From alacrity to inertia

Businesses hope to bank on county's future

By Jim Hunter

If anyone needs a little optimism during the current economic slowdown in Citrus County, look to the banking industry.

Including Dunnellon, there are eight new community bank branch offices opening, soon to arrive or just arrived to join the dozen-plus banks already here. Orange Bank of Florida, which just opened a new branch office in Crystal River this fall, will be opening another branch in Inverness in late January.

Superior Bank has acquired three former AmSouth locations and will be opening new branches in them in Inverness, Beverly Hills and Homosassa on Dec. 26. It will open a fourth in the former Regions office next to the U.S. post office on U.S. 41 in Dunnellon shortly after.

Center State Bank is building one of its signature two-story bank branch building in Crystal River. It already has a branch in Inverness and is moving the Crystal River office from its temporary location in South Square Plaza on U.S. 19 in south Crystal River.

Center State has also closed on property in Citrus Hills near Terra Vista where it will locate a branch, though it will be a year or so before the company breaks ground, according to the bank.

The various officials at the banks all answer the question of why so many new bank branches when the residential market is in the shredder by saying partly it's a result of the delay in the process of relocating -- most were planned during better times -- and partly it's because banks see Citrus as a very solid, growing upscale market with the right demographics and a good future.

Though it may offer home builders and Realtors little immediate solace, the bankers see the current downturn as part of a reoccurring cycle of varying depths of up and down -- but one that will reverse in the near future.

Two longtime residents will be steering two of the bank branches. Pat Fitzpatrick, the executive vice president and marketing executive for Orange Bank is currently working hard to get the Inverness office open. Fitzpatrick worked for Citrus Bank when it was opening in 1998 and before it ultimately became Mercantile Bank. He was with them for seven years before going to Orange, with opened in the Kash n' Karry shopping center in Crystal River in 2005.

Fitzpatrick said his branches, like all banks these days, have pretty much the same kinds of services and products and so, like all the other managers, he said it's the banks personality and way of doing business that distinguishes them.

"We are a community bank," Fitzpatrick said of his. "We don't have square pegs and round holes." He said the bank is willing to think out of the box, adding, "If we can figure out a way to do it, we will."

He said there is always a place for a community bank, because like the local home-cooking restaurant, it's where people know you by name and you're comfortable. People come to his bank, he said, because they felt they were just a number at a big bank.

"If you bank with us, we know who you are," he said. He said Janelle Johnson is the branch manger in Crystal River and Judi Yahyavi will be the head teller in Inverness.

On the current economic conditions, Fitzpatrick said, "In my opinion, it's not gloom and doom."

Don Turner, the senior vice president of Center State Bank, is also a long time Citrus County resident. He started with the former Flagship bank in 1982 that soon became Sun Bank.

He will be moving into the new two-story branch office being built on State Road 44 east near the Hess gas station from the bank's temporary location in the South Square Plaza on U.S. 19 at the south end of Crystal River.

He said the advantage in dealing with his community bank is, "All the decision are made locally. We have local autonomy."

That allows, for example, decisions on most loans to be made quickly. Even large loans go to a loan committee that is local, too, again resulting in quicker decisions than banks that have to defer to Atlanta or Birmingham, he said.

His bank will also stress knowing its customers personally. And, he said, "We have people answering the phones -- not machines."

Burt Bennett is managing the Inverness office, and the new Crystal River office should be opening in the middle of February. Turner said it will have some lease space on the second floor for an attorney?s office or title company and a conference room that the public will have access to.

Superior Bank will be the new kid on the block. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala. And its Florida headquarters is in Tampa. It has branches in Florida from Venice to Spring Hill.

Superior spokesman Tom Yung said his company saw an opportunity in Citrus with some former AmSouth/Regions buildings coming available. "We think that is a great opportunity," he said noting the steady growth of the county and the potential for a continuation of that with its available land and affordable prices. From the banking point of view, he said, "It's a very solid market."

Yung said his company offers competitive products services that all the banks offer, but his strives to set itself apart in the way it delivers those loans, accounts and investments. He said Superior is a community bank that delivers its products and services through people, not machines.

"We are a people to people company," he said, adding that's why people choose to live in a community like Citrus -- they like the personalized service. ?Banking to us is not cookie cutting," he said. Learning individuals and their needs and then providing the services and products proactively is the way his bank operates, he said.

Jack Reynolds is the Senior Vice-president at the Homosassa Springs Bank, which is a member of the local Brannen banks family and the oldest bank system in the county. He is also a longtime member and past president of the Citrus County Economic Development Council.

He said recent bank mergers offered a unique opportunity for some of the companies to locate or take over branch offices in Citrus. Reynolds said the coming of the bank branches is a good sign that a number of companies see a bright future in the county and are making the move in spite of the current downturn.

Financial services are one of the target industries for economic development, he said. Their pay and benefits are adequate and they are a clean industry.

As a banker, he said, "Overall, the competition is good for folks. Without competition you have no incentive for good service." As long as there is enough business, it's good for the local economy, he said, adding that his own bank would continue to deliver the kind of service that has won its business over the years in the marketplace.

Reynolds said he shares the view that the building and housing market will be coming back, but he said he didn't pretend to have a crystal ball on when -- except that it eventually would. The inevitable cycle, though, is why economic develop seeks to draw a diversity of new businesses so that a diversified economy can help soft the down cycles, he said.

 

Sweet Strawberry Harvest Heads to Stores

Coming off last year's record $273 million in sales, acreage increases.

By Kevin Bouffard
The Ledger

 Write an email to Kevin Bouffard

Kevin Bouffard
Reporter -- East Polk
Dept.: Business News
(863) 802-7591
kevin.bouffard@theledger.com

Your Name: 

Your Email: 

Subject: 

Message: 

 

PLANT CITY | Buoyed by the consumers' interest in a healthier diet, the Florida strawberry industry is heading into the seventh year of a growth cycle that shows few signs of ending.

Florida strawberry growers, almost all within 30 miles of Plant City, planted a record 8,320 acres this year following a sixth consecutive record sales year of$273 million, said Shawn Crocker, the executive director of the Florida Strawberry Association in Dover.

Those figures represent a 14 percent increase from$239 million in sales in the 2005-06 season and an11 percent increase in the 7,500 acres planted last season, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Florida strawberry season normally runs from November to March.

A significant part of that new strawberry acreage came from former citrus groves that had been destroyed by canker, tristeza and other diseases, Crocker said.

"It's been a huge trend because people want to eat healthy," he said.

Fancy Farms Inc. of Plant City exemplifies the industry's boom.

Just five seasons ago, owner Carl Grooms farmed 72 acres of strawberries. This season Fancy Farms has 200 acres, Grooms said, and he plans to add 35 more next year.

Still, last year's sales record will be difficult to repeat because Florida strawberries got considerable help from last January's California freeze, one of its worst in history. That delayed strawberry planting and the entry of California berries into the East Coast markets until May.

"That helped out a lot," Grooms said. "I hope we can go on (harvesting) further this season. I hope we can pick to May."

The Florida strawberry industry takes advantage of a small market window between the end of the California strawberry season in the fall and its new crop in the spring. In a typical year, Florida supplies all the fresh strawberries to eastern U.S. markets until April.

California has had some bad weather this year, Grooms noted, and the rise in gasoline prices makes California berries more expensive to ship across the country, which may give Florida fruit a price advantage later into the spring.

But Grooms, a 34-year veteran in Florida strawberries, wasn't making predictions.

"I've seen real bad (seasons) and real good ones. You can't score until it's over," he said.

Because of the dominance of California strawberries, Florida growers have been trying to extend their season backward into the fall. Traditionally they don't start shipping strawberries in large volumes until around Thanksgiving.

But this season, the state picked its first flat on Oct. 17, Crocker said. Many growers planted early because there appeared to be no hurricane threat.

The other factor is the emergence of Winter Dawn, a strawberry variety released in 2005 and bred to grow in Florida's warm fall climate, said its creator, Craig Chandler, a professor of horticulture at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm.

"That's our goal - to give growers the opportunity to extend the season earlier," he said.

disease in N.C. plants

The 2007-08 season has not been without problems.

A fungal disease in strawberry plants from North Carolina nurseries, the source for about 20 percent of Florida's crop, erupted after they were planted here, Chandler said. Most plants come from Canadian nurseries, which don't have the disease.

Some growers lost as much as 40 percent of their North Carolina plants to the fungus, he added. Grooms reported losing 15 acres to the disease.

Warmer-than-average climate in Florida during the early growing season meant the plants devoted more energy to leaves and stems and less to producing berries, Chandler said. That also means less sugar in the strawberries.

But the cooler weather earlier this month has helped the plants rebound and produce more fruit. Groom said his volume to date is double what it was a year ago.

The cooler temperatures should mean a good crop in January and beyond, Chandler and Crocker said.

"We expect premium quality fruit from here on out," Crocker said. "I don't think we'll have near the revenue we had last year, but I'll take a season that's average for the last five years instead of one home-run year."

[ Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or at 863-802-7591. Visit his blog at citruspulpwash.theledger.com. ]

Sale Rumors Goad Residents Of Mobile Homes To Seek Help

Butler expansion takes key step By MEGAN ROLLAND Sun staff writer Butler Enterprises took a big step Thursday by submitting a pre-application to the state documenting the impact of a proposed 150-acre mixed-use retail center north of the existing Butler Plaza. Continue to 2nd paragraph The plan, called a Development of Regional Impact, includes few details of what the development could look like, but rather focuses on the impact the development will have on traffic, the environment, public facilities and other resources of concern. Basic descriptions call for a lifestyle retail center that would be constructed in two phases over 10 years. "It's all so preliminary, and the numbers all can change because nothing is final on it," said Deborah Butler, who with her father, Clark Butler, developed the stretch of land on Archer Road between Interstate 75 and SW 34th Street. The first phase of the proposed Butler Plaza North is planned for completion in 2013, and includes 800,000 square feet of retail, 200,000 square feet of office space and 250 hotel rooms. Phase 2 is dated for completion by 2018 and would add an additional 500,000 square feet of retail and 150 additional hotel rooms. The application is the first of many steps in the process of receiving mandatory state approval for a project of this size, and at the least it will take 18 to 24 months before the proposal is sent for consideration by the Gainesville City Commission. First the plan will be presented in a series of conferences to the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council; after questions have been answered satisfactorily, the council will make a recommendation of action to the City Commission. A description of the final design indicates this portion of Butler Plaza will be constructed differently from the current retail center, with a pedestrian-oriented design, avoiding strip-mall development and enhancing open spaces. Megan Rolland can be reached at 338-3104 or megan.rolland@ gvillesun.com.   GRU pick coming from big coal area By NATHAN CRABBE Sun staff writer If he takes the top job at Gainesville Regional Utilities, Bob Hunzinger would be moving from coal country to a place where coal has become a dirty word. Gainesville city commissioners this week selected Hunzinger as their first choice for general manager of GRU. He spent four years as general manager at Owensboro Municipal Utilities before resigning in September. The Kentucky utility shares similarities with GRU: both are publicly owned, provide a range of services and ultimately answer to local government. But there are notable differences, perhaps none more significant than the view of coal in the communities that they serve. GRU has just closed the chapter on five years of contentious battles over a coal-fueled power plant. The utility is now moving forward with increased spending on energy conservation and could build a biomass power plant fueled by wood. Owensboro lies in the middle of Kentucky's western coal belt. Its utility gets electricity exclusively from a coal-fired power plant and lacks aggressive conservation programs. Hunzinger said conservation is a tougher sell in a place where abundant coal means inexpensive energy. But he said he supports such programs, pointing to his experience on a public-power industry group on climate change. "These issues are important to everyone and they're becoming more important," he said. Hunzinger is negotiating with Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan on a contract for the GRU job. He said he expects those negotiations to finish sometime after Christmas. GRU has been without a long-term general manager since Mike Kurtz resigned nearly two years ago. Karen Johnson has since served as general manager but told commissioners she planned to retire by September. Johnson said the fact that Owensboro has a municipal utility would help Hunzinger succeed in Gainesville. She said general managers of public utilities must feel comfortable answering to elected officials and being criticized by the public. "Sometimes democracy is ugly," she said. At the Owensboro utility, the general manager reports to a five-member board appointed by the city's mayor. GRU's general manager is a charter officer who reports directly to the seven-member City Commission. Hunzinger said working for a public utility requires an understanding that customers are the top priority. He said he tried to convey such an attitude to his employees. "There's kind of an ownership there, more pride than you see in other utilities," he said. "You're always on," he added. Local Sierra Club chairman Rob Brinkman said Hunzinger's experience and soft-spoken style should serve him well. He said the contrast would be great from Kurtz, whose public advocacy of a coal-fired plant played a role in his departure. Brinkman said Hunzinger's membership with the climate change group spoke of his support of conservation, even if he wasn't able to implement such programs in Owensboro. "That community wasn't interested in going there yet. We are," Brinkman said. While Gainesville provides rebates for measures to conserve energy or use solar power, the Owensboro utility lacks such programs. Inexpensive energy provides little incentive for conservation there, said Aloma Dew, a Sierra Club representative in Owensboro. "Because electricity is so cheap here, people take it for granted," she said. Dew said western Kentucky's embrace of coal has created environmental challenges. She said the region's many coal-fired power plants have increased asthma rates, while mining is devastating the landscape. "We're seeing the mountaintops being taken away daily," she said. Owensboro's Elmer Smith power plant has two units that burn about 1.25 million tons of coal a year. The plant has the ninth-worst rate for emissions of carbon dioxide and the 12th-worst rate for emissions of nitrogen oxides in the country, according to a 2007 report by the Environmental Integrity Project. Carbon dioxide is believed to contribute to global warming, and nitrogen oxides can damage lungs and cause smog and acid rain. Hunzinger said the plant meets federal regulation and is getting an upgrade in its environmental controls. GRU is installing similar controls, which are federally mandated, at its coal-fired Deerhaven plant In addition to coal, GRU uses natural gas and a small amount of landfill gas and solar energy to produce power. GRU and the Owensboro utility are similar in that they provide telecommunications services and drinking water pulled from aquifers. Unlike Owensboro, GRU also provides wastewater services. GRU is also much larger, serving about 90,000 customers compared with about 25,000 in Owensboro. The two cities are quite different, said Nick Brake, president of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation. Hunzinger served as chairman of the corporation. Brake said western Kentucky's coal fields and natural gas pipelines make energy the major industry in the region. Without a major university in Owensboro, he said, there isn't a large contingency of environmental advocates. "It's a lot different political dynamic," he said. Hunzinger will be coming to a state where at least three plans for coal-fired power plants have been scrapped in the past year. Gov. Charlie Crist has pushed for more nuclear and renewable energy to address climate change. Hunzinger served on the American Public Power Association's climate change task force. He said the group gave him a better understanding of the human contribution to global warming. "Certainly, there appears to be a link there," he said. The group recommended in June that the federal government regulate greenhouse gas emissions, as long as regulations were implemented across the board and funding was given to research and tax incentives for utilities. Brinkman said looming regulations on greenhouse emissions will matter more than Hunzinger's background with coal. "I think it's pretty well universally recognized in Florida that coal is going nowhere," he said. Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.   Ranches and rodeos are the story of his life As a farrier -- one who shoes horses -- Jeff Hucknall is the cowboy way By THOMAS BECNEL thomas.becnel@heraldtribune.com ARCADIA -- Jeff Hucknall kicks off his workday with Circle K coffee and a pinch of Copenhagen. He jumps behind the wheel of a Ford pickup truck that serves as home office and roving business. He rolls with everything from a laptop computer and ink-jet printer to a portable anvil and propane forge. Have horseshoes, will travel. On the road between jobs, the 39-year-old cowboy describes the life of a farrier. He talks about working on a ranch in Montana and becoming a rodeo clown before moving down to Florida. Most of the stories end with Hucknall in pain, having been gored by a bull or trampled by a horse, but he shrugs and smiles. Right now, he is nursing a row of nasty sores on his hand. "A little pony down in Bonita decided to take off on me," Hucknall says. "Burned the rope right through my fingers." He is still favoring the broken ribs he got a few weeks ago. "I was shoeing a colt and he backed me into a stall and I couldn't get out of it," Hucknall says. "He reached back and kicked me in the ribs." Those injuries are nothing, though, compared with his worst experience as a rodeo clown. "I had a cowboy get knocked out, so I had to cover him -- that's what you do," Hucknall says. "The bull put his horn right through my vest and punctured a lung and broke three ribs. I didn't think I was hurt that bad, you know, with my adrenaline going. I fought five more bulls and then I walked out of the arena and passed out. "They took me to the hospital, but I'd done my job." Country courtship Hucknall got married earlier this year. His wife, Amanda, used to work as a waitress at The Clock restaurant in Arcadia. That is where they met. "When I was working the rodeo in Kissimmee once a month, I'd come home and she'd be working the late shift," he says. "I was still wearing my clown makeup, and I'd pick on her at the restaurant." Amanda laughs at that memory. "I thought he was crazy," she says, "but pretty soon we started talking and dating and then we had the baby and got married." Amanda, 25, is a self-described farm girl who grew up in Bradenton, Plant City and Arcadia. They shared a country courtship. "We actually never went to a movie on a date or anything like that," she says. "We used to go four-wheeling a lot. And we'd have barbecues with friends." Amanda nursed Hucknall back to health after a drunken driver smashed into his truck two years ago. He was paralyzed for several days, but managed to walk out of the hospital. A few years before that, Hucknall injured his knee at an Englewood construction job. While recuperating, he lived in the Sarasota bunkhouse of a retired rodeo performer named Hub Hubbell. "He needed a place to stay, and it was a pleasure to have him," Hubbell says. "He's a cowboy, sure enough. And a mechanic, too. He fixed this old tractor I had on the property." Hucknall, for his part, appreciated the hospitality and enjoyed the company. "I loved hanging around with that old man," he says. "He's got a lot of knowledge in his head. He's the one who taught me how to trick-rope." Soaked in sweat The tricks of the farrier trade include dealing with the heat and humidity of Florida. Hucknall wears a visor, not a cowboy hat, because it is cooler on hot summer days. He wears soft-soled shoes, rather than cowboy boots, because they are easier on his feet. He wears Wrangler jeans under his shoeing apron. He's still lean and muscular, at 5-feet-10 and 180 pounds, but he is not ready for a rodeo comeback. "Being a bullfighter is very, very athletic," he says. "You're in tiptop shape." Hucknall's horseshoeing clients include ranches, farms and single-horse families. He is often on call for weekend horse-jumping competitions at Fox Lea Farm in Venice. Shoeing a horse requires strength and stamina. Even a small horse is heavy and powerful. Hucknall has to wrestle their legs into position for cleaning, trimming and shoeing. He is soaked in sweat after a few hooves. Working horses are easier to handle than pets. "Those horses are babied, not made to mind, and they'll walk all over you," he says. "That's the biggest danger for a farrier -- a backyard horse that's been babied and pampered." For a difficult horse, Hucknall uses what is called a "humane twitch," a clamp that pinches the horse's sensitive upper lip. The pain releases endorphins which help make the animal easier to control. Hucknall studied horseshoeing and corrective work in Montana. He has learned to shoe differently in Florida, where the soil is soft and sandy. "There's a lot more to it than slapping shoes on a horse's foot," Hucknall says. "You've got to balance a horse's foot. It's an art." New York to Montana Hucknall still considers Montana home, even though he has been in Florida for five years. He grew up on a family farm in upstate New York and learned horseshoeing from the father of a friend. His first rodeo was near the state prison in Attica. His first bull was named Bonecrusher. "I rode him for 4 seconds," he says. "A few broken ribs later, and a dislocated shoulder, I wanted to ride another one." Hucknall went off to college in Montana, but wound up becoming a farrier and a cowboy. He worked on a huge ranch near Billings. He rode through blizzards and hunted elk. He got to know the regulars at the Jersey Lilly Saloon and Eatery in Ingomar, Mont., an old sheep-shearing town of 14 people. Hucknall loved Montana, but his brother had moved to Englewood. He got talked into giving Florida a try. Trading stories On the Gulf Coast, Hucknall found his way back into horseshoeing. It is not lucrative work, and the cost of gas eats into his profits, but he gets by. Sometimes he drives a tow truck at night. Sometimes he works security at Bradenton drag races and livestock auctions in Arcadia. Hucknall enjoys trading stories with horse owners and rodeo fans. That is one of the perks of traveling from barn to barn as a farrier. When he stops for lunch at the Mango Tequila restaurant, he remembers the name of the waitress. He waves to the president of the Arcadia rodeo. And he knows the guy running the backhoe out in the parking lot. At his rental house, Hucknall keeps a box of photos from his days out West. One shows a bunch of young cowboys after a Wyoming rodeo. He is the one with cuts and scrapes across his face. "I took a beating there," he says. "That's when I chipped my tooth." Clowning and shoeing Today there are bullfighters and bullfighting competitions, but Hucknall comes from the tradition of the rodeo clown, makeup and all. Besides protecting the cowboy, they entertained the crowd. "I loved clowning, being the comedy guy," he says. "When you're out in the arena, you're not trying to be funny for the adults. If you can make the kids laugh, you can make the adults laugh." Hucknall has seen some ferocious bulls, horrendous accidents and hilarious moments. At the Rodeo of Rodeos in Phoenix, a clown hid from a bull in a barrel. The bull caught that barrel in his horns and tossed it on top of a fence. "The barrel was on top of the fence, teetering back and forth, and the clown looked out to see where he was," he says. "Then the barrel fell over and knocked him out. The whole crowd was laughing, just cracking up." Hucknall laughs, too, retelling the story for the hundredth time. Shoeing horses is not so glamorous -- no one applauds his work -- but he seems happy steering his truck along the highway east of Arcadia. He enjoys being his own boss, working outdoors with horses, and cannot imagine being cooped up in some office. "I tell ya," he says, "I wouldn't change anything. I wouldn't change anything at all."     Florida Identifies 272 Impaired Waterbodies for Cleanup TALLAHASSEE, Florida, December 21, 2007 (ENS) - The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, DEP, has identified five groups of waterbodies that are impaired and in need of water monitoring, cleanup and restoration. In the latest round of evaluating impairments in the surface waters of Florida, DEP Deputy Secretary Mimi Drew signed a final order on December 12 targeting 272 impaired waters for cleanup in the Everglades, Indian River Lagoon, Perdido, Springs Coast and Upper East Coast Basins. Under the federal Clean Water Act, each state must identify impaired rivers, lakes and estuaries for cleanup. Pollution limits, called total maximum daily loads, TMDLs, are then developed for each impaired waterway. A TMDL is the maximum amount of a specific pollutant a waterbody can absorb and still meet its designated uses, such as fishing, swimming, shellfish harvesting or as a source of drinking water. "Due to the enormous work of our scientists and staff, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has now completed its first five-year cycle to identify the state's impaired waterways," said DEP Secretary Michael Sole. To target impaired waterways for cleanup, DEP divided the state into 29 watersheds. The eastern section of the St. Joseph Bay estuary is on the new impaired waters list. (Photo courtesy DEP) Each year the state assesses groups of waters to determine which are impaired and require restoration and which need further study. Once designated, DEP scientists design plans to reduce pollutant loads and monitor progress being made to restore degraded waterbodies throughout the state. After collecting extensive scientific data, the state established a fifth group of rivers, lakes, and coastal waters for restoration, identifying 272 additional waterbodies as impaired. This fifth verified list of impaired waters went through the public review process at six public meetings in July 2006 and two additional meetings in October 2007. The list will now be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval. The state has already proposed more than 200 TMDLs for impaired waterways in the Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 Basins, including the Ocklawaha River chain, the Orange Creek Basin, and Lake Okeechobee. Currently, the state is working with federal and local governments, water management districts, public and private utilities, industry, agriculture, and environmental groups to develop, adopt and implement basin management action plans. A blueprint for restoration, basin management action plans promote improved farming practices, increased wastewater and stormwater treatment, and better land use planning to reduce pollution. DEP anticipates completing the list evaluation process for the waters in the Florida Keys early in 2008. Sole says the DEP is improving water quality through long-standing environmental regulations, technical assistance, and an annual investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to build water infrastructure, acquire conservation lands and restore waterways. DEP's final order on December 12 started a 21 day period during which interested parties may petition the decision to list or not list a waterbody as impaired. View the Group 5 Basin list. Live, work and play in planned community By LIZ FLAISIG, The Times-Union Clay County has its share of the large, master-planned communities that have come to define Northeast Florida. Eagle Harbor and other large communities have brought shopping, restaurants and office complexes to the once rural area, along with thousands of new homes. The one component county and city leaders have been advocating for - larger job centers within these mixed-use communities - hasn't fully surfaced yet. A proposed 3,267-acre community just south of Green Cove Springs could change that. Governors Park would have 3.5 million square feet of industrial, commercial and office space, in addition to 6,000 single- and multi-family homes. By comparison, when OakLeaf Plantation was announced in 2002, it included plans for 11,000 homes. Developer Jackson-Shaw and its engineers, England, Thims & Miller, estimate it would bring 6,312 new jobs with annual earnings of $225 million at its completion. Because 60 percent of Clay's workforce commutes to Jacksonville, the county has struggled with attracting businesses whose jobs might keep residents in Clay. A significant hurdle has been a lack of water and sewer lines and roads. Danita Andrews of the Clay County Chamber has been on the front lines of the effort for several years as director of economic development. To her, Governors Park represents the kind of "live, work, play" development that offers many opportunities. "This totally fits with the vision for Clay's economic outlook 10, 20, 30 and 40 years from now," Andrews said. "If we don't preserve land for that all-important job growth then we lose the sustainability of our community going forward." That sustainability was on the minds of the Gustafson family when it decided to use one-third of its land for the development, said Tom Jones, regional development partner for Jackson-Shaw. The Gustafson land will be impacted by the state's Outer Beltway road project, which will connect Interstate 95 and Interstate 10 between Duval and Clay counties. The family - known for its dairy businesses -had learned the state would need more than 100 acres of the land it has owned since the early 1900s for the beltway. So, they chose to plan a community with a job center, Jones said. Jackson-Shaw got the job, he said, because of its Northeast Florida experience on projects such as the Jacksonville International Tradeport. A representative of the Gustafson family was unavailable to comment Thursday afternoon. Included in plans for the community are 800 acres of green space, $100 million for transportation improvements and three public schools sites. Dallas-Based Jackson-Shaw will construct part of Alternate U.S. 17, a bypass that will route traffic, particularly trucks, away from downtown Green Cove Springs. The formal application process for the community is expected to begin by the end of this month. The first phase of Governors Park will be 500,000 square feet of industrial space and 900 residential units, and is expected to open by the time the first section of the beltway opens around 2012, Jones said. The development's cost is expected to exceed $1 billion, with all four phases finished by 2028. liz.flaisig@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4640   Development plan for Indiantown gets planners' OK By JASON SCHULTZ Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Friday, December 21, 2007 STUART- — Martin County commissioners should approve a new development that would add 1,650 homes to Indiantown, the county's planning board unanimously recommended late Thursday night. "This is so far beyond our wildest expectations of what we ever could have envisioned," said Indiantown resident Brian Powers of the Indiantown Development of Regional Impact. Local Planning Agency board member Sandy Zweben said: "Indiantown needs it. Indiantown wants it." Development company Irongate Group plans to build 1,165 single-family homes and 485 townhouse and apartment units on about 750 acres in Indiantown. The project also would include a 50-acre site that could be used for a middle school, elementary school and a 20-acre community park. Nearby residents said the project was needed to provide a boost to their small rural community. Resident Kevin Powers said the projects would bring more people, shops and services while still keeping the community a small town. "Even at build-out, we won't qualify for a Super Wal-Mart, and I'm happy about that," Kevin Powers said. "Even at build-out, we won't be as big as Palm City." County planner Joe Banfi said county growth management officials did not recommend approval because of outstanding issues, including traffic congestion problems on the roadways the residents of the project would use, such as State Road 710. Don Cuozzo, the land planner representing the developers, said several issues could easily be resolved. The project, for example, would pay its share of the cost of improving State Road 710 to handle more traffic, he said. But, Cuozzo said, a county request that the development pay $90 per home for fire emergency services on top of regular impact fees, will only make it harder to build any affordable housing in Indiantown. "Every single dollar you add to the cost of the units makes them less attainable," he said. "Our entire project is workforce housing." County commissioners will have the final vote on the proposal next year. Permit use draws plenty of discussion Argument made that burdens are placed on families. By MICHAEL MITSEFF mmitseff@lakecityreporter.com Published: Friday, December 21, 2007 6:06 AM EST Plenty of discussion was generated Thursday during the first public hearing of two proposed text amendments to the Columbia County land development regulations pertaining to the special temporary use permit and the special family lot permit during Thursday’s meeting of the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners. The special family lot permit allows a land owner to deed a minimum one-half acre to a relative for a trailer providing it is his or her primary residence. The relative occupying the trailer must be either a grandparent, parent, step-parent, adopted parent, sibling, child, stepchild, adopted child or grandchild of the owner. The proposed regulation changes set a limit for the number of special family lots that can be deeded to family members. No more than two special family lot permits shall be issued on parent parcels of less than 15 acres (10 acres were originally proposed); three on parent parcels of 15 (10 were originally proposed) but less than 20 acres; and four on parent parcels greater than 20 acres. Carmen Mikulic argued that the restrictions placed a burden on families who wish to have their children or other family members near them. Mikulic said that she believed that “these rules are against family values.” Stewart Lilker said that the land use regulations should be followed and land owners shouldn’t be allowed to subdivide their land into half-acre lots. The board voted to consider the objections and charged County Planner Brian Kepner to go back to the drawing board and design an amendment taking into consideration the objections voiced at the meeting. The special temporary use permit generated public debate as well. “I think the board should go back to the method used in 1986 when individual requests for temporary use permits were heard on a case-by-case basis,” Lilker said. The board again carried the debate over to the second hearing scheduled for Jan. 3. n In other business, the board approved the regular land use amendment change from residential low density (less than or equal to 2 dwelling units per acre) to light industrial (a new land use classification). Of the three small land use amendments, two were approved and the third, requested by Nick Karantinos, was denied. Karatinos had requested a change from very low density (less than or equal to 1 dwelling unit per acre) to residential low density (less than or equal to 2 dwelling units per acre). Tavares delays vote on condos at Gator Inlet December 21, 2007 TAVARES City Council members delayed until Jan. 16 a decision on whether to annex and rezone 6.2 acres slated for a major waterfront development just west of the Dora Canal and south of U.S. Highway 441. A developer had submitted plans to build 101 condominiums spread over three buildings that could reach eight stories on the mostly wooded area known as Gator Inlet. The proposed development, called Quiet Waters, also would feature clubhouse cabanas, a pool and a marina with boat slips for residents. On Dec. 5, City Council members granted preliminary approval to annex and rezone the property. The board was scheduled to have a final vote Wednesday. However, attorney Steve Richey, who represents property owners Tom Swartz and Tavares Waters LLC, the project developers, said Wednesday that he needed more time to review the testimony and minutes from the Dec. 5 City Council meeting. He added that he wanted more time to work with city officials on the project's design. Martin E. Comas and Katie Fretland of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report Hometown Democracy: People want right to say no By Maggy Hurchalla, guest columnist ---STUART NEWS (thanks gimleteye) Wednesday, December 19, 2007 It's easy to tell who the bad guys are in the Hometown Democracy debate. They lie so viciously and creatively that they make normal dirty politics seem friendly. They are committing huge piles of money to say and do whatever is necessary to stop Florida Hometown Democracy from getting on the ballot. They clearly believe that people will vote for it and it will slow growth. And then there are the innocents — the frustrated, angry public that have watched the best planning laws in the country turn into bureaucratic pablum. They want the right to just say "no." What's puzzling are the good guys caught in between. Tom Pelham, one of Florida's better state planning directors in the past, is fighting Hometown Democracy while warning the Legislature that growth management in Florida has failed. 1000 Friends of Florida is reluctantly and ever so politely not a friend of Hometown Democracy. The American Planning Association state chapter is afraid of it. When your thoughtful friends question a decision, it's time to stop and think. I have thought long and hard over all the arguments against it. I think my hopeful friends in the middle are wrong. Opponents go on and on about how difficult it will be to vote on each and every comprehensive plan amendment. They miss the point that local governments are handing out amendments like chewing gum. The problem is that we have too many amendments. Everyone agrees that our local plan is our constitution. We should treat it like one. We should be conservative in making changes. We should let the people vote on those changes. It's very clear from the opposition that there will be far fewer amendments proposed if the public gets the right to say "no." As long as there are 8,000 plan amendments around the state every year, there will be chaos. We're watching it happen. Comp plan amendments should be rare. They should happen every two years at the general election. They should be something the public can understand. Our politicians have proved rather dramatically that they are not smarter than we are on planning issues. Doubters of Hometown Democracy propose a list of bold legislative changes that would restore the public's role in planning without giving them the "draconian" power to say "no". I think any of us who have watched the Legislature in recent years can say with complete confidence that there is not a snowball's chance in hell that any of those reforms will pass, unless Hometown Democracy makes it onto the ballot for next November. Go to: www.floridahometowndemocracy.com or call the toll-free number for petitions: 866-779-5513. Download a petition and mail it in ASAP. E-mail your friends. Beg your neighbors. Time is running out. And when we get it on the ballot, we will see whether the Legislature can meet the challenge to make growth management work for people instead of developers. If they can't, then we know for sure that we need Hometown Democracy. Opponents keep saying that letting the people vote will turn over important planning decisions to the side that has the most money for advertising. I find that viewpoint incredibly offensive in terms of its attitude toward voters and democracy in general. But if we get on the ballot, the November election will produce an unbiased answer to the accusation that voters can always be bought. The campaign is clearly going to be David versus Goliath. The opponents of Florida Hometown Democracy have already shown that they will be the big bad mean Goliath with most of the money on their side. So if the people of Florida vote overwhelmingly for the Hometown Democracy amendment, they will have proved that democracy and honesty can win over big money. That's a happy thought. Hurchalla, a former Martin County commissioner who lives in Port Salerno, co-authored Martin County's comprehensive plan and has been a longtime statewide advocate for conservation and land preservation.   Commission OKs land use change despite residents' fears BARTOW - A parcel of land next to Bartow's city's limits totaling approximately 333 acres almost didn't receive a land use change during Wednesday's Polk County Commission meeting. Currently, the site has a land use designation of agricultural and residential-rural and is located north of State Road 60, south of Gerber Dairy Road, east of 91 Mine Road and west of Rifle Range Road. Dale Albritton, the applicant, wants to change the land use designation to residential-low, convenience center and an urban development area. The convenience center would hold smaller businesses such as a barber shop, small retail stores and small offices. Public safety services such as police and fire are available for this area and while a utility provider hasn't been designated, Bartow is the closest city. "The city has included the project in the anticipated gallons-per-day for water and wastewater in a recent Swiftmud (Southwest Florida Water Management District) permit," said Chandra Foreman, a representative from the growth management division. George Lindsey, the applicant's representative, said the land use is consistent with the surrounding area, but residents disagree. One resident said the area is spacious with one house on two to 20 acres. The resident said he sees wildlife such as bald eagles, deer and foxes around the area. He also said Peace Creek runs through the property, which if developed, may have to have burns next to it. Lindsey said any changes such as burns near the creek would be discussed at a later date. Commissioner Jean Reed moved for the denial of the land use change because she doesn't think the proposed changes are consistent with the area. "I think it would be a mistake to change the land use on this property at this time," Reed said. "It's not consistent or compatible and is premature." Reed's motion to deny the approval of the land use change failed. A motion was passed to approve the land use change and was approved with a 3-2 vote. michelle.godefrin@newschief.com   Editorial: Orlando gulps, Florida swoons   Cities’ big water grab on the St. Johns River exposes problems throughout Sunshine State By TCPalm Staff Tuesday, December 18, 2007 The South Florida Water Management District announced new, water-saving initiatives last week. It’s hard to argue against them. Water is a precious resource and conservation is a good thing. But Florida’s water problem goes much, much deeper than these marginal measures will ever reach. Real or anticipated shortages are not due to folks who let the faucet run while brushing their teeth. It’s not even because Mother Nature has delivered a drought to the Southeast. The problem is that Florida’s unsustainable growth has tapped out more surface supplies and is steadily draining the ages-old Floridan Aquifer. While SFWMD dispatches the sprinkler cops, water managers ignore the 800-pound gorilla at the northern end of their region. There, Orlando and its neighboring cities want to take 250 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River. Orlando & Co. are desperate. Regional basins are drying up and officials know their 500 million gallons-a-day fix from the Floridan Aquifer won’t last. Water quality is dropping as salt intrusion threatens to increase. To slake its powerful thirst, Orlando proposes to construct a $1 billion pipeline to suck from the St. Johns. That spells trouble for Indian River County, which sits at the headwaters of the river, yet has no representation on the appointed board that governs the St. Johns River Water Management District. The county can only hope that its distant neighbor downstream, Jacksonville, can head off this power play. The rest of the Treasure Coast could feel a ripple effect. If Orlando can’t get a slurp of St. Johns — or even if it does — it will ultimately demand more from elsewhere, perhaps the south. Woe to Martin and St. Lucie counties, which also suffer from a relative lack of representation on South Florida’s water board. Make no mistake: Water wars are increasing, and they’re fueled by growth. “Orlando has grown at a rate that, frankly, is not sustainable,” Neil Armingeon, of the St. Johns Riverkeeper group, told the Orlando Sentinel. The same can be said for much of Florida. Consuming more water per acre than agriculture, urbanized areas guzzle at a rate that even hurricanes can’t satisfy. (Ironically, Orlando has been praised for adopting among the state’s most stringent conservation measures.) Clearly, the state’s 20-year-old Growth Management Act has failed to preserve long-range supplies. At the local level, councils and commissions continue to approve building plans, mining permits and other consumptive uses. Regional authorities, which are charged with managing resources and usage, have gone AWOL until only recently. Rather than badgering residents during periodic and increasingly intense crises, officials responsible for water must become proactive. If that means saying no to development until supply and demand find a sustainable balance, so be it. If new demand can be met via desalination plants, then build them. Purveyors of the status-quo may object that stricter growth policies will kill the economy. But look where decades of sprawling, steroidal growth have gotten us. A state that gets 40-plus inches of rain a year is running dry — and empty houses are everywhere. Others dismiss desalination as too costly. Indeed, a new plant in Tampa is over budget and far behind schedule. But its $140 million price tag is a drop in the bucket compared to the $1 billion Orlando is ready to spend on two straws. Florida’s parched conditions suggest that provincial, short-term thinkers at regional water districts are in over their heads. It’s equally obvious that Band-Aids and half-measures are of limited utility, and that business as usual won’t work. “The quick fix, the typical Florida political fix, is to stick a pipeline in the St. Johns River, skim as much water as you can and 10 years from now, when the river is dead and we still don’t have enough water, then we’ll fix that,” Armingeon says. Where is the leadership in this state? Where’s clean, green Charlie Crist? (While all this was going down, our peripatetic governor was in Brazil, checking out “trade relations.”)     If business is so slow, homebuilders can't be paying too many impact fees. The reason things are so slow is because the market is flooded with homes. What is the point of lowering impact fees so builders can build more homes at a higher profit that no one wants to buy?   Feeling the impact By Jim Hunter The county commission heard a chorus of pleas for help this week. It came from all sorts of people who had one thing in common -- economic woes because of the near-shutdown of the homebuilding business. There were builders, contractors, construction workers and their family members, as well as owners of businesses that are related to or serve the building industry. The plea to commissioners Tuesday was simple: roll back impact fees. Most all said they understood that doing so wouldn't turn the current situation around. But they felt it would be something that could help and would be a show of concern by the commission for an industry they said was critical to the county's economic well-being and its tax base. The commission didn't roll back fees, but it agreed in a split vote to hold a hearing Jan. 23 to consider rolling them back to the 2002 levels for 90 days. Commissioner John Thrumston made the motion, and was joined by Dennis Damato and Gary Bartell in voting for the hearing. Commissioners Joyce Valentino and Vicki Phillips voted against it. They pointed out that a consultant's study for the county on the effect of impact fees and alternative revenues that can be used to pay for growth needs could be in the county's hands at the end of February or early March. But dozens of construction industry supporters, many organized by Ray Stevenson and Brandy Watson, wanted a show of good faith by the county. Building industry representatives have told the commission that when impact fees are too high, as presently set, that drives home buyers to other counties with lower fees and prices. When home sales come close to a near standstill, as they have presently, the higher fees can really make a difference, industry representatives say. Stevenson told the commissioners it was a grim situation, and since the industry and the county needed each other, he pleaded with the commission to pull together with the industry and roll back and then freeze the fees. Citrus County had out-priced itself with high fees, and the economic downturn was made even worse, he said, noting that there had been only 19 permits in December so far when there should be 200 in a month. "I don't think you know what's going on out there," he said. "These people are suffering." Larry Swain told commissioners that impact fees could be a good thing when responsibly used, but when irresponsibly used, they become "a huge weight on a county." He said the county should make it more affordable for new businesses to locate in the county to create the jobs and wages. He warned that current conditions were on the way to making people homeless, bankrupting businesses and creating broken families because of the severe financial stress. Damato, a builder, said he didn't know why the commission couldn't act. "We don't need to wait for a study. We know where we are," he said, and advocated rolling back fees to last May's levels, just before the last increase. That way it would not impact the current budget, he said. Damato said that in the current economic crisis, the county couldn't control most variables, for instance, like the cost of land, the cost of construction materials, the state sales tax or the insurance rates. One thing it could control, however, is the impact fees, and it should take action on the thing it could control. Phillips said the building industry representatives were the ones who previously demanded that the commission get the consultant's study done before any change, in particular any increase, in impact fees was considered. Now they were calling for action before the study was done, she said, adding that if she thought reducing the fees would change the economic conditions, she would consider it, but added the economic slowdown was not just a local phenomenon. Phillips said she wanted the information from the study so she could make the best decision. "I want to see the financial impact of what we are doing," she said, adding of the 90-day rollback: "I don't see it making a difference." Although Bartell said he would support the motion for the hearing, he agreed that understanding the alternatives would be important in making a decision that would affect the future, particularly when the economy came back. "I don't want a knee-jerk reaction today that will hurt us down the road," he said. He said if the commission rolled back the fees, it should cut back some capital improvement projects a comparable amount. Commissioner Joyce Valentino said she didn't support the hearing idea because she didn't see the benefit of it. There were a few speakers against the hearing proposal, like James McIntosh, who said the idea of reducing the fees was "immoral," and argued that they instead should be increased. But the vast majority wanted a reduction. Speaking for the Citrus County Builders Association, Mike Moberly said reducing the fees wouldn't cure the current situation, but it would help spur the recovery. Incoming CCBA President Randy Clark echoed that, saying the industry was looking for a show of good faith. He said the effects of the industry slowdown are far reaching. "You can drive around Citrus County and feel the difference," he said. Construction industry representatives like Larry Swain said the people in the local building industry were not greedy and he listed projects like parks, churches and schools in the county to which they have donated time, equipment and materials. Brenda Harness told the commission her husband had been in the construction since 1983 and now faced being laid off. She warned that with high impact fees, the county could wind up with "wonderful infrastructure -- for a ghost town." Stevenson urged the commission to do something meaningful. After the vote passed to schedule the hearing, the county attorney reminded the commission that state law required 90 days before any change in impact fees, which would mean that if the commission voted for a rollback on Jan. 23, it wouldn't take effect until late April. Phillips said Wednesday the commissioners could have their report by March, but Thrumston noted that the vote on the consultant's contract hasn't even taken place yet and there were no guarantees on the study and so the hearing made sense.   Miami commissioner's memo implying payoffs is disputed BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ AND CHARLES RABIN A highly unusual memo that Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff wrote to himself -- and that suggests a fellow commissioner has been seeking payoffs from developers -- became public Wednesday after a monthslong public records battle. The centerpiece of the four-paragraph memo, dated May 15 and written to ''File,'' is a summary of a conversation Sarnoff said took place with former City Manager Joe Arriola. ''Joe Arriola had called and requested a meeting concerning a conversation he did not wish to have over the telephone,'' it begins. When they met, Sarnoff wrote, the manager dropped a bombshell: City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones would vote in favor of a proposed Coconut Grove condo project in exchange for several of her associates receiving a combined $150,000 from the developer. The memo said Arriola ''further advised'' that Spence-Jones sought $50,000 from another developer. ''The whole thing is all hearsay,'' Spence-Jones said in an interview Wednesday evening. ``That's one person saying to another person that another person told them that something like this happened.'' The developers say they did nothing illegal and did not attempt to influence votes. Arriola contends the conversation at the heart of the memo never took place. ''I never had that conversation with him,'' Arriola said. ``If Marc Sarnoff says that, he's lying, and I don't care if he's a commissioner.'' Replied Sarnoff, in an interview: ``I stand by the memorandum. It's accurate . . . What he chooses to remember now might be a memory of convenience.'' Sarnoff says he wrote the memo to be used as a future memory aid for what he considered a sensitive city matter with criminal implications. He says he never intended for it to become public. ''As I became aware of this information, it was passed on to law enforcement,'' Sarnoff said. The Miami-Dade state attorney's office has been examining the allegations. No charges have been filed, and when the memo was released Wednesday, State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle urged caution in assessing its merits. ''We ask that the public not rush to judgment, because the memo, which is based on second- or thirdhand information, may contain some erroneous or inaccurate information,'' Fernández Rundle wrote. The document was released after The Miami Herald filed a lawsuit seeking a copy of it under Florida's public records law. A lower court agreed with Sarnoff, who argued it was a private matter. Wednesday, the Third District Court of Appeal sided with the newspaper. Sarnoff opted not to appeal further, and released it. The two condo projects cited in the memo have both been highly controversial. In each case, the memo alleged, Spence-Jones was demanding developers pay huge sums to her friends to secure her approval. Those friends included a former Miami-Dade County commissioner and a political strategist -- both of whom were paid consultants on one developer's Coconut Grove project. Spence-Jones said she never asked a developer to hire anyone. ''I voted for what I felt was right,'' she said. The Grove project, 300 Grove Bay Residences, drew protests from some residents as well as supporters of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens who feared its three towers would disrupt views. Commissioners approved that project by a 3-2 vote in April, with Spence-Jones voting for it, Sarnoff against. Sarnoff has been supportive of the other condo mentioned in the memo, Overtown's Crosswinds project. Some community groups, however, have criticized the project as unaffordable, and construction has been delayed by court challenges and other obstacles. In Sarnoff's memo, Arriola is quoted as saying Crosswinds faced a separate hurdle: Spence-Jones, it alleged, was likely to delay approval because the developer had not paid one of her associates an expected $50,000. Spence-Jones ultimately voted in favor of the condo -- on multiple occasions. A Crosswinds Communities representative on Wednesday said the company was unaware of any hiring request. The Grove developer -- the high-profile Related Group -- did hire key consultants close to Spence-Jones, but contends there is no connection to the commissioner. Sarnoff said a second City Hall source, former Miami Chief of Operations Mary Conway, also told him about that developer's hiring of the commissioner's friends. Conway told The Miami Herald she had spoken to Sarnoff about the circumstances surrounding the condo approval. That conversation came after Conway had spoken to the developer's project manager on the condo job -- former city employee Alicia Cuervo. What Conway says Cuervo told her: After having previously hired former County Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler, Spence-Jones' political mentor, to do work for the development team, Related received a request to also hire political strategist Barbara Hardemon, another Spence-Jones associate. Where was the request coming from? ''That I don't know,'' Conway said. Cuervo did not return phone calls Wednesday. Was Spence-Jones offering her vote in exchange for a friend's hiring? ''That was the implicit message,'' Conway said. ``Not explicitly stated, but implied.'' Related Chairman Jorge Perez said Wednesday that the two women were hired for community outreach. ''Absolutely to sell the project, particularly to black community leaders and black community business people. Just like what we did in the Cuban community,'' he said. Perez said they were ''absolutely not'' paid to secure votes at City Hall. Earlier this year, Related attorney John Shubin said Hardemon received less than $50,000 and Carey-Shuler between $50,000 and $100,000. Carey-Shuler could not be reached late Wednesday -- a phone message left with her sister was not returned. Reached Wednesday, Hardemon called Sarnoff's memo ''damnable lies'' and said she has not been interviewed by prosecutors. ''This is nothing but slander, and I intend to sue him for this,'' Hardemon said. Kendall Coffey, Spence-Jones' attorney, called it ``outrageous to give any credence to utterly false information simply because someone wrote down somebody's gossip.'' Miami Herald staff writers Scott Hiaasen and Jennifer Lebovich contributed to this report.   New stadium could be suite deal for commissioners By CHARLES RABIN Miami and Miami-Dade County officials pushing the Florida Marlins' Little Havana ballpark could end up with quite a view should the $525 million deal reach consensus. Under a framework being negotiated, the Marlins would provide the city and county with two private suites, parking, plus 22 additional box seats for all 81 regular-season home games at the proposed 37,000-seat, retractable-roof park that could open in 2011. At no cost. If the two-time World Series champions make the playoffs, the rules change. Miami and Miami-Dade would be allowed to purchase those seats, suites and parking -- at regular cost. That arrangement bears a close resemblance to one in Washington, D.C. There, council members recently awarded the Washington Nationals $631 million in public money to build a stadium -- and district leaders receive a double-suite that fits 24 people, and 25 other seats to each ballgame. The district has the option of purchasing those seats and suites for playoff games. ''Every stadium deal is different, it's on a case-by-case basis,'' said Major League Baseball attorney Irwin Raij, who helped negotiate the Nationals' deal and represents MLB in the Marlins' negotiations. County Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro said he's OK with the idea -- in part. ''I've been a proponent that all commissioners should get tickets at all county venues,'' said Barreiro. But he added: ``Now the suites -- I'm not too sure about that.'' The seating arrangement is one small piece of a much larger financing deal being finalized by the county, city and Marlins. A vote on that agreement, originally scheduled for County Hall on Thursday, is likely to be delayed until January. ''I'm considering deferring it so all parties -- the city, the county and the team -- can hash things out, take a breather,'' said Barreiro. A delay would give the team time to iron out kinks, and give commissioners time to study a massive multi-billion dollar public-works agreement that would provide money for the stadium and other downtown projects. City and county commissioners approved the downtown and ballpark projects amid criticism they gave the public little say, and rushed through the proceedings. The stadium financing plan could change before it's final. The Marlins support the broad terms of the working plan and are confident a final contract will come. Among the nuggets crafted in the working structure: • The Marlins must agree to continue funding charities, educational and community organizations, and other public works in South Florida. • If the Marlins are sold within 10 years of the agreement, the county would collect a sliding scale of between five and 10 percent of the profits in years one through 10. • Each year, the team will be required to provide 50,000 regular-season tickets at no more than 75 percent of full price, and 5,000 free tickets, to underprivileged youth and Miami-Dade charities. The contract must come together through consensus from the Marlins, Miami and Miami-Dade. The blueprint calls for the team to pay $155 million, the city $121 million in mostly tourist tax dollars, and the county $199 million in similar taxes, plus $50 million in bond money originally planned to renovate the soon-to-be-blown-up Orange Bowl.   Orlando Sentinel Our position: If Florida's to grow right, the Legislature can't dance around DCA Secretary Tom Pelham's plan December 20, 2007 Once lauded nationally but now lampooned regularly by developers and local government officials alike, the state's growth-management act badly needs a boost. Tom Pelham, Florida Department of Community Affairs secretary, is ready to do the heavy lifting. But Mr. Pelham, who helped craft the act in 1985 only to see others make a mockery of it after leaving his job in 1991, needs the Legislature to take his plan to reinvigorate the act and run with it. Good luck to Mr. Pelham, whom Gov. Charlie Crist returned to the DCA this year. The Legislature, almost since the act's inception, has worked with the precision of a sous chef to gut and debone it. Out has come a provision allowing regional planning councils to appeal local government decisions to the governor and Cabinet. Now, only developers or the DCA can appeal those decisions. Out has come a requirement that marinas and airports within Developments of Regional Impact, typically mixed-use behemoths that straddle several jurisdictions, get reviewed. Out have come dozens of parts that once made the act a viable vehicle for regulating growth in the state -- usually at the insistence of hungry developers and of the local planners and elected officials who have been so eager to please them. How bad has it gotten? Under the act, local governments can revise their own growth management plans twice a year. But because of 30 categories of amendments added to the act, they actually can do it a lot more often. Florida's cities and counties now amend their comprehensive plans about 12,000 -- that's 12 THOUSAND -- times a year. No wonder that some residents, angry at how the Florida they cherish is getting lost to developers and their legislative lackeys, have gotten behind the Hometown Democracy amendment, which would require public votes on significant changes to any local comprehensive plan. But with so many changes possible under the current growth-management system, the time and cost needed to engineer so many referendums on them could be prohibitive. Mr. Pelham's utterly sensible initiative would effectively put enough stuffing back into the planning process to allow it to serve Florida. It would require more than a simple majority of local officials to tweak their comp plans. They'd have to lengthen the now-inadequate notice they give the public about changing the plans. And they could change the plans radically less often than has become their custom. The current system has "growth driving planning, rather than planning managing growth," says Mr. Pelham. Time to make that right. Time for the Legislature, despite its disposition to do otherwise, to get behind Mr. Pelham. His folk songs lamented old Florida's demise The man who hosted the Florida Folk Show was on a mission to wake people up, a friend says. By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer Published December 20, 2007 TAMPA - Pay $100,000 for a condo, about 99 more than it's worth. Talk about how big and cheap and wonderful everything was up north. Well they don't give a damn about nature. They cut down the last pine tree. So if the hurricane comes tomorrow, it'll be all right with me. *** People heard Bobby Hicks' message. They couldn't help it, really. In a loud, gravely voice, he used his folk songs to rail against the forces that chipped away his beloved Florida - condo developers, politicians, polluters, phosphate dumpers, tourists, greedy corporations. "He was on a mission to try to wake people up," said folk singer Frank Thomas. "They listened to Bobby, whether they wanted to or not." He's been called a radical Cracker. Sometimes, his bold approach made listeners squirm. But mostly, they sang along. "He wrote songs with a passion," Thomas said. "He wrote about this great state of Florida. He loved it, and it came across." His family goes back five generations in Florida. As a boy, an educator named D.G. Erwin mentored Mr. Hicks, taking him fishing and hunting, and showing how phosphate dumping damaged the Alafia River. Mr. Hicks passed down Florida stories to his son, Dawson, who has the middle name "Erwin." He was in diapers when he first heard his dad's music and started going to festivals. "That was one of the things he always embraced," said Dawson Hicks, 24. "You can't change your heritage. You can't rewrite history. That was a big thing he always tried to show with his music." For a few years, Mr. Hicks co-hosted the Florida Folk Show on WMNF-FM 88.5. He was selective about what music to play, and he often sparred on air with callers. "He got right in the face of the development and the politicians, and he stood there and he blasted them," said Peter Gallagher, Mr. Hicks' Florida Folk Show co-host. "No one was a greater orator for environmental destruction than Bobby Hicks." Mr. Hicks spent the last six months battling lung cancer, his family said, but his mind wasn't far from the local scene. He sent Gallagher text messages asking about a weekly folk show at Ka' Tiki, a club on Sunset Beach. "He was asking me how the show went," Gallagher said. "Did a lot of people come? Who played? Just a couple nights ago." Mr. Hicks died Wednesday morning at home in Tampa. He was 54. *** I'm the Spanish moss hanging from the live oak tree. I'm what's left of the panther and the old manatee. I'm an eagle in flight, I'm the ocean's roar. I'm Florida, need I say more? Researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857. Biography Bobby Hicks Born: Sept. 4, 1953 Died: Dec. 19, 2007 Survived by: Wife, Gini; son, Dawson. Services: 2 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Beach Theater, 315 Corey Ave., St. Pete Beach. To hear a sample of Bobby Hicks' music, visit tampabay.com More mammals washing ashore 81 strandings alarm scientists BY JIM WAYMER FLORIDA TODAY At least 81 marine mammals -- mostly dolphins, but also a half-dozen whales and even an Arctic seal -- became stranded this year in Central Florida. All the washing ashore has scientists wondering whether something natural or unnatural is sending so many astray. Recent red tide may account for a few of the stranded mammals, but researchers suspect there may be something more at play. "Many things could be adding to this year's count," said Wendy Noke Durden of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute in Orlando. "What we're seeing could be part of a trend that will best be understood over the span of five to 10 more years of data." Brevard's 48 strandings made up almost 6 in every 10 dolphins, whales and other marine mammals that washed in dead, sick or injured within the four-county area that Hubbs researchers cover: Brevard, St. Johns, Flagler and Volusia counties. Those numbers mean this year is shaping up to be the worst dolphin and whale stranding year in the region since 2003, when 78 marine mammals became stranded. In 2005 there were only 49 strandings in the four counties. Last year, there were 71. "This area is highest of any in the state," said Megan Stolen, a research biologist at Hubbs. Scientists got especially curious when a bearded seal -- an Arctic native -- popped up in the Indian River Lagoon, as happened near Stuart in May. The seal died the next day at SeaWorld in Orlando. "I don't think we ever had a bearded seal," said Teresa Mazza, a research assistant with Hubbs. Although thought to be the first bearded seal ever recorded in Florida, it wasn't the first seal to make an appearance. Florida biologists have been flabbergasted in recent years by random seals turning up in the subtropics. In September of last year, two Arctic hooded seals washed up a day apart in South Florida. But most of this year's stranded marine mammals -- 73 -- were bottlenose dolphins. Most died. More deaths could be on the way. Recent studies have shown bottlenose dolphins can die several weeks after exposure to red tide. The tide's lingering toxins build up in their systems as they eat menhaden and other fish. "The extent of the red tide problem in Florida's dolphin and whale population isn't yet clear," Duane De Freese, Hubb's vice president of research said in Wednesday's statement. Hubbs biologists have recorded nine dolphin deaths on the Central Atlantic Coast since Dec. 12, De Freese said. That's high, he said, adding that laboratory tests to prove cause of death are expected in several days. Brevard had a record 63 bottlenose dolphins stranded in 2001. Some suspected those dolphins were victims of a relatively new algae toxin called saxitoxin. While most strandings this year have been dolphins, a whale or two has washed up in the mix. In January, two humpback whales were among the casualties, including one in Cocoa Beach and another in Daytona Beach. Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com.   List of arsenic-tainted wells continues to grow   TONY MARRERO Published: December 19, 2007 SPRING LAKE - Jeanne Gavish is well number 116 on the Hernando County Health Department's growing list. The department so far has tested some 200 private wells for the toxic metal arsenic in an area near Batten and Powell roads, according to environmental manager Al Gray. Gavish, who lives on Old Spring Lake Road, recently got the report for her well. The result: 53.1 parts per billion. That's five times the level of arsenic deemed safe by the federal and state governments. Arsenic is a natural element found on the periodic table and is often found in water at low levels. But it also is a by-product of agricultural and industrial uses that can cause elevated levels in wells. Long-term exposure to arsenic has been linked to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidneys, nasal passages, liver and prostate. "We've been drinking bottled water ever since we found out," Gavish said. "And I understand there are people worse off than me." In fact, of the wells tested so far, 62 have levels above 10 parts per billion, Gray said. The health department began collecting the samples in February after a Batten Road resident voiced concerns about high levels found during a test at her home. Since then the department has collected samples in half-mile increments. The list of wells above the safe limit continues to lengthen, and the sampling area now covers several square miles, Gray said. The testing area will continue to expand until results are consistently at or under the level deemed safe, Gray said. The Department of Environmental Protection will try to pinpoint the source by analyzing the hydrology and topography of the area, said DEP spokeswoman Pam Vazquez. One of the suspected sources is pesticides used for agricultural operations such as orange groves, Gray said. Another possible culprit: so-called "dip vats" used until 1964 to treat cattle with chemical concoctions to kill the ticks that caused cattle fever. The pits, usually made of concrete and about seven feet long, were typically emptied each spring, according to the Florida Extension Service. The used chemicals were typically dumped in pits or buried. Cattle have grazed on the gently rolling hills of Spring Lake for decades, and many of the vats themselves have since been buried, Gray said. "You can't see them, but they're there in the ground," he said. So far, the highest levels — 165 parts per billion — have been found in a well at employee housing for the Pleasant Valley Dairy on Powell Road. Filters installed for entire home For years, the level of arsenic deemed safe in drinking water was 50 parts per billion. That changed as of January, 2006 after more research came in, said Charlie Donahue, environmental manager for the Florida Department of Health. Officials the set daily ingestion of 10 parts per billion over 30 years as safe, Donahue said. Research shows skin cancer is among the most common effects of ingestion; perhaps ironically, the skin acts a good barrier to arsenic, so exposure from showering and bathing isn't considered a great concern, Donahue said. The DEP's first responsibility is to get clean water to the residents whose water exceeds safe levels, Vazquez said. Until about mid-September, the department provided a kitchen filter for residents' homes. Now the department has begun to install free of charge a so-called point-of-entry system that filters arsenic from all the water that goes into the home, Vazquez said. DEP recently installed such a system at the Batten Road home of Mark and Rita Faltus, whose well showed more than nine times the accetable level of arsenic. The couple and their 17-year-old son live not far from Renee Holcomb, the resident who first raised concerns about higher levels in her water. The Faltuses have lived in the home since about the time their son was born and have used bottled water for drinking and cooking for years, Rita Faltus said. But, she added, "We definitely weren't going to feel comfortable about this until they did something for the whole house." Holcomb, whose well had nearly 10 times the safe level also has a point-of-entry system however, has done much research on the subject and was surprised to find other parts of Florida with similar problems of elevated arsenic. More residents should be aware of studies by the National Academy of Sciences, Holcomb said. According to the studies, one out of 100 people who drink water containing 50 ppb of arsenic will get cancer, based on drinking two liters of water per day over the course of a lifetime. "In my personal opinion," Holcomb said, "more people should get their wells tested." Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com. Project Required Long-Term Planning, Cooperation By Jim  Konkoly of Highlands Today Published: December 20, 2007 SEBRING — Construction crews began work on Phase Two of the Sebring Parkway in July, doing mostly off-road work near Sebring High School. On Jan. 2, those construction crews will start the serious road building work, causing the complete shut-down of Eucalyptus Street, between Center and Grapefruit streets, for at least four and possibly as many as six months. This section of the parkway will replace the current two-lane Eucalyptus Street with a five-lane roadway with turning lanes. Phase Two of the parkway also will convert the current Highlands Avenue into a five-lane roadway, running all the way to U.S. 27. Ramon Gavarrete, the Highlands County Engineer who has been in charge of the Parkway Project since May of 1996, said two questions about the parkway always come up. First: Why does the parkway, in the rural section that has a 55-mph speed limit, have a 90-degree, right-angle turn, forcing drivers approaching it to slow down to 15 mph? Second: What exactly is the Sebring Parkway, and where exactly will all of the four phases go to? Gavarrete says the answer to the second question is answered by explaining the answer to the first question. So does Elius F. Nortelus, the county engineer's top engineering assistant. "Everywhere I go (for a speaking engagement), everybody always asks the same question, 'Why is there that crazy, sharp, right-angle turn on the parkway?'" Gavarrete said. "Well," he continued, "right now it looks like a right-angle turn, but that's not what it really is. What it really is, is the hub of a wheel, and there will be four parts of the parkway, when it's finished, going out from that hub." Nortelus, the highway engineer who designed Sebring Parkway back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said the 90-degree, right-angle turn will become a four-way intersection, with a four-way traffic light, when the entire parkway project is completed. Gavarrete said the parkway is essentially a connected, four-part, wheel-shaped roadway system. The 90-degree, right-angle turn is the hub of the wheel and the four parkway phases create the four spokes of the wheel. Phase One, already completed, runs from U.S. 27 at Wal-Mart south to the 90-degree, right-angle turn and then on to the beginning of Eucalyptus Street at Ridgewood Drive. Phase Two, under construction now, will continue Phase One, replacing both Eucalyptus Street and Highlands Avenue, converting both into five-lane roadways, ending where Highlands Avenue now ends at U.S. 27. Phase Three, Gavarrete said, will connect Phases One and Two of the Parkway to Avon Park. It will run from the 90-degree, right-angle turn north to the entrance of South Florida Community College. The fourth and final phase of the Parkway will be the shortest, Nortelus said. He is a native of Haiti who left the Highlands County Engineer's office in the 1990s after designing Sebring Parkway, worked as a highway engineer for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in Cambridge, and then came back to Highlands County as assistant county engineer. "Phase Four will go only about one mile, and it will connect (from the 90-degree, right-angle turn) to Arbuckle Creek Road," Nortelus said. Gavarrete said purchasing land for the right of way of Sebring Parkway Phase Four will be much easier than for the first three phases, since all of the Phase Four land is owned by one person, Joe L. Davis. "Cities and counties across the whole state of Florida are watching the Sebring Parkway very closely," Gavarrete said. Why? "Because," he answered, "to do this project, we have had cooperation – great cooperation – between the county, the city (of Sebring) and the school system. And that is rare in this state. That is something that does not happen very often anywhere in Florida." Without that cooperation, Gavarrete added, the parkway probably would never have gotten off the ground, and would now have only the slimmest chance for completion. "The city is helping the county pay for this project," he explained. "And the school board has been giving us right-of-way." In about two years, Gavarrete said, "There's going to be a five-lane roadway – and make sure you call it a 'roadway,' not a 'highway' – going right past Sebring Middle School."     Retiree Flow To Florida Slows   By MICHAEL SASSO, The Tampa Tribune Published: December 20, 2007 SUN CITY CENTER - Retirees used to view Florida as the land of sun, golf and the good life. But these days, Florida sometimes gets a different reaction. "What I hear from people is, 'Oh, I wouldn't move to Florida with all those hurricanes,'" said Paul Wheat, 69, president of the Sun City Center Community Association and a Florida fan. If they're not complaining about Florida's hurricanes, Northern seniors occasionally cite concern about Florida's sinkholes, expensive housing, and high property taxes and insurance, Wheat said. There may be something to his impromptu surveys. Florida has been losing ground as a retirement destination since at least 1980, but recent U.S. Census data suggest the state's appeal among retirees is starting to slip further. Don Bradley, a sociologist at East Carolina University who has studied retirement migration, said in 2006 that Florida attracted an estimated 13 percent of people 56 and older who moved across state lines. That was down from about 16 percent in 2005. Figures from 2000 show that Florida received 19 percent of migrating seniors. Until 2006, Florida had led the nation in the "net migration" of people 56 and older (people moving into the state minus people moving out), according to Bradley's analysis. However, in 2006 Florida fell to fourth in the nation in net migration of seniors, after Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. Florida fell because fewer seniors moved into the state last year than in previous year, while more seniors left the state. While hurricanes and a higher cost of living have hurt Florida, other Southern states appear to be picking off Florida's share of retirees through tax incentives, marketing plans and other incentives. Other States Trying Harder Florida developers continue to market to the retirement-minded. But Florida's state government has no formal effort to lure the coming wave of Baby Boomer retirees, according to calls to several Florida government agencies. A big question: Even if Florida resolves its tax and insurance problems, has the retirement momentum shifted elsewhere for the long term? "Florida's been sort of the big kid on the block for so long," said Charles Longino Jr., an expert on retirement migration at Wake Forest University. "But other states are trying harder now, so it's bound to affect the outcome." There's debate about whether Florida even needs more retirees. The state now has about 4.1 million seniors, or about 23 percent of its population of 18 million, according to the Florida Department of Elder Affairs. That may swell as the Baby Boom generation retires. The United States generated about 2 million new retirees in 2000, according to a report by David Denslow, an economist at the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. That will grow to about 2.6 million per year in 2010 and swell to 3.5 million per year in 2025. That should increase demand for Florida, Denslow said. Being a retiree haven hurts Florida's schools, some state economic development leaders say, because some seniors oppose tax increases to fund education. Denslow said retirees also create a demand for low-paying service jobs - with the exception of health care workers - and create less demand for high-paying scientists, engineers and managers. That's because those highly-paid professionals often work for companies that serve national and international markets, not local markets, Denslow said. Still, retirees are a plus for state economies, Denslow and other economists say. Retirees cost states money for Medicaid, but generally require less in state and local services. Generally, retirees provide $4 in revenue for every $3 they cost in government services, Denslow said. With that in mind, neighboring state governments and private developers are aggressively courting Baby Boomers. For example: •In Georgia. Gov. Sonny Perdue has been pushing the state's legislature to exempt income from retirement plans from Georgia's state income tax. Starting next year, the first $35,000 in retirement income will be exempt from the tax. Perdue wants the legislature to exempt all retirement income, said Bert Brantley, the governor's press secretary. "It's certainly meant to help attract retirees to the state," Brantley said. "The governor sees it as a revenue-positive idea." •In Tennessee, the state's economic development department has a new initiative called "Retire Tennessee." The state has chosen nine largely-rural communities that have amenities and lifestyles for retirees and is helping them market themselves as retirement destinations. Among them is Chattanooga. The state also is sending representatives to retirement-related trade shows nationwide and is advertising in Southern Living magazine. •In North Carolina one of the hottest retirement destinations is the Asheville region. Richard Lutovsky, president of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, estimated his area has up to 30 planned communities under development, half of which are estimated to have golf courses. Retirees may buy many of the homes, he said. 'Florida's Slipping' One new Tennessee retiree is Laura Imboden, a 57-year-old from Colorado's ski country. In the past 18 months, she and her husband have toured the country in an RV, but come July, they will retire to Tellico Village, a planned community in eastern Tennessee. Tennessee's close to family across the Midwest and Northeast and has relatively low taxes, she said. "Florida had entered our minds," Imboden said. "Most people from Colorado retire in Arizona, but we knew that Arizona was farther than where we wanted to be. And so is Florida. And it's just so hot there in the summer." Developers that have retirement communities in Florida and actively market to retirees include Del Webb, a division of Pulte Homes, Inc., and WCI Communities, Inc. Company representatives did not return calls for this story. How many other new retirees will pass over Florida is anyone's guess. But William Haas, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, has studied Census data and found that in 2006 Georgia attracted 2.78 people aged 60 or older for every person who left the state. In contrast, Florida attracted 1.12 people aged 60 or older for every person who left the same year. Haas' conclusion: "Florida's slipping." Five years ago, former Gov. Jeb Bush created a commission called Destination Florida to find ways to keep the retiree pipeline flowing. Among its recommendations was freezing property tax increases for people 55 and older. The tax increases would be deferred until death, when the person's estate would pay the deferred amount. It also recommended eliminating the intangibles tax on stocks and bonds, and having Florida's Department of Elder Affairs get more involved in the state's economic development arm, Enterprise Florida. The state eventually nixed the intangibles tax, but commission Chairman T. O'Neal Douglas said most of its recommendations were never enacted. Douglas declined further comment. Representatives of Enterprise Florida, Elder Affairs, and Visit Florida, the state's tourism agency, said their agencies have no marketing program to attract seniors, and it's not a formal economic development goal. Douglas Beach, secretary of the Department of Elder Affairs, said the state is working with its cities and counties to make Florida more attractive for young and old alike, part of a program called Communities for a Lifetime. An example is putting in larger street signs to help seniors, Beach said. Also, Florida is starting an effort to attract out-of-state health care workers to the state, Beach said. Back in Sun City Center, a handful of seniors were molding ceramics during a morning arts and crafts class. Their prediction: Florida will never lose its luster for retirees. Even Atlanta is too cold for Nan Burgett, who moved here from Atlanta nine years ago. "I would never move back," she said. "I love the weather here." "We came down here because we fell in love with it," said Terri Wherle, who moved to Sun City Center two and a half years ago from Ohio. "I do not miss shoveling 20 foot of snow at all." Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865 or msasso@tampatrib.com.   Rule Protecting Florida Citrus Weathers Fight By BILL KACZOR, The Associated Press Published: December 20, 2007 TALLAHASSEE - An emergency rule designed to guard Florida's citrus crop against a fungus that might be on California fruit shipped into the state withstood an initial court challenge Wednesday. Circuit Judge William Gary denied a temporary injunction sought by California citrus growers. He decided in part that they had failed to show the rule is unconstitutional or that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm pending final resolution of the lawsuit. Florida agriculture officials issued the rule to protect the state's citrus industry from Septoria citri, which appears as small, pitted lesions. It ultimately can cause fruit to fall off trees and plants prematurely. The rule requires California fruit to be inspected and treated with a fungicide before it can be shipped to Florida, which already requires in-state citrus to undergo similar treatment for other diseases. "Our growers are already under siege by citrus greening and canker, and the measures we implemented were designed to ensure Septoria citri is not introduced into this state," Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said. "It's extremely disappointing," said Joel Nelson, president of the California Citrus Mutual growers association, one of four plaintiffs. "It's unfortunate this action was taken to punish family farmers in California over a pest that most countries worldwide - including the U.S. Department of Agriculture - do not consider to be a major problem." USDA has classified the black fungus as being of "minor significance" and only two cases were verified in California last year, according to the lawsuit. California Citrus Mutual is a nonprofit organization representing growers of 200,000 acres of fruit. The other plaintiffs are Sunkist Growers, the Pro Citrus Network, and the Corona College Heights Orange and Lemon Association. Gary wrote that the California growers should seek a remedy through state administrative procedures. Florida officials are drafting a permanent rule, and the California growers have been invited to participate in that process, said Florida Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Craig Meyer. He noted that Florida delayed and modified the emergency rule in response to the growers' comments. "I'm fairly confident that the permanent rule will be adopted and we'll be able to make it stick," Meyer said. The citrus industries in the two states are about equal in size, about $1.1 billion in annual sales each. But most of Florida's oranges are turned into juice, while the bulk of California's crop is sold as fresh fruit. To meet Florida's emergency rule, California growers and shippers say they will have to radically change the way they package and haul California citrus to Florida and elsewhere. Growers will have to tailor shipments to Florida and document them, a process that will cost more, require more trips and drive up prices, California growers say. Meyer, though, said 78 of 80 California packing houses as of Tuesday certified, through the California Department of Food and Agriculture, that they were in compliance with Florida's treatment requirements. Shipments of California citrus have continued to enter Florida.   Family Savors The Sweet Life By TOM JACKSON The Tampa Tribune Published: December 20, 2007 DADE CITY - The road that passes by the Croft family farm is much like many others in Pasco County, composed of dirt and rock and months overdue for a grooming by John Gallagher's busy road crews. It's a dusty washboard stretching north from Enterprise Road, three miles southeast of the historic county courthouse, passing rectangles of private enterprise featuring a place to purchase "contented puppies" and, nearby, hopeful Florida peach trees, beneath which busy hens and roosters in rust-flavored hues scratch out their livelihoods; meanwhile, regal peacocks observe with measured disinterest. Escorting the dusty ribbon toward God-knows-where, tangles of wild vines embrace sagging wire fences; overhead, the canopies of hardwood trees give cover to cardinals, mockingbirds and nuthatches knocking out code on sturdy branches and tangles of wild vines. Folded in the shaded greenery, cows with heavy eyelids rest motionless except for the occasional flick of an ear and the hypnotic grinding of their cud. Which is to say, the strip, in spite of its melodious name - Duck Lake Canal Road - is indistinguishable from dozens of similar unpaved thoroughfares that are both bane and opportunity to Pasco County's longtime traffic plan. But turn left just past the clutch of mailboxes, when you see the black sign announcing in white block letters, "Croft Family Farm and Produce," at the end of a slow crawl that, nonetheless, promises to loosen your dental work, and you will discover the road for what it is: a time machine. Darwin and Franklin Croft, brothers, grew up here. A cousin, Harold Croft, was reared nearby. Each spent his youth seeing after working-farm chores appropriate to their ages, all the while cultivating a deep and abiding affection for the charms of living close to the land. "We didn't have much money," Darwin says, "but we never went hungry." Each took separate paths off their fathers' farms: Franklin, now 64, into heavy machinery, then accounting for Withlacoochee Electric Cooperative, retiring as plant auditor; Darwin, 67, into meat department management for Kwik Chek/Winn-Dixie in Dade City for 20 years, ending in 1985; and Harold, 66, into lawn maintenance and irrigation installation in Bradenton. Now each has drifted back to the family homestead, reviving the farm, along with farming methods that would have been familiar to their fathers, Henry Drew and Wade Hampton Croft, the latter named for one of two Civil War generals (J.E.B. Stuart was the other) with whom the old farmers' grandfather rode. Boutique Agriculture It's true that history, tradition and constancy are important to these sons of the South's sense of self. As lads who came of age before the turbulent 1960s, who were brought up among those who heard eyewitness accounts of the "War of Northern Aggression," Darwin, Franklin and Harold had finished high school before they realized "damnYankee" is two words. That sort of upbringing has a lasting effect on a fellow. But as they pursue the art of boutique agriculture, resurrecting Croft Farms' 300 acres of fallow fields one modest patch at a time, these gentlemen cultivators have rediscovered not simply the truth of calluses well-earned, but the economic genius of achievement by hand. Their latest adventure in hand-to-crop farming has involved the growing, harvesting and processing of about an eighth of an acre of sugar cane - a couple of hybrid strains developed at the University of Florida for climes more prone to freezing than in the cane belt, that region of the state below Clewiston and Belle Glade, off the south shore of Lake Okeechobee. Today's farming Crofts are growing sugar cane because their daddies grew sugar cane, and they are tickled to report that, at an age when everything seems to be smaller, dimmer, duller and less sweet, the 2007 Croft Cane exceeds everything Henry Drew and Wade Hampton ever raised from that ancient, dark, east Pasco soil. Wielding their hand-harvesters - stubby, wooden-handled knives with broad stainless-steel blades resembling oversized painters' wall scrapers - bought from a flea market vendor who had no idea what they were, the trio felled about half of two rows of cane one recent morning. Each low-arcing swing cleanly dropped another 13-foot stalk, setting the knife to singing in metallic soprano. As usual, the harvest attracted volunteers, among them Ron Ferguson, a classic field hand of few words who doubles as an unofficial adopted brother, and "Just Plain" Bill Biemer, a restorer of sports cars and a sun-follower who, along with his Dade City-native wife, splits time between east Pasco and New Mexico. The exercise reminds Harold of his UF college days and Thanksgiving break, and no more getting inside the front door before his mother would put a cane knife in his hand and send him into the field to join the others in hacking, stripping and loading the autumn's sugar cane harvest. "After a while, I got smart," Harold says. "I stopped coming home at Thanksgiving." Now he volunteers, driving up from Bradenton with his wife, Kay, every chance he gets, happy to become reacquainted with the young man who mistakenly thought he had better things to do. Old Ways Work Best The next morning finds them stationed around the Croft family cane mill, an oxidizing antique from the middle 1800s that, oiled and attached to the rear end cannibalized from an early 20th century Chevrolet truck, extracts juice from the cane. Except that the tractor has replaced a mule as the source of power, the contraption operates exactly as it did, with brutal efficiency. Three solid iron drums, one the size of a gallon paint can, the other two slightly smaller, stood on end and arranged, if observed from above, like the iconic Mickey Mouse silhouette, turn in a motion that draws the cane through the center, flattening stalks 2 inches in diameter to corrugated-paper depth. Dirty green juice spills from the mill spout, through a filter of burlap draped over a coarse screen, down a PVC gutter to another strainer - a double layer of felt over a fine screen - into a 100-gallon cast iron kettle (circa 1845) set into a concrete block cooker. Sort of a plain, squat barbecue with a firebox in the back right (to take advantage of the Northern Hemisphere's Coriolis effect) flanked by a simple chimney, the cooker is surrounded by an aluminum-roofed gazebo with roll-down sides to block the wind and control the juice's boil. Bud Klein, a neighbor who has come to observe, offers a cautionary suggestion: "Watch carefully. When they're done, you won't ever see this again." Darwin loads the firebox with locally gathered lighter, or heart of pine, the resin-rich "fatwood" that retailers market for $12 or more per pound. But opportunity costs are irrelevant when a plume of black smoke feathers through overhanging oak branches and into the sky, inviting a fly-by inspection by one government agency or another, and announcing to neighbors that syrup-making has begun. Soon, the juice attains a rolling boil, bringing impurities to the surface, trapped in foam. Skimmed off and dumped in a bucket, this noxious byproduct will, left to itself, separate inside two weeks' time, the bottom layer becoming crystal clear rum - "200 proof," Harold boasts. But the Crofts are more determined to obtain homegrown syrup, liquid sugar the color of strong tea anxious for hot buttered biscuits, pancakes or waffles. The trio is not unaware of the implications suggested by their successful harvest and processing of sugar cane in West Central Florida. In a world recoiling from its hydrocarbon addiction and dismayed by corn's shortcomings as an alternative energy source, the ability to grow mass quantities of sugar cane - which as its name implies, is able to skip the energy-sucking step of being converted into sugar (corn's major drawback) - in areas once considered risky boosts the prospects for affordable domestic ethanol. That's neither here nor there for the Croft fellows, Franklin, Darwin and Harold. For them, it's all about recapturing what almost got away, and cultivating a manner of living that inspires patience, teamwork, ingenuity, resourcefulness and an appreciation for neighborliness. These characteristics distinguished most everyone the Crofts came upon when they were young; take a frame-loosening drive down Duck Lake Canal Road and you'll find them new and thriving all over again. The fresh cane syrup is just a sweet, sweet bonus. Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219   Our view: The ocean's SOS Florida Today editorial 12-19-07 Red tide latest evidence of need for long-term policies to protect Florida's coastal waters The casualties mount: More sick people, more dead dolphins, more dead sea turtles, more dead fish. And more concern about how long the trouble will last, and the impact it will have on public health, marine life and tourism. We're talking about the red tide plaguing Brevard County and other areas along Florida's East-Central coast, a SOS from a sick sea if there ever was one. The scourge is nothing new along the Gulf Coast, which has been the victim of repeated blooms in recent years. For example, a new attack along the Panhandle from Pensacola to Panama City has been going on more than four months. But the weeks-long outbreak here is unprecedented in Space Coast history. Scientists still don't understand the precise cause of the growing problem, but suspects abound: The main ones include fertilizers washing down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico and growing amounts of fertilizers, septic tank nutrients, and waste from cruise and gambling ships and South Florida sewage outfalls pouring into the Atlantic Ocean. Major scientific reports have issued dire warning about the health of the world's seas unless tough action is taken to protect them. Yet nowhere near enough is being done, as evidenced in Tallahassee. Gov. Charlie Crist still has not thrown his full weight behind the Blueprint for Florida's Economic and Environmental Leadership, which earlier this year issued a loud call to protect Florida's coastal waters by attacking pollution, protecting fisheries and coordinating government action to get it down. More than 160 businesses, agencies and organizations in Florida -- including 68 in Brevard -- have signed on. Crist should get with the program at once, especially with Florida's tourism and fishing industries generating $60 billion a year. Meanwhile, areas in Southwest Florida hit hard by red tide are making forceful moves to battle it by regulating fertilizers, which contain high levels of the nitrogen and phosphorus suspected of triggering the outbreaks. Sarasota County is leading the way, passing a model law that requires slow-release fertilizers less prone to running off into waterways, 10-foot buffer zones between a water body and areas to be fertilized, and employee training for companies that apply fertilizers. Lee and Charlotte counties are poised to follow suit and Brevard County Commissioners should do the same at a time when the fertilizer industry is using its money and power in the Legislature to fight such farsighted and badly needed initiatives. Last year alone, two million tons of fertilizers were used in Florida with 500,000 tons spread on lawns and golf courses. Unknown amounts washed into waterways and eventually reached the sea, a process of degradation repeated year after year. The Space Coast's severe red tide outbreak had shaken the public out of its "it can't happen here" mentality. The ocean is shouting for help and bold steps are necessary at the federal, state and local levels to protect the planet's great engine of life. Failure to act now will result in more sick people, more dead marine life and the real possibility of large scale disaster to come. WATER ALTERNATIVES County demands river data Marion won't pay for plans until minimum flows are established BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY STAR-BANNER OCALA - When it comes to water, the Marion County Commission wants to draw a line in the sand. On Tuesday, commissioners decided that county government should not pay for planning or any other parts of alternative water supply projects until after the St. Johns River Water Management District has established minimum flows and levels for the Ocklawaha and Silver rivers. Right now, there are two alternative water supply projects in which Marion might be a partner: the potential pumping of surface water from the Ocklawaha River near the Eureka area and a possible desalination plant in Flagler County on the Atlantic coast. There is no price tag for the desalination plant yet. During a Dec. 10 meeting, consultants working for the St. Johns district estimated construction costs for the Ocklawaha project were $811.3 million for a single water treatment plant and a 173-mile pipeline. Marion's estimated contribution toward construction was $158 million for 21.3 million gallons per day. The county also could expect $9 million a year in operations and maintenance costs, according to the consultant's numbers. St. Johns officials want counties and municipalities to choose by March or April the alternative water supplies they plan to be part of, so planning and early design may start. But minimum flows and levels for the Ocklawaha and Silver rivers are not due until the end of 2009. The Silver River feeds the Ocklawaha with water from Silver Springs. Minimum flows and levels are intended to show a point at which any more surface withdrawals or groundwater withdrawals in the area could cause environmental harm. St. Johns officials told the County Commission during a meeting in late October that no plans to pump the Ocklawaha would be approved until minimum flows and levels were in place. County commissioners greeted that with skepticism, saying plans to pump the river have moved ahead before the environmental effect is known. Instead, commissioners want planning to halt until the minimum flows and levels are established. St. Johns district spokesman Hank Largin said district officials could not comment on the county's letter until they receive it. SPRINGS COMMITTEE Development attorneys, environmentalists and a sod farm owner are all expected to be part of a nine-member advisory committee that the county will form to work on revisions of the recently voted-down springs protection ordinance. Each of the five county commissioners will choose one member. Then they will vote on the other four members as a group. To try to accelerate the timetable for bringing a scaled-back version of the springs protection ordinance to a vote, commissioners want the committee to deliver a report by the end of March. Committee membership should be finalized at the commission's first meeting in January. NO WATERING RESTRICTIONS The County Commission has indefinitely delayed action on a proposed landscaping ordinance that could give code enforcement officers the authority and responsibility to issue fines to residents and property owners who violate lawn watering restrictions. Chief Assistant County Attorney Thomas D. MacNamara said the delay is intended to allow the St. Johns River and Southwest Florida Water Management districts time to reach an agreement on unified watering rules in Marion. St. Johns covers the county east of Interstate 75 and Southwest Florida has jurisdiction west of the interstate. MacNamara said the two districts may have a written agreement in two to three months. Christopher Curry may be reached at 352-867-4115 or chris.curry@starbanner.com. LOST LAKE Staff — By Jeff Waters jeff.waters@gaflnews.com Dog fennel, grass and a large, water-filled hole are all that is left of the back half of Peacock Lake just east of Live Oak. The 148-acre lake was once a place for skiers and anglers alike. Now it's drying up fast and grass has already begun to take over. Peacock Lake is shaped like an hourglass now. There's a pool of water left in the front part of the lake, but the boat ramp is completely dry. Boathouses and docks stretch out into the lakebed, but no water laps at the poles. You can see evidence that a lake was once there. There are homemade anchors, rods and reels and fish bones on what had been the lake bottom. The only living things that are happy with this are the buzzards, which feed on the dying fish. Frank Ingram, who has lived on the lake all his life, says he has never seen it like this. Ingram remembers his dad telling him that the water drained once years ago, and that he could hear the whooshing sound of the water draining. He remembers his father telling him that the lake started draining at night and was gone by the next day. He says his father used to haul logs across the drained lake. County Commissioner Billy Maxwell, who lives on the lake, fondly remembered the water shimmering "like diamonds" when moonlight reflected off it. Now that the lake has dried in the back you can see what could be a sinkhole, plus several smaller holes that are opening up. Sinkholes - often the products of drought - may be the culprit in the massive loss of water. "We are at a 25 inch rainfall deficit lacking over a two year period," said Suwannee River Water Management District Communications Coordinator Cindy Johnson. Johnson said the district does not monitor Peacock Lake but that other lakes in the area are showing signs of depletion. The only lake in the area they do monitor is Lowe Lake in Wellborn. "It is the lowest it has been since 2002," says Johnson. White Lake, partially located on the Camp Weed and the Cerveny Conference Center grounds, is also extremely low. Mandi's Chapel used to sit on open water but now sits on a marsh. Johnson added that drought conditions in Georgia are unrelated to the current situation in the Suwannee River Valley. The DROUGHT CONTINUES o The Suwannee River Water Management District reports that districtwide 21 of the last 23 months have had below-normal rainfall. o Throughout the district, 32 ground water monitoring wells have set new November lows and 12 of those have set historic lows. o 128 emergency construction permits for dry wells have been issued since April and 11 of those were issued in November. o A voluntary reduction in water use remains in effect districtwide. Water district offers settlement to developer   Wrecked Pine Island’s Willow Lake for tree farm By Ryan Lengerich rlengerich@news-press.com Originally posted on December 19, 2007 A developer who wiped out a natural water habitat in Pine Island would have to pay a fine and restore 6 acres where Willow Lake once existed, under settlement terms offered by the South Florida Water Management District. In mid-October, as Russell Weintraub and his business, Treeco, cleared ground for a palm tree farm, they went past boundaries approved by the South Florida Water Management District. The developer has offered to restore 1.45 acres he admits he should not have cleared. Pine Island resident, former attorney and environmental activist Phil Buchanan has data he said proves the area is 6 acres. The water district, in a settlement offer dated Dec. 14, agreed and said Weintraub must restore 6 acres of wetlands and pay $40,100 in fines, or face the district in court. “I am happy, everybody has done their job,” Buchanan said Tuesday. “The data is just overwhelming, the only person that said it didn’t exist was the land owner.” Weintraub has until this weekend to accept or reject the deal. His attorney Cami Corbett said she has not seen the investigation documents or spoken with the district, and will not make a decision until she has done so. Corbett voiced frustration the settlement terms were made public before she and Weintraub met with water district officials. “The district has very recently changed their mind about how they are handling it,” said Corbett. “I think it is political, I think the commissioners are pressuring the district.” Lee County commissioners have expressed outrage, but have no jurisdiction over the wetlands. Three weeks ago, water district spokeswoman Susan Sanders said the district gave the developer the right to clear the ground for the tree farm, except for the 1.45 acres. That’s still the case, Sanders said Tuesday. But plans are also filed with the county for migrant farm worker housing on 15 acres adjacent to what was Willow Lake. Due to those plans, Sanders said the developer should have applied for an Environmental Resource Permit and, had it done so, the water district would not have allowed the developer to clear the remaining portion of the lake. Corbett said the plans have been adjusted and will not impact the area, so the permit is unnecessary. She said the housing plans were filed in August and is unsure why the water district would suddenly use the project in its ruling. Those are all details she wants to speak with water district officials about. “I can’t advise my client to accept (the settlement) because don’t have appropriate information to find out how they arrived at that,” Corbett said. Behind the scenes, the Army Corps of Engineers continues to analyze the issue. Their decision could further decide the lake’s size and how much Weintraub must restore. Corps spokeswoman Cynthia Ovdenk said a final decision is near. Buchanan is looking forward to the restoration. “The real crunch will be when we come down to the mitigation or restoration effort,” he said. “This developer is going to have to come in with a pretty strong restoration plan.”   Tide Turning Against Flood Of Empties   By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune Published: December 19, 2007 ZEPHYRHILLS - It used to be simple: Grab a bottle of water and go. Once seen as the hallmark of healthy living, bottled water is facing a backlash from environmentalists who worry about all those discarded plastic containers, more than 80 percent of which end up in landfills and incinerators. Then there's the practical argument: Why pay for something that flows freely from the faucet? Even in Zephyrhills, "The City of Pure Water," a plan that ultimately would allow the Zephyrhills Spring Water Co. to expand its Pasco County bottling plant initially met with opposition from residents. Aside from disposing of the 28 million bottles of water the Container Recycling Institute estimates Americans drink each year, environmentalists say the industry's rapid growth is straining the world's scarce oil resources. It takes the equivalent of 17 million barrels of oil per year to produce that many water bottles, according to the Pacific Institute, a California think tank. "That's a lot of oil for a product that, frankly, is a luxury," said Peter Gleick, president of the institute. The bottled water industry has tried to respond to its critics. Locally, Zephyrhills Spring Water is rolling out a lighter, hourglass-shaped bottle that uses 30 percent less plastic. The International Bottled Water Association also has pledged to encourage more recycling efforts. In August, the organization took out full-page ads in The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle in response to what it called misleading attacks. It is unclear what - if any - effect the negative publicity could have on bottled water sales. For the past five years, Americans have been buying more of the bottled stuff, with sales growing 8 percent to 10 percent every year; sales of Zephyrhills brand water have kept pace, a company spokesman said. Only Soda Quenches More Thirsts Apart from soda, Americans drink more bottled water than any other commercially packaged beverage, including juice, beer or coffee, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. That consumers are choosing bottled water over sugary drinks is a good thing, those in the industry say. And buying a bottle of water is just that: a choice. "I love my tap water, but when I'm on the road between Pensacola and Zephyrhills, I'm not interested in trying out the water in the shady little water fountain at the gas station. I'd rather buy some bottled water," said Jim McClellan, spokesman for the Zephyrhills Spring Water Co., which is owned by Nestle Waters North America, the owner of Poland Spring and Deer Park brands. Defending the company's environmental stewardship, McClellan points to the green technology used in Nestle's buildings and its maintenance of the Crystal Springs Preserve, a nature center on the grounds of the southeast Pasco spring where Zephyrhills water is pumped. Besides, soda manufacturers use plastic, too, and some commercial ventures use more water than bottlers do, he said. Zephyrhills Spring Water pumps an average of 755,000 gallons per day from Crystal Springs. By comparison, Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel uses an average of 619,000 gallons per day, according to the Southwest Florida Management District. CF Industries, a phosphate company in Plant City, uses 4 million gallons a day. Tap Water's Benefits Touted Still, bottled water is facing scrutiny for a reason, said Ruth Caplan, chairwoman of the Sierra Club's water privatization task force. "The reason we focus on bottled water particularly is that you can't turn on your tap and get soda out of your tap or apple juice out of your tap," she said. "We truly do have an alternative to drinking bottled water. We also have an alternative to buying these one-use bottled water bottles." In June, the U.S. Conference of Mayors discussed the irony of buying bottled water for city meetings and functions while touting the quality of municipal tap water. Some cities have even banned buying bottled water, both as an environmentally friendly move and as a cost-saving measure. In Zephyrhills, jumping on the bandwagon would pose challenges. The Zephyrhills Spring Water Co. provides 325 local jobs and donates free bottled water during emergencies and to city hall workers. "It would be like Detroit saying, 'We're all driving Toyotas,'" City Manager Steve Spina said. Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.   Senator wants probe of earmark for Lee County highway interchange By The Associated Press   Story Updated: Dec 19, 2007 at 11:47 AM EST ESTERO, Fla. (AP) - An Oklahoma senator wants an investigation into a disputed $10 million congressional earmark for an Interstate 75 interchange in southwest Florida. Republican Sen. Tom Coburn said Tuesday he wants a special committee to investigate the earmark to a 2005 transportation bill that provides money to connect Coconut Road to I-75 in Lee County near Fort Myers. The earmark was inserted into the bill by U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, even though local lawmakers didn't ask for it. Watchdog groups have charged that he did it to benefit a developer who owns land around the interchange and who hosted a $40,000 fundraiser for Young in 2005. Coburn and at least one other senator had placed holds on the bill. On Tuesday, Coburn's office said he wants a committee to look into how the language of the funding bill was changed after Congress voted on it and before the president signed it. "Because secret, improper and unauthorized changes to congressionally passed legislation call into question the integrity of our entire constitutional and legislative process, I believe a full and open investigation into this matter is necessary to restore the integrity of both the U.S. Congress and the Constitution," Coburn wrote in a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Coburn wants to attach the requirement for the committee's formation to a pending bill that would restore the original language to the legislation, which provided for widening and improvements to I-75 in Lee and Collier counties rather than the money being earmarked specifically for the new interchange. Young has repeatedly declined to comment on whether he initiated the changes in the bill. His office said he welcomes an investigation into the earmark process. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group, was unsuccessful in trying to get the House ethics committee to investigate the matter in September     EPA shuts down dewatering on Marco Island, for now By WINK News Story Updated: Dec 18, 2007 at 6:36 PM EST The EPA is threatening jail time and fines against Marco Island leaders if data related to the septic tank replacement program is not provided. A spokeswoman for the city says the certified letter the EPA sent is just procedure. Lisa douglas says the city plans to provide all data requested by the EPA. City leaders were unaware they need a permit from the EPA to discharge ground pumped out of the ground to make way for new sewer lines. Douglas says the city has been cooperating with the DEP and South Florida Water Management with no problems. De-watering has been put on hold for now, but douglas expects the project to be back on line within two weeks. Some blame those who are against the sewer project for sending daily pictures to the EPA of the project. "We believe that there is constant contact with both the DEP and EPA, " says Douglas. Meanwhile, resident Jim Kennedy, who is against the sewer project admits making repeated contact with the EPA in an effort to stir interest. "Sure, why shouldn't we. It's our right, in fact, it's our responsibility. We need to be responsible citizens," says Kennedy. The EPA says it has always required a ground water discharge permit for any agency dumping ground water into a marine area. The EPA could not say why they didn’t approach city leaders about the permit from day one of the project.   EPA issues formal letter to City of Marco Island Request made in writing to satisfy permit requirements requested from DEP By LESLIE WILLIAMS Originally published 12:02 p.m., December 18, 2007 Updated 01:23 p.m., December 18, 2007 After several weeks using the Department of Environmental Protection as a middle man, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency has directly issued a letter to the City of Marco Island seeking information on the city’s dewatering activities. The information sought by the EPA is part of a larger process casting deeper scrutiny on the city’s dewatering activities. Dewatering, the process of pumping out groundwater to enable underground digging, is one step employed by construction crews as part of the city’s sewer installation for the Septic Tank Replacement Program. Dewatering has been a topic of contention since questions were raised starting in July about the release of hydrogen sulfide gas from the removed ground water. An EPA representative said her agency has received about 40 complaints about city construction work since August, though not necessarily from 40 individual callers. Subsequently, said EPA representative Dawn Harris-Young, “We called the state concerning permit requirements differing from activities permitted by the South Florida Water Management District.” But until the letter received Monday by the city, communications by the EPA have been routed through the DEP, which is essentially a subordinate organization of the federal agency. DEP Ombudsman Eli Fleishauer said his agency is uninvolved in the most recent EPA communication. Harris-Young said last week that the EPA has initiated an open investigation involving the dewatering activities, but she could not give any details while the investigation is under way. Nothing has changed in the last week, though, to prompt the letter, Harris-Young said. “The letter is basically to gather information,” she said. “It is an open investigation, so I cannot comment any further.” In addition to water samples and tests already conducted by the city, the EPA’s Dec. 14 letter requests information on “what actions the city has taken to minimize the impact to waters of the U.S. from the discharges.” The city is even being asked to detail the time and date each groundwater discharge started and ended, provide maps of the activities, list where the water was pumped to, how much was pumped and the purpose of each discharge. While the city has maintained that this information was consistently shared with the Department of Environmental Protection throughout the last two years when the dewatering process was used, the EPA is going so far as to request “(c)opies any of reports or notifications sent to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, including emails.” City Public Works Director Rony Joel said the city had asked its attorney in the matter to review the letter and contact the EPA for clarification. Attorney Kevin Hennessy, of the Bradenton-based firm Lewis, Longman & Walker, has said he has been in contact with an EPA attorney throughout the process. Hennessy did not return phone calls Tuesday in time for deadline. “We had anticipated it because we knew it was coming,” Joel said. “We didn’t know the specificity that it covered.” Joel said the city is seeking clarification on the time period covered by the EPA’s request. “We don’t understand how far back they want to go,” he said. “Do they want to go back the last 10 years, one year? Is it specifically related to the STRP?” Though sewer construction has been under way for two years, In the meantime, the city is still dewatering from one site, on Seagrape Avenue, where the groundwater is being fed into the sewer force main. DEP officials and the city have been in regular contact about the dewatering under way now by the city, which officials say needs to be undertaken in order not to cause substantial delays to sewer construction.     California citrus growers sue Florida over quarantine By AARON C. DAVIS Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO (AP) -- For decades, the little black fungus has been a pest so common and minor that California citrus farmers say they nearly forgot about it. So they were taken by surprise earlier this month when it prompted Florida to begin quarantining truckloads of oranges. The move has threatened to cut off one of California's most lucrative domestic markets for oranges, lemons and grapefruits and prompted a lawsuit by the California citrus industry. "We've stopped shipping to Florida. It's hurting," said Joel Nelson, president of the California Citrus Mutual, a nonprofit representing farmers who grow 200,000 acres of citrus. "The cruise lines are crying, the retail stores are crying, the trucking companies are crying. This affects a lot of people, all along the line." California exports about $75 million worth of citrus to Florida each year. Growers and agricultural officials faced off in state court in Tallahassee on Tuesday battling over the validity of the quarantine, with a decision by the judge expected as soon as Wednesday. The fight is unusual territory for the nation's two citrus titans. The relationship between the Florida and California industries has usually been a cordial one, in large part because their markets are different. Most of Florida's crop is crushed for juice, while most of California's is sold as whole fruit. But on Dec. 7, Florida officials declared a quarantine on California citrus, idling hundreds of tractor trailers a week that normally are bound for the Sunshine State. At issue is Septoria citri, a common fungus the U.S. Department of Agriculture has classified as a disease of "minor significance" to citrus crops. Under the quarantine, every container of California citrus must be inspected for Septoria citri spots, treated with a fungicide and stamped with a certificate authorized by the state. Steve Lyle, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said he does not believe any California grower has yet been certified to meet Florida's stringent new requirements. Growers say they will not be able to fully meet the requirements before the end of the season. California growers are convinced the quarantine is retaliation for federal rules that have banned Florida orange exports to California, Texas and other citrus-growing states. Those rules are an attempt to prevent the spread of the more infectious citrus canker disease. To meet the Septoria citri requirements, California growers and shippers say they will have to radically change the way they package and haul California citrus to Florida and elsewhere. Rarely does one tractor trailer deliver to just one state. To meet the new requirements, growers will have to tailor shipments to Florida and document them, a process that will cost more, require more trips and drive up prices, growers say. Florida officials dispute that the quarantine is malicious or retaliatory. Rather, state regulators say they have simply decided that enough is enough and that they will do anything necessary to protect Florida growers who have been forced to destroy entire groves to deal with citrus canker, greening disease and leaf miner. Septoria citri, which is not found in Florida, could scar more of the state's harvest, Florida officials say. The disease first appears as small, pitted lesions and ultimately can cause premature fruit drop. Under a microscope, the fungus has dark spores that appear hairy. South Korea began requiring inspections of citrus from two California counties for Septoria citri four years ago. The U.S. and South Korea remain embroiled in a trade dispute over the inspections. "They say (citri's) been in California for years, so why do we need to do this now? Well, frankly, we were not aware of how much it was in California and our job is protect our growers. We just don't need another disease in this state right now," said Liz Compton, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "To be clear, we're not saying we don't want (the fruit). We're just saying we don't want the disease." California growers - led by the citrus nonprofit and Sunkist Growers - have sued the state. They claim the ban on California imports amounts to violations of interstate commerce and unjustifiably discriminates against California products. There were just two documented cases of the fungus in California last year, according to the lawsuit. "This action is not to protect the health and safety of the Florida citrus industry, but is an improper burden upon interstate commerce that protects the Florida fresh industry at the expense of the California fresh industry," according to the lawsuit. California growers ship about 7,000 tractor trailers full of citrus to Florida annually. Florida imports oranges from California because 90 percent of its commercial orange production is crushed to make fresh orange juice. Only about 21 percent of California oranges are used to produce juice. The citrus industries in California and Florida are mirror images in size, about $1.1 billion in annual sales each, according to the lawsuit. California is seeking an emergency injunction to lift the quarantine. After an all-day hearing Tuesday, 2nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge William L. Gary said he would rule on the case Wednesday, Compton said. California growers flew an entourage of citrus industry executives and experts to Florida to testify. Among other evidence, they submitted letters showing Florida asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture if it has entry requirements for citrus from other areas of the world where Septoria citri is present. Federal regulators responded that they do not because imports do not usually contain the disease. The reason: Infected fruit already has dropped prematurely from the trees. "The ironic part is they still need citrus," said Nelson, of the California Citrus Mutual. "If they're successful in their quarantine against us, they'll have to import from Spain, Australia and other places that also have" the disease. County plans to host summit on mining's impact on ag land By HECTOR FLORIN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 05, 2007 WEST PALM BEACH — Faced with what they say are crucial questions about the impact rock mining will have in the county's vast agricultural land, county commissioners on Tuesday decided to host a summit in two months to help get answers. Commissioners want federal, state and county officials to sit at a table with environmental groups and mining companies to see how blasting rock will affect water quality and still-unplanned Everglades restoration projects in the agricultural area. But some commissioners warned that a movement is afoot in the legislature to take rock mining decisions away from the counties and turn it over to the state, as state Department of Transportation officials have said rock for roads is badly needed throughout Florida. Residents and organizations expressed their concerns about the environmental effects of digging holes in the Everglades Agricultural Area. But aside from one Florida Rock Industries employee who said the rock coming from county land proved viable for road building, lobbyists and representatives for the mining industry did not speak publicly at the meeting. Rinker Materials has a pending application with the county to mine about 3,000 acres over a period of 36 years that is scheduled for a county commission vote on Jan. 3. That proposal will still come forward despite plans for the summit, Deputy County Administrator Verdenia Baker said. Tuesday's discussions dealt mainly with what's not known about mining in the Everglades Agricultural Area, and how answers could be found. What is the geology of the area? What kind of testing should take place to determine if mining could affect water quality? Would mining negate any potential Everglades restoration projects in the area? And, of course, how long would it take to find out these answers? "Some issues will exist six months from now, a year from now," County Administrator Bob Weisman said. "I don't think that we can afford to do the work that's being spoken about" and get all the information in a short amount of time. But gathering more information is necessary, Commissioner Burt Aaronson said. "We don't know what's under the ground," he said. "I want to have clean and fresh drinking water." A state strategic aggregates review task force is scheduled to submit a report by Feb. 1, and Commissioner Jeff Koons, who sits on the task force, said "they might take this mining stuff way out of" local hands. Commissioner Karen Marcus said a locally held summit, which would include state legislators, would give the county a key forum to voice concerns. Dry Times By Douglas  Carman of Highlands Today Published: December 19, 2007 SEBRING — Charles Vealey's boat sat in his garage for two years. He and his fishing buddy, Aaron Seward, used to take the boat out to Lake Jackson or Istokpoga, sometimes going elsewhere in the state to catch some bass. Vealey said he couldn't put his boat in those lakes anymore, and he had better uses for the garage space the boat was taking up. "I don't want it stored in the garage if the lake's so low," said Vealey as he cleaned out his boat Tuesday. He just sold it and was about to deliver it to someone. Highlands County continues to have less than average rainfalls, causing most of the lakes to dip up to several feet below where they should be. Erin McCarta, the county's assistant lakes manager, said this is beginning to interfere with the public boat ramps at lakes Tulane and Jackson. Ecologically, the lowering lake levels are not a major concern yet, McCarta said, even though "they're suffering a little bit." But if a boater has one sitting in any of the lakes right now, she warned that they may have trouble getting them out in the near future, as the lakes are expected to decline further through the winter. "It wouldn't be a bad idea to pull it out," she said. Of course, some of the homeowners are already seeing nothing but sand under their docks, and that has been the case for a year. Judy Brooks, who owns one of those boat docks, remembered when she had to mow the grass in front of her dock back in 2000. That's "front," as in beyond the end of the dock. She's wondering if it's going to get that low again. Meanwhile, she and her husband have not had the chance to use the boat since they returned to Sebring from Kentucky last month. She said some of the parties she and her neighbors had on the lake were affected because they couldn't launch their boats. "It's a shame that the water level is so low," the 11-year seasonal resident said. "My husband's in the lake practically every year." Well Owners Face Low Water Tables As the lakes are down, so are the aquifers. The latest data from the Southwest Florida Water Management District showed that the water table for the southern part of the district, which includes the western part of Highlands County, is already 1.5 feet below where it should normally be. And with the water tables staying low, James Lewis, of Lewis Well Drilling in Lake Placid, said he's having to install well packers for several residential wells to keep them working. Owners of the smaller irrigation wells, which pump about twice as much water as the residential counterparts, might have to dig 4-inch wells if the water tables continue to drop, he said.   Plan to spur growth in Nokomis OK'd By ZAC ANDERSON zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com SARASOTA COUNTY -- Taller buildings, denser development and a signature "Old Florida" architectural style could soon be the standard for Nokomis after the County Commission on Tuesday tentatively approved the community's revitalization plan. The plan is intended to stimulate development and tourism in Nokomis, a community with few businesses besides a handful of strip malls, restaurants and gas stations. To entice developers, the county is poised to increase building height limits to 45 feet from 35 feet along the U.S. 41 business corridor and Colonia Lane. Meanwhile, the adjacent city of Venice is going in the opposite direction, proposing that building heights be limited to 35 feet. The city is considering a moratorium on taller buildings retroactive to Nov. 27, when the City Council first discussed the limit. Any new proposals for buildings over 35 feet would not be considered. "We're looking at putting it in place for one year or until the council adopts a new comprehensive plan," City Manager Marty Black said. The taller buildings in unincorporated Nokomis would have to be constructed in a "more decorative Old Florida Key West" design theme with metal roofs and other special features. Development likely would be denser too, with up to 25 residential units instead of 13, if the developer makes the first floor commercial. The county has been working on a revitalization plan for Nokomis since July 2005, a process Commission Chairwoman Nora Patterson described as "long and checkered." "I think we're there," Patterson said. The new rules must be finalized at a public meeting on Feb. 13, but commissioners agreed on everything except the increased density. Nokomis residents who created the plan described Tuesday as a "historic day" for the community. "This really sets the tone for future development," said Bruce Dillon, chairman of the Nokomis Revitalization Committee. John Ask, chairman of the Nokomis Civic Association, said the changes will make Nokomis a more desirable place to live. "We're really short on restaurants and commercial development," Ask said. "These new standards provide a little sizzle." The standards also are expected to increase tourist-related development. Prominent South County developer Henry Rodriguez attended Tuesday's meeting to back the revitalization plan. Rodriguez wants to build two hotels on Albee Road and U.S. 41. The new rules would allow him to put kitchens in the hotel rooms. "The market is going to suites with kitchens, so this was very important for us," Rodriguez said. He estimated that groundbreaking would take place next summer. The Key West style also will make Nokomis a more attractive destination community, Rodriguez said. Other new standards include more vegetative buffering and increased building setbacks. The new rules primarily apply to properties fronting U.S. 41 from just south of Laurel Road to the Venice city limits and along a portion of Colonia Lane. Ask and Dillon initially had proposed 65-foot building heights for those roads, but the commission decided that height was not always compatible with nearby residential development. It will be allowed only by special exception. The Nokomis revitalization plan coincides with the completion of major taxpayer-funded efforts to improve the community, including the widening of U.S. 41 to six lanes, and the widening of Colonia Lane and beautification with decorative street lights and brick street pavers. Staff writer Kim Hackett contributed to this report.   Polk County to discuss supporting Kissimmee River task force Conservation groups want the state to study the Kissimmee River before allowing more building. Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writer December 16, 2007 Polk County commissioners could join about a half-dozen conservation groups in asking Gov. Charlie Crist to form a task force to study the Kissimmee River watershed. Conservation groups including The Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife and the Everglades Foundation want the Kissimmee River watershed studied before more homes, roads and buildings are constructed in the area. In a letter sent to the governor last month, the groups said the task force should address key issues including protecting water resources and conservation land. They want the task force modeled after one created by Gov. Jeb Bush to study development in the Wekiva River basin. The groups said that the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes watershed, which is part of the greater Everglades ecosystem, "is experiencing some of the most intense development pressure in the state of Florida." Development that was previously contained within Orlando, Kissimmee and St. Cloud metropolitan areas, as well as the U.S. Highway 27 corridor in Polk County, is expanding onto agricultural lands in the watershed. The groups told the governor there are 32 major developments in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes watershed that are at some point in the approval process. In Polk County, a developer wants to build more than 5,000 homes and a golf course on thousands of acres next to a state preserve near Lake Hatchineha. There are also proposals for roads to be built in the area, which the groups said would open the region for more development. "We believe that time is of the essence regarding the growth pressures impacting this crucial area," the letter said. In addition to the conservation groups, Avatar Holdings, the developer of Poinciana, has agreed to support the high-level task force. The South Florida company recently sent a letter to Tallahassee stating its support of a gubernatorial coalition of public leaders and landowners that would plan the future of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes watershed. Not everyone supports the idea. Osceola County officials say they do not want a state task force because they say Osceola is committed to its own planning process. Conservation groups, however, say the issues extend beyond Osceola County. Polk County staff members are scheduled to recommend that the commission approve a letter of support for the task force. The commission will vote on the matter when it meets Wednesday in Bartow. Daphne Sashin of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Amy L. Edwards can be reached at aledwards@orlandosentinel.com or 407-931-5946.   Mascotte delays plan to become bigger city Robert Sargent Sentinel Staff Writer December 19, 2007 MASCOTTE The city has agreed to delay a proposed annexation of nearly 3 square miles of land while opponents argue that part of it goes against Florida's statutes. The City Council was scheduled Monday night to consider the massive expansion, which would nearly join Mascotte's north side with the city limits of Leesburg. The deal would incorporate huge sections of rural landscape that Mascotte later might rezone for future development. The Citizens Coalition of Lake County -- a fast-growing watchdog group of local residents -- argues that a large portion of the annexation would create a 587-acre enclave with a portion of the county surrounded by city property. State statutes direct cities not to create enclaves when annexing property. But representatives for the landowners say their annexation will not create an enclave because of a small roadway and a 100-foot-wide sliver of land that will remain outside of Mascotte and prevent the city from completely surrounding that large area of the county. Coalition President Rob Kelly said that the 100-foot connector does not adequately qualify the annexation. "By cutting out 100 feet and trying to say that is not a valid enclave is gaming the system. It's not good planning," he added. City officials will consider the annexation again in February. But until then City Manager Marge Strausbaugh said Mascotte will try to determine whether more needs to be done to further conform with state law. That may require even more land to be omitted from the proposed annexation area. "We might have to shave part of it off," Strausbaugh explained. City Council member Barbara Tillman said she has questions about the disputed enclave and how the proposed annexation area may be used in the future. "Do they have any specific use for it?" she asked. Currently, representatives for the landowners are asking only for inclusion in Mascotte, although they are expected to later ask for a change to allow more development -- possibly homes. LPG Urban & Regional Planners is overseeing three different land-annexation requests totaling 1,800 acres. But Monday night the company asked Mascotte's City Council to delay a decision because land-use attorney Steve Richey could not attend the meeting. The city now is scheduled to have the first of two annexation votes Feb. 4. The enclave dispute focuses on 1,327 acres owned by Orlando-based Maury L. Carter & Associates off of County Road 33 to the east and Austin Merritt Road to the north. LPG owner Greg Beliveau said the site currently can have up to one home per 5 acres, but if annexed Carter might later request zoning for up to one home for every acre. Tuscanooga Investment Co. wants to annex a separate 285-acre tract along Tuscanooga Road west of Mascotte. The Florida State Baptist Missionary Foundation Inc. also is asking the city to annex 265 acres east of C.R. 33. Strausbaugh said that property -- a Baptist youth camp -- could help to bring Mascotte closer to an additional 433 acres of land that Mascotte could annex later. Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.   County beefs up protection of old trees   By ZAC ANDERSON zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com SARASOTA COUNTY -- Tall, thick, and shady, the moss-laden branches of older live oak trees are a symbol of Old Florida beauty. So while Sarasota County is poised to spend record amounts on new trees in the coming years, on Tuesday the County Commission recognized that older trees are important, too, and voted to beef up a tree protection ordinance. The new rules require developers to plant more trees and protect existing trees on their properties. They also make it more difficult for homeowners to cut down trees. The goal is to expand Sarasota County's tree canopy and bring it in line with federal standards for urban forests. Urban trees reduce energy use by shading buildings and provide other community benefits. "We're trying to maximize and replenish the tree canopy to the greatest extent possible," said Matt Osterhoudt, a resource protection manager for the county. Some of the new policies include: Greater protection for trees on lots of five acres or less. On such properties, homeowners could clear trees if they were within 250 feet of a house. Now the tree must be within 150 feet. Greater protection for trees on construction sites. Contractors must now erect barriers around trees out to the edge of their canopy to protect them during construction. A wider definition of "grand trees." Such large trees are afforded increased protection, and more trees now will qualify as grand trees. Increased survival requirements for planted trees. Anyone required to plant a tree must prove it is alive for seven years, not two years as in the past. Increased numbers of trees required to be planted in every development, from large subdivisions to single family homes. The county began rewriting the tree protection ordinance earlier this year. Many of the changes were initiated by people like Wells Purmort, vice chairman of the Sarasota Tree Advisory Council. Purmort came to Tuesday's meeting wearing green and demanding even greater protection for trees. Overall he said he is happy with the new ordinance. "Trees have so many benefits and this allows the county greater latitude in protecting them," Purmort said. Two protection measures did not make it into the new ordinance despite the tree council's unanimous recommendation. They involve adding a "majestic tree" classification that increases protection for trees slightly smaller than grand trees and ending the practice of exempting government road and utility projects from protecting trees. In both cases commissioners worried that the rules would be too costly or restrictive. "I want to tread a little lightly on people's use of their yards," said Commission Chairwoman Nora Patterson. However, Patterson and the other commissioners agreed to consider adding the additional rules at a later date. The new ordinance comes just a month after Sarasota voters approved historic spending levels for tree planting. Using money from the penny sales tax, the county will plant $521,000 worth of trees in 2010 and increase spending every year until it reaches $812,000 in 2024     Land Vs. Cash By Bill Rettew Jr. of Highlands Today Published: December 19, 2007 LAKE PLACID — Should the town take the money and run or is land better? At last week's meeting, town attorney Bert Harris III asked the town council to consider whether impact fees negotiated with builders should be extracted in cash or land. During typical negotiations during the development process with a prospective builder, municipalities often assess impact fees. Builders often "pay" for those impact fees with cash for public projects, including traffic improvements, such as installation of a red light or widening of an affected roadway. Other times a builder will "donate," or set aside, acreage for an ambulance station, police station, elementary school or parks and recreation areas. Several large residential developments are being planned for properties within and outside the town's borders. Development of the Grigsby property might add more than 900 new homes, with separate plans to construct up to 4,600 homes for a recently proposed development, just the north of town limits. Arleen Tuck, town clerk, favored taking land rather than money, when collecting impact fees. She noted that land prices have likely doubled since acreage for much of the 50-acre Lake June Park was purchased. "We'd rather have the land," said Tuck. "Take the land. It's more valuable and there's no telling what (earlier land purchases) would be worth now." Councilman Bill Brantley said the town should be careful not to become "land-locked" when considering purchase of additional areas for recreational use adjacent to Lake June Park. "We'll never get the land once it's developed," said Brantley. "If the builder is willing to sell, we should buy." Purchases of 20 to 30 acres at other sites are not as valuable as four or five acre purchases, by the township, adjacent to the existing park, according to Brantley. Mayor Tom Katsanis favored taking land from developers when warranted, but said he expects no "quick development" or growth higher than the current 3 percent per year. "Land keeps going up and will never be as cheap," said Katsanis. "The ideal thing is to get land now, even if it takes 10 years to develop, and you'll have the land." Councilwoman Debra Worley is a real estate broker. "You have to look at the total picture," said Worley. "You have to consider whether to take cash for the town and that the land won't be appraised higher and become more expensive in the future. "The best answer: we're planning – just like a master plan. It takes a lot of guesswork." Worley noted that the four major area developments of Leisure Lakes, Highlands Park Estates, Sun 'n Lakes and Placid Lakes public uses were not planned – or were "after thoughts." "We have to prepare for all the development and the schools," said Worley. "You just have to be careful ... especially when children are in the mix. It's a little bit different from roads." C.B. Shirey, Avon Park city manager, said no mega-developers have yet approached the city, though Sebring Councilman Jeff Carlson talked about working with builders. "We have no set policy, but we've negotiated development agreements," said Carlson. "It's deal specific." Commission deadlocks in vote on homes west of Lantana By HECTOR FLORIN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 19, 2007 WEST PALM BEACH — No one ever says county business is an easy thing, and a deadlocked county commission vote on Tuesday is an example. The series of events started last year: Palm Beach County commissioners twice defied the county planning division's recommendation by allowing more homes on 26 acres southwest of Lantana Road and State Road 7 than permitted under current land use rules. County planners then found themselves in the unusual predicament of defending the commission's vote to the state's Department of Community Affairs - which in turn ruled the comprehensive plan amendment exceeded growth standards. After a year of negotiations between the state, county and property owner Lantana Farm Associates, which proposed plans to increase density on the land from two to 26 units, the sides agreed to prepare a settlement agreement approving the increase. Commissioners last month voted 4-1 to reject the settlement, yet county attorneys said the vote needed to be revisited because the property owner and its representatives weren't properly notified of the vote. On the revisited vote Tuesday, commissioners deadlocked 3-3, with Jeff Koons absent, resulting in a postponement on the settlement until Jan. 15. All the while, growth watchdog group 1000 Friends of Florida and environmental activist Rosa Durando have been challenging the amendment, saying it is an example of urban sprawl and there is no justification to move the property into the county's urban service boundary. "This has no need for existence. Your own staff came down on it," Durando said, fearing this amendment was a "backdoor entryway" to more development in the area. Commissioner Jess Santamaria agreed. "My problem is there will be more applications that will follow this one," he said. State planners had an issue with the expansion of the urban service boundary, which allows for water and sewer pipe connections, into the property. The county then agreed to expand the boundary to include two parcels to the east to square off the boundary, and the state agreed to that change. "It seems odd to me that you took something that you objected to and made it bigger," Commissioner Karen Marcus told county staff. Commissioners Burt Aaronson, Addie Greene and Mary McCarty supported the settlement, while Santamaria, Marcus and Bob Kanjian opposed it. Even if commissioners support the settlement on Jan. 15, the challenge by Durando and 1000 Friends of Florida will continue and is scheduled to be heard before an administrative law judge. Marina, county set to rework rights deal By JENNIFER SORENTRUE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 19, 2007 WEST PALM BEACH — The marina where former Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell kept his boat won't be forced to return $14 million the county paid its owners to keep most of the boatyard from becoming condos. Instead, commissioners want WMJB Marine Inc., owner of the Palm Beach Yacht Center, to give up its development rights on an additional 1.5 acres of land at the marina - a site where townhomes have been proposed. And at least one commissioner is pushing for marina owners to be required to provide more public access to the water. Nearly two years ago, the commission agreed to give the marina $14'million of a $50 million voter-approved bond issue to keep working waterfronts from being developed. Newell strongly backed the pact. But the county began questioning the deal earlier this year, after criminal charges filed against Newell showed that he never disclosed that he docked his boat at the yacht center at a reduced dockage rate. The charges also showed that Newell was involved in two bank ventures with a marina co-owner and helped falsify an invoice to hide the $48,000 he owned in dockage fees. Opponents of the agreement have argued that the county overpaid for the development rights on the original 8.2 acre site along the Intracoastal Waterway in Hypoluxo. At the time, a county appraisal valued the land at $9.3 million. The yacht center held out for $14 million. In hopes of settling the dispute, the marina's owners offered to give the county their development rights on a second 1.5-acre site for no additional cost. County officials value the offer at $20.6 million. "I think this will cure the issue," Commissioner Karen Marcus said. "It's not the purchase of property, it is the donation. There is not going to be any more money spent." Commissioners voted 6-0 to begin negotiating an agreement with the yacht center that would keep the additional land from being developed. The yacht center is the only working waterfront in the southern part of the county. If it were to be developed, south county boat owners would have to go to Riviera Beach to have their vessels serviced. "Our members depend on facilities like this to get to the waterfront," said Tom Twyford, executive director of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. "When we lose a facility like this, it is gone forever and there is no opportunity to replace it." Commissioner Bob Kanjian said he was concerned that the original deal did not provide all county residents with access to the water and the marina. It helped only those who pay to use the marina, because there is not a public boat ramp or any other public facilities there, he said. "I think it would not have happened this way but for the criminal acts that were committed," Kanjian said. "I think it is important for us now to reform this deal." Kanjian said he wanted county officials to try to renegotiate parts of the original agreement so that it will give the public more opportunities to use the marina. "In essence $14 million changed hands and zero else happened," Kanjian said. Commissioner Burt Aaronson said he was not aware that the marina did not have a public boat ramp or any other public facilities.   Inquiry into building materials gifts to inspectors   Goal is to learn extent of practice allegedly involving building inspectors By FRANK GLUCK frank.gluck@heraldtribune.com MANATEE COUNTY -- County officials expect to quickly wrap up their investigation into claims that building inspectors routinely accept gifts and take construction materials from job sites. Once the investigation is completed, possibly by the first week of January, they should have a good idea if the practice is as widespread as recently claimed, said assistant county attorney Robert Eschenfelder. Former building inspector Michael Todoroff and his wife, Nancy, also a Manatee Building Department employee, were fired in June after a sheriff's deputy found the pair with new siding they had taken from the Mariner Cove condominiums on Cortez Road, reports show. Nancy Todoroff was hired by the Building Department in February 2003; Michael Todoroff was hired in November 2003. Current department inspector John Darley defended the Todoroffs by submitting an affidavit claiming that it was "commonplace" for Building Department employees to do so. County personnel documents released Tuesday detail the circumstances of the couple's visit to the site in the early morning hours of April 29. Written reports explaining their firings challenge Todoroff's claims that he had permission to take the construction materials. They also reveal that then-Building Director Jim Lee had no tolerance for such activity. In the report, Lee wrote that Todoroff "has tarnished the reputation of fellow inspectors and the Manatee County Building Department, and thus deserved termination." Lee, currently the planning director for the city of Palatka, could not be reached for comment. Todoroff told county officials he used a gate code a co-worker had given him to enter the site and take 30 pieces of siding, which he cut to fit on his truck. A man approached Todoroff after he had loaded the materials and asked him what he was doing on condominium association property, the county report states. Todoroff said he identified himself as a building inspector and said he had permission from Kesselring Construction to take some siding. Eventually a condo resident called the Sheriff's Office to report the incident. The next stage of the construction project was the installation of siding, county officials said. The construction owner and the site foreman told the building department they did not give Todoroff permission to take any materials. Theft and trespassing charges were filed against Michael Todoroff but were dropped Monday for lack of evidence. The case is the first such arrest of a building inspector anyone can remember and was the impetus for the internal county investigation, Eschenfelder said. "Though it is likely when the investigation is done others will also be terminated if the allegations are proven true," Eschenfelder said Tuesday in an e-mail to the Herald-Tribune. A Building Department ethics policy distributed to employees in August forbids employees from seeking or accepting gifts from builders or contractors. It also requires employees to notify their superiors if they are aware of such activity. Frank Herold, a partner in Williams and Herold Communities, said it is not common practice to discard surplus materials when a project is complete. "If you have anything significant, you might restock it or save it," Herold said. "If it's waste, you put it in a Dumpster."   Water plant top priority for next session By JENNIFER SORENTRUE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 05, 2007 WEST PALM BEACH — Money for a regional water treatment plant in the Glades will be the county's top priority during next year's legislative session, Palm Beach County commissioners agreed Tuesday. The county will ask state legislators for $3.5 million next year for the reverse osmosis water plant, which would replace three plants owned by Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay. The county still needs $17.6 million to pay for the $58 million project. Also topping the list of 44 priorities the county's lobbying team will push state legislators for next year is reducing the number of unfunded mandates passed down to local governments by state officials. Other priorities include: $7.3 million for beach restoration, reducing the cost of providing trauma care for non-county residents, using traffic cameras to catch red light runners, and coverage for autistic children. It's the first year the county will ask the state to require private insurance companies to cover essential autism treatment for children. Those treatments are covered by Medicaid and the Department of Children and Families, but are only available to those who file bankruptcy or are indigent. Commissioner Bob Kanjian, whose son is autistic, asked that the item be added to the county's list. "Unlike things like childhood diabetes that are fully covered, for some reason we do not cover autism," Kanjian said. "It's about making sure the kids have a good life and giving them an opportunity to be good Weeki Wachee Owner Offers Attraction To State By BILL KACZOR, The Associated Press Published: December 19, 2007 TALLAHASSEE - Florida could have mermaids on the payroll under a tentative plan to turn Weeki Wachee Springs into a state park, although Hernando County officials are also interested in taking over the troubled attraction. Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole on Tuesday told Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet the attraction's owners signed a letter of intent to donate it to the state. "Can we keep the mermaids?" Crist said. Sole told him they would become state employees, but he added, "We'll need to create a new position title." Unless that's done, they would probably be classified as park rangers, department spokeswoman Sarah Williams said. Weeki Wachee Springs opened 60 years ago about 50 miles north of Tampa, making it one of Florida's oldest tourist attractions. Known as much for the performing mermaids as its natural beauty, it is enmeshed in a legal dispute that has threatened its continued operation. "It's one of the great natural wonders of Florida," said Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Cabinet member. "But it's not been managed particularly the way we'd like it in the last few years." The deal hinges on further negotiations with Weeki Wachee Springs LLC, which operates the attraction, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which owns the property. The proposed state takeover would settle lawsuits the company and district have filed against each other, both alleging contract violations. "There is no definitive agreement," Weeki Wachee spokesman John Athanason said. "We can back out of this letter at any time." Weeki Wachee officials also want to see what Hernando County proposes, Athanason said. He said the attraction owes a debt of gratitude to local residents for help in rescuing it. "We want to do what's right for this attraction and what's right for the citizens of Hernando County," Athanason said. The attraction fell into disrepair under a previous owner and was donated the tiny city of Weeki Wachee in 2003. The city, which has only nine residents, then formed Weeki Wachee LLC to run it. There are about 50 full-time employees, and about 150 seasonal workers are hired from March through September when the attraction's water park is open, Athanason said. He said about $1 million in repairs, including donated material, have been completed since the city took over the facility. The state's letter of intent signed by Weeki Wachee Mayor Robyn Anderson, a former mermaid, says the department would seek funding from the Legislature to operate at current staffing and salary levels, but there's no guarantee that lawmakers will provide the necessary money. It does, though, promise at least four key employees, including Anderson and Athanason, "will be retained as close to their current annual compensation as possible."   Getting mixed messages about water supply Sarasota Herald-Tribune letter to the editor 12-18-2007 For the record, let me get this straight. The South Florida Water Management District has imposed the region's tightest water restrictions, limiting watering to once a week, from Orlando south to the Keys, according to a Herald-Tribune news brief printed Friday. Our own Southwest Florida Water Management District has already imposed that restriction and is considering stricter rules. Kitson & Partners has proposed building 19,500 homes in Babcock Ranch in Charlotte County. The proposed 19,500 homes, built over three decades, "will be twice the size of Punta Gorda and larger than the 7,000-home Thomas Ranch in North Port and the roughly 18,000 homes currently approved for Lakewood Ranch," again according to information published Friday in the Herald-Tribune. There is barely enough water for me to irrigate my yard, but there is enough water to build all these homes in the future that will strain the resources of Charlotte and Lee counties? I must be missing something. David Doweiko North Port   charter amendment proposal Commission Rejects Plan to Curb Growth By Tom Palmer The Ledger  Write an email to Tom Palmer Tom Palmer Environment Reporter Dept.: Metro Desk (863) 802-7535 tom.palmer@theledger.com Your Name:  Your Email:  Subject:  Message:    BARTOW | County commissioners Monday rebuffed local planning activist John Ryan's suggestion that they work together to pass a charter amendment that would put limits on new residential development in Polk County. Ryan said afterward he will launch a petition drive to get the issue before Polk's voters. "I had hoped to work with the county, but we'll go a different way," he said. "We'll go out and get the signatures." Ryan, a member of the Polk County Planning Commission, unveiled the proposal in October. It would amend the county charter to limit residential growth within a defined urban growth boundary, based on the densities allowed in city and county growth plans. If voters approve the proposal, the only way to expand the county's urban growth boundary would be through another charter referendum. Commissioners discussed his proposal Monday after hearing a staff report from Merle Bishop, the county's growth management director. The issue will be discussed again at Wednesday's commission meeting. Bishop raised a number of issues about the impact of Ryan's proposal that included: It would be difficult for city and county planners to calculate how many residential units are allowed under the current growth maps. It would require developers to purchase development rights from rural areas if they wanted to exceed the cap. The restrictions could cause sprawl or increases in housing costs. Bishop said that is a different process than has traditionally existed in Polk County. "Developers would have to pay for extra density," he said. "Now you can go to the County Commission and have them give it to you." Bishop said one problem with a ballot measure that refers to urban growth boundaries is that Polk County's growth maps are out of date and don't reflect annexations by cities that have expanded urban services into areas that previously were classified as rural under the county map. The other is that if the growth boundaries were expanded now in anticipation of the charter amendment, it could encourage urban sprawl, he said. Bishop said because of the questions and potential problems, he would prefer to not put the issue on the ballot and to concentrate instead on the upcoming periodic evaluation of the local growth plans, which will be completed by 2009, and to work with the Rural Land Stewardship Program and Polk Vision. Although Commissioner Jean Reed didn't dispute Bishop's recommendation, she asked whether Ryan's proposal would be preferable to Florida Hometown Democracy, a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that would require votes on all growth changes. Commissioners and Bishop oppose the amendment. She said the proposals reflect the public's frustration with the growth process. Commissioner Bob English opposed Ryan's amendment. "This is going to be another layer of chaos," he said, and argued it flies in the face of representative government. Assistant County Attorney Anne Gibson said there is an attorney general's opinion that says Ryan can propose the amendment. Interim County Attorney Linda McKinley said it would be up to Ryan to submit the ballot language and to get it approved, adding the issue will likely end up in court. "I can't foresee it's going on the ballot without a legal challenge," she said. Commission Chairman Sam Johnson said he views Ryan's proposal as a kind of condemnation of private property, but Bishop disagreed. "It doesn't condemn property; it recognizes rights that this would create," he said. Commissioner Randy Wilkinson said perhaps it's time to consider a countywide planning board, but Bishop said that approach has complications, too, based on the experience of Hillsborough County, which has had such a panel since the 1940s. Nevertheless, Wilkinson said he plans to bring the issue up at Wednesday's commission meeting. [ Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. His blog on county government is at county.theledger.com. ] Developer caught between rocks and a horse place By JASON SCHULTZ Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 18, 2007 STUART — Even though it has already been approved, a major polo-related housing development in western Martin County still faces a fight with slow-growth activists. The developer of the 1,000-acre Lake Point Ranches project, in Port Mayaca near Lake Okeechobee, wants to amend his site plan to allow the mining of 2 million cubic yards of rock. Martin County commissioners today will take up the request by Brad Scherer to alter the project, which consists of 20-acre lots marketed mostly to professional polo players and horse trainers. "Rocks and horses don't mix," said Scherer, who is the son of former U.S. Polo Association Executive Director Allan Scherer, a key figure in the development of the Wellington professional polo community. Commissioners approved Lake Point Ranches, one of three proposed developments in Martin County banking on selling 20-acre lots to members of Wellington's polo community, by a 4-1 vote in May. But Scherer said that when he went to dig lakes for his required stormwater retention ponds, he found rock. He said he can't put it on the horse farms he is selling so he proposes trucking it off the site to be sold. But Commissioner Sarah Heard, who voted against the Lake Point Ranches in May, said she is against allowing a massive rock mining operation on what is supposed to be an agricultural development. "You're talking about 70 acres of rock mining. It would cause extraordinary environmental damage," said Heard, who added that all the dump truck traffic from the mining would also damage roads and cause traffic issues. Martin County Conservation Alliance Chairwoman Donna Melzer said she also plans to oppose the changes to Scherer's project. "We don't want these gaping holes dug in the county," Melzer said. "He's looking at how much money he could make with the rocks. I don't buy his argument in the least." Scherer said he has not contracted with any buyers, but he'd like to sell the rock to builders or to the state as base material for road projects or for repairs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to make to the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee. If the rock ended up going to fix the dike or build local road projects, Scherer argued, it would actually decrease truck traffic because the material would not have be brought in from far away. He added that the county would get revenue because it charges a fee of 10 cents per truckload on mining operations. Scherer said mining the rock would not cause environmental damage. "The fact that we need to dig some holes should not be a big deal," Scherer said. Commissioners approved another polo-related project that is also near Lake Okeechobee, the Port Mayaca Plantation development, earlier this year. The third large project, the Hobe Sound Polo Club, is still in the review process. Increase Of Corn Fertilizer Expands Dead Zone In Gulf By HENRY C. JACKSON, The Associated Press Published: December 18, 2007 JEFFERSON, Iowa - Because of rising demand for ethanol, American farmers are growing more corn than at any time since World War II. And sea life in the Gulf of Mexico is paying the price. The nation's corn crop is fertilized with millions of pounds of nitrogen-based fertilizer. When that nitrogen runs off fields in Corn Belt states, it makes its way to the Mississippi River and eventually pours into the Gulf, where it contributes to a growing "dead zone" - a 7,900-square-mile patch so depleted of oxygen that fish, crabs and shrimp suffocate. The dead zone was discovered in 1985 and has grown steadily since then, forcing fishermen to venture farther and farther out to sea to find their catch. For decades, fertilizer has been considered the prime cause of the lifeless spot. With demand for corn booming, some researchers fear the dead zone will expand rapidly, with devastating consequences. "We might be coming close to a tipping point," said Matt Rota, director of the water resources program for the New Orleans-based Gulf Restoration Network, an environmental group. "The ecosystem might change or collapse as opposed to being just impacted." Environmentalists had hoped to cut nitrogen runoff by encouraging farmers to apply less fertilizer and establish buffers along waterways. But the demand for the corn-based fuel additive ethanol has driven up the price for the crop, which is selling for about $4 per bushel, up from a little more than $2 in 2002. That enticed American farmers - mostly in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota - to plant more than 93 million acres of corn in 2007, the most since 1944. They substituted corn for other crops, or made use of land not previously in cultivation. Corn is more "leaky" than crops such as soybean and alfalfa - that is, it absorbs less nitrogen per acre. The prime reasons are the drainage systems used in corn fields and the timing of when the fertilizer is applied. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up to 210 million pounds of nitrogen fertilizer enter the Gulf of Mexico each year. Scientists had no immediate estimate for 2007, but said they expect the amount of fertilizer going into streams to increase with more acres of corn planted. "Corn agriculture practices release a lot of nitrogen," said Donald Scavia, a University of Michigan professor who has studied corn fertilizer's effect on the dead zone. "More corn equals more nitrogen pollution." Farmers realize the connection between their crop and problems downstream, but with the price of corn soaring, it doesn't make sense to grow anything else. And growing corn isn't profitable without nitrogen-based fertilizer. "I think you have to try to be a good steward of the land," said Jerry Peckumn, who farms corn and soybeans on about 2,000 acres he owns or leases near Jefferson, Iowa. "But on the other hand, you can't ignore the price of corn." Peckumn grows alfalfa and natural grass on the 220 or so acres he owns, but said he cannot afford to experiment on the land he rents. The dead zone typically begins in the spring and persists into the summer. Its size and location vary each year because of currents, weather and other factors, but it is generally near the mouth of the Mississippi River. This year, it is the third-biggest on record. It was larger in 2002 and 2001, when it covered 8,500 and 8,006 square miles respectively. Soil erosion, sewage and industrial pollution also contribute to the dead zone, but fertilizer is thought to be the chief factor. Fertilizer causes explosive growth of algae, which then dies and sinks to the bottom, where it sucks up oxygen as it decays. This creates a deep layer of oxygen-depleted ocean where creatures either escape or die. Bottom-dwelling species such as crabs and oysters are most at risk, said Michelle Perez, an analyst with the Washington-based Environmental Working Group. "They struggle to survive," Perez said. "They can't swim away." Crabbers complained at a meeting in Louisiana this year that they pulled up bucket upon bucket of dead crabs. Rota warned that if the corn boom continues, the Gulf of Mexico could see an "ecological regime change." The fear is that the zone will grow so big that most sea life won't be able to escape it, leading to an even bigger die-off. "People's livelihood depends on the shrimp, fish and crabs in these waters," he said. "Already, some of these shrimpers are traveling longer and longer distances to catch anything." Given the market pressure to grow corn, the Natural Resources Defense Council and others argue that the nation needs a comprehensive, federal approach to the problem. Among the ideas floated: rules to force farmers to use fertilizers with more care, and the establishment of buffer zones to contain runoff.   Ga., Ala., Fla. governors talk water sharing By DAVID ROYSE Associated Press Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The governors of three drought-stricken Southeastern states agreed Monday to speed up talks on sharing water during scarcities, hoping to end a nearly 18-year fight over the issue by March. The governors of Florida, Alabama and Georgia and federal officials also agreed not to reduce for now the minimum amount of water that will flow into the Apalachicola River, which feeds a major oyster breeding ground in the Florida Panhandle. That eases the minds of some fishermen and Florida officials - they had feared the flow could be further reduced to meet drinking water needs in Atlanta. Florida's Charlie Crist, Georgia's Sonny Perdue and Alabama's Bob Riley said they agreed that their staffs will continue to work together to come up with a plan for doling out the region's water by March 15. That was hopeful news to fishermen along the Panhandle Gulf Coast, who were looking at the prospect of water flows remaining lower than they say they can tolerate until June 1, when an interim agreement on flow levels originally had been set to expire. Now, there's a possibility of agreeing on raising the amount of water coming into Florida earlier. "We're cautiously optimistic," said Kevin Begos, the director of the Franklin County Oyster & Seafood Task Force. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who also participated, said he was pleased the governors have agreed to try to end the states' nearly two decades of disagreement on the issue as early as this spring. "This was real, it was meaningful," Kempthorne said. "The atmosphere today reinvigorates me that we can get this done." One of the worst droughts in years in the Southeast has created a sense of urgency, all three governors acknowledged. "We're talking about solving something we've been working on for 18 years within the next two months," Riley said. The fast-growing Atlanta area gets most of its water from Lake Lanier, at the head of the river basin shared by the states. But drawing more water from the lake means less for downstream uses in Alabama and Florida. Alabama is concerned about water for the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, near Dothan. Florida is concerned about freshwater flowing into Apalachicola Bay, a prime shellfish producing area, that produces about 1 in 10 of the oysters eaten in the country. The amount of freshwater flowing through the Apalachicola-Chatahoochee-Flint river system into the Gulf at the mouth of the Apalachicola River has been reduced to near historic lows, threatening the fishing industry there. The flow increased in recent days because of a downpour over the weekend, but it had been reduced to a level that fishermen had said wouldn't sustain their industry. Making them more nervous, U.S. Corps of Engineers officials had said they might reduce the flow further. And it wasn't likely to be renegotiated until June 1. But fishermen have said that to keep the low amount of water going into the bay through the spring spawning season would devastate the industry. Crist said he understands the needs of the bay's fishermen and oystermen, who complained in a recent meeting that the river mouth and bay are already so salty that oysters can't survive. Speeding up the timeline could help could mean earlier relief. "Florida's oyster industry faces an uncertain spring, due to the current drought," Crist said. "Spawning season is critical to our northwest Florida economy." Crist also hinted that Georgia might need to increase its conservation - noting Florida has made moves to cut use since the drought began. "We all share the difficulties of the current drought - all three of our states must provide for comprehensive water conservation efforts," Crist said. None of the governors, however, would talk specifics about where their chief remaining obstacles lie. Water flows into the bay are also a concern for environmentalists, who worry about the effect of less water on other species besides oysters. The endangered Gulf sturgeon, and two species of mussel, the fat threeridge and the threatened purple bankclimber, are also imperiled by lower flows. In early December, authorities said there was less than four months of available water left in Lake Lanier. Perdue said recent reductions in flow that Florida opposed have aided in raising the lake's level. "The flow reductions have helped, the ability to recover some of the rainfall and store that has helped," Perdue said. "But we've got to have a protocol that determines how we're going to share in times of scarcity, and that's what we're all trying to figure out." Just last week, Florida water managers approved restrictions on water use in the southern part of the state. Starting early next year, outside watering will only be allowed once a week from Orlando south to the Keys. The meeting also follows a major agreement signed last week that will allow seven western states to conserve and share Colorado River water, ending a divisive battle among those states.

Desal Plant Officially On Line