Butterflies spreading, could hit Florida

The Associated Press

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — An Asian butterfly known for ravaging the leaves of young citrus trees has spread from the Dominican Republic to other Caribbean islands and could soon strike fruit producers in Florida and South America, agriculture experts said.

The Papilo Demoleus butterfly was spotted in the Dominican Republic three years ago — the first recorded sighting in the Western Hemisphere, said Brian Farrell, a Harvard biology professor who led the field study that found it.

The insect, known also as the lime swallowtail, has since appeared in Jamaica and Puerto Rico. U.S. officials worried about Florida's $9 billion citrus industry have criticized the local government for not doing enough to control the pests.

U.S. officials worry the pest could be brought into the United States by a tourist, or smuggled into the country with illegally transported fruit. Known as a strong flier suited for island hopping in Asia, the butterfly might also manage the trip on its own.

"I don't think the (Dominican agriculture) ministry is doing anything. They don't see it as a problem," said Russell Duncan, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Santo Domingo.

The director of the Agriculture Ministry's fruit department, Damian Andujar, said there was no need for a widespread eradication campaign. "This isn't a big problem for us, it's under control," he said.

The butterflies, with red and yellow wing markings and bright blue eyespots, have such a taste for citrus leaves that they often strip trees of all but their branches.

A year after they were discovered in the Dominican Republic, an infestation destroyed more than 4,000 young trees owned by produce giant Grupo Rica — 3 percent of its nursery stock, said Felipe Mendez, a company official.

Caterpillars ate every leaf on many of the trees they attacked, Mendez said. Damage to the company's orchards in the country's south central region has since been contained by workers trained to pick leaves at the first sign of butterfly eggs.

"We realized we had a natural enemy," Mendez said.

Workers in Jamaica's St. Catherine region also have been trying to kill the caterpillars by hand. An aerial spraying campaign has not been attempted for fear of damaging nearby beekeepers' hives, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke told the Jamaica Observer.

Troubled Waters

Beneath the waves, a crisis is building

By DINAH VOYLES PULVER
Environment Writer

When marine scientist John Reed began exploring the ocean floor off Cape Canaveral in 1975, he found towers of coral thousands of years old, teeming with grouper and black sea bass.

Returning to the spot 25 years later, the treasures that once amazed Reed were gone. In their place? Fields of rubble.

Today, though parts of the Oculina coral reefs between Daytona Beach and Fort Pierce have been protected for 20 years, much has been obliterated. And the destructive bottom trawling for shrimp and fish that's blamed for the damage still may happen on some areas of the reef.

"There's basically no federal restriction, even in this day and age, prohibiting a bottom trawler from rolling over a healthy reef and it's just ludicrous," said Reed, a senior scientist at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce. "It's like saying, 'Oh, you can go clearcut a redwood forest.' "

In one pass, a heavy trawl may destroy delicate corals hundreds of years old, leaving thousands of tiny animals like shrimp and worms homeless and ruining the chance of successful fishing there anytime soon.

Such trawling may be trashing coral reefs worldwide, just one example of a host of ailments plaguing the world's oceans. Gleaming beauty and salty breezes still lure those who would swim, sail and fish, but the ocean's ancient image as an everlasting resource is an illusion.

"The oceans are not the pristine place people think they are," said Peter Anderson, director of Whitney Lab at Marineland. "It's staggering what we've done. For generations now we thought the oceans were a bottomless pit and they're not."

Both playground and economic backbone for coastal counties like Volusia and Flagler, healthy oceans mean safe swimming, fruitful fishing and tourist cash. The reefs, spawning grounds for countless fish species, are one measure of whether that backbone stays strong.

And with more than half the nation's population living on the coast, the strain shows.

Pressured by fishing, shipping traffic, cruise boats, a warming climate and pollution, the oceans have been overfished and polluted before being fully explored or understood.

Whales, birds and other sea life wash on to beaches, tangled in deadly debris or battered by ships. Scientists find human diseases such as herpes viruses and traces of human drugs and pollutants in their blood.

LIGHTER CATCHES

No longer do fishing boats heave under the weight of a day's catch of prize-worthy beauties. Up to 90 percent of the world's big fish, like marlin and tuna, have vanished. Fishing villages no longer thrive, their fishermen turning to other jobs as they have in Oak Hill.

Jellyfish, algae and seaweed, once held in check by balanced ecosystems, run rampant in what scientists call the "rise of slime."

Instead of flocking to the sea, tourists avoid bacteria-laden waves and toxic algae blooms, as they did in Southwest Florida last year. Such blooms cost the country an estimated $75 million a year.

Even miles from shore, the human footprint that lined the ocean with condominiums and highways leaves its heavy tread. Six-pack wrappers and bottles bob beside turtles and cavorting dolphins.

IS THE RESOLVE THERE?

Scientists and those who live off the sea are optimistic the tide can be turned. But they wonder if there will be enough resolve and money for things like mapping the entire Oculina Bank, which may go as far north as St. Augustine.

They're encouraged by improvements seen since large areas of the bank were closed to fishing.

Fish numbers dropped dramatically when areas of Oculina coral were "annihilated," said Christopher Koenig, a Florida State University professor. But black sea bass, grouper and other fish seem to be returning.

ON PATROL

Researchers are pleased state and federal officials now patrol the closed areas.

On a sunny morning in August, the Coast Guard cutter Shrike set out on a routine patrol of the Oculina. The crew spotted more than a dozen shrimp boats anchored just a couple of miles outside one area closed to shrimping and most kinds of fishing.

Boarding one boat, the Guardsmen checked the overnight track. The Oculina was marked on the global positioning system with a "big purple line" and the shrimpers hadn't crossed it. Other boats have and been heavily fined.

The National Marine Fisheries Service requires tracking beacons on big fishing vessels.

But delicate coral that took hundreds of years to grow won't be quickly restored.

TAKING A BEATING

Other reefs around the world face similar threats and are being overtaken by seaweed that thrives in water polluted with stormwater runoff and sewage. This year for the first time, two corals were listed as endangered species and the Oculina Bank's ivory tree coral was listed as a species of concern.

Brian Lapointe, a Harbor Branch scientist, found septic tanks seeping into coastal waters of the Florida Keys 25 years ago. At Looe Key, a popular snorkeling spot, he found levels of two fertilizer ingredients, ammonium nitrate and phosphate, rose more than 100 percent in 10 years in the 1990s. Such increases -- from fertilizers, pesticides and bacteria -- occur worldwide, he said, and the ocean can't dilute it all.

Scott Kraus sees the impacts of pollution on sea life in his work as vice president of research with the New England Aquarium. "People don't take the potential problems we're creating for (the ocean) seriously, because we've been dumping for years and thinking it was infinite," Kraus said.

WORLDWIDE ATTENTION

The clamoring of scientists worldwide has drawn attention to the ocean crisis, with state and national ocean commissions calling for sweeping changes.

The fisheries service, for example, expects to create a series of Marine Protected Areas off the Southeast coast in March. The areas, including one between Jacksonville and Ormond Beach, would close key locations to fishing to give fish somewhere to feed and breed unmolested.

Many fishermen question more restrictions. To Paul Nelson, Jr. a lifelong local fisherman, it seems unconstitutional to close the ocean to a family trying to make a living as his has done for generations.

But ocean advocates say state and federal agencies must do more to ensure the ocean maintains its status as playground and economic backbone.

"We're very fortunate to have them in our backyard," Reed said, "but we also need to take the responsibility to protect them for future generations of mankind forever."

dinah.pulver@news-jrnl.com

The ocean crisis: what's to blame?

The independent Pew Oceans Commission and the federal U.S. Ocean Commission studied the ocean crisis and in 2003 and 2004 blamed:

· Overexploited fisheries

· Lack of U.S. leadership on international ocean and coastal issues

· Dwindling U.S. investment in ocean and coastal research

· Inadequate funding for government oversight at every level

· No coherent ocean policy, fragmented laws, confusing jurisdictions

· A lack of federal support for emerging initiatives

What should be done?

In March, the U.S. Senate asked the group to come up with a top 10 list of actions, delivered to the Senate in June. They included:

· Adopt a national ocean policy.

· Reauthorize and improve Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which sets procedures and limits for U.S. and foreign fishing in U.S. waters.

· Follow the United Nations convention on the Law of the Sea, which governs and regulates activities on, over and under the world's oceans.

· Establish an ocean trust fund for improved management and understanding of ocean and coastal resources; the group estimates up to $5 billion a year is needed.

· Increase funding for ocean and coastal programs, including research.

· Establish the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in law and work with the administration to improve coordination among federal agencies.

· Manage ocean resources by regional ecosystems rather than state by state.

· Begin an improved nationwide system of buoys for ocean observations.

How can you help?

DON'T LITTER: Discard trash and fishing line in containers. About 80 percent of ocean trash comes from land, mostly fast-food wrappers and plastic bags, bottles and cups.

NEVER RELEASE BALLOONS: Thousands of animals die each year from swallowing balloons. Jellyfish-eating creatures -- leatherback turtles, ocean sun fish and others -- get confused by the balloons, eat them and die.

PICK UP A PEN: Write your lawmakers at the state or federal level to ask for stronger protections for the Oculina Bank and better fishing regulations.

CURB YOUR PETS: Bag dog and cat feces and dispose of them in the trash. Don't flush cat litter down the toilet. Sewage treatment doesn't remove parasites that can harm sea otters and dolphins.

DON'T FLUSH MEDICINES OR SOLVENTS: Throw away unused pharmaceuticals, perfumes, industrial chemicals or solvents. Don't dispose of them in the toilet or down the sink. Sewage treatment doesn't remove many chemicals and dissolved drugs that can poison sea life.

MINIMIZE FERTILIZER USE: Don't apply before rainstorms. Don't use a hose to remove spills or residue from sidewalks and driveways. Sweep it up and put it in the trash.

DISCARD CHEMICALS PROPERLY: Dispose of household toxins at hazardous-waste collection centers. Recycle used motor oil and transmission fluid. When possible, use nontoxic substitutes.

COLLECT CAR-WASH RUNOFF: Don't wash cars in streets or driveways. Instead, park on lawns or go to a carwash that collects the runoff.

AVOID OVER-WATERING: Use drip irrigation whenever possible and adjust sprinklers to minimize over-spraying. Plant native plants that need less water.

PLANT A TREE: Trees slow runoff and absorb carbon dioxide and other nutrients that, otherwise, end up in the ocean.

USE ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION: Consider walking, riding a bike or taking mass transit to shop or to work. Tailpipes pollute the ocean as well as the air.

SOURCES: Los Angeles Times; News-Journal researchGlossary

Terms to know to help navigate our oceans:

TRAWLING: dragging a large, baglike net by boat along the bottom of a fishing bank

OVERFISHING: to fish a body of water or geographic region to excess, depleting the stock of fish

ECOSYSTEM: a community of animals, plants and bacteria interrelated together with its physical and chemical environment

CUTTER: a small, armed, engine-powered ship used by the U.S. Coast Guard for patrol duty

AMMONIUM NITRATE: colorless, crystalline salt used in some explosives, as fertilizer, and in rocket fuel; can cause dangerous acidity in water

ENTEROCOCCUS: bacteria normally present in the intestinal tract; is used as an indicator of water quality

FECAL COLIFORM: consisting of feces, normally found in the colon; used as an indicator of disease bacteria in water

HIGH SEAS: waters beyond 200 miles of a nation's shore

DDT: powerful insecticide usually effective on contact; its use is restricted by law because of damaging environmental effects

SOURCES: Webster's New World College Dictionary; News-Journal research

Vanishing Point

Plenty of fish? Don't count on it. Recovery could take years.

By DINAH VOYLES PULVER
Environment Writer

Ethan Smith's dark lashes drooped against his freckled, sun-kissed cheeks.

"Can you believe I caught that big fish?" said the 7-year-old, reflecting on the barracuda he caught that morning on a deep sea fishing trip out of Ponce Inlet.

"He's hooked forever," said Ethan's dad.

Some 60 years ago, Herky Huffman was about Ethan's age when he was "hooked" on fishing, back when the day's catch was bigger than anything Florida fishermen see today.

"Lord have mercy, you'd have so many fish you couldn't believe it," Huffman said. And a fisherman wouldn't have a chance at a boat's cash jackpot without a 30- or 40-pound snapper or grouper. Huffman never dreamed the fish would nearly vanish in his lifetime -- or that he'd one day be making key decisions in a desperate attempt to save the state's famed fishing industry.

"Back then it was like it would never end," said Huffman, a commissioner with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, one of several agencies trying to address overfishing.

BIG TROUBLE BREWING

The federal government tracks 198 kinds of fish in the Southeast Atlantic and Caribbean, and 27 percent are in trouble, shrinking in size and number.

Ellen Pikitch, a fisheries scientist for more than 20 years, calls the worldwide problem a "gathering wave of ocean extinctions."

"If we don't do something to turn the situation around, we are facing some irreversible effects very soon," said Pikitch, executive director of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science.

One group of scientists, in a study released in November, said the world's fisheries could collapse within 50 years, without drastic changes.

Locally, it's getting harder to find fish, said Lee Lingo, a charter boat captain out of Ponce Inlet for 23 years.

"It's sad," Lingo said, adding that artificial reefs sunk by the county have helped.

The species of concern off Florida include grouper, snapper, marlin and shark, according to a recent report by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

CAN IT BE FIXED?

"The agency is working hard to get rebuilding plans into place," said Roy Crabtree, administrator for the agency's South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council.

But it could take years, depending on how long the fish live, how big they grow and how fast they reproduce.

Other local fishermen question the agency's science, saying they believe the fish are coming back.

Paul Nelson Jr., a commercial fisherman who also takes small groups on guided trips, said he could fill his box every day.

"There's plenty of fish around, they just don't allow us to catch them," Nelson said.

But, fishing experts with universities and environmental groups say the agencies aren't doing enough.

"The bottom line is that fishery managers are simply allowing fishermen to catch too many fish," Pikitch said.

Rising consumer demand for fish is partly to blame. Americans consumed more than 4.8 billion pounds of seafood in 2004.

But sport fishing is also to blame, even though that industry likes to fault commercial fishermen. A Florida State University study concluded sport and recreational fishermen catch nearly 25 percent of the species considered overfished.

The study suggested more limits on all kinds of fishing, perhaps by limiting the number of people allowed to fish.

The fisheries council's proposed limits to grouper fishing have been controversial, Crabtree said.

"If you're a fisherman, it's going to cost you money," he said. "There's no getting around that. It's the cost of overfishing."

RAYS OF HOPE

But the news isn't all bad. The marlin is recovering better than expected and so is the king mackerel, slowly.

Pikitch is a member of a United Nations task force calling for an end to destructive fishing practices and bottom trawling on the high seas, the waters beyond 200 miles of a country's shore. President George W. Bush recently supported the ban, directing the State and Commerce Departments to oppose practices that prevent fish populations from naturally sustaining themselves.

The wildlife commission also is considering changes. For example, the agency is questioning its rules that require fishermen to throw back fish that aren't big enough. Huffman said recent studies seem to show most of the fish that are hooked and thrown back die anyway.

The program seemed to work in the beginning, he said, but as more fishermen throw back more fish, their catches may continue to dwindle.

dinah.pulver@news-jrnl.com

The Wrong Stuff

There aren't many of the majestic right whales left

By DINAH VOYLES PULVER
Environment Writer

Belly up and floating, the right whale found last weekend near Brunswick, Ga., died brutally, shredded by a propeller.

Researchers who towed it to shore counted 20 deep cuts along its 41-foot-long body. They also found a skin pattern on its head that told them it was a calf they knew, born two years ago to a mother named Columbine. He was the fifth right whale in 2006 to die as a result of human contact.

Such deaths, scientists say, happen too often as the whales cope with increasing boat traffic in a busy Atlantic Ocean. The size and number of freighters and cruise boats has grown exponentially in 20 years.

The vessels are just one danger lurking in a changing ocean. The whales have plastic in their stomachs and contaminants like DDT in their blood. And they get tangled in fishing gear. Once researchers watched helplessly as a right whale mother tried to cradle her dying baby, ensnared in fishing gear, to keep it afloat.

ENCAPSULATING THE PROBLEM

 

"They sort of embody so many of the issues facing the ocean, just by all the things they're dealing with as individual animals," said Amy Knowlton, a research scientist with the New England Aquarium in Boston.

Right whale watchers have had their own frustrating experiences with whale deaths and entanglement in Volusia and Flagler counties, where the whales migrate offshore each winter. Two dead right whales have washed onto the beach in Flagler County since 1997, and last December rescuers tried to help a right whale spotted off Volusia with both flippers tangled in fishing gear.

For those who see live whales frolicking offshore, it's exciting, said Joy Hampp, coordinator of Marineland's volunteer right whale watching project, which reported 41 whale sightings in 2005.

But, Hampp said, it can be distressing to think, "Wow, I might be seeing one of the last of the species if we're not successful in conserving them."

For a while, it seemed the whales had a chance. Hunting was banned in 1935. But, the population has hovered at fewer than 400 and may be as low as 300. Scientists say the whales could be extinct within 100 to 200 years, less if struck with a catastrophic disease.

The future of the whales rests on a tiny fraction of the group: breeding females. Knowlton said saving just two a year could turn the population around.

DANGEROUS CROSSING

But a whale's migration might be compared to a pregnant woman trying to cross major highways on foot on her way to a delivery room. Seven of the country's 15 busiest ports are found along the migration route between Maine and Florida.

Nearly 70 whales have been killed by collisions or fishing gear since 1970. In 2005, the scientists begged the National Marine Fisheries Service to do something to stop the deaths. The fisheries service responded with proposed rules to slow freighters and expects to release a final rule in the spring, said spokeswoman Connie Barclay.

The shipping industry is protesting the proposal to slow boats over 65 feet to as low as 10 knots within 30 nautical miles of ports along the Eastern seaboard.

The World Shipping Council, in comments to the service, said it supports rerouting ships and tracking whales so ships can steer clear of the animals. But the council questioned why the Navy and boats less than 65 feet are exempt and said the service doesn't have evidence that slowing boats down would prevent whales from getting hit. The opposite may be true, the council wrote, because slower ships are harder to maneuver and not as noisy as a ship running at higher speeds.

The council estimates the rule could cost the industry more than $50 million a year.

Scientists like the proposed rules, although they wish the process would move faster and question why the Navy is exempt.

"The shipping companies and everyone concerned about the economic impact of slowing ships are complaining, but the fact of the matter is they are killing a couple of whales a year," said Scott Kraus, vice president of research at the New England Aquarium. "If you can slow the ships down, you can save the whales, as long as the reproduction doesn't fail."

LOW BIRTH RATES

Researchers find it difficult to single out one reason for the low reproduction. The lack of available food may be one cause, said whale expert Michael Moore with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. Pollution, pesticides, fertilizers and even noise may contribute. The chemicals feed natural algae and bacteria that give off toxins that kill marine mammals.

Because they don't understand the causes, it's worrisome.

"If there's something we're doing that's creating the reproductive failure and we don't know what it is, we're going to continue to do it," Kraus said. "The whales may be the most visible charismatic consequence, but, if it's affecting right whales, it's affecting other things along the way, and that's what we should be paying attention to."

dinah.pulver@news-jrnl.com

Sanford design ideas fall flat

The zoning board attacks a consultant's downtown report for neglecting waterfront development.

Robert Perez
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 7, 2007

SANFORD -- A long-awaited consultant's report setting development guidelines that could boost the city's downtown renaissance got a lukewarm reception last week at its first public showing.

Members of the Sanford Planning and Zoning Commission, as well as the city's most high-profile downtown developer, expressed confusion, disappointment and outright cynicism that the plan by the design firm Glatting Jackson would do much for the city center.

The plan calls for creating three development districts -- downtown, riverfront and midtown -- that would have separate development guidelines regulating land use, density, building heights and form:

High-rise development beyond six stories would be limited to the riverfront district.

The "downtown" district would see more mid-rise, mixed-used development.

The midtown area would encourage more residential development.

The biggest criticism of the proposed design guidelines was that they excluded much of Sanford's waterfront, including Marina Island, from the riverfront district.

Developer Robert Horian holds leases on much of the peninsula, which was built on Palmetto Avenue in the 1970s and is home to a marina, offices and a hotel. Horian, who wants to redevelop much of the island into a condominium complex, expressed concern and disappointment that the property wasn't included in the plan at all.

"This looks like just another tool for stifling any chance for development," he said.

City officials adopted a six-month development moratorium for downtown and the waterfront to allow for design guidelines to be drafted and adopted for those areas. The moratorium, which is scheduled to end Feb. 27, delayed Horian's plans to build three condo towers on the island.

"I'm a little disappointed that there was not more interest given to the riverfront," he said. "It's a 12,000-acre diamond, and no one even talks about it."

Horian, who also is developing a condominium project called Gateway at Riverwalk along Seminole Boulevard, just west of Marina Island, promised to bring forward a plan for the towers after the moratorium, whether Marina Island is included in the guidelines or not.

"Maybe we can get this pushed through together," he told commission members.

Most of the nine-member commission was sympathetic to Horian and had similar criticisms of the plan by Glatting Jackson, which is being paid almost $76,000 for the work.

The harshest critic was commission member Rami Yosefian, a downtown property owner who said he has struggled to get projects approved by the city.

"For seven years, there hasn't been anything developed downtown other than the Riverwalk, and thank God for Horian," Yosefian said. "When real estate is hot, we don't do anything. When things slow down, we wake up."

The commission voted to recommend a change in the riverfront district that would expand it to include all the property between Fulton and Mellonville avenues north of First Street, including Fort Mellon Park and Marina Island. That would nearly double the size of the district.

Robert Perez can be reached at rperez@orlandosentinel.com or 407-322-1298.

Panther Road Deaths Set Record

By NEIL JOHNSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan 7, 2007

TAMPA - A record number of Florida panthers were killed by motorists last year, a grim toll that is troubling yet encouraging to experts who follow the endangered cats.

In all, 11 panthers were killed by motorists, the highest number since the state started tracking panther deaths in 1972 and roughly 10 percent of the entire population.

"That's a huge hit, particularly when it's a breeding female or mother with young," said Elizabeth Fleming, Florida representative of Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit organization that helps preserve animals.

However, the high number of deaths also may signal that the overall panther population is holding steady or growing in number.

"It's an unfortunate downside to an increasing population," said Darrell Land, panther team leader for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The wildlife commission estimates 100 panthers remain in the wild, nearly all in southwest Florida. That's an increase from the 20 to 30 panthers three decades ago.

The number of panthers may be increasing even with the road fatalities, but the deaths along with other threats such as disease could cause the population to begin declining.

"Around 100 animals isn't a lot. They're on the edge of a bubble. It wouldn't take much of an event to cause a decline," Land said.

Most of the panthers killed on roads in 2006 were relatively young males ranging from 9 months to 3 years old.

Young males tend to roam in search of territories not dominated by older males that kill intruders.

The second-highest cause of death was panthers killing other panthers in fights over territory or mates. The game commission documented 18 panther deaths from all causes in 2006.

Wildlife crossings under roads are a proven way to reduce the number of panthers hit by cars.

The crossings allow animals to safely move under the roads but they must be built at the right location with suitable habitat on both sides of the highway.

"It doesn't do much good to build a crossing that leads to the future site of a super Wal-Mart," Land said.

When Alligator Alley was converted to Interstate 75 from Naples to Miami in 1993, 36 wildlife crossings were built.

Fleming said no panthers have been hit on the stretch of interstate with the crossings.

Four other crossings are on State Road 29, which cuts between the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, two prime panther preserves in Collier County.

Last year, Defenders of Wildlife proposed and the state agreed to look into building a crossing on U.S. 41 in Collier County where six panthers have been killed.

The location is a natural corridor with plenty of game and cover on both sides, Fleming said.

Building the crossing is a slow process requiring public hearings, miles of roadside fencing to funnel animals to the crossing and a cost of about $4 million.

It may be 2008 before work begins, Fleming said.

Underpasses won't be enough to save the panther, however, if the large cats have no place to live.

Land thinks the panther population has about filled the suitable habitat in southwest Florida.

The state's panthers roam about 2 million acres mostly in Collier and Hendry counties. About 1.4 million acres are preserved in a patchwork of state and federal parks and refuges.

The rest is in private ownership and subject to development. That land is vital to the panthers' future and needs to be preserved, Land said.

"If you reduced the panther habitat to only the land in public ownership, we'd have a glorified zoo population of 30 to 50 animals," he said.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (352) 544-5214 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

STATE'S RAREST CAT

Florida's rarest and largest cat is one of 15 subspecies of cougar in North America. Biologists estimate 100 remain in the state, most confined to southwest Florida.

Size: Male panthers weigh 90 to 140 pounds, and female panthers weigh 60 to 90 pounds. Panthers are about 6 feet from nose to the tip of the tail.

Breeding: Females have two to three young every other year.

Diet: Panthers feed mainly on wild hogs and deer that combined make up nearly 70 percent of their diet. Raccoons are next at about 12 percent of their diet. Adult panthers need to eat about one deer or hog a week.

Lifespan: Panthers can live up to 12 years in the wild. Vehicles account for about 42 percent of all panther deaths. About 20 percent of panther deaths are attributed to panthers killing other panthers, especially older males defending territory from younger males.

Habitat: Of roughly 2 million acres of suitable panther habitat, 30 percent is private land, the rest is publicly owned.

Insurance Risk Forecast Called Flawed

By KEVIN BEGOS

Published: Jan 6, 2007

The leading computer model used by the insurance industry to justify huge rate increases in coastal areas nationwide relies on faulty science, says an expert credited with helping develop it.

"I think it points to a problem with the way these modeling groups are operating," said Jim Elsner, a professor of geography at Florida State University.

Elsner was one of four experts on a panel assembled in late 2005 to provide input for the computer model by Risk Management Solutions of Newark, Calif.

He said the results, details of which were brought to his attention by the Tribune, contain assumptions that are "actually unscientific."

The flaws identified by Elsner and another panelist have nationwide implications. The expert input was used to justify loss estimates that have prompted major insurance companies to request homeowners rate increases of up to 40 percent.

The problem: RMS took a consensus of experts that there will be more storms across the Atlantic, then added its own projections about which U.S. regions would be most affected.

In an interview Saturday, Gov. Charlie Crist called RMS's actions "apparent misrepresentations" that are stunning and appalling, but in a way, part of a pattern.

"It almost doesn't shock me because this industry has been taking remarkable advantage of our people," Crist said. "Big insurance is about to face a new day in Florida."

RMS Changes Benchmark

RMS spokeswoman Shannon McKay said Elsner was not part of a second panel of experts convened in late 2006. She said the company is surprised by the criticisms.

"All of these folks were well aware of what we were ultimately going to do with the data," she said. The experts were paid for travel expenses for the discussion in Bermuda but received no other compensation.

RMS said its software is used by more than 400 insurers and financial institutions. Clients include Lloyds of London and Illinois-based State Farm Group, as well as state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Florida's largest homeowners insurer.

RMS is also the official model for the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, created in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew to provide backup coverage for private insurance companies.

In March, RMS surprised the insurance industry with a dramatic change in the benchmark catastrophe software model it sells access to. Instead of using historical models based on more than 100 years of storm data, RMS announced a "medium-term" five-year model for 2006 through 2010.

The models contain specific data on tens of millions of homes, allowing insurers to estimate risk based on computer simulations of possible storms.

Based on the new model, RMS said hurricane losses would increase by 40 percent over the Gulf Coast and 25 percent to 30 percent in the other regions.

Consumer advocates tried to raise alarms at the time, with little success.

Robert Hunter, a former Texas insurance commissioner now with the Consumer Federation of America, said the primary reason for the change to the five-year model appeared to be pressure from the insurance industry.

Thomas R. Knutson, a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Princeton, N.J., and another RMS expert panelist, said the five-year timeline didn't come from the experts.

"I think that question was driven more by the needs of the insurance industry as opposed to the science," he said.

In March, RMS said the five-year model was developed in cooperation with the expert panel that included Elsner and Knutson, and that based on their perspective: "Increases in hurricane frequency should be expected along the entire U.S. coast, but will be highest in the Gulf, Florida, and the Southeast, while lower in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast."

"I didn't make any such statement of that type," Knutson said Friday.

Elsner said he warned RMS about flaws in the model. "I said that's not a good way of doing it," he recalled, and said RMS exaggerated the basic science "well beyond what we expected."

Though RMS said in March that the expert panel "agreed unanimously that a forward-looking view of risk should reflect a higher probability of landfalling hurricanes," Elsner said there was no consensus.

New Orleans Questions Credibility

Elsner and Hunter also criticized RMS's decision to give greater weight to a five-year projection of weather patterns over 100-plus years of storm data.

"I think it's kind of silly," Elsner said. "I think that's not a wise decision."

Robert Muir-Wood, RMS chief research officer, said Saturday the company expanded on what the expert panel was originally asked but used other scientific data to arrive at the most up-to-date estimates of hurricane landfall in particular areas. The historical data are still used in the model, he said.

In a statement, Muir-Wood said all parts of the RMS procedure have been documented and are being published in peer-reviewed scientific literature. He also said Elsner was unable to attend the second conference. Elsner is now working on a new modeling system.

Though RMS is using the most recent data in its basic catastrophe model, it took the opposite approach in a report it released last month on flood risk in New Orleans. The report didn't take into account the recent improvements the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made to the region's flood protection system, the Times-Picayune reported.

"I think it calls into question the credibility of their report," Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon told the paper.

Details Are A Trade Secret

Other experts in the catastrophe-modeling business have questions, too.

Long-term historical data are still the most credible, given the sparse data available for projecting the next five years, Karen Clark, chief executive officer of AIR Worldwide, said in a speech in the summer. Her company is an RMS competitor. Clark encouraged insurance companies not to replace the long-term model with the short-term one. Still, AIR has launched its own version of a five-year program for customers.

The details of how RMS arrives at its projections are considered a trade secret.

"We have never been able to get what they call the information out of the black box to review their models," said Bob Lotane, a spokesman for Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation. He said a public modeling system the state is working on should provide a way to verify the RMS projections.

Crist said information from RMS might be subpoenaed.

"There's always something you can do if the recommendations they're making are flawed and faulty," he said. Hunter, of the Consumer Federation of America, said the modeling programs are the heart of any debate over insurance rates.

Hunter recalled that when he was Texas insurance commissioner, two companies submitted rate increase requests that included data on the same house. Using the same model, they had arrived at different risk rates.

"How could I have two so-called scientific studies giving different answers?" Hunter asked the companies, which refused to provide a detailed explanation.

Hunter refused the increases, but he said many insurance commissioners are unwilling to push companies too hard.

"Florida sent me a letter and said we're going to look into it, and that's the last I heard," he said.

RMS plans to send the new computer model to Florida officials for review next month, the company said Saturday.

Reporter Michael Fechter contributed to this report. Reporter Kevin Begos can be reached at kbegos@tampatrib.com.

Proposal is just 39 homes -- but Oakland's a small place

Erin Ailworth
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 7, 2007

Anywhere else a 39-unit housing development would hardly raise an eyebrow.

But in Oakland -- population about 1,300 -- the proposed Oakdale subdivision is causing some concern.

Oakland commissioners met during a special workshop last week to discuss how to reduce the development's effect on the town and the environment. Officials will vote on Tuesday whether to allow the project.

In a town with about 800 homes, almost 40 more is "a good portion," Town Manager Maureen Rischitelli said. If built, Oakdale would bring more traffic and an estimated 100 new residents to town, Rischitelli said.

David Ballinger, president of Mere Holding Co., described Oakdale as an upscale neighborhood of small single-family homes mainly for retirees and empty-nesters.

"It was a workshop, so no conclusions could be drawn," said Commissioner Mona Phipps, whose main concern is Oakdale's potential effect on wetlands around nearby Lake Apopka. Some at the workshop worried that the subdivision would force Oakland to improve its dirt roads. Residents voted against paving during a 2002 referendum.

"The town is very committed to not paving the roads . . . keeping that Mayberry character," Rischitelli said.

Ballinger said his company will present commissioners with more development plans and ideas Tuesday.

Mayor Kathy Stark said the workshop allowed commissioners, residents and representatives from Orange County and the St. Johns River Water Management District to explore all the issues.

"We wanted to understand exactly what our options were," Stark said. "We're not trying to hold the developer up -- we're just trying to get it right. And I think in the end it was a good meeting."

Commissioner Joseph McMullen agreed.

"We don't want to approve anything until we get all the information in front of us," McMullen said.

Ballinger called the meeting constructive.

"It's a matter of somebody making up their mind and telling me what they want," he said. "Hopefully everything will go well on Tuesday and then we'll push forward."

Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5507.

Find out what's up the road in Lake

Residents can learn how developers and planners hope to mesh homes, commuting and services.

Robert Sargent
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 7, 2007

MINNEOLA -- Proposed developments with thousands of planned homes cover the south Lake County landscape like pieces of a huge jigsaw puzzle.

Many are in Minneola. Others are in Clermont. Some are in the county. But their collective impact could change how the region grows during the next couple of decades.

Keeping track of the projects can be difficult even for government planners. So this month, Minneola and Clermont will put on a public forum for residents and community leaders to learn about proposed developments.

"It is important that everybody knows we're not just dumping things out there," said Carl Gosline, community-development director in Minneola.

Gosline said many of the proposed communities are being planned together to better prepare for their impact on roads and municipal utilities.

The hub of massive development is the proposed Hills of Minneola -- a 3-square-mile megacommunity with nearly 4,000 homes and 3 million square feet of commercial, office and industrial buildings mixed among schools, parks, a town center and a small sports stadium. Everything is tied together with a proposed interchange on Florida's Turnpike.

The Hills could generate 105,000 vehicle trips a day when it is completed in 15 years.

To handle vehicles from that project, roads would require more than $887 million in improvements, and the Hills developer might be required to pay only $127 million of that. The rest could come from public and private funding.

A main connector road is proposed north of the interchange, linking the Hills of Minneola with Sugarloaf Mountain and to County Road 455.

Construction has started on Sugarloaf. That development is planned for 2,200 homes along County Road 455 just north of the Hills site. The first phase includes a gated neighborhood of 550 upscale homes and a golf course co-designed with professional golfer Ben Crenshaw.

The connector road is expected to head south of the proposed turnpike interchange, through or next to other proposed developments such as the 1,300-home Black West in Clermont and the 689-home Reserve at Minneola.

Other planned communities in the area include the 963-home Founders Ridge and 483 homes from KB Home. Bella Collina is planned for more than 800 homes.

Another project spanning about 339 acres next to the Hills recently requested annexation into Minneola. Harb Brothers Inc. wants to come into the city with a proposal for a medium-density residential development that could allow as many as 1,200 new homes.

Developer Dale Ladd has asked Minneola to annex 153 acres proposed for up to 457 new homes.

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

Sumter County Times

Plans to widen Interstate 75 through a substantial portion of Sumter County will be pre-sented to the public later this month.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is proposing to widen the interstate from four to six lanes on a 21-mile stretch from Sumter County Road 476B to State Road 44.

Planned improvements also will be discussed for interchanges at County Road 476B, State Road 48, County Road 470 and the Florida Turnpike.

The meeting is planned as an informal open house at the Sumter County Courthouse in Bushnell. The open house begins at 5 p.m., with a formal presentation at 6 p.m.

Representatives of the FDOT will be available to answer questions and receive input fol-lowing the presentation.

The improvements are being considered by FDOT to meet the future travel needs on the interstate.

Design plans, location and project impacts will be discussed at the meeting.

The $208 million project is estimated for construction in 2010, according to FDOT repre-sentative Lance Decuir.

A similar project is being planned for portions of the interstate in Hernando County, he said.

“We’re looking at 10 and 20 years from now and trying to provide the road capacity for that traffic now,” he said. “It will definitely be an issue in the future” as traffic increases.

Until construction begins, FDOT will review design concepts and determine environ-mental, social and historical impacts connected to the expansion work, Decuir said.

County: Mining rule won’t regulate noise, vibrations

By Terry Witt

Citrus County limestone miners have long used explosives to shatter the valuable white rock in large pits, but the blasting can shake or vibrate homes, triggering complaints from neighbors.

The county recently proposed a land development regulation aimed at shielding residents from mining activities. It would establish a 3,000-foot buffer zone (setback) between new and expanding mines and the nearest residence.

Mining interests are pushing back with their lawyers and questioning whether the county has the right to regulate the use of mining explosives or the effects of the blasting.

Much of the controversy stems from plans announced last year by the Cemex mine in northern Citrus County to expand to the north. The application for a mine expansion was later withdrawn, but neighbors were already alarmed. The mine expansion would have moved the blasting closer to their homes along the Withlacocochee River.

Residents claim the blasting shakes their homes and causes property damage. The mine’s owner, Dixie Hollins, disputes the allegation, claiming residents have no scientific data to back the charge. Hollins said he is willing to work with them on a solution.

County Commissioner Joyce Valentino has the most personal experience with mining issues of anyone on the board. She became a citizen activist in the early 1990s fighting the proposed expansion of limestone mining near her home in Heatherwood. She supports the 3,000-foot setback.

Valentino and her group ultimately convinced the county commission that Florida Rock Industries should not be allowed to restart its Storey Mine near the Withlacoochee State Forest or expand the mine at Radar Hill or anywhere else in the Withlacoochee Forest.

She said the first she became aware that the company was doing test mining near Heatherwood was when she heard an explosion. She thought at first that it might be a sonic boom from a space shuttle flight passing overhead until Chronicle reporter Mike Wright showed up at her doorstep and told her about the mining tests. He was preparing an advance story for a county commission meeting that dealt with the mining near Heatherwood.

Valentino’s group later helped rewrite the county mining ordinance that established a 3,000-foot setback between mining and homes, but the setback rule was later moved to a different part of the land development regulations dealing with noise and vibration, and lost its effectiveness.

The county acknowledges the change may have left it in a vulnerable legal position because the State Fire Marshal has the exclusive right to regulate explosives and blasting associated with mining. Vibrations and noise associated with mining are not within the county’s jurisdiction.

To counter the problem, the county has written a new ordinance that would return the 3,000-foot setback to a portion of the land development code related to setbacks. Assistant County Attorney Michele Lieberman said the county is not attempting to regulate mining noise or vibration with the setback.

“We can’t regulate decibels levels for blasting,” Lieberman said. “But we can under our land development regulations provide for separation of incompatible land uses.”

Attorney Clark Stillwell, who represents Hollins, said if the county has decided to stay out of the business of regulating noise and vibration associated with mine blasting, the setback must be based on a reasonable standard.

“I agree. Let’s go forward, but let’s be reasonable,” he said.

Valentino said she supports the 3,000-foot setback between mining and homes. She said she would prefer to adopt a larger setback. She said mining affects not only neighbors, but it can collapse underground water channels in the aquifer and ruin wells and water quality.

She said the people who work in limestone mines are able to protect themselves from the effects of mining noise and blasting.

“Citizens that live near mines don’t have that protection, she said. “They depend on setbacks and buffer zones to protect them. They can’t put up a bubble over the neighborhood.”

* WHAT: Citrus County Planning and Review Board workshop about the proposed ordinance establishing a setback of 3,000 feet between new and expanding mines.

* WHEN: 9 a.m. Feb. 15.

* WHERE: Lecanto Government building, 3600 W. Soverign Path, off County Road 491 south of State Road 44.

* WHAT: Board's public hearing.

* WHEN: 9 a.m. March 15.

* WHERE: Lecanto Government building.

Bunnell addresses rezoning concerns

State questions plan for annexed land

By DEREK L. KINNER
Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- Bunnell city officials will try to smooth over state officials' concerns about land use plans for 10,500 acres annexed into the city.

Commissioners scheduled their meeting with the state Department of Community Affairs representative for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at Bunnell City Hall.

The meeting comes a couple of months after the city's consultant on the issue, Stuart Buchannon, virtually disappeared, city Manager Richard Diamond said. And city officials say reports they've heard about the DCA's concerns are not favorable.

Vice Mayor Catherine Robinson said during a meeting Wednesday that, based on what she has heard out of Tallahassee, "it won't matter what we do, it won't be good enough."

Diamond said the city submitted its rezoning plan last year, but the state had several concerns. The city wants to change the annexed land from county agricultural zoning to city agricultural zoning.

Diamond said state officials are concerned the rezoning could result in urban sprawl because the county allows only one home per five acres, while the city requires only one acre per home.

State officials also are concerned the change could jeopardize wetlands and put a burden on the school system.

Buchannon agreed in September to help the city work with the DCA. In the next couple of months, he kept city officials updated, saying things were going well, Diamond said. But city officials lost contact with Buchannon in November and haven't talked to him since, Diamond said.

"We kept calling him back, but (his phone message) said his message box was full," Diamond said.

Meanwhile, city officials have talked directly with DCA officials and learned that things aren't going well with their rezoning request. Officials said there are several problems with the plans, but they are willing to discuss them with commissioners.

Diamond said he hopes the city can then move forward to address the state's concerns and rezone the annexed property. Currently, landowners in the 10,500 acres must follow county zoning regulations, Diamond said.

In other action, city commissioners approved nine zoning ordinances to allow for commercial or business use on several parcels on the outskirts of the city. Commissioners also approved an ordinance establishing a new water and wastewater service area for the city utility.

derek.kinner@news-jrnl.com

Better drainage may lower flood insurance

Drainage programs in some cities can help residents save money on flood insurance.

BY JENNIFER LEBOVICH

jlebovich@MiamiHerald.com

Residents of some South Florida cities may be eligible for discounts on flood insurance, thanks to municipal drainage-improvement programs.

Insurance companies are supposed to offer the discount automatically, but residents should check with their insurance agent if they have questions.

Cities across Broward County, like Hallandale Beach and Davie, have spent millions to install new storm drains, pipes and other improvements aimed at preventing floods in low-lying areas.

In Hallandale Beach, the discount is 15 percent in floodplain areas and 5 percent in non-flood-plain areas, according to the city.

Only residents in a federally designated flood zone have to have flood insurance; it's optional for others.

Cities' spending can translate into savings for homeowners on insurance policies. The communities are given a flood rating that is taken into account for discounts on flood insurance.

''This program is a win-win for residents and cities because people get a discount on insurance and it makes the city safer,'' said Braulio Rosa, a Davie spokesman.

A $17 million price tag for drainage projects in Hallandale Beach has meant a savings for some city homeowners, according to the city.

TALK TO THE AGENT

There are other steps homeowners can take to ensure they are getting the proper rates for all types of homeowners insurance -- from windstorm to fire and theft.

''It's important that everyone speak to their agent for the types of discounts available for mitigating factors, like hurricane shutters, upgrading protection around your home,'' said Ryan Priest, a spokesman for Allstate Floridian Insurance. ``We recommend people sit down with their insurance agent once a year to talk about ways they may be able to mitigate their home against hurricanes or catastrophic damage.''

Priest said even a small change to the home could mean a lower rate.

''Your agent may ask questions you didn't think about,'' he said. A homeowner could have made ``minor improvements . . . that may have decreased likelihood of a loss in a catastrophic situation.''

The state has also set up a website to help homeowners understand what kind of discounts they may be eligible for for making houses more resistant to wind.

ONLINE RESOURCES

At www.floridawind incentives.org a person can take an online questionnaire that takes into account factors like when a home was built, what county it is in and the type of roof to give an estimate of wind discounts offered by insurance companies.

Homeowners can also get information about a state-run program for free home inspections at www.mysafeflorida home.com.

Private Fix Sought For Scott Lake

By Diane Lacey Allen
The Ledger
LAKELAND - Fixing Scott Lake will take more than permanently plugging the sinkhole that drained almost a billion gallons of water last summer.

It likely will mean finding a way to divvy up the cost of a project that could run more than $1 million.

Dave Curry, spokesman for lake residents, has been meeting with Polk County officials to discuss ways residents might assess themselves and use the county as a sort of "collection agency." There has been no discussion of using public funds to repair the private 285-acre lake.

"We're not expecting the county to pay for anything," Curry said.

Curry has met with officials such as Deputy County Manager Jim Freeman about mechanisms available to homeowners who want to improve neighborhoods at their own expense. No decisions have been made, but homeowners could propose that the County Commission assess them.

"They've never asked us for money as far as appropriation," Freeman said.

But Freeman said if Scott Lake found a compatible legal option, the assumption is county commissioners "would want strong support among homeowners."

"There have really sort of been discussions about what are the options that they may have in Florida statutes in assessment upon themselves, the property owners," Freeman said. "And which ones might be feasible …

"It's a neighborhood issue, a community issue," Freeman said. "We're assisting them to assist themselves."

Freeman said the county has worked with other communities in the past such as Indian Lake Estates.

Curry and the county will meet later this month, but finding a way to fund work is just one part of the solution. Curry said no work on the lake will begin until residents get a permit from Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, which governs the lake bottom. Curry said the application went in about three weeks ago and he expected it will take three to six months for an answer.

"They've been pretty encouraging," Curry said.

Curry said he has been dealing with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which has served as a liaison for residents.

"Swiftmud has been real proactive and they were there in the beginning …," Curry said. "I've heard all those horror stories about Swiftmud, but they've been very cooperative."

In the meantime, the lake continues to recover on its own.

Curry estimated that at its worst, the waterline receded by about 200 feet. About 40 to 50 feet has come back.

"We've got some very giving people around the lake who are doing what they can to make a better lake," Curry said."It's going to be a better lake when it's all over with. It'll be a lot better."

"The drawdown is good for it. The vegetation growing out there now is going to be good for fishing. In the long run, it'll be better," Curry said.

Diane Lacey Allen can be reached at diane.allen@theledger.com or 863-802-7514.

Debating how to redevelop an Overtown parking lot, Miami city commissioners faced some tough questions: Should the ¾-acre lot be built upon at all? A citizen committee found the lot was well used by drivers in Overtown and recommended leaving it alone.

A fair selling price for the land? One developer offered to pay Miami $1.25 million for the lot, located at 345 NW 10th St. Another developer, the politically connected Alberto Milo Jr., wanted the land for free.

City leaders picked Milo in November.

As the city negotiates a final deal with Milo, others are asking how he convinced commissioners his proposal was the best.

Milo wants Miami not only to give him the land for free but also to throw in $6 million to help build a 10-story, mixed-use project dubbed Jazz Village, to combine office and retail space with condo and rental units.

''It's going to be another white elephant,'' warned developer Daniel Arias, whose $1.25 million purchase offer was rejected by the city. Arias wanted to build a telecom office building on the parking lot.

''I was dead from day one,'' Arias said of the city's selection process. ``It's a disrespect to see people paying taxes and they're giving away properties.''

Milo did not return calls for comment. His formal written proposal to the city says that a medical training school is planned for part of the office space and predicts the project will lure ''the urban professional'' back to the neighborhood.

''Jazz Village will have a direct impact on breaking the cycle of poverty that currently exists in Overtown,'' the proposal states.

City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, whose district includes Overtown, said her priority is creating affordable housing in the area, something Milo's proposal -- and not his competitor's -- offered. Milo and Arias were the only developers to express interest in the property. Milo, through various corporations and family members, contributed at least $4,000 to Spence-Jones' 2005 election campaign.

Spence-Jones said Milo will set aside some of the parking spaces in a planned parking garage to make up for the 56 spaces he's building on. Other spaces planned in the area will ensure parking isn't a problem, she said.

''I am really trying to make sure that we get housing built on these lots,'' Spence-Jones said. ``I've lost so many people in my district in these vacant lots, I've got to do whatever I've got to do to bring these people back.''

Jazz Village is slated to include 63 condo units marketed to buyers making between $33,540 and $83,850 a year. Sixty rental units would be marketed to people making from $16,770 to $44,720.

Spence-Jones said she saw no problem with the city partially subsidizing Milo's project if that helped ensure that his apartments and condos are priced affordably. A final decision on whether Miami will do so is expected later this year.

The parking lot, named P-3 by the city, has a somewhat checkered past. Built during the days when the late Commissioner Arthur Teele Jr. represented Overtown, it was one of several construction projects that prosecutors said included kickbacks for Teele.

Teele killed himself in the lobby of The Miami Herald building in July 2005 while awaiting trial on criminal charges for those alleged kickbacks. Overtown activist Irby McKnight served on the committee that recommended the city not build on the lot.

''It's needed. It's used now,'' McKnight said.

IMPORTANCE CITED

But Spence-Jones and other commissioners repeatedly cited the importance of building affordable housing when they voted unanimously to choose Milo. Commissioners voted in their capacity as board members of Miami's Community Redevelopment Agency, which owns the lot and is charged with spearheading revitalization of the area. Frank Rollason, the CRA's former executive director, notes that Milo plans to build condos on the city's parking lot, not affordable rentals. The rentals would be built next door on privately owned land that is part of the project. The rental units would be built after the condos, during a second phase of construction.

If Milo decides he no longer wants to build rentals, it's unclear what power Miami would have to say otherwise, since it's not on city land, Rollason noted.

''There's no guarantee that they'll do what they're supposed to do,'' said Rollason, who remembers Milo coming to his office about six months ago to express an interest in building on the parking lot. Miami had not solicited proposals from developers for the land, though it eventually planned to. Milo's lobbying sped up that process. Back then, according to Rollason, Milo boasted that he already had the support of Commissioner Spence-Jones -- though the selection process for a developer hadn't taken place. Milo wanted to know what the necessary steps were to make the deal happen.

By the end of the year, city commissioners had instructed Rollason's replacement as CRA head, Jim Villacorta, to negotiate a contract with Milo. Negotiations are still pending.

''It pretty well worked out like he said it was going to work out,'' Rollason said of Milo. Milo's proposal cites several affordably priced residential projects he has completed or has under way.

`RIGHT FOR OVERTOWN'

One of them, Seybold Pointe, at 816 NW 11th St., counts City Commissioner Joe Sanchez as a unit owner. Sanchez, who bought the unit roughly two years ago for $152,000 and rents it out, said that ownership -- and the fact he has known Milo since childhood -- had nothing to do with his support of the development plans.

''I made my decision based on what I think is right for Overtown,'' Sanchez said. ``Apparently, I can't buy anything in the city. . . . I don't go out drinking with him, I don't hang out with him.''

Sanchez said he paid regular price for the unit he bought and the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission ruled there was nothing improper about the transaction.

Spence-Jones said she wants a more vibrant Overtown through the influx of new residents and businesses -- regardless of which developer makes it happen.

''If they have a good business plan, if they have financing put in place . . . why shouldn't we support them?'' Spence-Jones asked.

Charged lobbyist behind no-bid P.B. County sale

By Stacey Singer and Tom Dubocq

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Sunday, January 07, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach County commissioners this week will consider an agreement to sell "under-utilized" parkland to developers, a no-bid deal engineered by William R. Boose III, a lobbyist charged in the corruption case against former Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti.

Seventeen publicly owned acres west of Boca Raton, at Yamato Road and U.S. 441, will be sold within 60 days for $4.75 million if the commission approves contract revisions Tuesday.

The buyers: a group of politically connected investors that includes George Elmore, a developer and paving contractor who partnered with Boose in a recently aborted north county land sale to the commission. The commission scuttled that $1.5 million deal in December, a month after federal prosecutors charged Boose with concealing Masilotti's $1.3 million profit from a government land acquisition in Martin County. Boose has pleaded not guilty.

Masilotti, charged with honest services fraud, is scheduled to plead guilty Thursday.

Boose, who told a judge he has retired from lobbying, also retreated from the pending south county deal in November, ceding his interest to Elmore - and eliminating the stigma of commissioners selling land in a no-bid deal to an accused felon.

"There was concern his involvement would impact what we are trying to do," said Peter Sachs, whose law firm has replaced Boose's in representing the investors. "We thought it would hurt the deal."

The remaining investors stand to make plenty off the property, now known as Yamato Court. A new appraisal indicates the parcel already is worth at least $1 million more than the county's selling price.

County makes concessions

Boose and his partners pursued the deal for several years. During months of negotiations, county staff, closely monitored by County Commissioner Burt Aaronson, agreed to a string of potentially lucrative concessions, records show:

• The deal was framed as a land swap, an arrangement that meant the county was not required to seek competitive bids for the Yamato property. Under the deal, the county paid $250,000 in June 2005 for a drainage easement through Elmore's property on Okeechobee Boulevard. The easement was needed to widen Okeechobee, traffic engineers said - a road improvement that increased the value of Elmore's land.

Under the agreement, Elmore can use the easement for parking on his property, where he plans townhouses, offices and retail shops. Without a widened Okeechobee, his plans are held up.

• Parks officials declared as surplus nearly 10 acres of a 16-acre greenway called American Homes Park, saying its jogging path and playground were "under-utilized." The park parcel was coupled with an abandoned water utilities site to create the 17 acres sought by the Boose group. Part of the county proceeds would be used to finance the golf course under construction at the nearby South County Regional Park.

Making the loss of parkland more politically palatable, the investors agreed to donate 1.8 acres to the Jewish Association for Residential Care, which plans four group homes for developmentally disabled adults, said Sachs, the nonprofit association's president. An additional 5 to 7 acres is under contract to Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, which plans a preschool and classrooms for afternoon religious instruction, Rabbi Dan Levin said. The temple has agreed to pay up to $3 million for the property and associated development costs, Levin said.

• Before conducting public hearings, the commission agreed to the rezoning of the property to allow a 46,000-square-foot shopping center. Drawings show a bank, restaurants and a CVS pharmacy in the commercial part of the site.

• Boose protested when a 2003 county appraisal valued the public land between $292,929 and $303,535 per acre. County staff then paid for a second round of appraisals reflecting a lower density of commercial development. Ultimately, the parties agreed on a price of $279,247 an acre.

When the Yamato Court plan was aired at a public meeting this summer, neighbors cried foul, saying their park would have been used by more people if the county had made an entry point off Yamato or 441. Commissioners ordered that the park be left at slightly more than 6 acres, rather than 3, and Boose's group tried to cut the price accordingly. County staff said the investors met with Aaronson seeking a discount - and that the commissioner stood his ground, saying that escalating land values already made the price a bargain.

Aaronson's active role

From the beginning, Aaronson played an active role. Yamato Court is in his commission district. Aaronson said he helped the deal along because he saw it as a win-win for everyone involved, from county Parks Director Dennis Eshleman, whose golf course was over budget, to several charitable causes the commissioner supported.

"Everybody seemed to come out a winner on this," Aaronson said. "It was my understanding that the buyers were going to give land to the JARC home for nothing. I was happy about it."

The deal began in 1998 - not with a park, but with a decision to decommission a sewage treatment facility. The county's water utility decided it no longer needed the 5-acre parcel because its sewage treatment process had changed. The adjacent American Homes Park acted like a curtain, shielding the neighboring community from the unsightly tanks. Back then, a county appraisal put the utility parcel's value at an estimated $1.1 million, or about $207,500 per acre.

Initially, the U.S. Postal Service had expressed interest in buying it. But in December 2002, with the Postal Service experiencing a budget squeeze, Aaronson told the water utilities director to put the property back on the market, records show.

Early in 2003, a for-sale sign was posted, and interested buyers were told they'd have to accept the land "as is." The park was not part of the deal.

The county library system suggested that it would be interested in buying the water utility site. Soon after, on March 12, 2003, Aaronson's calendar shows, he lunched at the Fifth Avenue Grill in Delray Beach. At his table were two of the key partners in what's now Yamato Court LLC: Boose and Rob Levy, whose family runs the Oriole Homes building firm.

Instead of an auction of the land, the deal was structured as a swap. Boose knew the policy well. He had once served as head of the county's planning and zoning division and went on to become a formidable land-use lawyer, secretly holding pieces of many of his clients' deals.

At the time, the county needed a place to send runoff from Okeechobee Boulevard, which was due to be widened. Boose's frequent business partner, George Elmore, headed a company that owned a rock pit and a strip of land along Okeechobee that the county wanted for road drainage.

It might have made sense for Elmore to donate that easement - after all, he owned land next to it and he intended to turn it into a commercial strip. That couldn't happen until Okeechobee was widened. Elmore said Friday that he wasn't in the mood to donate anything after giving 2.5 acres for a nearby city fire station.

"I think that was a pretty damn good donation, so I don't think we should be asked to do anything more," Elmore said.

Boose suggests trade

That's when Boose stepped in, meeting with various mid-level county staff to suggest a trade.

On Aug. 21, 2003, Ross Hering of the county's property and real estate management division began an e-mail exchange with Tanya McConnell of the county's engineering division, discussing the prospect of ditching the bidding process for the water utility site west of Boca and doing an exchange instead.

On Aug. 28, 2003, Hering told a colleague via e-mail that the Yamato property would not be put out for bids. Aaronson wanted nonprofits included in the deal: "We are waiting on one of the potential respondents to develop a conceptual plan which would accommodate all of the not for profits," Hering wrote.

The potential respondent was Boose.

In an interview, Hering explained: "One of the issues we had been facing down in west Boca was, how do we provide for these not-for-profit groups? Everybody is coming to us saying, 'Do you have any land?'"

The solution was American Homes Park.

On Feb. 15, 2005, the county commission agreed to buy the Okeechobee Boulevard drainage easement for $250,000 and sell the Yamato Court property for $4.75 million.

The Okeechobee deal was made June 15, 2005, and the Yamato Court sale was supposed to close 18 months later, once new zoning and land-use approvals were in place. That deadline came and went, with part of the project - a portion reserved for one of the nonprofits, the Solomon Schechter Day School - still undecided. All the pieces were in place once the religious school was replaced by Temple Beth El.

Aaronson said that when he learned Boose was involved, he advised Levy to find a new attorney. He chose Peter Sachs, law partner of U.S. Rep. Ron Klein.

"This wasn't a sweetheart deal for anybody," Aaronson said. "I think what's put a fly in the ointment here is the ownership of Bill Boose."

With Boose out of the picture, the amendments to be considered Tuesday by commissioners largely are housekeeping matters, Sachs said.

"It's a good plan," he said of Yamato Court. "It's a good deal. Everybody's on board."

City to mull scrapping joint planning deal

By TONY MARRERO
lmarrero@hernandotoday.com

BROOKSVILLE — Sometimes a step backward is needed to move forward.

Such is the case to improve relations between the city of Brooksville and Hernando County when it comes to planning for growth around areas of shared boundaries, according to officials on each side.

The city council at its next regular meeting Monday night will consider a decision to rescind the existing joint planning agreement between the city and the county so that a new, better agreement can be crafted.

Council member Lara Bradburn asked that the item be put on the agenda.

“There needs to be better communication,” Bradburn said. “We all agree that the (joint planning agreement) is void. Nothing that it calls for doing has been done. Let’s just rescind it and start fresh.”

At a joint planning meeting last month, the two bodies appointed Bradburn and Commissioner Dave Russell to work together to create a new agreement to bring back to their respective boards for review.

The goal will be to include recent additions to state statute that provide additional guidelines and requirements for municipalities to plan for the impact of annexations, and of new development on each side of shared borders between counties and cities.

There is much in the current agreement that can be included in the new one, Bradburn said. However, Bradburn said city staff had recommended the current agreement be rescinded before Bradburn and Russell meet, to avoid violating the state’s Sunshine Law, which sets restrictions on meetings between public officials on the same boards. The agreement created a joint board between the city council and the county commission.

The county commission will also vote to rescind the existing agreement at an upcoming meeting, Russell said.

Both Russell and Bradburn are newly elected, but they both have extensive experience and knowledge of the new statutes governing joint planning: Russell helped write the additions while serving as House representative for District 44; Bradburn, who has for years been active volunteer for local planning and economic development issues, provided input.

“The legislative intent was to grease the wheels bet-ween local governments for inter-local agreements,” Russell said. “It just takes some of the guesswork and some of the speculation and subjectivity out of the agreement so six months or a year down the road there’s not a legal question that arises as to the veracity of the agreement. It becomes as ironclad as it can be.”

This way, both bodies can plan for and share the cost of development on roads, schools and water and sewer infrastructure, officials said. The agreement will now require the city to partner with the county when it comes to future annexations, Bradburn said.

“That’s just common sense,” she said.

For years, city and county officials have talked about better communication when it comes to planning for Brooksville’s growth and for developments in the unincorporated areas near the city border.

But the relationship has been a contentious one that has seen its share of lawsuits.

The county currently has two lawsuits pending against the city. One is over the city’s two recent annexations of some 900 acres at the southern end of the city, east of U.S. 41.

The county worries that any development on the land would overwhelm nearby roads and other infrastructure and that the city should have held off on the annexations until the joint planning board could meet to address the concerns.

The other suit is over the city’s recent comp plan amendment for the Majestic Oaks subdivision off Mondon Hill Road. The county maintains the amendment, which set the maximum possible number of residential units for the development at 999, is in violation of a tri-party contract between the city, the county and the developer that limited the number to 600 units.

The county has filed the suits but will not serve them unless mediation efforts fail.

The new joint planning agreement won’t prevent every dispute, Bradburn said.

“There are times when city needs to have a vision for where it’s going and stand true to that vision,” she said. “Sometimes the county may disagree with that, but open communication and mutual planning is always the best way to go. It just prevents conflict down the road and taxpayers win.”

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

A sign they' re not sold on Brooksville

MICHAEL KRUSE
Published January 7, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Monique Swann, gardener, nature lover, entrepreneur, wanted to open Creative Porch & Garden because she loves the sorts of vases and throw pillows and wind chimes she has here at 151 S Main St.

She wanted to do it here because she loves Brooksville.

"I wanted to do it," she said one recent afternoon in her shop, "because I felt I could."

She could not.

Only a 1 1/2 years after it opened, the tale of Creative Porch & Garden is told, in black letters, on yellow signs, in the yard out front: STORE CLOSING. The sale even includes the house. Swann is asking $345,000 for one of the oldest homes in town, which comes with wood floors, a big inviting porch and a piece of land that includes an old regal oak with a trunk the size of a small car.

Swann has a few ideas why this didn't work - the Internet, the economy, Wal-Mart and Lowe's - but then there are her more intangible and more local theories. And here is where this gets interesting for the merchants who are members of the Brooksville Business Alliance.

"We all think there's the attitude that Brooksville doesn't have anything to offer compared to Tampa," Swann said. "I don't know why they don't choose to shop in Brooksville, the people that live here, because the people who come from out of town absolutely love it. But the people who live here - the people with more money to spend - they have, I think, an attitude that you can't find it in Brooksville.

"I don't know that for a fact. It just seems that way. Even the people who are downtown don't go to the downtown shops. Maybe people who have lived here for a long period of time don't realize that downtown has grown and has more to offer now."

She walked outside the house and around the side and into the back.

"I wanted to have garden parties out here," she said. "I had plans."

Swann was born in Holland and moved to Tampa when she was 11. She lived in Bradenton for 15 years before she moved up here about two years ago. She is the owner of Tampa Agricultural Products, a company that sells wholesale fertilizers and lawn care chemicals, but that's hard work, and she's not getting any younger, she said.

So she bought the 148-year-old house at 151 S Main and took months to turn it into Creative Porch & Garden. She painted the left front room a color called apple slice and the right front room a color called conch shell.

Now, on sale inside, there are plates and candles and clocks and tea sets and bird baths and porcelain angels and white wicker furniture.

"And an empty cash register," Swann said.

Some days she's had only three customers.

Some days she's had only one customer.

And some days, every now and again, she's had no customers. Not one.

The bedding didn't sell.

The wooden fruit didn't sell.

Not enough of anything sold to make it wise to keep on selling.

Bottom line: "People don't come downtown to shop like they should," city redevelopment coordinator Brian Brijbag said last month.

Talk to folks who live and work in Brooksville, just talk to them, with the understanding that their names won't appear in stories like this, and they say ...

1. Ain't nowhere to shop.

2. Well, okay, that's not totally true. There ARE shops. Just not any shops they actually want to SHOP in.

3. They get to work at 9 and they leave work at 5 and then they go home.

The other day at Creative Porch & Garden some customers walked in.

"Have you been here before?" Swann asked.

They had not.

"Well," she said, "I got a good sale going on ..."

One woman from Spring Hill said the house reminded her of Newport, R.I., and called it "the house I was meant to live in."

Another woman from near Orlando oohed and aahed as she walked from room to room. She called it "cute" and "grand."

"Mmm, mmm, mmm," she said.

Creative Porch & Garden is open every day except Sunday and Monday. Everything is 20 to 50 percent off - until mid February, that is, when the business is going to shift over to creativeporchandgarden.com. The 1,610-square-foot house has upgraded plumbing and electric, and an clawfoot tub.

"I just wish the people who worked in town utilized the shops in town," Swann said, "so we can all make a living here.

"We have a unique situation here in Brooksville," she added, "and it could be fantastic."

Could be.

Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434. 

Building Precedent: Small Businesses Respond To Housing Slowdown

By DAVE SIMANOFF The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan 7, 2007

After years of record-setting home sales and housing construction, the real estate market has cooled off - and no one knows that better than Mark Perez.

The president of Buck's Wholesale Plumbing Supply in Tampa used to count on making 15 to 20 deliveries a day - shiny faucets, toilets, sinks, showerheads and the like - to homes being built in the Tampa Bay area. Today, his company delivers to just two or three houses a day.

The result? "It's been a 30 to 40 percent drop-off in sales," he said.

Buck's Wholesale is just one of many firms in the Bay area pinched by the slowdown in housing construction. Their stories illustrate how national economic trends - in this case, the dramatic drop-off in residential real estate demand and construction - reverberate through small businesses in the area, with implications for employers and workers alike.

What's happening with local contractors and suppliers also shows how small businesses are forced to adapt to changing market conditions.

Adapting can be painful - and not just for the bottom line.

Sheppard Electrical Services in Tampa has laid off about six workers in the past month, Vice President Jimmy Thibeault said. The firm now has 45 employees.

"What we did a couple a months ago, when we saw that it was going to start slowing down, is inform everybody that this is probably coming," he said.

Even though the company had warned workers about the possibility of layoffs, "it was hard to do, especially at the end of the year," he said.

Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties logged a combined 791 new residential, single-family building permits in October, the most recent month for which information is available. A year earlier, the three counties had a combined 1,573 permits.

The total value of the permits issued in October was $142.7 million, down from $258.3 million a year ago.

More Flexible, More Vulnerable

The slowdown in residential construction affects hundreds of small businesses in the Tampa Bay area.

The Tampa Bay Builders Association boasts more than 1,800 member companies, and about three-fifths of those firms have 20 employees or fewer, Executive Vice President Joseph Narkiewicz said.

"There's a little bit less work, and different companies are adjusting differently to it," he said. "Some people are adjusting their personnel levels somewhat."

The construction industry employs nearly 79,000 people in the Bay area, according to 2005 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a sizable piece of the local work force - one out of every 15 workers in the area has a construction-related job.

Small businesses are often more nimble than large corporations, implementing changes and adapting quickly when market conditions change, Narkiewicz said.

"They have the ability to be a little more flexible," he said. "At the same time, they can be a little more vulnerable because they might not have the same depth of resources."

Sheppard Electrical and Buck's Wholesale are both pursuing commercial construction work to supplement the residential sales lost to the housing slowdown. They're also going after renovation and remodeling projects.

Perez said that retail sales and smaller jobs keep his company busy, but they're not as good for the bottom line as supplying plumbing fixtures for new homes. His company makes as many deliveries today as it did a year ago, but it's not as profitable to deliver a single sink, for example, as it is to supply all of the plumbing fixtures for a new home.

"Our sales haven't dropped, but those sales are a lot more time-consuming - and that affects our profit margin," he said.

Buck's Wholesale employs 16 people and hasn't needed to lay anyone off, Perez said.

At Sheppard Electrical, diversifying means trying to shore up more residential work as well as pushing more heavily for commercial work.

"Commercial is still booming," Thibeault said. "Very seldom are they both down at the same time."

Lessons For All Businesses

Jody Tompson, director of the Naimoli Institute for Business Strategy at the University of Tampa, said many companies are forced to make changes and cut costs when sales become more challenging in their industries.

"The really common temptation that a lot of small and large businesses have to confront is to overreact or cut back or retrench more than they need to," said Tompson, who is also an associate professor at the university's Sykes College of Business.

"Companies can get into a situation where they've cut back so severely that they're not in a position to respond when the market does return," he said. "What you want to do is cut the fat and not the meat," he said.

But how does a company figure out what to cut?

"Companies need to know what their competencies are, and the need to be sure never to cut into those competencies," he said.

"When times are good, they should be aware of what's dispensable and what's nondispensable," he said. "When times are tough, these can be emotionally delicate decisions that leaders have to make. It's easier … to already have made the hard choices beforehand."

Although few real estate experts expect the housing market to rebound to its record-setting pace of the last few years, most people expect it to recover.

After all, real estate is a cyclical industry, with a long history of booms and busts.

"I don't see it starting to pick up until after April, after the first quarter, and it will be a gradual pick-up," Thibeault said.

"I've been in this business for 30 years, and it doesn't normally last more than six months," he said of the downturns. "We haven't had any slowdown in the residential housing market in the last 14 years, so we were well overdue."

Reporter Dave Simanoff can be reached at (813) 259-7762 or dsimanoff@tampatrib.com.

Insurers Tell Media About Risk

By MICHAEL FECHTER The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan 6, 2007

Property insurance premiums still lag behind the risk facing Florida insurers despite a series of dramatic rate increases during the past two years, an industry economist told reporters Friday.

Explosive property values, combined with development along the state's massive but vulnerable coastline, make Florida "literally the most dangerous place in the world in terms of the location of property," said Bob Hartwig, chief economist for the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute.

The prospect of a hurricane causing $100 billion in damage is one that insurers must be prepared to cover, he said. Premiums "are not adequate today," Hartwig said.

Legislators will gather Jan. 16 for a special session on property insurance. A host of legislative reforms are expected next week, including one from Gov. Charlie Crist, who has promised rate reductions.

"It's going to bring relief to the people," said George LeMieux, the governor's chief of staff.

Friday marked the second straight day business and industry officials tried to tamp down expectations for rate cuts. On Thursday, Associated Industries of Florida unveiled its Florida Hurricane Crisis Coalition with a message that, if anything, insurance rates may not be high enough.

Although insurers made about $2.75 billion in Florida last year, the eight storms in 2004 and 2005 wiped out all the money they made here since Hurricane Andrew hit Miami-Dade County 15 years ago, Hartwig said. Last year's profits should be viewed positively because they help insurers replenish their reserves for the next big storm, he said.

Coastal properties are valued at nearly $2 trillion, Hartwig said, a figure that could double by 2014. At the same time, experts predict a cycle of above-average hurricane seasons for the next 10 or 15 years.

Both Sides Of House Skeptical

Hartwig gave state House members a similar PowerPoint presentation last month.

House members of both parties are increasingly skeptical about the industry's portrait of impending financial ruin.

"There's no integrity in that information that's being forwarded," said state Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami. He wants insurance companies audited by the state to ensure that rate increases are justified.

Likewise, House Democratic leader Dan Gelber suspects "some monkey business with the figures."

"It's very easy, when you control the numbers, to make the case that best suits you," Gelber said.

Some insurance companies buy costly reinsurance policies from their parent corporations, he said. In quiet seasons such as 2006, the reinsurance money is virtually all profit and not reported to the state.

Gelber has advocated increasing the state's catastrophic fund to cover a majority of storm-related claims. Private insurers would be on the hook for claims in excess of an established threshold, perhaps $50,000 or $75,000. That covers a majority of claims in a typical storm, which would allow insurers to reduce premiums, Gelber argues.

Now, he wants to empower the governor to decide when, and to what degree, the catastrophic fund is used. Gelber expressed confidence that Crist, a Republican, shares his commitment to rate reduction.

"I read his quotes. I'm looking for my name on them," he joked.

Florida faces an economic meltdown that could be akin to the Depression if nothing changes, Gelber said. The governor should be empowered to ward that off.

Florida's economy is hurting from the squeeze of higher insurance and property taxes, said Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz. People have less disposable income, he said, and that cuts into state sales tax collections.

The Super-Catastrophic Fund Plan

Ambler is drafting legislation to divert one penny of the state's 6-cent sales tax to what he calls a super-catastrophic fund to provide reinsurance. Insurers would tap the fund after spending an aggregate of $1 billion in claims per storm.

This could reduce premiums as much as 40 percent, Ambler says. The savings would spur economic activity and compensate the state for the diverted penny of sales taxes.

Insurers would be required to pass the savings to customers. Consumers, in turn, would have to agree to divert any FEMA claims to the state.

Ambler's plan also envisions a series of 10 state-owned regional storehouses to stock roofing shingles, plywood and other rebuilding necessities. This, Ambler said, would hasten rebuilding efforts and allow the state to provide materials at cost directly to contractors.

Rebuilding costs, adjusted for crisis supply constraints, are factored into premium costs, Ambler said. The storehouses, which could be run by private contractors, would reduce those cost estimates.

It's not clear how lawmakers will sift through the varying proposals to arrive at something with enough support to pass. LeMieux declined to discuss details of the governor's plan, saying that would wait until next week. It will cover the issues Crist discussed during the fall campaign, including an end to "cherry picking" by requiring companies that sell auto insurance in Florida to also sell homeowners policies and expanding the state's catastrophic fund.

Asked about the back-to-back public presentations by insurance interests defending the need for increased premiums, LeMieux said Crist sees the insurance industry as trying to protect record profits and welcomed the challenge. "He wants to represent the people who elected him, and the people are suffering," LeMieux said. "They will have no stronger advocate than Gov. Crist."

Reporter Michael Fechter can be reached at (813) 259-7621.

Route offers beauty by mile

In Volusia County, a