venture as a boondoggle, an environmental nightmare, and a vanity project.

Some 2,000 opponents recently gathered along the river in the distressed Northeast state of Pernambuco, where the army has already begun work on the diversion project. Their ranks included fishermen, rural workers, environmentalists, land activists, and laity from the Catholic Church.

They say only 4 percent of the diverted water will go to benefit the rural population in the receiving states.

"We are slowing exposing the plan for what it really is: a benefit for big business—agro-industries, cement and construction companies and, sooner or later, sugar cane for ethanol," says life-long river resident Marina da Rocha Braga, who represents church-backed human rights group Pastoral Land Commission. "All we want is basic sanitation for the general population. It's a fight between David and Goliath."

The federal coordinator of the water project, Romolo Macedo, could not say how much of the water agro-business would get by diverting the Sao Francisco, but he does pose this question to the critics: "What's the problem with agricultural industries benefiting, especially since it's going to provide jobs and wealth? It's the people who are going to benefit."

Macedo says the project will benefit 12 million people and irrigate 750,000 acres.

But Brazil's watchdog on federal spending, known by its Portuguese initials "TCU," concluded that the government's plan to divert part of the Sao Francisco River overestimates the benefits and underestimates the costs.

Attorney Juliana Barros Neves says the planned construction — including two canals hundreds of miles long, pumping stations, and dams — will be especially burdensome for the indigenous groups throughout the region.

"The Constitution states that Brazil's environment and cultural patrimony must be protected, but many indigenous territories are going to be adversely affected by this diversion," Neves says. "International conventions protecting indigenous rights, which Brazil has signed, also say projects that affect tribal regions must have the prior consent of that population. And that did not happen here."

Chief Neguinho Truka says the 500-year-old way of life for his Truka tribe is in jeopardy. The chief says diverting the river would harm the cultivation of meadows and growth of natural forests along the river on which his people depend.

"We fish, we hunt, and it's passed down to generations," he says. "It's our culture. It's our religion. The white man – he looks for God in images, images of saints, of Jesus. Not us. We believe that God is in everything you see here – water, earth, sky, sun, and moon. And if one of these elements disappears for us God is also gone."

Some 4,000 tribe members live on an island that lies in the middle of the strikingly blue Sao Francisco River. It took the tribe decades to win the right to have this 14,000-acre isle designated Truka territory. Now inhabitants fear that any deviation of the river will damage their island home.

Across the flowing water lies the town of Cobrobo, the site of one of two planned canals that would channel some of the river northward. The government says the island is a half a mile away, and any impact would be miniscule.

Macedo points out that the government's plan would divert only 1.4 percent of the Sao Francisco River.

But farmer and father Eraldo Truka, 26, is skeptical. He lives off of his 20 acres of mangos, melons, and rice, and says he's already seen the once plentiful river change.

"We used to have a large variety of fish that today you no longer find here. There is hardly enough fish to eat," Truka says, blaming pollution and large dams upstream that interrupt spawning cycles.

Still he speaks of the sweet simplicity of life on the island and of his desire to hold fast to what's left.

"I earn very little but I'm living. Others earn a lot, but they are dying. So for me, for us, it is good," Eraldo Truka says.

Environmentalists say that municipalities like the one across from the Truka's island routinely dump raw sewage into the river. The government says it does have projects underway to clean up the Sao Francisco, though specific funding levels are hard to come by.

Consultant and environmental planner Andrea Zellhuber says Brazil should provide basic sanitation for millions of residents along the River Basin before even thinking about diverting part of the river.

"You can ask yourself 'What good will this highly polluted water do to the northeastern states?' So there is a kind of inversion of priorities here," says Zellhuber.

The proposed new diversion project has turned former allies of President Lula into adversaries.

Of the president, river resident Ede-Melson Luiz Santos says, "Lula is from the Northeast just like we are. But unfortunately he tore up the flag of the Northeast."

Brazil's National Council of Bishops is expected to petition President Lula to resume a dialogue on the costly public works project plan that, according to the government's plan, would not be completed until 2025.

Consultant: Growth Doesn't Pay for Itself

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
BARTOW - A privately developed budget template shows that growth doesn’t pay for itself, a consultant told Polk County commissioners.

Glenn Robertson, a former state budget analyst hired by retired businessman Doc Dockery, projects a $2 million deficit as a result of growth.

He said his template will allow local officials to project how increased demand for services caused by new development and the arrival of new residents affects county budgets and the ability to provide services. The report comes at a time when the county is considering the impact of a proposed CSX rail freight terminal in Winter Haven . The terminal is expected to generate hundreds of new jobs.

Commission Chairman Bob English said he’d like to see county staffers use Robertson’s template in growth decisions.
Inside the nation's deepest spring

WEEKI WACHEE -- It's a world of sapphire blue, with boulders as big as houses and passages wide enough to accommodate a jumbo jet.

To a diver who has explored the deep, naturally formed Weeki Wachee Springs, there's one word to describe being 403 feet down.

"Humbling," said Brett Hemphill. "When you're that deep, you might as well be between the Earth and the moon."

As part of the Tampa 's Karst Underwater Research team, Hemphill, 40, and 19 other divers have confirmed that the home of the world-famous mermaids is indeed the deepest spring in the United States .

"Some of the rooms were so large that I had to focus on one wall and make sure my compass was pointing the right way," Hemphill said. "There were sections where you could see formations that looked like piles of bones."

Though the spring water is mostly crystal clear with visibility of about 100 feet, below 350 feet it becomes a deep, rich blue. The water at that depth, Hemphill said, has not gotten light of any kind for perhaps hundreds of years.

After a first dive in late May, divers by July had found a dip in one of the five tunnels they explored. According to Jeff Petersen, president of the not-for-profit Karst group, they figured this would lead them past the 400-feet mark.

With drought conditions dropping the usual flow of water through the springs by half, to 97 cubic feet per second, it was just a matter of time before the group explored what Petersen called the "coveted crown jewel" of Weeki Wachee.

"We think it's deeper than 403 feet," he said. "But we're waiting until the waters drop down again. There's a wealth of exploration yet to be had."

Recent rains that have eased dry conditions on land have increased the flow in the springs to about 125 cubic feet per second, too strong for divers to withstand.

Last month, they were able to drop into the cavernous underwater world because the flow dissipated in the broad caves. But even then, Petersen said, forging their way into the caverns was like hanging onto a flagpole in hurricane winds.

Once inside, divers used torpedo-looking, snub-nosed scooters and lights to go as deep as they could. They've explored about 7,000 feet of tunnel, nearly a mile and a half of rocky terrain.

Researchers still believe the Weeki Wachee cave system is connected to another one known as Twin Dees Spring , located southwest of Weeki Wachee. Karst divers have tracked more than 2,000 feet of passages in Twin Dees Spring , about 200 feet deep in some places.

With a special permit from the Southwest Florida Water Management District to explore Weeki Wachee Springs and with consent from the attraction's management, Petersen said his crew will be eyeing water levels, ready to jump back into the springs as soon as the water flow goes down again.

The crew will also need to retrieve a few emergency dive tanks that got stuck down in the caves when rain restored the current.

"This really is amazing," Petersen said. "But to me, what's even more incredible is the beauty of the system. All of these caves across the state of Florida are like people. Each one is unique with its own type of rock and formations. Weeki Wachee is one of the few that are so big and majestic. It's on the Grand Canyon level."

The proposed annexation of the Sugarloaf Mountain community has ignited an explosive fight over who should pay for a $5 million water-treatment plant.

City officials negotiated an agreement two years ago that requires them to provide water and sewer services to the development, which is planned for 2,200 homes along County Road 455 just north of Minneola. Sugarloaf is required to build a new water-treatment plant that Minneola will operate.

That is where the deal blew up Tuesday night in a vocal exchange between City Council member Ed Earl and Sugarloaf's attorney Cecelia Bonifay.

The utility agreement allows Minneola to bring Sugarloaf into its borders after the city's annexation last year of another proposed community, the nearly 4,000-home Hills of Minneola. Earl asked the city to move ahead with the Sugarloaf annexation on Tuesday night when Bonifay brought up payment of the water plant.

Bonifay submitted a letter to city officials on Monday stating that Sugarloaf would deed the facility to Minneola once the city agreed to refund the cost of the project by waiving future impact fees charged to the development for hundreds of homes and other buildings.

" . . . this deed transfer shall occur simultaneously with the City of Minneola providing Sugarloaf Mountain with a letter stating that impact fee credits are granted to Sugarloaf Mountain in the total amount of the plant construction costs, totaling $5,264,637.00, for use against any applicable city fees that will be incurred due to future construction of the Sugarloaf Mountain project," Bonifay wrote.

Earl argued that the annexation of Sugarloaf has nothing to do with compensation for the water plant. Further, he said the utility agreement does not specifically state that Minneola has to provide impact-fee credits for the plant.

City regulations also require that developments expecting impact-fee credits should make their request to the city prior to construction of a facility, Earl said.

Bonifay said Sugarloaf does not want to annex unless the utility dispute is settled. Earl blasted back: "This is up to the city of Minneola whether or not we annex this property. We need to just move forward."

City Attorney Scott Gerken said the 2005 utility agreement can be interpreted different ways about refunding the cost of water facilities built on the Sugarloaf site. Earl thinks a majority of the council may challenge whether Minneola is bound to pay for the new water plant.

Gerken said the utility agreement also can be read to accommodate Sugarloaf's requested reimbursement. In effect, he said the development should not pay to build the water plant and then also pay impact fees.

Either way, Gerken is proposing an amendment to the utility agreement clarifying that Minneola should provide impact-fee credits to reimburse Sugarloaf for the cost of building the water plant.

The council is set to consider the amendment and a final vote on the Sugarloaf annexation at a Sept. 18 meeting. Minneola also will consider another annexation that day for the Minneola Ridge community proposed for more than 700 homes and possibly 105,000 square feet of commercial buildings.

Council members Tuesday night indicated support for the Sugarloaf annexation, but some want to sort out the dispute over the water plant.

"This is no way to start a relationship," Mayor David Yeager said.

Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.

ZEPHYRHILLS - When federal officials shut down the main drinking-water well in Cary , Ill. , a working-class village 40 miles north of Chicago where Gus Alexacos was mayor, he fought them all the way to Washington .

The Environmental Protection Agency had ordered the well closed in 1979 because tests revealed it was contaminated with barium, a naturally occurring heavy metal thought at the time to be carcinogenic.

Alexacos did some digging and learned that the barium standard the EPA was relying on was flawed. He wrote to his congressmen, calling for an investigation.

Months later, after the mayor testified before a congressional committee, then-President Jimmy Carter relaxed the EPA standard, and the village was allowed to turn the well back on.

So when Aqua Utilities Florida, the regional utility that provides water to his Zephyrhills retirement community, filed for a rate increase in December, Alexacos dusted off his activist hat.

"They got me all stirred up," the 72-year-old said. "You don't want to do that."

Alexacos and neighbors wrote dozens of letters to Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum, the Office of Public Counsel and state lawmakers, demanding that regulators investigate the utility.

"We've got people living here in their 80s and 90s," Alexacos said. "They couldn't afford this."

On Tuesday, Aqua Florida formally withdrew its request for a statewide rate increase during a meeting before the state Public Service Commission's five-member board in Tallahassee .

The PSC also ordered the utility to refund customers more than $1 million in interim increases, including interest, that state regulators approved in May.

Opposition to the higher rates was based, at least in part, on the testimony of hundreds of Aqua Florida customers who, like Alexacos, had formed vocal opposition groups.

Besides writing letters, they pored over volumes of paperwork that the company filed with its rate request, and they packed town hall meetings to complain about inaccurate billing, poor water quality and weak customer service.

In July, McCollum and the Office of Public Counsel responded by filing a rare motion to dismiss Aqua's rate proposal. The officials also asked that the utility be fined for procedural violations and be required to refund the higher interim rate it charged for seven months.

Last week, the PSC staff recommended rejecting Aqua's request to raise its rates.

A representative of the utility's corporate parent, Aqua America, was apologetic Tuesday.

"We realize that there have been missteps with our customers," regional director Ken Hoffman told the PSC. "This will not happen again."

Hoffman said Aqua Florida has spent millions of dollars in the past several years to upgrade the utility's aging water and wastewater facilities.

"We're actually losing money," he said. "There is no profit going back to shareholders."

Under the settlement reached Tuesday, Aqua will issue customer refunds and invest more than $20,000 to improve service and meter accuracy.

PSC Commissioner Matthew Carter acknowledged the impact of customer dissatisfaction.

"This shows that the people's voices were heard," he said. "I think this agreement gives the community and the ratepayers an opportunity to say that 'my voice does matter.'

Aqua Utilities Florida, which hadn't had a rate increase since 1995, had wanted to send higher water bills to the more than 100,000 customers across the state, which the publicly traded company hoped would generate $7.3 million.

In Pasco County , the utility provides water and wastewater service for more than 3,200 customers in the Jasmine Lakes , Palm Terrace and Zephyr Shores subdivisions.

About two years ago, Aqua America, the nation's largest publicly traded utility, acquired more than 60 water and wastewater systems from Florida Water Services Corp. Based in Bryn Mawr , Pa. , Aqua now serves 18 counties across Florida .

The utility has spent $4.9 million statewide to maintain and improve its aging water and wastewater infrastructure. More than $675,000 of that was for upgrades in Pasco .

In Zephyr Shores , a seniors community of about 200 households, the higher rates would have cut deep into dwindling retirement funds and fixed incomes.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com

DUNNELLON - Dunnellon's aging water system is leaking about 2 million gallons of water a month, according to City Manager Bill Bailey.To get an idea of how much water that is: A good-sized bathtub holds about 50 gallons, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Using that rough estimate, 2 million gallons would fill about 40,000 bathtubs.

The leaks are not the only problem plaguing the water distribution system, which is estimated to be about 60 to 70 years old. There is poor water pressure in various areas of the city, such as Vogt Springs and Oak Bend Village . Refurbishing the historic water tower off Williams Street to help address some of those problems would cost more than replacing the tower outright.

There is no money set aside to deal with the aging system. Hopes of replacing the Williams Street water tower were dashed when the governor cut the $300,000 requested this year for that purpose, Bailey said.

Faced with what could turn into a disaster if a major water main were to burst, the City Council on Monday agreed to hire consultant Doug Sanders, a planner with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, to write a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant application. The grant money would help Dunnellon replace the old water tower and the aging water distribution system.

The city's community development director, Harold Horne, said the first step would be to study where to replace the water lines.

The existing pipes are made of different materials, everything from concrete asbestos, cast iron, pot metal, steel and PVC, Councilman Fred Stark said.

The city's building moratorium, in place until May, will keep any new demands on the system at bay.

"We're trying to get out there in front of it and fix it before it becomes a problem," Horne said. "We've identified the problem and we are looking for the solution."

Horne said the needs will have to be identified before Dunnellon knows how much money will be needed. He said if more than a grant were needed, a very low interest loan of about 2 percent or lower could be obtained.

He said he would not be looking for ways to fix the leaks on the old system.

"We won't be digging up old pipes," Horne said. "We will be laying new ones and just bypass it."

The current system has pipes that dead end, and Horne would like to see a loop system.

Because the old water tower is only used as a backup to the newer tower off State Road 40, the water pressure in that area of town is poor. If new pumps were installed to increase the water pressure, the old pipes would not be strong enough to sustain the pressure. That is why a new tower and new distribution is desirable.

Stark is concerned. "If we got a break in the main, you are going to be without water in this town for a month," he said about the water main that runs under U.S. 41.

Asked about the effect of the water system on fire safety, Stark said, "I don't see that as posing a problem." He said water could be taken from the rivers.

Stark said he was not sure how much money the city was losing with the water leaks. He said the city charges roughly $36 for 6,000 gallons. Using those figures, the 2 million gallons would cost about $12,000 a month.

The way the city came up with estimated leakage was to compare the amount of water it is pumping to the amount the city is metering for its residential and commercial customers, Bailey said.

Stark said he did not know how much a new water distribution system would cost, but he estimated that a new tower might cost between $400,000 and $450,000.

"The underground work - the distribution system - I would not even hazard a guess on that, but it's something that has to be addressed."

Susan Latham Carr may be reached at susan.carr@starbanner.com or 352-867-4156.

Residents protest biomass plant's potential for pollution
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

HOSFORD - About 90 people attended a rally Tuesday in Liberty County . The meeting was held in response to a company saying it's considering locating a biomass electricity plant there.

Biomass Gas & Electric of Norcross , Ga. said July 25 it was considering sites in Liberty County for a 75-megawatt plant that would convert wood waste into gas that is burned. BG&E would supply the electricity to Progress Energy.

In announcing the deal, Gov. Charlie Crist said the plant would provide needed renewable energy for Florida . But some Liberty County residents say they're concerned about pollution - and that the county was being considered without local officials knowing it.

"Who is watching? Who's guarding the henhouse?" resident Wanda Musgrove asked during a presentation on Tuesday. "I guess it's supposed to be our county commissioners. I don't know who it's supposed to be."

BG&E President and CEO Glenn Farris said again Tuesday that his company also is considering sites outside Liberty County , but he didn't rule out locating there.

The company also is planning to build a 38-megawatt plant at Innovation Park in Tallahassee .

Some Liberty County residents said they're concerned because the company's Web site says animal waste and household garbage could be used. Farris said only wood waste would be used at the plant in Tallahassee and Liberty County - if one is located there.

"A huge amount of information I have seen circulated in the county is misinformation," Farris told the Democrat. He declined to elaborate.

The company hopes to submit plans and permit applications for its Tallahassee plant by Oct. 1, Farris said.

PALM BAY -- Ten parcels in the city totaling 184 acres have new use designations such as from single to multiple family.

Councilmen at a special meeting Tuesday approved the comprehensive plan amendments, at times limiting the density of housing.

But before the meeting, city staff withdrew the eight most controversial amendments that would allow developers to build up to 11,000 units of multiple and single-family housing on nearly 1,500 acres of annexed land around Micco Road . The land is between Brevard County environmentallhy endangered land and the St. Sebastian Buffer Preserve.

A dozen people showed up anyway to make sure no action was taken. The state Department of Community Affairs reviewed all the amendments to the city’s comprehensive land use map.

City Manager Lee Feldman said that amendment change was withdrawn at this time to give the city time to do more planning for the southeast sector of the city. Proposed in the budget is funding for a South Palm Bay Sector Plan study of that annexed area.

Council also approved text amendments to create a new land use for mixed use developments, and to comply with a new state statute for better cooperation between city and the military to ensure military installation compatibility.

Patrick Air Force Base’s Malabar Transmission Station on west Minton Road is surrounded by housing and near a school. The property is used for tracking and has no aviation function, officials said.

“The primary focus of the law is to protect military establishments from incompatible encroachments that adversely impact the mission at such bases,” said City Manager Lee Feldman.

The state has said that having people live so closely means if an accident occurred, it would have a large impact. But forcing a base to move because of urban encroachment affects the economic vitality of a city. So the state seeks to increase communication between the military and the city.

The larger amendments approved Tuesday include:

41.7 acres west of Babcock Street and north of the proposed Palm Bay Parkway from single to multifamily residential use. Di Vosta homes is the developer.

37.2 acres east of the intersection of DeGroodt Road and Emerson Drive from rural single family and commercial to multiple family with a cap of 10 units per acre.

24.6 acres east of Lipscomb Street around Ersoff Boulevard from mobile home residential to multifamily.

24.4 acres along Babcock Street at Waterstone from single family to commercial.

16.8 acres east of Gertrude Avenue east of Hurley Boulevard from public and semi public use for single family homes.

10.2 acres at the northwest corner of Dixie Highway and Port Malabar Boulevard from commercial to mixed use

TAMPA - Two years ago, when SkyPoint condominium was just a pile of dirt and a sophisticated plastic concept model, Ann Blank stood in line for hours to buy a one-bedroom unit for $241,000.

Blank loved the condo design but made the decision based on what city planners and developers said downtown would become. By the time SkyPoint was finished, the city was supposed to be filling up with entertainment and services that haven't materialized: Riverwalk, a new art museum, restaurants and nightlife. Blank thought it would make a fine rental apartment for a few years, then she'd sell for a profit.

SkyPoint's developers forged ahead and already plan two more developments, one of which is under construction. But the market tanked, and now Blank, who is asking $1,500 a month in rent for her approximately 800-square-foot condo, can't find any takers. She blames the lack of services downtown, such as dry cleaners and a grocery store.

Part of the reason for Blank's trouble may be that many buyers had the same idea. There are 286 condominiums in 15 buildings in downtown Tampa listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, a database used by real estate professionals. An additional 127 downtown condos are advertised for rent on craigslist, a popular online bulletin board of items for sale or lease. Some of the units listed for sale are by developers or real estate agents, but many are owned by individuals trying to resell.

Of three projects that are substantially complete, plus Trump Tower Tampa, which hasn't broken ground, 180 of 1,046 units, or 17 percent, are listed for sale or rent.

Real estate experts say what's happening in downtown Tampa is normal for a city trying to reinvent itself into a place where people live and work. The difficult housing market puts added pressure on people who purchased units, and many could be stuck with mortgage payments for longer than they anticipated. Foreclosures, which are plaguing the single-family market, are likely to seep into the condominium market, and that could drive down prices, said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter.

"Urban renewal and reviving downtowns was a great marketing pitch for condos in Florida downtowns," said Larson, who tracks real estate trends in Florida . "What we're seeing now is that the promise was a little more hype than substance."

Still, he predicts, downtown restaurants and shops plus renewed demand for condos will catch up to the inventory. "People expected a gold rush, and it's more of a trickle."

There are 44 residential loft and condominium projects either under construction, recently completed or planned in the downtown area, according to the city. Fourteen of those are complete.

Some buyers are bailing because they no longer can afford their investments. Blank said another agent in her office represented a buyer who walked away from two downtown condominiums he had contracts to purchase. He lost about $100,000 in down payments rather than risk foreclosure or bankruptcy, she said.

Atlanta-based Novare Group and its Tampa-based partner intowngroup are building another condo tower, Element, near SkyPoint. The developers also plan a downtown boutique hotel with condo units, called Twelve.

Novare's Chief Development Officer Judd Bobilin said he has faith that Tampa will emerge as the vibrant city that buyers want and said resales in a new building are common and expected.

"We typically have 10 to 15 percent of inventory go on the market in any given year," Bobilin said. "Buyers purchase our product two years out, and things change in their lives."

Bobilin said he understands why some economists think Tampa is experiencing a condo glut, but he said his company's three projects will do well because they target an underserved market: buyers 25 to 34 who want to live in an urban atmosphere but can't afford to spend $500,000 or more on a condo.

What appears to be a glut may just be a natural evolution of a slow real estate market, some experts say. Some owners purchased condo units as investments, with every intention to flip them once they were built. In some cases, they had hoped to flip them before they closed on the purchases.

Eric Sayers loves the two-bedroom, two-bath condo he purchased in Grand Central at Kennedy, near Kennedy Boulevard and Channelside Drive . But when he bought two years ago, he didn't have a baby. He's tried to sell but had no luck, and now he is looking for a renter willing to pay $2,400 a month.

"I still have faith in the whole area," Sayers said. "A few years down the road, it could be a blessing in disguise."

There are others, though, who bought their condos as investments but have moved in. Anna Coats and her boyfriend purchased a one-bedroom unit in SkyPoint, planning to rent it out and sell later for more money.

"Once we saw it, we wanted to keep it," she said. They decided to rent out their Westchase condo instead.

Coats says now is the perfect time for condo life, before she gets married and has children. At 26, she's hoping the nightlife and other services will come to downtown before her life changes and she needs to move.

Bobilin, of Novare, said SkyPoint has letters of intent from several local businesses interested in renting retail space. Local businesses typically move into downtown condos first, he said.

CLEARWATER - A grand jury report criticizes Pinellas County 's purchase of land from the property appraiser, an action that took all of 19 seconds but which the panel said will have a lasting effect on how residents view their public officials.

"The manner in which the transaction was handled has raised questions that continue to impact the perceived integrity of our county's government," reads the 22-page report unsealed Tuesday.

Although the report rebukes the key figures involved in the land deal, Property Appraiser Jim Smith and County Attorney Susan Churuti, it falls short of accusing anyone of criminal wrongdoing or of "maliciously" abusing their public positions.

It recommends legislative reforms and changes in the way the county conducts the public's business.

State Attorney Bernie McCabe impaneled the grand jury this month to examine the county's purchase of Smith's private, vacant land in north Pinellas for $225,000, nearly four times what the one-quarter-acre site was valued for tax purposes by Smith's office. The site was valued at $59, 400.

The land purchase came four months after an attorney for Smith sent Pinellas a letter contending county workers ruined Smith's property by cutting down trees and clearing debris after storms in 2004.

The transaction raised questions about whether Smith, a Republican first elected property appraiser in 1988, received favorable treatment. Smith was represented by Churuti while she was advising the county commission. Without public discussion, commissioners took 19 seconds to unanimously approve buying the property for stormwater control June 5.

The grand jury, which received evidence and testimony from 41 witnesses during three days this month, questioned the inconsistent valuations of Smith's land. The report points out that the county spent more for the property than what Smith himself said the land was worth in sworn annual financial disclosure forms filed with the state.

Smith's 2006 disclosure form, filed the day after commissioners approved the purchase, lists the property's value at $179,800.

The grand jury was especially critical of Churuti, calling the actions of the 20-year lawyer "perplexing and misleading." The report notes that Florida law prohibits local government lawyers from representing any person in a claim against the agency that employs them.

Commissioners voted July 31 to place Churuti on paid suspension for her role in the matter. In a lengthy written statement Tuesday, Churuti said she believes the property purchase was in the county's best interest and that she regrets any confusion or misunderstanding she might have caused.

Attempts to reach Smith for comment were unsuccessful. His Clearwater attorney, Sherwood Coleman, said Smith "doesn't entirely agree" with the report's conclusions. However, Coleman said Smith thinks the public would be best served by the report's release, rather than challenging it in court.

"Hopefully that will allow the public to have a more complete understanding of the circumstances," he said.

Among the report's recommendations: that commissioners review the Pinellas charter to decide whether the county attorney should continue to represent constitutional officers such as Smith. The grand jury also said the county's legislative delegation should seek to enact a state law that would provide for an independent review of appraisals of property in which any county property appraiser has an interest.

County Administrator Steve Spratt, whom the report said was pressured by Churuti to resolve Smith's damage claim, said in retrospect he would have handled the matter differently. Among other things, Spratt said he would have moved more slowly on the deal and not allowed county workers on Smith's private property.

Spratt also said the transaction should have been "discussed more thoroughly" with the seven commissioners. Several commissioners have said they were not given all the facts of the land deal.

"I think it's been an unfortunate, negative experience for many of us, and it does cast a question of proper stewardship," Spratt said. "And I feel, as many people feel, very badly about that."

News Channel 8 reporter Mark Douglas contributed to this report. Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

Florida 's beleaguered home insurance market took another hit Tuesday as the state's fifth-largest property insurer expanded its withdrawal from the state.

Nationwide Insurance said it will begin dropping about 39,000 homeowner policies and 1,600 commercial policies statewide in January. The company will drop about 10,000 policyholders in Pinellas County , 2,900 policies in Hillsborough County and 2,500 policies in Pasco County .

The reductions announced Tuesday are in addition to 35,000 homeowner cancellations the company now is carrying out. Those cancellations, which were announced in September 2005, should be completed by next summer, a company spokesman said.

Nationwide has about 223,000 homeowner policies statewide, including 39,500 in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Nationwide's decision to drop more customers comes after State Farm, the state's largest private home insurer, announced on July 19 its plan to drop 50,000 homeowner policies in Florida 's coastal areas.

Nationwide said the reduction in policies is needed because the insurer is overexposed in Florida and needs to improve its ability to pay claims should a major hurricane hit the state.

"We need to make sure we can be here for our remaining customers in the future," Nationwide spokesman Eric Hardgrove said. "We need to get to a level where we're comfortable and can maintain long-term stability."

Nationwide said most policyholders will be offered alternative coverage from Waterbury, Conn.-based Security First Insurance, although customers will have the option of seeking coverage from other companies.

The latest round of cancellations will leave Nationwide with 176,000 homeowner policies in Florida , down from more than 260,000 about this time last year. The company will devote more attention to lines of auto insurance and financial services.

"We understand it is a challenging time for customers in the state of Florida ," Jeff Rommel, regional vice president for Nationwide, says in a written statement. "We are doing all we can to equip our agents to meet the needs of our policyholders under these circumstances."

Nationwide sought to raise rates 71.4 percent in July 2006, but its request was denied. The state approved a 44 percent rate increase, which the company implemented last month, Hardgrove said.

The rate increase coupled with the reduction of policies will improve the company's ability to deal with its exposure to weather-related risks in the state, he said.

In a workshop that covers incinerators vs. bioreactors, rodents and liners are discussed.

DADE CITY - Representatives for and against a landfill proposed outside of Dade City gave 15-minute presentations to city commissioners at a special workshop before the regular commission meeting Tuesday.

After a coin toss, Carl Roth, spokesman for Protectors of Florida's Legacy, the landfill's opposition group, spoke first.

Roth said he has pored over research done by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Swiftmud. The landfill, Roth said, would be vulnerable to sinkholes and attract rodents. It would become a dumping spot for other states, thanks to its proximity to the CSX railroad. The landfill's liners would fail after a little more than a year, he said.

Roth also praised the incinerator in Shady Hills as a safe, waste-to-energy option.

John Arnold, a project manager with Angelo's Aggregate Materials, attempted to refute Roth.

The area was not vulnerable to sinkholes, and the liners would last, according to the best studies, for 100 years, Arnold said. The landfill would not accept trash from other states, Arnold promised commissioners. He also criticized the Shady Hills incinerator and said all it did was reduce, not eliminate, waste.

The representatives "gave us a lot of information to chew on that appears contradictory," said Mayor Hutch Brock.

Commissioner Scott Black asked Arnold if Angelo's had run a bioreactor landfill before.

Arnold responded that he had personal experience overseeing such a facility at his last job with Jones Edmunds, a Florida waste management company, but Angelo's had not owned or operated a bioreactor landfill.

Commissioners agreed to send Commissioner Camille Hernandez to speak with county officials about points brought up by both sides. They also said they would like to tour nearby facilities that Angelo's said were similar to the one proposed outside the city.

City commissioners also had to figure out what to do next in their attempt to fill the empty city manager position because James Gleason, the sole candidate for the opening, withdrew his application Friday. Gleason cited financial reasons as his motivation to terminate his application.

"Groundhog Day," Brock said about their third attempt to fill the job vacated by Howard Sample in June.

Commissioners agreed to search for an interim manager first, with an eye toward making the position permanent. This would allow them to fill it more quickly, they hoped.

Commissioner Van Gorden said Commissioner Hernandez's July letter to the governor calling for an investigation of Brock and Sample was a deterrent in their quest to fill the opening.

"We sugarcoated it and we tap-danced around the issue" during city manager interviews, he said.

He proposed the commissioners write a letter to the governor stating that Hernandez's letter was the opinion of one commissioner, not the whole body. This was necessary, he said, because she had written it on city letterhead.

Hernandez was the only one who voted against the motion. She said that when she was given the letterhead she was not given instructions on how or when to use it.

TAMPA - About 12,000 homeowners whom Hillsborough County no longer considers at high risk for flooding must wait another year for a break on their insurance.

On Tuesday, the county announced that new flood maps that will reclassify thousands of homes as having lower flood risk will be delayed until fall 2008. The Federal Emergency Management Agency needs more time to review and approve changes before the county adopts the maps.

The delay wasn't welcome news for those who were told that the county's new maps had shifted their homes to higher ground, a cartographic adjustment that saves them between $300 and $1,220 a year in flood insurance.

"I have to pay another year for something that I don't need?" said Gladys Busino of Lutz. "I would have saved about $911. It's all very aggravating."

"The people who were told they're out (of the flood zone) are frustrated," said Chris Zambito, a senior planner in the county's Planning and Growth Management Department. "We usually get the complaints when they are up for renewal."

The county decided to reassess the maps after flooding from El Nino in the late 1990s. Officials issued drafts of the new maps in November 2006, holding nine public meetings and 18 open houses to alert residents. Most homeowners didn't see their status change. But along with the 12,000 who were no longer at risk of flooding, the new maps also placed about 6,000 homes that had been considered high and dry into the path of potential floodwaters.

"We've never had any flooding problems," said Brenda Johnson, who lives in Valrico but was told her home was now in a flood zone. "It just didn't make any sense to us."

Like 2,100 others, Johnson appealed or protested the new maps. The county reviewed each case, and approved the claim of the owners in 2,000 of those cases. Johnson's case was one of those approved.

"Keep in mind, the county is modeling a thousand square miles with the new maps," Zambito said. "A lot of people have had better info at home and brought in new information."

But the new maps must be approved by FEMA, so each appeal tweaking the maps must also be reviewed. That requires the agency to do its own engineering to check the claims. FEMA told the county last month that it needed more time.

"It's a federal process, so it has to go through checks and balances," Zambito said.

The county recommended that even if residents were told that their homes would be mapped out of the high-risk flood area, they still should carry insurance until the new maps take effect. If the new maps put homeowners into a flood-prone category, the county said they should not be required to carry high-risk flood insurance until next year, but should consider carrying a lower-cost, preferred-risk policy that costs about $300 a year.

Gladys Busino said the county has been helpful in explaining why the delay is necessary, and she said officials were as frustrated as she was.

But that's little solace for her and her husband, Richard, who were told this summer that their mortgage company was now requiring them to pay more in flood insurance. They were scrambling for new insurance, but, without the new maps, they needed to pay $150 for an elevation survey proving that their house isn't in a flood area to get a new policy.

Richard Busino built the concrete block house himself in 1986, making sure it was a foot above the flood plain.

The couple didn't pay flood insurance until 1994, when the county produced maps shifting them into a flood zone. That classification never made much sense until the county changed it last year to low flood risk, Gladys Busino said.

"Most of the neighbors I know need help," he said. "They're at the breaking point."

An ordinance to prevent spouses of Crystal River City Council members from sitting on government committees died Monday night after Councilwoman Maureen McNiff changed her mind.

McNiff, who supported the ordinance on first reading two weeks ago, said she believes there are other ways to achieve the same purpose.

She said the ordinance was the direct result of the council’s appointment last winter of a charter review commission. The commission makeup included Gail Kostelnick, wife of Councilman John Kostelnick; and Michael Kirk, husband of then-Councilwoman Susan Kirk.

That commission appointment process is significantly different than appointment of members of other city committees.

Each council member appoints a member to the charter commission. Kostelnick appointed Michael Kirk; Councilman Jim Farley appointed Mrs. Kostelnick.

Appointments to other city committees and boards occur with majority vote.

McNiff said she instead would propose asking voters to change the charter so that the council appoints charter review commission members in the same voting format as it approves members of other committees.

Mayor Ron Kitchen, who proposed the ordinance, angrily chastised McNiff for supporting the measure two weeks ago and then changing her mind.

The council earlier Monday agreed to submit some charter changes to voters in the 2008 ballot. McNiff said she later will suggest the ballot include appointment of charter review commission members.

Farley and Kostelnick said they both supported McNiff’s suggestion. The ordinance died without a vote.

This is interesting and scary at the same time. As dedicated as some of us are to preserve our quality of lives, there are those out there just as dedicated to subdividing the entire state. Click here for a link to a page from a blog intent onpaving over Polk County.

Attorney pick leaves doubts

Jake Varn's ties to developers have some concerned about conflicts of interest.

Florida isn't the only place with water problems:

Brazil River Dispute Highlights Larger Issue by

Julie McCarthy

Debris at proposed landfill could rise to 150 feet

Naples daily News Guest Commentary:

Policy must change to improve Lake Okeechobee

Indian River County close to sealing $11.2M land deal