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 journey through The Loop reminds you of a Florida that is fading.

Lisa Roberts
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 6, 2007

ORMOND BEACH -- -Walk it, bike it, drive it, but see it soon, because like many of Florida's natural places, The Loop in northeast Volusia County is in transition.

The 23-mile Loop, in and north of Ormond Beach, is a place where history beds down in Spanish moss hanging from ancient oaks, where fisherman while away time at the edge of saltwater marshes and motorists poke along, soaking up the beauty of it all. Along the way are shell mounds left by native Indians, the ruins of sugar mills, and state parks with rivers to paddle and trails to explore.

Development is here, too. For years it has nibbled at The Loop's flanks, first crawling up the spines of riverside John Anderson Drive and North Beach Street toward the lushness of Tomoka State Park, more lately sidling up to Old Dixie Highway. Though once ubiquitous "Save the Loop" signs are spotty now, the community remains determined to keep ramifications along the route minimal.

"There are a lot of new development pressures," says Joe Jaynes of Daytona Beach, chairman of the Ormond Scenic Loop & Trail Corridor Advocacy Group, which is working on state and national scenic highway recognitions for the stretch.

An artist's inspiration

To reach the first leg of the loop, take State Road 40 east to Ormond Beach, climbing high over the Halifax River on Granada Bridge. Touch down beachside, where The Casements, once the grand winter home of John D. Rockefeller, reigns over the riverfront. Turn north on State Road A1A and tick off a few miles as high-rise condos, squat motels and dining establishments such as Betty's A1A Cafe and the Kahuna Grill give way to heaped sand dunes dressed in dune sunflowers, prickly pear cacti and tasseled sea oats. Welcome to North Peninsula State Park, a fine two-mile stretch of clay-colored sand. Pull over at the boardwalk at Highbridge Road and savor the view, if nothing else. To the south, high-rises shimmer like foggy memories as the pounding waves fill the air with salty mist. Does it get any better than this?

Quite simply, yes. Take Highbridge Road east into the heart of the Loop. Just 500 yards down the road, before crossing the drawbridge, take time to peruse the North Peninsula's Smith Creek Landing and its 2 1/4-mile Coastal Strand Trail, which weaves through holly, cedar and scrub oaks. Linger near the water, but heed the warning sign about gators. They're here. So are manatees, which in warm months might pop up here and across the street from Volusia County's Highbridge Park, where High Bridge Bait and Tackle outfits anglers for what's biting.

After crossing the drawbridge, the narrow two-lane road sways and swerves beside salt-water marshes, where great blue herons, woodstorks and snowy egrets spear the shallows in search of breakfast. Here in the saturated morning light, it is easy to see what inspires plein-air artists such as Marge Drew of Ormond-By-the-Sea. She's a regular here, painting on the side of a road at least once a week.

Drew is used to folks peeking over her shoulder as she quickly captures a scene. What inspires her? "Have you seen The Loop?," she replies. "It's so beautiful, and no matter when you go, it's always different. It just kind of takes your breath away."

Highbridge wends its way much too quickly to Walter Boardman Lane. Turn left here, but ease off the gas -- the open gate of Mound Grove, part of Bulow Creek State Park, is just ahead on the left. Bump down the root-rutted road to water's edge, where fishing and paddling are popular pastimes. It's a good spot from which to snap a few photos or to reflect upon the place's simple beauty.

Natural spot for naturalist

Back on Walter Boardman, head west to Old Dixie Highway. Though The Loop goes south here, take a short detour west on Old Dixie to Old Kings Road. Cross briefly into Flagler County, then turn right into Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park on Old Beach Road, which once stretched all the way to the Atlantic. Now the washboard dirt road stutters to an end at sparkling Bulow Creek, where boat slips still can be seen. They were etched from the riverbank and shored up by ale and wine bottles from the stately plantation house, which once stood nearby. It was from here that painter and naturalist John James Audubon explored the river and marshes in 1831.

It takes about 10 minutes to stroll a quarter-mile nature trail through sabal palms and oaks, past the scatterings of stones from slave cabins, to the ruins of what was once the largest sugar mill on the East Coast. Here, juice was extracted from sugar cane and heated to make sugar or molasses, which was shipped to Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Savannah, Ga. The mill was destroyed in 1836 during the Second Seminole War.

On Old Dixie Highway, head back to The Loop to the main entrance to Bulow Creek State Park. Here stands the Fairchild Oak, a gargantuan tree more than 400 years old. Visitors can explore the park via two trails -- a short loop path to a coquina rock bluff and the 6.8-mile Bulow Woods Trail, which leads hikers to the Bulow Plantation ruins.

Back on the road, head south, where oaks embrace above asphalt, weaving a lush green canopy. Pause, if you want, at Ormond Tomb Park and its playground or at the roadside ruins of Col. Thomas Dummett's sugar mill, or head straight to our final stop, Tomoka State Park.

Visitors to Tomoka's small museum can view a short videotape on the park's history and see the creations of Fred Dana Marsh. This Ormond Beach artist/architect designed the park's statue "The Legend of Tomokie," which marks the location of Nocoroco, a Timucuan village that had about 200 huts.

The park is a favorite of campers, paddlers and birders, but it's fishing -- and relaxing -- that has drawn Paul Snow, of Butler, Pa., and his sister, Cathleen, of Satellite Beach, here today. "I like to come up here a lot to fish and hike," says Snow as he keeps an eye on a line in the water. His son, Hunter, 8, bends over a bucket. "Want to see the fish I caught?" he asks.

Bulter helps the youngster hold up a slender trout for inspection, its scales glinting silver in the sun. "He's the man," the father boasts.

There are many such moments on The Loop. And as you slide back to Ormond Beach via Old Dixie Highway and North Beach Street, ponder your return here to make more memories of your own.

Lisa Roberts can be reached at 407-420-5598 or lroberts@orlandosentinel.com.

Watering cutbacks on way

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published January 6, 2007

Despite rain on Christmas and New Year's, the Tampa Bay region is facing a serious drought - so serious that next week state officials are expected to order everyone in a 16-county area to limit lawn watering to one day a week.

The board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District will meet Tuesday in an emergency session where they are scheduled to declare a district-wide water shortage, said Swiftmud spokesman Mike Molligan.

"We've been under abnormally dry conditions for some time now," Molligan said Friday. "Although we're getting some rain now, we don't know what's going to come in the future."

Swiftmud covers a section of the Florida Gulf Coast from Levy to Charlotte counties, home to an estimated 4-million residents. The winter rainfall is 11 inches below normal throughout the region, and in some places it has fallen as much as 15 inches, spurring the recommendation for emergency restrictions, Molligan said.

At this point, he said, "we'd have to get 140 percent of the normal rainfall for this time of the year to get back up even to what's normal by the start of the rainy season." The dry season is supposed to end in early June.

The last time Swiftmud imposed mandatory once-a-week restrictions on this region was in 2000, during the worst drought in 50 years.

That year, the dry conditions sparked widespread wildfires. Rivers, lakes and ponds throughout the state dropped to record low levels, to the point where anglers and boaters had given up some Central Florida lakes as lost forever.

The current conditions are not as dire, but southwest Florida is far from alone in grappling with a water shortage. On the state's east coast, rainfall through the first 10 months of 2006 was among the lowest on record, and the water level in Lake Okeechobee has dropped more than 3 feet below its usual depth this time of year.

Current watering restrictions vary among counties and the cities within those counties.

Some utilities in Swiftmud's region, including Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and Tampa, already restrict watering to one day a week. Molligan said about 2.5-million people are already required to follow that routine.

But the other 1.5-million have been allowed to run their sprinklers twice a week. Those homeowners and business owners -- in Crystal River, Dade City, Temple Terrace, Tarpon Springs and St. Petersburg, among other places - are likely to be ordered to cut back.

"Hallelujah, it's about time," said Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala, who chairs the board of Tampa Bay Water, which supplies water to utilities in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. In recent months the wholesale utility has repeatedly requested everyone to switch to once-a-week watering, she said.

Some listened. Hillsborough County imposed once-a-week watering Dec. 16, publicizing the cutback in newspaper advertisements and water bills.

"Our water conservation team is out there every day enforcing those restrictions and writing citations," said Michelle Van Dyke, a spokeswoman for the county's Water Resource Services Department. "We already take enforcement seriously."

While St. Petersburg allows twice-a-week watering, Mayor Rick Baker said residents are already adept at conserving water, so much so that the city is consuming 7-million gallons less water a day than it consumed last year. He predicted little resistance to a Swiftmud order to cut back to once-a-week watering.

The city of Tampa never lifted one-day-a-week watering restrictions put in place last spring.

"The situation through this rainy season didn't improve much, so we knew going into this dry season we needed to be conservative," said Steve Daignault, Tampa's administrator of public works and utilities.

Even as demand for water is increasing, rainfall is far below average. That means the flow of the rivers where the utility gets millions of gallons is too low to draw much water.

As a result the utility has tapped its reservoir early. In December 2005 it stood at 15-billion gallons, full to the brim and ready for the dry season. It's now down to 11.5-billion gallons.

Over the past 20 years, America's per capita consumption of water has dropped - but not Florida's, said Cynthia Barnett, a reporter for Florida Trend magazine (an affiliate of the St. Petersburg Times) and author of the forthcoming book, Mirage: Florida and the Disappearing Water of the East.

In Florida, federal studies show per-person water use has climbed from less than 140 gallons a day in 1955 to 174 gallons a day now.

Ronnie Duncan, now a Pinellas commissioner and Tampa Bay Water board member, was a Swiftmud board member during the 2000 drought. He predicted the public will readily respond to the call for increased water conservation this time.

"Most people are not going to say, 'We don't care, we don't give a rat's rear and we're going to do whatever we want,' " he said.

Times staff writers Janet Zink and Bill Varian contributed to this report.

Public hearing

The Southwest Florida Water Management District Board will meet at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in its Brooksville office for a public hearing on the proposal for emergency water restrictions.

On the Web

www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/

The Southwest Florida Water management District Board will meet at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in its Brooksville Office for a public hearing on the proposal for emergency water restrictions. THEIR WEBSITE IS: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ 

Water shortage may be declared for Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties

A water shortage will likely be declared on Tuesday for 16 Florida counties, including Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota.

The declaration would restrict lawn watering to one day a week, changing the rules in Manatee County and Punta Gorda, where residents are currently allowed to water twice a week.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District said Friday that its board will meet at a special public hearing on Tuesday to consider the declaration. Swiftmud, as the agency is commonly called, is the state water regulator for an area about 180 miles long, stretching from Punta Gorda to about 80 miles north of Tampa.

Rainfall in the water district's southern area, which includes Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties, was 42 inches in 2006, about 10 inches below normal, said Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan.

Weather forecasts have called for a wetter-than-normal winter because of the current El Niño, a warming of Pacific waters credited with driving away hurricanes.

But rainfall hasn't increased until recently.

"We would need about 140 percent of rainfall through to the rainy season, through June, to pull us back to a normal situation," Molligan said.

Residents in unincorporated Charlotte and Sarasota counties, as well as the cities of Sarasota, Venice and North Port, already are restricted to watering to one day a week.

Nonetheless, officials have been warning residents for about a month that some of the region's water supplies were low.

Starting this month, emergency conservation rates are in effect for customers of Charlotte County Utilities, who will pay a higher rate if they use more than 6,000 gallons a month. The average customer uses 5,000 gallons a month, said spokeswoman Leigh Sprimont.

Sarasota County's emergency conservation rates are in effect year-round.

During nondrought times, code and law enforcement officers rarely cite watering violators. But with dry conditions, tougher enforcement is likely in store for many areas, such as North Port, which announced this week it would step up enforcement.

After a warning, illegal watering can draw a $100 citation, and higher fines can be levied for further violations.

Tampa Bay Water has been advertising on radio, urging residents to conserve water during the drought. Swiftmud plans to follow suit with its own ads.

Spring Creek flowing again
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

SPRING CREEK - The Spring Creek springs group, classified as the largest springs in Florida, is back.

The springs stopped flowing last year and scientists weren't sure why.

When a group of divers went there Friday to investigate, the spring was flowing again. They had to call off the dive because the flow was too strong to swim into the caves.

The heavy rainfall since late December likely has boosted the springs' flow, said hydrogeologist Chris Werner.

"These springs like this all over North Florida are really dependent on rainfall," Werner said. "When we get periods of drought, obviously the discharge at the springs is going to be a lot less."

Spring Creek discharges an average of 1.2 billion gallons per day, about five times what flows from Wakulla Springs, according to the Water Resource Atlas of Florida. But some scientists say the Spring Creek flow varies too much to provide an accurate estimate.

Spring Creek consists of 14 springs in a shallow bay along the Gulf Coast. The flow periodically stops or the springs suck gulf water back into them, said Harley Means, a geologist with the Florida Geological Survey.

Scientists suspect water flowing in Lost Creek, Fisher Creek and other streams eventually flow to Spring Creek. Those streams go underground in western Leon and Wakulla counties.

The Florida Geological Survey will install flow meters in five of the springs within the coming year. Dye also will be injected in Lost Creek and Leon Sinks to determine whether the water is going to Spring Creek.

For Friday's investigation, Wakulla Springs Bottled Water Inc. hired divers with the Woodville Karst Plain Project and the Hazlett-Kincaid hydrogeology modeling firm. Both groups have done extensive research at Wakulla Springs.

The company has proposed building a controversial water-bottling plant near Wakulla Springs to pump up to 70,900 gallons per day.

The Northwest Florida Water Management District says water is plentiful in the area. But environmentalists say they're concerned that allowing the plant would encourage other water-bottling companies to locate in Wakulla County.

The proposed plant is 1.7 miles from Wakulla Springs. Scientists think water flows there during wet times but flows to Spring Creek in drier times, Werner said.

Paul Johnson, a consultant with Wakulla Springs Bottled Water, said the company hired the groups because it's concerned that changes in the aquifer could affect the company.

"We need to make sure if this bottling plant goes in and Spring Creek flow goes down again we can know it is not associated with the bottling plant," Johnson said. He is working for a future share of the company

Feds drop waste-water inquiry

No charges will be brought against workers involved in Venice utilities department dumping.

VENICE -- The Department of Justice will not file charges against any individuals involved in the city utilities department's 2001 waste-water dumping into Curry Creek, officials said Friday.

The announcement answers the question that lingered after the city pleaded guilty in December 2005 to a three-count felony violation of the Clean Water Act: Would those responsible for the dumping or the falsification of records during the subsequent cover-up go to jail?

Speculation centered on what court papers called the "Executive Group," a reference to the "high-level executives, managers, supervisors" who oversaw "the day-to-day operations" of the Eastside Wastewater Treatment Facility at the time of the dumping.

But the Department of Justice has closed its inquiry, leading the Environmental Protection Agency to drop its investigation.

A Department of Justice spokeswoman would not comment on why the department closed the case.

The Justice Department pulled the EPA off the case in a letter to EPA special agent Dan Green, who had handled the investigation.

"Their recommendation was not to pursue any individual defendants in this case, and the local U.S. Attorney's office went along with this," Green said.

When the city pleaded guilty in 2005, a judge imposed the minimum fine allowable, $110,000, or $5,000 for each of the 22 days that plant employees discharged waste water into the creek and sprayed it onto a field at Knights Trail.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, the city pledged its full cooperation in any further investigation of any current or past city employees.

City employees testified for months afterward.

City Manager Marty Black fumed over the Justice Department's decision to drop the inquiry Friday.

"We're very disappointed that the federal authorities have elected not to put the resources into this to finish out prosecution of the individuals who committed the crimes," said Black.

Despite the small fine that the charges carried, Black estimates the cost of the episode, including legal, consulting and engineering expenses, exceeds $2 million.

Last June, the city struck a deal with the EPA that would keep Venice off a blacklist of Clean Water Act violators.

The deal preserves the city's eligibility for federal contracts, assistance and loans for its water plant.

According to the plea agreement, city employees knowingly dumped the treated waste water into Curry Creek and sprayed it onto the Knights Trail field even though systems designed to measure and limit the flow were not working.

City workers then submitted reports that falsified measurements of the discharge.

Members of the Executive Group later certified the accuracy of those reports.

The three utility workers who blew the whistle on the dumping later sued the city, saying they were harassed by supervisors after the incident.

The city settled, giving each $25,000 and a letter of apology.

The City Council purged the department in 2004, eliminating more than a dozen top positions and hiring a private company, Operations Management International, to run the department.

With an eye on Kings Bay, CR council mulls fertilizer ban

By MIKE WRIGHT

Chemicals thought to be a source of pollution in coastal waterways

The move may be little more than symbolic, but the Crystal River City Council is on the verge of banning the sale and use of fast-release fertilizers.

Council members on Monday will consider an ordinance designed to reduce the dis-charge of lawn fertilizers into Kings Bay. The fertilizers are thought to be major polluters of the bay and other coastal waterways.

Council members who say the state and county should stop the sale of certain fertilizers believe the movement may get a nudge if the city adopts an ordinance.

City Manager Andy Houston echoed that sentiment in an agenda memo.

“Staff has previously brought the concern forward that an ordinance of this nature will be difficult to enforce,” he wrote. “As a symbolic measure, it is seen as an effective way to bring attention to this issue.”

If approved Monday, the city will ban the use and sale of residential and commercial fast-release fertilizers.

Violators will be cited through code enforcement.

The city council meets at 7 p.m. Monday. The agenda includes:

n Mayor Ron Kitchen will present the State of the City address shortly after the meeting begins.

n An ordinance on first-reading that would amend the city’s ban on burning to allow the burning for purposes of land clearing on parcels larger than two acres.

n Houston is recommending renovations to city council chambers at a cost not to exceed $15,000. The renovations would include raising the dais 6 inches so people sitting in the back of the room may see council members; moving the city manager and city attorney to the dais instead of a separate table; and building a customized work station for the city clerk.

He also is suggesting a wall screen for power-point presentations that now are projected on a side wall.

Water district invites public to sessions
Staff Report

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- One of the most important nurseries for marine life in the world, the Indian River Lagoon, also has its share of problems: diseased dolphins, for example, as well as toxic algae and other pollution problems.

But the St. Johns River Water Management District has a number of programs under way to track and fix them. The district participates in the National Estuary Program, a federal program to protect and improve water quality.

The district and the Marine Discovery Center invite those who fish, sail or live along the lagoon to talk about the ongoing issues. The information the district gathers will be used by the estuary program to develop a public education program about lagoon restoration activities.

Five sessions are scheduled during the next two months. The first takes is from 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at the New Smyrna Beach Library.

South Florida's Tri-Rail sets passenger records

TIMES WIRES
Published January 6, 2007

While Tampa Bay keeps pondering the wisdom of building rail, South Florida is quietly setting records. Tri-Rail - which links Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade counties - carried more than 3-million passengers last year, more than ever and 21 percent over last year, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. The previous record of 2.9-million riders was set in 1993, after Hurricane Andrew scrambled commuter patterns.

Residents fret proposed landfill

CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published January 6, 2007

DADE CITY - Connie Cooper lost her husband and fell into a coma after they got into a car crash in May.

Now, four months after she woke, she's worried about a new problem.

A 92-acre landfill is proposed just outside her Messick Road home in the rural pastures east of Dade City, barely 2 miles from the Withlacoochee River.

"It's like one thing after another," she said. "I didn't buy out here to look at something like that."

In this bucolic landscape of rolling hills, cows and orange groves, residents are up in arms over the pitch by a Largo firm and a group that includes some well-connected east Pasco landowners for a Class 1 landfill to be built at on the fringes of the Green Swamp preserve. Class 1 landfills can take all forms of household waste, including asbestos, but not hazardous material.

"We're all on wells here, and we have enough problems as it is," said resident Cynthia Baker. "I know a lot of people there who aren't happy."

The proposal by Angelo's Recycled Materials is to build the $10-million facility by the end of 2007.

The Largo company's application is just going through the first stages of review at state and county offices. The state Department of Environmental Protection issues the environmental and operating permits; Pasco must approve its zoning.

Angelo's envisions that it will handle as much as 3,000 tons of rubbish a day, based on a county population estimation of 454,120 by 2011.

But residents and the DEP are questioning the numbers because environmental regulators usually project that a person produces an average of 4.4 pounds of trash a day.

That would mean slightly less than 1,000 tons of trash a day in Pasco, based on a population of 454,120. This is nowhere near the 3,000-ton limit proposed by Angelo's.

John Arnold, the project engineer, said these are just initial projections for sizing up the landfill.

"We're going to start at whatever rate we can start off with," he said.

The DEP has responded to Angelo's proposal with nearly 60 pages worth of detailed questions.

Among other issues, the department wants to know what kind of trash would be brought in and where it would be placed and how the leachate - water runoff tainted by the trash - would be collected.

In particular, the department is raising a red flag on Angelo's proposal to have waste just 4 inches from the sides of the liner system, which separates the waste from the ground.

"If it's just 4 inches, we want to know if it will result in waste leaking outside the liner system," said Pamala Vazquez, the department's spokeswoman.

Arnold said Angelo's is willing to revise its proposal to put as much as 5 feet between the liner and waste, if the state would prefer that. But he added that Angelo's is proposing to use a liner system that has won numerous industry awards.

The DEP also wants Angelo's to detail all known sinkholes within a mile of the site.

Residents remain fearful of leachate running into the Withlacoochee River or seeping through the ground to potentially taint the aquifers that feed drinking wells in the area.

Angelo's attorney, Jerry Figurski, argued that the area is rich in clay, which acts as a filter.

Figurski also said a new road would be built northward from Janmar Road, and the landfill's entrance placed away from Messick Road, so residents on Messick would not have to fear noise and traffic.

"Consistently, from the beginning, Angelo's has been extremely cognizant of neighbors," Figurski said.

The company has offered to buy property from irate residents, he said. Arnold said Angelo's has also met some neighbors and remains open to discussing its proposal with more of them.

But a larger fear among some residents is that politics and business may intertwine in the community of east Pasco landowners and influence the decision when the Angelo's proposal goes before the County Commission.

Baker is concerned that the landowners cooperating with Angelo's include Charles and Cynthia Waller, Earl Singletary, Boyd Hyder and Walter Rowland. They are said to be friends with County Commissioner Ted Schrader, also a prominent east Pasco landowner.

Charles Waller is a Dade City lawyer, and Singletary is a farmer.

But Schrader strongly denied the charge.

"I hope she knows me well enough to know I will vote whatever's in the best interests of Pasco County, not the interests of property owners involved," Schrader said.

Still, the Angelo's proposal comes at a time when Pasco is weighing options on how to handle its solid waste.

The county is trying to decide whether to expand its landfill at Shady Hills. Its only other landfill is an abandoned one in east Pasco near the Angelo's proposed site.

"Pasco has to make a decision whether to expand Shady Hills or look for alternative methods," Schrader said. "I am on the committee that will rank the proposals that will be before us. No decision has been made."

Cost may play in the favor of Angelo's.

At the lower end of its range, Angelo's is pitching $35 to dispose of a ton of waste. Pasco was reportedly paying $53 a ton two years ago, a cost almost certainly higher today.

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development. He can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

Wekiva fans, take heart: Canoe launch lives on

King's Landing remains a wilderness gateway. The new owner even cleaned it up.

Kevin Spear
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 6, 2007

At a longtime gateway for paddling into the wildest of Wekiva River wilderness, where massive snapping turtles lurk in clear currents and rare wading birds prowl the shallows, a new business owner is ready to send adventurers on their way.

Environmentalists in recent years had begun to worry about the future of King's Landing, a rustic outpost for renting and launching canoes or kayaks into the 8-mile Rock Springs Run tributary of the Wekiva River.

Gabrielle Gardner, owner and operator of King's Landing for nearly 30 years, had fallen ill with Alzheimer's disease. Needing to pay nursing-home bills, her son, Robert Gardner, began to consider selling the place last year.

At issue for Wekiva defenders: the possibility somebody would buy King's Landing and build a home or condominiums. That would cut off the single public entry to the scenic Rock Springs Run.

The Wekiva River basin, which takes in Wekiwa Springs, Rock Springs and dozens of other springs, is a treasured but imperiled swath of wetlands and forest along the northern end of the Orlando urban area.

Ongoing development of subdivisions and strip shopping centers has squeezed Wekiva lands on three sides. River defenders say that maintaining public access to the Wekiva ecosystem is essential for its long-term support and protection.

It turns out that fears the canoe outpost would close were unfounded. Developers never got their hands on King's Landing. And Orange County government, which wanted the spot for park space, was unsuccessful with its purchase offers.

A private citizen had better luck.

Gardner died in November. A month later, Bob Loomis, owner of a family-founded funeral home in Apopka, bought the canoe-rental business and nearly three acres.

"We're going to bring King's back to the way it was -- clean, pristine and a place for families to have fun," said Loomis, who opened for business this week.

Even before he finalized the purchase, Loomis, his brother, their four sons and several volunteers gave King's Landing a cleaning it hadn't had in years. The effort sent nearly 100 cubic yards of trash to the dump and nearly a dozen trailer loads of scrap metal to a salvager.

Something else he plans to clean up is boater behavior.

Among new rules: Foam coolers, which tend to break into pieces during canoe outings, will be banned. So will glass containers of any kind. And alcohol will no longer be permitted, though it's already prohibited where the river hugs Wekiwa Springs State Park.

Loomis said he and his brother have agreed to grant boaters a free trip for every three trips in which they take a trash bag and fetch bottles, cans and other junk from along the waterway.

Wekiva River enthusiasts said they are cautiously hopeful the canoe outpost is in good hands.

"We may have dodged a bullet," said Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon of Florida.

Rock Springs Run, a skinnier and more enclosed version of the Wekiva River, draws fans from across the state for roughly three to five hours of paddling. Some were anxious about what would become of King's.

"Do you know if it will be run the same way?" asked Linda Leeds, 59, a West Palm Beach resident and adventurer on more than 70 Florida rivers.

"This is one of the prettiest in the state," said Leeds, who added that Rock Springs Run has special appeal. "I like rivers that are just a little wider than my paddle."

Loomis, whose family has been in the Apopka area for four generations, said he will spend a half-million dollars for the King's Landing purchase and improvements.

Although he is a businessman and is participating in development of an airport-centered residential community near Lake Apopka, he hopes King's Landing won't sell again for many years.

"My ambition is for my great-grandkids to inherit it," he said.

Kevin Spear can be reached at kspear@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5062

Pristine Place says no to Wal-Mart

By MICHAEL D. BATES
mbates@hernandotoday.com

SPRING HILL — About 150 Pristine Place homeowners swelled the small confines of their community center auditorium Thursday night and sang the same refrain for two hours: No Wal-Mart.

At the end of the town hall meeting, which was turned over completely to an issue that has raged through this 750-home community the past few weeks, the president of the Pristine Place Homeowners Association asked for volunteers to form a committee.

It’s mission: rally others in the community to their side and seek outside advice to shoot down Wal-Mart’s plans.

They may also enlist the help of Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now (WARN), a national organization dedicated to helping communities in their struggles with the retailer. A WARN representative attended Thursday’s meeting and offered her assistance.

Homeowners jumped at the chance to be on the committee, which has about one month to do its job before the Wal-Mart proposal comes before the planning and zoning board, the first step toward approval of a new supercenter.

“We’ve got Wal-Marts coming out of our ears,” resident Cathy Conway told the packed crowd and invited guests, which included representatives from the county engineering department, planning department and legal staff. “Why do we need another one?”

The retailer has submitted plans to build its newest supercenter — the county’s fourth — near the entrance of Minnie Drive and Barclay Avenue. Almost as soon as it was proposed, homeowners at Pristine Place and other nearby communities banded together to fight the move they believe will create a traffic nightmare on the narrow, two-lane Barclay Avenue.

For two hours, dozens of residents took a hand-held microphone being passed around the room and sought assurance from county officials that Wal-Mart would bypass the Barclay site and seek property away from residential areas.

But county staffers told the throng to prepare for the fight of their life because the 22-acre parcel is already zoned commercial. All the retailer has to do is revise the master plan for the property.

Assistant County Attorney Kent Weissinger said the retailer already has vested rights because of past zoning decisions. He urged residents to hire their own legal experts and engineers and show up at the planning and zoning hearing with solid reasons why that master plan should be denied.

“Be assured, based on our experiences with Wal-Mart, they will have their experts there,” Weissinger said.

“If you’re going to go there and just say, ‘I’m against Wal-Mart,’ you might as well stay home,” he added.

Homeowners said a 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter would create noise and light pollution, increase the crime rate and cause safety hazards to children who walk to nearby Powell Middle School.

Planning and zoning commissioners will offer a recommendation to county commissioners, who will ultimately decide the issue at their land use hearing, probably in March.

County Engineer Charles Mixson said both county boards will put great stock in a traffic study of the area. But homeowners’ hopes were deflated when told the study would be done by Wal-Mart.

After an hour, Gayle Davis, president of the Pristine Place Property Owners Association, dismissed the invited guests and told the homeowners to stay and formulate a game plan.

Several expressed dismay and wondered if they should bother spending money and time to fight the retail behemoth.

“You are not going to stop a Wal-Mart from coming into a place already zoned for a box store,” Anthony Kanaris said. “You’re going to get a Wal-Mart whether you want it or not.”

But association treasurer Josh Vilardi rallied residents and told them not to become defeatist.

“I’m not going down without a fight,” Villardi said, to thunderous cheers and applause.

County commissioners David Russell and Chris Kingsley attended the meeting as observers.

But at the end of the meeting, Kinsgely took the floor and told residents to avail themselves of every possible tool to help them in their fight.

“You can have your voices heard,” he said. “People do win when they fight against corporations.”

Thursday’s meeting was limited to Pristine Place residents. However, the entire county will have a chance to confront Wal-Mart when the retailer holds a public meeting at a time and place to be announced.

Because of the large opposition to the project, Pristine Place resident Ed Brown suggested somewhere big, such as the Springstead Theater.

Brown, who arrived early at the town hall meeting and got a front row seat, said he is not opposed so much to Wal-Mart as he is the location.

“In a high density, residential area, it’s not place to have it,” Brown said.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.

Closed meetings canceled amid flak

Lake leaders changed their minds about 2 days of development talks that excluded the public.

Nin-Hai Tseng
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 5, 2007

TAVARES -- County Manager Cindy Hall abruptly canceled two days of closed-door meetings with landowners and development attorneys Thursday amid criticism that the public was being barred from talks that could influence how the county grows.

The decision came hours after the Orlando Sentinel fought to gain access to the meetings, which were to be led by county planning staffers and not county commissioners. The newspaper argued that they fell under the open-meeting requirements of the state's "Government in the Sunshine'' laws.

The plan to close the meetings also drew flak from some county commissioners, as well as at least one member of a county panel that has been working on a rewrite of the county's comprehensive growth plan for the next two decades.

"If they're not hiding something they should keep it open," said Rob Kelly, a member of an advisory board to the County Commission who sent Hall an e-mail urging public participation at the meetings Thursday and today.

After she changed course, Hall said, "It didn't appear that our process was being well-perceived."

New county Commissioners Elaine Renick and Linda Stewart, who won seats promising to slow growth, also criticized the meetings.

"I think that the growth-management staff has a public-relations problem," Renick said. "There is a mistrust. The way you dispel that is you bend over backwards to make the process very open."

Commission Chairman Welton Cadwell and Commissioner Jennifer Hill said they thought the meetings were a way to "streamline" what has become a lengthy and drawn-out effort to update the county's growth plan.

In July, unmet deadlines prompted state officials to impose a moratorium that could stall proposals for many big developments.

"We have tried to be as transparent as we could," Cadwell said before Hall's decision to cancel the meetings. "At the same time, DCA [state Department of Community Affairs] is saying we've got to get it done."

On Thursday morning, county Planning Director Wayne Bennett and chief and senior planners began speaking to development attorneys, landowners and developers individually. The appointments, which were announced in a news release issued by the county and posted on its Web site, were scheduled to continue into the night.

Bennett told a Sentinel reporter to leave the meeting, saying "it's for staff only." However, he allowed Stewart, who came to listen, to remain in the room.

Hall halted the meetings at 3:30 p.m. after several hours of discussions between county staffers and developers' representatives.

She said landowners and developers now will have to present their cases in a public meeting Jan. 18 before the Local Planning Agency, which has been making recommendations to update the county's growth plan.

"Hopefully, that will be perceived as an open and transparent process, which has been our intent all along," Hall said, adding that those who met with county staffers before the meetings were stopped will have to present their cases again.

Hall and County Attorney Sandy Minkoff had argued the meetings weren't public because they involved county staffers and not elected officials. Minkoff said staffers weren't making decisions but rather forming recommendations, which would eventually be presented at public meetings.

But an attorney representing the newspaper said the meetings should be open.

"You cross the line when you go from simply fact-finding to engaging in negotiations or making recommendations," said Fort Lauderdale attorney Deanna K. Shullman. "It is our understanding that these staffers were going to make recommendations."

Developers and landowners originally were scheduled to present their land-use requests to the County Commission in a public meeting in September. That meeting was postponed, and Local Planning Agency members agreed to have developers and landowners make their pitches to county staffers.

The controversy comes at a time of immense change in Lake County leadership. In September, longtime Commissioners Catherine Hanson and Bob Pool were defeated in the Republican primary.

They were succeeded in November by Stewart and Renick, both of whom promised to change the pace of growth in Central Florida's fastest-expanding county.

Stewart and Renick appointed like-minded people to the Local Planning Agency. Development attorney Steve Richey, who had nearly seven hours reserved to speak with county planners, said he would rather make his case before county staffers and county commissioners than the planning panel.

"They [Local Planning Agency members] treat developers like lepers," Richey said.

Among the larger requests from developers was for a land-use change seeking to add thousands more homes to a rural patch south of Clermont for the Karlton development. Developers last year proposed the 5,200-home development, but the Local Planning Agency in December recommended against a development of such scale.

Representatives of Merry Gro Farms northeast of Mount Dora are also seeking to add more homes on the rural land.

Robert Sargent of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Nin-Hai Tseng can be reached at nhtseng@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5919.

Newell wants all land-bid applicants to be named

By Hector Florin

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, January 05, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — County commissioners want to know who's behind the corporations, landowners and family trusts seeking land use and zoning changes before they discuss or cast votes on the requests.

The call for more information, made by Commissioner Warren Newell at the end of Thursday's zoning meeting and supported by other commissioners, signals that former Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti's alleged crimes continue to cast shadows over government.

Newell asked for full disclosure of property owners and their representatives, potential purchasers and companies seeking development approvals to help prevent conflicts of interest. Rarely, either before or during a meeting, do commissioners know all the parties involved in such applications.

"I think we need to know as a board who these individuals are," Newell said. "I want this board to know who is standing up there, who is making an application ... and people behind these operations."

Commissioners faced the issue last month when they discussed buying 10 acres of land south of Northlake Boulevard. State records listed road paver George Elmore as the registered agent of the limited liability company that owned the land.

Once the county considered buying the land, it was disclosed that attorney William Boose was among the six companies or individuals with an ownership stake in the property. Boose is charged with helping hide Masilotti's $1.3 million profit from a Martin County land deal with the South Florida Water Management District.

Under state law, governments buying land from private parties must be notified of all parties involved in the sale who have a financial stake in the property.

County commissioners backed away from buying the Northlake land and instead voted to begin eminent domain proceedings.

The Martin County deal is one of several that led to Masilotti being charged with violating the federal honest services law. The former commission chairman faces up to five years in prison.

Newell said after the meeting that he got the idea of seeking full disclosure as he reviewed applications discussed at the zoning meeting. One of those applications, which was withdrawn by the landowners Thursday, sought to rezone 17 acres west of Lake Worth to allow 52 homes to be built.

The land is owned by Lake Worth Growers, but the development applicant was Fairway View of the Palm Beaches LLC. The name of only one individual, who works for a planning consultant firm representing the landowners, is listed in the report.

Staff reports handed to commissioners days before a meeting do not regularly include the details of individuals involved in an application. With Newell's proposal, those names would be included.

Since Masilotti's October resignation and the federal charges that followed, commissioners have considered revisiting votes, met regularly with county attorneys and mulled the creation of an ethics committee.

Also, consultants under county contract who also represent private interests can no longer participate on both sides of the table during any county competitive bid process.

Assistant County Attorney Lenny Berger said he would prepare a memorandum for commissioners by early next week that includes an analysis of the federal honest services law, a review of ethics discussions stemming from the early 1990s and a more detailed look at voting and perceived conflicts of interest.

The federal honest services statute, a mere 28 words long, has drawn plenty of attention and careful scrutiny.

"A lot of people have been really concerned about what it means," Berger said.

Also expected: more education for county employees about actions that could potentially violate the law.

Newell had the idea in November to create an ethics committee, but commissioners rebuffed him. He said disclosing people in development applications would create greater public trust.

"I just started thinking, 'Who are these people?' It's one more way to make sure government's in the open as much as possible," he said.

Plans withdrawn for 52 homes west of Lake Worth

By Hector Florin

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, January 05, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — The residents on Fearnley Road west of Lake Worth got their wish Thursday when a landowner withdrew plans to build 52 homes on 17 acres.

Many residents thought this was too much development in an area where acre-plus-sized lots, horseback riding and agricultural businesses are common.

But they did gripe about the last-minute withdrawal of plans by landowners Lake Worth Growers. Residents and their attorney said they weren't notified the development application had been pulled.

All the delays in a final decision and the cost of attorney's fees throughout the last year placed a burden on the community, said Richard Wilson, who owns a home and runs Excalibur Fruit Trees off Fearnley Road.

Many of the 25 residents who appeared at Thursday's county commission zoning meeting had taken time off work to attend.

"The system is weighted toward the developer," Wilson said.

County zoning staffers backed the plans, which included 11 homes set aside at workforce prices, between $164,000 and $304,000.

Commissioners voted to not allow the landowner to submit the same plans within a year.

Commissioner Karen Marcus said the late withdrawal and lack of notification wasn't right. "Personally, I don't think that's very fair."

~ hector_florin@pbpost.com

Publix reportedly planned for shopping center

By Terry Witt

Looks can be deceiving.

The corner of U.S. 19 and U.S. 98 in south Citrus County would appear to be an unlikely place for a Publix grocery store and a Walgreens drug store, given the amount of undeveloped real estate around it.

But the Paradise Development Group apparently saw potential at the intersection. The company has begun building a 78,213-square-foot shopping center on the northeast corner.

Planning and Development Review Board members on Thursday unanimously recommended approval of the amended master plan for the Shoppes of Sugarmill Woods that would add a Publix grocery store and Walgreens, and expand the development from the original 67,650 square feet to 78,213 square feet.

Publix spokeswoman Shannon Patten said she could not confirm that a Publix store would be built in Chassahowitzka. Patten, contacted at her Polk County office, said she had no information at this time that a store is planned for that site.

Paul “Skip” Christensen, president of the Sugarmill Woods Civic Association, said he won’t believe a Publix store is coming to Chassahowitzka until he hears the grocery store chain make an announcement.

The existing master plan for the shopping center was approved on Aug. 9, 2005, by the Citrus County Commission. The amended plan will go back to commissioners for final approval.

As the name suggests, the shopping center is expected to attract residents from the affluent community of Sugarmill Woods, about a mile north on U.S. 19. Sugarmill Woods residents have traditionally shopped at Homosassa Springs, six miles north of their community.

William Garvin, the newest planning board member, said the new shopping center should reduce U.S. 19 traffic between Sugarmill and Homosassa Springs when shopping habits change.

The shopping center, which is under construction, stands on opposite corner from Miss Maggie Drive, the main road through Chassahowitzka, a coastal community in the midst of having central water and sewer lines installed.

Plans call for a 39,203-square-foot Publix, a 16,510-square-foot Walgreens, a 5,000-square-foot bank, a 14,000-square-foot specialty retail store and a 3,500-square-foot fast food restaurant.

The developer has also agreed to build an access road, West Oak Park Lane, along the rear of the development, intersecting with U.S. 98 near the intersection with U.S. 19.

Suncoast Parkway 2, a four-lane toll road extending from U.S. 98 in southern Citrus County to Tampa, is about three miles east of the shopping center.

Low water levels lead North Port to target watering violators

NORTH PORT -- In response to a growing concern about the region's water supply, North Port announced this week it will begin handing out fines for repeated illegal lawn watering.

With the Peace River's flow down by two-thirds and area water providers concerned about depleted water levels, local governments have been threatening to become more vigilant about punishing water scofflaws.

North Port's warning was the most direct yet. It comes as Southwest Florida is about to enter the heart of the dry season coming off a year when the region received about 7 inches below the average amount of rainfall.

"We wanted to bring it to everyone's attention," said Peggy Parillo, spokeswoman for North Port Utilities. "We're pretty much in a drought situation."

To help with the shortage, Peace River water managers are drawing nearly 2 million gallons a day from their backup water supply, a reservoir lake off Kings Highway. But that reservoir, which usually carries 3.8 billion gallons, is down to 2.1 billion gallons because of the rainfall shortage.

There is some good news. Residents are generally keeping their water usage down, said Mike Coates, water resource division director with the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority.

Typically, water use this time of year ranges from 16 million to 17 million gallons a day. This year, the amount has stayed steady at 16 million gallons a day, Coates said.

"The key message is that we're not out of the woods," Coates said. "People, hopefully, will recognize that and continue to preserve water."

Water usage in North Port has been regulated since the 1990s. In 2006, the city issued 421 warnings and 69 fines to residents watering at the wrong times.

But during the past few months, enforcement was lax because the city changed its watering schedule to match Sarasota County's. Officials wanted to give residents time to adjust, Parillo said.

North Port, like many governments in the region, pulls the bulk of its water from the Peace River. The city also pulls water from Myakkahatchee Creek, which also is experiencing low levels.

Residents in North Port, Venice and unincorporated areas of the county can water once a week before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. The city of Sarasota is in the midst of changing its watering schedule to also be in line with the rest of the county.

The only residents who are exempt from the watering restrictions are those living in communities with reclaimed water, such as Sabal Trace Golf and Country Club or the Heron Creek Golf and Country Club, Parillo said.

The city's code enforcement department issues a warning for the first offense. The second offense involves a $100 fine. Subsequent violations can range from $200 to $500 in fines, Parillo said.

Other government agencies are watching the water supply shortage closely.

To the north, Manatee County is not experiencing as crucial a water shortage as those areas that rely on the Peace River, said Victoria Zimarino, water conservation manager with Manatee County Utilities.

But Zimarino said Manatee County is watching the levels in Lake Manatee closely and intends to follow the recommendations of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which may recommend a districtwide once-a-week watering schedule this month. Currently, residents in Manatee County can water their lawns twice a week, Zimarino said.

"Different areas are impacted differently because of where they get their water supply from," Molligan said.

To the south, Charlotte County enacted higher emergency rates for its water customers in December. The rates, which likely will add between 95 cents to $4.75 to about 20 percent of the county's utility customers, took effect this month.

But about 75 percent of the utility's customers will not be affected by the rate change. The majority of the county's utility customers use an average of 5,000 gallons of water a month, said Leigh Sprimont, spokeswoman for Charlotte County Utilities.

Sprimont said the rate change should help deter the households that do use high amounts of water.

"We were trying to be as proactive as possible," Sprimont said.

Let's brainstorm, leaders say

Nancy Imperiale
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 5, 2007

Concerned about growth in Volusia County?

Keep February free.

County Chairman Frank Bruno on Thursday announced the county will host an unprecedented growth-management summit next month.

County and city leaders, School Board members, developers, environmentalists -- even leaders from adjacent counties -- are all invited, Bruno said as he kicked off the County Council's first meeting of 2007 with two new members.

Time and place have not been set, but "if it takes the Ocean Center to hold it, we'll do it," Bruno vowed. "The No. 1 issue in this county is growth, and every single one of us needs to be a part of the discussion."

The announcement was met with mixed reactions by city leaders contacted later.

Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder said he was enthusiastic about the summit idea.

"There are some real drivers in leadership right now on the County Council," Mulder said. "I'm more excited now than I've ever been in the past about our ability to work together."

But Orange City Mayor Ted Erwin laughed when informed of the summit.

"I can't understand why the county feels they should take the lead on this," Erwin said. "I think it's up to the cities to take the initiative to get smart growth implemented."

It's a longtime tussle that Bruno said he wants to end.

"November's election was a bitter battle," Bruno said. "I heard loud and clear from the voters of Volusia County that they want city and county leaders to work together to manage growth."

Amid angry campaign rhetoric, voters overwhelmingly struck down six of seven proposed county-charter amendments in the November elections. Two of the amendments would have given county government more control over land planning. Opponents portrayed the county as greedy and power-hungry, and the measures were overwhelmingly defeated.

County leaders say the measures were defeated for political reasons, not because residents don't support controlled growth.

They point to the election of new council members Pat Northey and Andy Kelly -- who both ran on environmental platforms -- as proof that the voters of Volusia care passionately about preservation.

"People are concerned about growth, and they want to take an assertive stand on managing it," said Northey, who previously served 12 years on the council. "I would say this is a greener council than before."

Not long after being sworn in and receiving a standing ovation at Thursday's meeting, Northey outlined environmental issues she plans to tackle.

They include preservation of Volusia's rural core, construction of an environmental-learning center at Lyonia Preserve, moving forward on the rails to trails program, and adopting environmentally friendly "green building" standards for new county construction projects.

Even council member Jack Hayman -- known as a friend of development -- got into the spirit.

"I believe this is the year we're gonna do it," Hayman said of adopting smart-growth initiatives. "I believe that 101 percent."

It won't be the first try.

The Volusia Council of Governments, an advisory board of city and county leaders, has its own growth-management strategy meeting set for later this month.

And in 2005 a blue-ribbon committee of Volusia city, county, civic and business leaders issued a detailed plan on how to balance environmental preservation with economic development. The report's extensive list of recommendations has yet to be adopted.

"A whole year was spent on that, and it was left on the shelf someplace," complained Sue Darden, executive director of the Volusia Home Builders Association. "I guess now we just start all over again."

But maybe it's a good time for new starts, some say.

November's election battle "was so ugly it probably scared the enlightened leaders at all levels," said T. Wayne Bailey, a Stetson University political-science professor and member of the county Charter Review Commission.

"I think there is a sense of what happens when suddenly a loud roar of thunder hits -- it clears your head and makes you stop and think," Bailey said. "I haven't seen any verbal sniping recently. That's hopeful."

In the end, said one leader, it will take consensus to get things done.

Planning for smart growth "is the No. 1 issue, and we shouldn't dodge it," said County Council member Carl Persis. "But let's at least define what smart growth means. Because they [cities] all have to buy into it, otherwise it isn't going to work."

One observer said that's a key first step.

"The county really likes that term, 'smart growth.' But I don't think much of it," said Mike Thompson of the Volusia/Flagler Sierra Club.

"We need to know what our environmental limits are. We need to know what our 'sustainable growth' is before we talk about smart growth."

Whatever happens, county leaders stressed the need to stick together to achieve results.

"It's also the time to reaffirm that the council is a team," said Joie Alexander, who was also selected during the meeting for another term as vice chairwoman of the council. "Individually, none of us can accomplish anything." To meet challenges "we must all be of a single agenda."

Nancy Imperiale can be reached at nlimperiale@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7923.

Branching Out To Save Trees

By STEVE KORNACKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan 5, 2007

DUNEDIN - This tree strikes quite a pose.

The venerable live oak rises out of the asphalt parking lot near where Main Street meets the Pinellas Trail. It is nearly 5 feet thick and stands 55 feet high. Its canopy provides shade for those on the trail, while covering the roofs of the shops just to the west.

"It's part of the downtown charm of Dunedin," said Ira Burhans, co-owner of a gallery in one of those shops.

The 100-year-old oak was struck by lightning in July, just below the lowest branch facing the trail. It might have been on its way to becoming an extra-large pile of firewood if not for the efforts of Wayne Smith and Alan Mayberry.

Smith, owner of AAA Tree Service in Tampa, and Mayberry, the city arborist, have teamed up for more than a quarter-century to save and plant countless trees.

Their mission is to save the urban forest, one tree at a time.

"This oak is a real specimen tree," said Mayberry, 55. "It's a large, old, focal tree and a link to Dunedin's past. It was struck by lightning, but this tree can live to be 300 or more. Now it has a couple centuries left to live."

They placed 70 aeration units around the tree to improve its chances, and had lightning protection installed.

Mayberry said Water Air Nutrition Exchange units, invented and patented in 1973 by Smith, have kept the tree from taking a downward spiral.

"Lightning destroys the vascular tissue which transfers water and nutrients to the tree," said Smith, 65. "By installing these WANE units, we hope to increase root growth.

"An asphalt parking lot is very stressful to a tree in the first place," Smith said. "The WANE unit allows an exchange of gasses, with carbon dioxide coming out of the soil and oxygen coming into the soil."

Smith designed the units to allow trees to breathe through the asphalt and concrete covering all but their trunk in many city settings. Made of plastic, they are about the size of a large Thermos, with a filter inside and 17 holes on each end.

Smith's aeration idea started with a simple metal pipe and evolved into the four-inch diameter, foot-long plastic units bearing his first name, minus the letter y.

"I used my name just for a little recognition but had no use for a 'y' in the initials," said Smith, who lives in Dade City. "I've not made a fortune off of them, though. It's $30 a unit and $30 to install."

Smith said he has sold about 40,000 WANE units, which have been installed around trees at Atlanta's Georgia Dome, Epcot and Disney's Animal Kingdom near Orlando, and the National Mall & Memorial Parks near the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

"People who are geniuses bow to him over this," Mayberry said.

Bonding Over A Unique Passion

Smith and Mayberry met in 1980, and they have worked in conjunction on many projects. Their passion for saving trees formed a bond.

"Most trim and climb or remove trees," Smith said. "Very few in this business chose the path I did. But one day, many years ago, I was working on this tree in Temple Terrace. After aerating and fertilizing it, I could not believe how much it improved in time. It inspired me, and now we have something to show for our work."

Smith's tree service cares for thousands of trees at three Morton Plant Mease Health Care hospitals in Pinellas County.

Mayberry was steered toward his vocation by his ecology teacher, Harold "Doc" Sims, at what was then St. Petersburg Junior College in 1971-72. "I got interested in the environment and then narrowed it to trees," he said.

He was the city forester in Clearwater for 30 years before coming to Dunedin eight months ago.

"Many of these trees in urban areas started out in forests," Mayberry said. "The trees are getting squeezed out of existence. We need to allow them to thrive and survive by altering the environment."

He planted 20 trees on the small lot at his home in the Skycrest area of Clearwater, off Drew Street, creating his own mini-forest.

"I figured I better lead by example and so I planted them," Mayberry said. "I have five palmettos, four pines, five oaks, bald cypress, hickories, a plum tree and a native birch.

"I had a California redwood that grew from a sapling to 20 feet, but a fungus got it."

Smith has only one large live oak on his Lake Jovita property, and it has the same lightning protection as the oak on the Pinellas Trail in Dunedin. Copper wire is run through the canopy of trees and secured with brass terminals. The copper lines meet and are spliced into a grounding rod, which is driven into the ground.

The Dunedin oak cost $2,500 to protect.

Missing Trees Create Voids

"If a tree disappears it creates a void in many ways," Mayberry said. "They have a cooling effect on the area's microclimate, and then there is the aesthetic appeal of the serpentine branches of a live oak, which is pretty much a symbol of the Old South."

He smiled gazing up at the recovering live oak off the Pinellas Trail. "The tree did not decline," he said.

Mayberry said it is healthy and likely to survive.

Ian Burhans looked out the window of his gallery, Clay and Paper, at the tree that influenced his decision to locate where he did.

"It's a gathering place and a pretty amazing tree," Burhans said. "I'm sure glad they saved it."

Reporter Steve Kornacki can be reached at (813) 731-8170.

Insurance Rate Showdown

By KEVIN BEGOS and JEROME R. STOCKFISCH The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan 5, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - He's been in office for just three days, but the honeymoon may already be over for Gov. Charlie Crist.

On Thursday, the most powerful business lobbying group in Florida challenged Crist's inaugural pledge to roll back soaring property insurance rates.

"We believe that rates have been suppressed. And we believe that rates are going to have to rise," said Barney Bishop, Associated Industries of Florida chief executive officer.

That sets up a showdown between the normally pro-business Crist and a sector that contributed tens of millions to his election campaign. Crist received $19.6 million in direct campaign contributions, along with estimates of $20 million to $25 million in additional soft money contributions that the state Republican Party used to help support his campaign.

After eight years of Gov. Jeb Bush's iron-fisted rule, the battle over insurance rates may be a way of testing Crist, some said.

"There's a new sheriff in town. People want to know how he's going to react and how far they can push him," said Stephen MacNamara, a former high-ranking legislative staff member and professor of communications at Florida State University.

Crist stood his ground when asked Thursday about the Associated Industries position.

"Currently there's a problem. &hellip You have rates that are exorbitantly high. My greatest concern is that we lower rates overall," he said.

That can't happen right away, said Bill Phelan, co-chairman of the Associated Industries of Florida Hurricane Crisis Coalition. "The truth is that Floridians are not going to see significant and meaningful rate relief immediately."

In California, where regulators have pressured the insurance industry to reduce rates in light of record profits, consumers got a very different message this week.

The State Farm Group announced it would cut homeowners insurance rates in California by 20 percent, according to the Los Angeles Times. That's in addition to a 6.2 percent cut in 2005.

In Florida, Bishop said that Associated Industries opposes the growing call to repeal legislation passed in May that dramatically increased rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort.

"That sounds unfortunate to me," Crist said. "There are some things that do need to be repealed. Some of that bill needs to be changed, in my humble opinion."

Critics claim the increases for Citizens are, in essence, cover for private insurers to raise rates, and Citizens executives oppose the now-mandatory rate increase.

An Associated Industries proposal unveiled at a news conference Thursday was a virtual checklist of "solutions" that favor the insurance industry, which had record profits nationally in 2006. Among them:

•Allow insurers to offer higher deductibles of 20 percent or more.

•Expand funding for the taxpayer-funded Mitigation Program, which reinforces homes.

•Advance fund the state hurricane loss program from consumers or state money.

Last fall, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation refused requests by several companies to increase property insurance rates by up to 40 percent, citing insufficient evidence of need. Instead, the companies were granted increases of 8 and 16 percent.

Nationally, for the first nine months of 2006, insurance industry profits rose 50.1 percent from the previous year, from $29.7 billion to $44.9 billion, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That's on track for a record-setting $60 billion yearly profit.

Florida companies had about $3 billion in profits from homeowner policies in 2006, according to a recent report.

But Bishop claimed the industry was a house of cards in danger of collapse.

At the news conference, Bishop was challenged on his claims. Why, reporters asked, were insurance companies unable to provide proof to state regulators for the huge rate increases they asked for?

"Uh, I'm not an insurance expert," Bishop replied. "I've looked at the rate filings before. They're very voluminous - a bunch of numbers. I don't know where the flaw is."

Bishop also claimed that Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is subject to political pressures as an elected official, when in fact McCarty is appointed, not elected.

Crist may be facing an early test, but other governors have, too. Former Gov. Bob Graham got the nickname "Governor Jello" for having been too willing early in his administration to negotiate with an unruly, independent Legislature. Graham was a Democrat who served from 1978 to 1986, and later as a U.S. senator.

Reporter William March contributed to this report. Reporter Kevin Begos can be reached at (850) 222-8382

Allstate won't renew 106K policies

Allstate won't renew another 106,000 policies; Royal Palm Insurance offers to pick up coverage.

BY BEATRICE E. GARCIA

bgarcia@MiamiHerald.com

Allstate Floridian Insurance will not renew another 106,000 policies, starting in mid-April.

The insurer has arranged for Royal Palm Insurance, a new insurer based in Ormond Beach, to offer coverage to these homeowners through their existing Allstate agents. The rates won't necessarily be the same.

About 28 percent of the 106,000 are in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. The rest are spread throughout the state.

The company had said that it planned to remove more policies from its books when it announced the nonrenewal of 120,000 policies last May. Those nonrenewals began in November. Allstate also arranged with Royal Palm to offer coverage to those homeowners.

In 2005, the company dropped 95,000 policies. It arranged for Universal Insurance of North America, a Sarasota-based firm, to offer coverage. Allstate said this spring that about 80 percent of those policyholders accepted the Universal offer.

''Florida is the nation's most challenging property insurance market,'' said Phil Lawson, Allstate Floridian's president, in a statement.

The company believes its efforts to find another insurance company to take the policies it's dropping are a way of bringing new capital into the state's insurance market.

Once the latest batch of policies are gone, Allstate Floridian will have about 300,000 left in Florida. It will continue to rank as the second-largest private home insurer behind State Farm Insurance.

Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer of last resort, remains the largest insurer of homes, condos, apartments and mobile homes. It has nearly 1.3 million policies.

Those homeowners who don't take the Royal Palm coverage would most likely end up with Citizens.

While Allstate Floridian writes policies only in Florida, its parent company has been reducing its coastal exposure throughout the United States in recent months. That's because 2005 was a bad year for Allstate: It paid out $3.1 billion in catastrophe losses from Hurricane Katrina and other storms.

It's no longer writing new policies in the coastal areas of New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. Earlier this week, it said it was dropping 16,000 policies in North and South Carolina.

Environmental Damage Lawmakers Study Local Damage Caused By ATV Riders

By CHRIS BUTLER
cbutler@highlandstoday.com

SEBRING - It's an area of Highlands County that's generating a buzz on the Internet, but a few county and state officials aren't particularly happy about it.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lt. Dale Knapp said the Carter Creek scrub area along Arbuckle Creek and Riverdale roads has enticed ATV riders online from as far away as Miami.

“It’s probably the second most popular place in the state to ride ATVs,” Knapp said.

FWC officials also said the Carter Creek scrub also happens to host one of the state’s most environmentally sensitive areas with many threatened species.

Some of the land in the area is owned by the state. The rest is privately owned. No one knows exactly where the boundaries are.

It’s creating a lot of confusion concerning how government officials can best regulate ATV riders who ride on both government and private lands.

FWC officials said the riders are destroying most of that area’s sensitive habitat. Knapp said he would like state and county officials to do everything they can to keep ATV riders out of the area altogether.

“We’re already writing tickets for anyone we catch riding ATVs on county-paved roads,” he said.

Meanwhile, FWC wildlife biologist Michael Wichroswki said curbing ATV riders' enthusiasm about riding in the area has become his top priority.

“We’re losing species left and right. Law enforcement can’t do enough to regulate the problem because they don’t know where property boundaries are,” he said, adding many of the landowners often live in other states and aren’t aware of the ATV problem.

“We can’t manage other people’s lands. Finding out what the property boundaries are is proving to be too much of an effort,” he said, adding state officials would like to conduct controlled burns on some of those lands for environmental purposes.

FWC officials met at the scrub Thursday with Highlands County Commissioner Barbara Stewart, State Rep. Baxter Troutman and State Sen. J.D. Alexander’s legislative aide, Larry Ford, to discuss the issue.

All of them said they aren’t against ATVs or ATV riders. They said they simply want to do what they must to protect environmentally sensitive lands.

Highlands County’s Natural Resources and Environmental Commission member Mike Waldron was also present, and said he has long lobbied for a resolution.

“I think we’re throwing bricks in the Grand Canyon. We need to take care of our state-owned property by putting fences around it,” Waldron said.

Fair-Market Value

Wichrowski said acquiring privately owned land in the area is difficult because of nothing more than economics.

“Right now the state can only pay fair-market value to buy conservation land and that’s one of our biggest problems. Most landowners can’t even tell you where they own their land. When they’re approached to sell, they learn real-estate prices have shot up and they try to get as much money as they can.

“But there’s absolutely no economic value in conservation land,” Wichroswki said.

A tour inside the property Thursday was revealing.

One privately owned area with a posted sign forbidding trespassers was the cleanest of the entire area and had no visible environmental damage.

But another area without any posted signs revealed countless ATV dirt tracks, garbage and beer cans strewn everywhere and even an old demolished car.

The car appeared to have been crushed and abandoned in the area for many years.

Official caught off-roading in preserve

VENICE -- In this 11-hour battle between mud and man, the mud won.

It beat Chris Sharek, the director of Venice's utilities department, whose job is to ensure that the city obeys environmental regulations, though he apparently failed to do so himself.

A judge slapped Sharek with 25 hours of community service and probation last month for off-roading through a protected wilderness preserve with his wife and father-in-law.

When their vehicles got stuck in the mud at Myakka River State Park, Sharek phoned for help. Friends arrived and dismantled a fence so they could drive in to free them. Their cars, in turn, got stuck. Another round of calls went out. Another round of cars were trapped.

Deputies arrived about 11:30 p.m., including Florida Fish and Wildlife officer Louis Hines IV.

"After talking with the deputies, I was able to get a picture of what was going on," Hines wrote in his report. "By the time it was all said and done, there were two Jeeps, two Fords, one Hummer and one tractor in an area closed to vehicles."

Sharek and the others had driven past several "No Trespassing" signs and others that labeled the area a protected wilderness preserve open to foot traffic only, the report said.

Police charged Sharek, 34, and five others with three misdemeanors: damaging public land with a motor vehicle, driving off road in a parks and recreation area and illegally entering a state park.

City Manager Marty Black said Thursday the incident would not affect Sharek's job, since Sharek called to inform him the next day, Sept. 17, and since the incident occurred off the job and carried a relatively minor penalty.

"I think it reflects poor judgment on his part," Black said. "It is not an action which relates to his employment with the city, so there is no need to take any disciplinary action."

Sharek said the off-roading trip was a mistake.

"It was a bad decision. I took responsibility for it," Sharek said.

He pointed out that the state demanded no payment for damage to the land and that the group had followed a trail.

But did Sharek know he was breaking the law?

"I suppose," he said.

Martin preserve projects on hold

By Jason Schultz

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, January 05, 2007

STUART — Two conservation projects that environmentalists have long tried to get money to complete are close to getting a green light, but they are going to have to wait a little bit longer and need a pass from the county's attorney.

The Martin County Land Acquisition Committee decided Thursday that it could not recommend spending about $4.7 million from a newly passed sales tax to buy 31 acres of scrub habitat in Hobe Sound until supporters of the purchase go through the county's formal application process. They also decided not to recommend spending about $5 million to buy 900 acres of wetlands in the Pal-Mar region in southern Martin County for the same reason.

"I can tell you right now I'm going to vote for both of these, but we're not there yet," said Martin Bonan, a member of the advisory board.

Voters passed the half-cent sales tax in November. It is expected to raise $30 million over the next five years to buy land such as the scrub habitat for conservation, said Chuck Barrowclough, the county's environmentally sensitive lands administrator.

The tax will raise another $30 million over five years for parks and recreation projects such as a proposed aquatics complex.

Barrowclough said Assistant County Administrator Jim Sherman had asked the land acquisition committee to recommend projects by Jan. 23 that county commissioners could buy using the sales tax money.

Jeff Wittman, an activist who for years has been trying to preserve the scrub land, owned by Hobe Sound resident Edward Hamm, said the parcel contains habitat for rare animals and a mound that contains Indian artifacts.

County officials lost a state grant to buy the land last year because of problems with easements.

Barrowclough said those problems have been solved, but Bonan said the advisory board had set a May 1 deadline for projects to apply for the sales tax money. If the committee broke its own rules to buy the Hamm parcel without an application, the county could be sued by other landowners, he said.

County officials have also been trying to buy small privately owned lots in the Pal-Mar area for conservation for years.

Barrowclough said the state and the South Florida Water Management District have each agreed to contribute $5 million to buy the Pal-Mar lots if the county gives $5 million in sales tax money, but the county has to put up its money soon or the district might change its mind.

"This would effectively close out Pal-Mar," Barrowclough said.

The advisory board also voted to ask County Attorney Steve Fry whether the commission is allowed to act on applications before the May 1 deadline. The board will meet again Feb. 15, and Bonan said that if Fry says that it can legally move ahead before the deadline, members will vote on the two projects then. Barrowclough said he is not sure whether the county commission can approve any sales tax purchases without the recommendation of the advisory board.

County calls for growth summit

Scales back role in other growth committee

By JAMES MILLER
Staff Writer

DELAND -- County Chairman Frank Bruno issued a County Council-backed call Thursday for a summit in February between city and county leaders to try to identify shared ground on growth.

But the council also pared back participation in another growth-oriented initiative through the Volusia Council of Governments.

"I don't want to leave anybody out," Bruno said after a largely ceremonial meeting that included two new West Volusia representatives taking their oaths of office for the County Council. "This is of such importance to Volusia County as far as our quality of life is concerned that we all need to be there."

Last fall, the cities collectively spent more than $200,000 to defeat county charter changes, including some that would have strengthened county government control over growth issues. All but one of the seven charter amendments -- one related to schools -- failed.

After the election, the cities moved to set up a committee though the council of governments to revisit earlier growth management proposals. The council of governments includes representatives from each city, the county and the schools.

The proposed VCOG committee would include five mayors, five city managers, three council members and the county manager. It is slated to further analyze a "smart growth" report issued in 2005 and make recommendations to the County Council.

But Thursday, the County Council decided by consensus not to send four representatives to the committee. Bruno said the County Council's representative to VCOG, Councilman Art Giles, would participate, but he wanted a broad summit to include city and county leaders and others as well.

"I want to sit down and discuss what growth management tools can be put in place that we can all agree on and (so) that we all understand what we're trying to protect," Bruno said.

Daytona Beach Shores Mayor Greg Northrup, who last year served as council of governments chairman, said it was up to the County Council to decide how it would participate in the smart growth review -- which will go on regardless. But a summit would achieve little unless the proposals are pared down beforehand.

"You've got to get it down to where you want it before you throw it to 120 people, because you're not going to get anything done," he said.

Bruno unveiled his plan at the end of a meeting in which new and reelected members took their oaths of office and the council named Joie Alexander to a second term as vice chairwoman.

One of the two new council members, Northwest Volusia representative Andy Kelly, said Bruno's proposal would get each council member directly involved in the discussion.

"I think he sees that overall it's a different council," said Kelly, a former Volusia Soil & Water Conservation District supervisor.

The other new council member, Southwest Volusia County representative Pat Northey, said she applauded the council of governments proposal, but it was important to remember council members have responsibility for the county as a whole.

"I believe that it is our responsibility and our role to take the lead on this issue," she said.

james.miller@news-jrnl.com

Palm Bay dealing with growth, mayor says

State of City speech outlines successes, plans for '07

BY LINDA JUMP
FLORIDA TODAY

Mayor John Mazziotti's state of the city address Thursday outlined accomplishments of the city in 2006 and plans for 2007, including the first of three phases of road improvements.

"Palm Bay continues to get noticed for our leadership, innovation and success," the mayor said.

The annual address gave Mazziotti a chance to brag about the city starting its first municipal charter school, improving customer service, opening a regional water treatment plant, installing fiber optic cables between city facilities, adding 11 police officers and reaching a population of 105,000.

Mazziotti highlighted several initiatives for 2007, including $11 million to improve 56 miles of deteriorating roads while using several contractors to complete the work in 2007. New road signs also are planned.

"These programs are possible because the new growth in our community contributed additional taxes," the mayor said.

The city has encouraged developments with both residential and commercial uses, he said.

"Jobs, schools and shopping opportunities come along with new residential development."

He said a modern public safety annex will be built this year.

"This concept brings police and fire services closer to the residents," Mazziotti said.

In summary, the mayor said, "Palm Bay is a city prepared for growth with diverse business and job opportunities."

Contact Jump at 409-1423 or ljump@brevard.gannett.com.

Existing Home Sales Figures Slide Again

By CARLOS TORRES Bloomberg News

Published: Jan 5, 2007

Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in November, suggesting weakness in the real-estate market may extend into the new year.

An index of signed purchase agreements fell 0.5 percent, a third consecutive decline, to 107 from 107.5 in October, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday in Washington. The index was down 11.4 percent from November 2005.

Still, the decline from the previous year has been narrowing since July, suggesting sales may be stabilizing, the group said. The improvement may also stem a weakening in home prices that threatens to check consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy.

"Data over the past few months strongly suggest that home sales have stabilized and are possibly rising at a modest pace," said Abiel Reinhart, an economist at JPMorgan Chase Corp. in New York.

The year-over-year decline is down from a 16 percent drop registered in July.

Economists expected the index to rise 0.7 percent in November, according to the median of 17 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, after a decline of 1.7 percent the month before. Estimates ranged from a drop of 1 percent to an increase of 2.1 percent.

"The index is pointing toward fairly stable home sales in the near future," David Lereah, the group's chief economist, says in a prepared statement. "This is another indication that home sales likely bottomed out in September."

The Realtors' group reported last week that sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly rose 0.6 percent in November after rising 0.5 percent a month earlier. It was the first back-to-back increase since March 2005 and followed declines in the previous six month.

The index of pending home resales is considered a leading indicator of sales because it tracks contract signings. The Realtors' sales report tracks closings, which typically occur a month or two later.

Purchases of new homes, which are also based on signings, rose a greater-than-forecast 3.4 percent in November to an annual sales pace of 1.047 million, the Commerce Department also reported last week.

The existing-home sales report is based on a sample of about 40 percent of transactions in the multiple listing service used by real estate agents, while the pending-sales index covers about 20 percent.

Pending resales decreased in three of four regions, Thursday's report showed. They fell 2.8 percent in the Northeast, 2.6 percent in the West and 1.1 percent in the South. Pending resales rose 4.8 percent in the Midwest.

Lower mortgage rates have boosted sales. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.14 percent last month, the lowest since October 2005, from 6.27 percent in November, according to figures from Freddie Mac.

Still, the sales gains are barely starting to make a dent in inventories. The number of previously owned homes for sale decreased 1 percent to 3.82 million last month, last week's sales report from the Realtors showed. The supply was just less than the record 3.861 million reached in July.

Figures from the Commerce Department showed the number of new homes completed and waiting to be sold were at a record 169,000 in November.

Faced with a glut of unsold properties, builders are retrenching. Lennar Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. homebuilder, this week said it had its first quarterly loss in at least a decade after writing down property investments. Miami-based Lennar said it took the charge to write down land it now doesn't intend to purchase.

UF commits to fight global warming

By ALICE WALLACE

Sun staff writer

In an effort to curb global warming and arouse interest in the subject, University of Florida President Bernie Machen has joined a dozen other college and university presidents in signing a pledge to reduce emissions at their institutions.

"Global warming is one of the great challenges of our time, and UF needs to do everything it can to help address the problem before it seriously impacts the lives of future generations," Machen said in a news release Wednesday.

Machen was one of the first presidents to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which requires colleges and universities to develop a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate neutrality.

Other universities whose representatives have signed the commitment include Arizona State University and Ball State University, along with several community colleges and smaller institutions.

"Basically, it's not a legally binding contract," said Dedee DeLongpré, director of UF's Office of Sustainability. "But like a lot of these kinds of commitments, everyone comes together and says, 'This is a goal we all share.'Ê"

Organizers of the Presidents Climate Commitment — which include the nonprofit groups Second Nature, ecoAmerica and the Association of Sustainability in Higher Education — hope another 380 college and university presidents will sign the commitment by June.

UF has already begun developing emission-control programs.

DeLongpré said UF is working on a program to reduce the number of students and staff who commute to campus.

Some campus vehicles use ethanol-based fuels, which release less greenhouse gases into the environment than gasoline. And all campus vehicles purchased in the past year are fuel-efficient or run on alternative fuels.

Some of the food served on campus comes from local growers to reduce pollution.

"The closer our food comes from, the fewer miles it has to travel to get here, the fewer carbon emissions," DeLongpré said.

The goal of the Presidents Climate Commitment, however, is to get excess emissions to zero as soon as possible.

"It's doing more of what we're already doing and tightens the commitment up," she said.

The university is working with a local company, International Carbon Bank and Exchange, to create software to track how much carbon UF produces, by taking into account the size of buildings, how much electricity and water UF uses and even how many air miles faculty and staff travel.

The software will calculate how much of that carbon is able to be reabsorbed, rather than being left in the atmosphere.

"For all the carbon we release we hope there are sinks that take that carbon back," she said.

DeLongpré said bringing the university up to the standards of the Presidents Climate Commitment will take time, but she said she hopes UF's commitment will influence other colleges and universities to take similar actions.

"It's just about good long-range strategic planning for the health of the university," she said. "It's only outrageous in how much common sense it makes."

Alice Wallace can be reached at 374-5036 or alice.wallace@gvillesun.com

Scientists say 2007 may be warmest yet

RAPHAEL G. SATTER

Associated Press

LONDON - A resurgent El Nino and persistently high levels of greenhouse gases are likely to make 2007 the world's hottest year ever recorded, British climate scientists said Thursday.

Britain's Meteorological Office said there was a 60 percent probability that 2007 would break the record set by 1998, which was 1.20 degrees over the long-term average.

"This new information represents another warning that climate change is happening around the world," the office said.

The reason for the forecast is mostly due to El Nino, a cyclical warming trend now under way in the Pacific Ocean. The event occurs irregularly - the last one happened in 2002 - and typically leads to increased temperatures worldwide.

While this year's El Nino is not as strong as it was in 1997 and 1998, its combination with the steady increase of temperatures due to global warming from human activity may be enough to break the Earth's temperature record, said Phil Jones, the director of the Climatic Research unit at the University of East Anglia.

"Because of the warming due to greenhouse gases, even a moderate warming event is enough to push the global temperatures over the top," he said.

"El Nino is an independent variable," he said. "But the underlying trends in the warming of the Earth is almost certainly due to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."

El Nino can sometimes lead to milder weather, such as in the in the northeastern United States or the Atlantic Ocean, which is likely to see fewer hurricanes this year. However, it can also increase the severity of weather-related disasters, such as typhoons in the Philippines or drought in southern Africa and Australia, a country that is already suffering through its longest dry spell on record.

Environmental groups said the report added weight to the movement to control greenhouse gases.

"The evidence that we're doing something very dangerous with the climate is now amassing," said Campaign against Climate Change coordinator Philip Thornhill.

"We need to put the energy and priority (into climate change) that is being put into a war effort. It's a political struggle to get action done - and these reports help," Thornhill said.

New signs to alert people that water beneath their feet feeds the springs

By Christa Desrets
Herald Writer

FORT WHITE – Raising public awareness about protecting area springs is the goal of new signs that now can be seen along State Road 47 near Fort White.

Fay Baird, coordinator of the Santa Fe Springs Working Group, said that the signs are being placed through the coordination of springs working groups, the state Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection.

“They’re intended as a public education tool so that people understand they are in an area where ground water is flowing to the spring,” she said.

Several dozen signs have been made for the project for western Alachua County and parts of Columbia and Gilchrist Counties, she said.

Jim Stevenson, coordinator of the Ichetucknee Springs Basin Working Group, said that he was part of a group that pushed to get similar signs identifying springs basins placed near springs several years ago.

“We put up the signs for the Ichetucknee Springs Basin around 2001, and those were the first in the state,” he said, adding that additional signs have since been placed around the Blue Springs Basin and Manatee Springs Basin. “(They are) so that the public will know where the springs basins are and hopefully change their actions in those basins to protect the springs.”

Baird said that the new signs are different because they do not label where a springs basin begins or ends, but instead identify an entire area that is sensitive to actions that could influence the water.

The new signs, one of which recently was spotted in Gilchrist County on State Road 47 between Poe Springs Road and the Santa Fe River, labels the area simply as a “springs protection area.”

Baird, who said that many groups had been working for a long time to get such signs installed, said she was “thrilled” to hear that they are now going up, and she will now have to go take a look for herself.

“The more that people are aware that this ground water is feeding those springs, the better,” she said.

Green Armada sets sail

The goal: cleaner water and coastlines. But it's not a job for the faint-hearted.

By MELANIE AVE, Times Staff Writer
Published January 4, 2007

TAMPA - Mark Maksimowicz bent over the sand next to the Howard Frankland Bridge, scooped up a plastic Gatorade bottle filled with urine and started to gag.

He held up the litter like a prize just before he stuffed it inside a garbage bag.

One bottle down, hundreds more to go.

"We find everything but money," he said on a recent morning.

Maksimowicz and cousins Vincent and Jeff Albanese have begun an unusual effort to rid the coastline and inland waterways around Pinellas and Hillsborough counties of trash.

While local governments collect garbage from homes and businesses, cleaning up trash from waterways is generally left to environmentally minded groups.

The Green Armada Foundation formed in November and is seeking nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service.

The group wants to secure corporate sponsors willing to attach their logos to its 24-foot military cargo boat-turned-garbage scow. A 6- by 17-foot banner flies above the boat: "Sponsors Needed ... Your Logo Here."

The boat travels to local bridges and causeways and anchors in full view of passers-by. Maksimowicz and his crew, wearing plastic boots and gloves, pick up litter one piece at a time and haul it away.

They say they collected eight tons of litter in two months.

Judging by the amount of cast-off lumber, bottles, tires, garbage bags and Styrofoam at the Howard Frankland on a recent trip, there's no shortage of debris.

"When we first started, we all thought we'd be able to fix this," said Maksimowicz, 47, former operations manager at the Florida International Museum in St. Petersburg. "We realized we can't fix the problem, but we can make a difference and draw attention to it."

The Green Armada's goal is to go statewide - with more boats, of course.

It hopes to host regular Green Armada days - litter collection drives - starting this month, with volunteers from companies such as Wal-Mart and Joffrey's Coffee and Tea House.

The group is not aligned with such better-known organizations as the Suncoast Sierra Club or Tampa Bay Watch.

Members of other local beautification groups say they applaud the Green Armada and hope its mission is pure.

"Anything to get garbage out of the water is a good thing," said Mike McCleary, southwest Florida director of the national group Clean Water Action. "It's amazing what's out there."

Philip Compton, chairman of the nonprofit Friends of the River in Hillsborough County, said he's happy to hear the Green Armada is raising private money because local governments have limited resources.

The city of Tampa has yet to find funds to operate a boat for collecting debris in the Hillsborough River.

"We tend to accept there's trash in the bay and river and there's nothing we can do about it," Compton said. "That isn't true.

"If corporations and companies can step up here in Tampa Bay ... it could really go a long way in improving the beauty of the Hillsborough River and Tampa Bay."

Based on the amount of litter collecting on the coastline, Bill Sanders, director of Keep Pinellas Beautiful, said what the Green Armada is doing is definitely needed.

Last year, 4,800 volunteers collected more than 233,000 pounds of litter in Pinellas County - about 65 percent of which came from the shorelines.

Tons of pollution ends up in the waterways after slipping from roads through stormwater drains. About half of Florida's waterways are considered impaired by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Maksimowicz of St. Petersburg and Jeff Albanese, 47, of Palm Harbor said the three cousins love Florida and want to see it pollution-free.

"I've always been into animals and the environment," said Albanese, who also does freelance design work for VB Studios. "A lot of environmentalists make the mistake of attacking businesses.

"We're trying to take the easygoing approach."

But picking up garbage takes money, Maksimowicz said.

The boat and equipment cost $35,000.

The Green Armada's goal is to raise $162,000 next year and $220,000 in 2008. A one-month sponsorship, which includes a company's logo displayed on the boat, costs $1,000.

The Green Armada's IRS application says each of the three men will earn $25,000 a year initially.

But if the IRS refuses the tax-exempt status, Maksimowicz said, the Green Armada will carry out the same mission as a profit-making company.

"This isn't a money deal," said Maksimowicz, who tried a similar but unsuccessful advertising venture called Sea Signs about six years ago.

"It's about figuring out a problem and not being a burden on taxpayers. Who else is going to go out there and pick up that trash?"

When the Green Armada pulled away from the Howard Frankland after a two-hour sweep recently, the boat carried nine bags of litter weighing about 500 pounds. In the bags were a tire, one unopened condom, a legless chair and dozens of plastic bottles.

And left behind on the sand was a Green Armada buoy tied to a mangrove - and a lot more trash for another day.

Melanie Ave can be reached at 727 893-8813 or mave@sptimes.com.

Fast Facts: 

Beautification efforts in area

-Green Armada Foundation: www.greenarmada.org or 1-800-496-9161.

-Keep Pinellas Beautiful: www.keeppinellasbeautiful.org or (727)533-0402.

-Friends of the River: www. friendsofhillsboroughriver. org or (813)237-8497.

-Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful: www.khcbonline.org or (813)960-5121.

-Suncoast Sierra Club: http://florida.sierraclub.org/suncoast/suncoast.html or (727)945-0999.

-Tampa Mayor's Beautification Program: www.mbptree.org or (813)221-8733.

-Tampa Bay Watch: www.tampabaywatch.org or (727)867-8166.

-Keep Citrus County Beautiful: www.keepcitruscounty beautiful.org or (352)746-9393.

-Keep Pasco Beautiful: http://keeppascobeautiful.org or (727)379-9200.

Tarpon's port should be saved, 1/1/07

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published St. Pete Times January 4, 2007

Re: Plan for survival must look at new realities editorial, Dec. 22

Plan for survival - interesting subject. I've always thought that humans and human nature are confronted with this all their lives. When you catch a cold, do you let it turn into double pneumonia or do you try to cure it so life can go on?

The Billirises have been in Tarpon Springs and involved in the sponge industry since 1904. They also introduced tourism to the community in 1924 with their sponge diving exhibitions. We are presently working with our fifth generation of customers. This bit of information is given only to establish our qualifications.

It is true that Beverley and George Billiris have this mad and passionate love affair with the city of Tarpon Springs and what it stands for. This, coupled with the above experience, puts us in a prime position of responsibility to do what we can.

The sponge industry is more than 2,000 years old. In Tarpon Springs it is more than 100 years old. The fishing industry is more than 100 years old, the shrimp industry more than 60 years old and the stone crab industry 30 years old.

The byproduct of the fisheries in Tarpon Springs is tourism. We are a tourist attraction without design. The fisheries were not put into place to attract tourists; tourists came because of the fisheries, because we are real and still an active commercial port.

This is the product that we are selling - the quaintness and uniqueness of the sponge industry, a one of a kind in this country full of historical and cultural values, and still working. Boats, processing plants for the fisheries, crab traps scattered along the area, dry docks for commercial boats, supply houses, etc. - all are essential items for a commercial working port, but they also create aesthetic value for tourism. All of this, plus more, at no cost to our city, county or state.

Most importantly, the media have fallen in love with the Tarpon Springs story. They are our advertising agency. There have been four full-length Hollywood movies about the Tarpon Springs story, and more than 40 documentaries in several languages. ABC, CBS, NBC, United Press and the Associated Press have done countless stories on Tarpon Springs. And the latest: the Times editorial. If there was no working port in Tarpon Springs, there would be no editorial or story.

Yes, it is true that the challenges to preserve the industry are mind-boggling. Who said it would be easy?

Our choices: First, we could simply roll over and follow the sentiment that you can't stop progress, you can't fight change, and then become a bedroom community like the rest.

Second, after it's all gone, come back at a later date and try to recreate what we had. Savannah, Charleston, Mystic, St. Augustine are examples of cities that spent millions of dollars to reconstruct, maintain and promote.

Third, instead of trying to build something that we're not, perhaps we should preserve and enhance who and what we are. We have been a story line for media for the past 70 years. If we want the advantage of having this privilege of exposure to the entire world, then our responsibility is clear: maintain your working port with authenticity.

I disagree with your editorial comment that "the market has changed. There is intense international competition that did not exist when the Sponge Docks thrived decades ago." The European market has always been a competitor and we continue to be a large player in the production of natural sponge. Granted, we do not produce the amount of sponge as in decades past, however, neither does the European market. The demand is still eight times greater than the supply.

We are speaking of sacred grounds when we speak of the Sponge Docks area. Tarpon Springs is a very diverse community with assets that are unlimited. The dock area is a very important part of the whole. We need to preserve the historic areas of our community, not replace them with condominiums.

It would be nice to hear readers' thoughts, pro or con. After all, Tarpon Springs belongs to the Tampa Bay area.

George Billiris, Tarpon Springs

Residents and visitors are fascinated by proliferation of sea life

ENGLEWOOD -- All muddy-shoed and chilly in shorts and long sleeves, adults and children huddled around a cluster of water-filled buckets that brimmed with the sea creatures of Lemon Bay.

Bobbi Rodgers, environmental resource manager at Cedar Point Environmental Park, fished out a bulbous blob the color of mud and gave it a gentle squeeze. Out squirted a thin jet of water, live evidence of how the sea squirt got its name.

Under Rodgers' tutelage, about 20 people braved the cool weather Dec. 27 to trudge out into Lemon Bay to get a fish-eye's view of the life that teems in beds of sea grass.

They spent about 30 minutes skimming the sea grass with nets, capturing tiny crabs, shrimp, mollusks and fish that they then deposited in buckets.

"I caught a starfish," exclaimed Taylor Townsend, 5.

Later, she would learn to call the star-shaped echinoderm a sea star.

"It's politically incorrect to call them a starfish because they're not a fish," Rodgers explained.

Wearing a pink hoodie and matching galoshes, Taylor waded knee-deep in the water while her 8-year-old sister, Alyssa, already wet enough, observed from the shore.

Back on land, Taylor leaned back against her father, Mike, and lifted her leg to drain her boots of water.

Mike Townsend traveled down to Englewood with his two daughters and his wife to visit his parents, who are in the process of moving from New Jersey to Rotonda West.

A Rotonda neighbor suggested the adventure.

Some sea-grass explorers, including 9-year-old twins Hayley and Maddie Samson, were repeat visitors.

The two girls, wearing identical blue jackets and braided pigtails, eagerly combed the water and collected fish and shrimp.

"They did it last year, and it was on their list. We had to come back again," said their mother, Carol Samson.

The family traveled from Cincinnati to visit relatives in North Port over winter vacation.

The monthly sea grass adventures also attract local residents who want to learn more about their environment.

"It's amazing," said Sue Freeman of Englewood.

"With just a few scoops, you get all these little life forms."

Some of the creatures in her bucket included bright green grass shrimp, clear-bodied shrimp, a few little swimming crabs and a couple of tiny fish.

Every month Rodgers leads these sea-grass adventures, which start in a classroom at Cedar Point Environmental Park on Placida Road.

After a quick ecology lesson at park headquarters, Rodgers leads her students from an upland ecosystem of pine flatwoods, through buttonwoods, white mangroves, black mangroves and red mangroves until she reaches a small pier that leads out to a mud flat on Lemon Bay.

The shallow bay provides plenty of space for sea grasses to take root and thrive.

Taking people out to the grass beds and allowing them a glimpse of the varied life that lives there gives them a deeper understanding of the role sea grasses play in the health of the bay and the region's fisheries.

Rodgers connected the minute aquatic animals her students examined to the large fish that attract commercial and sport fishermen to the Gulf of Mexico.

"If you don't have healthy sea-grass beds, you're not going to have any of the big stuff," Rodgers said.

Chronically Flooded Subdivision Buyout Complete; Last Home Gone

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

BARTOW - A year after county commissioners approved a plan to buy 18 homes in a section of a Bartow subdivision that suffered chronic flooding, the last home has been demolished.

The buyouts occurred in a section of Peace River Estates, a suburban subdivision northeast of Bartow along Peace Creek.

Commissioners voted last January to approve a $2.3 million buyout of the homes, which had been flooded four times since the 1970s.

The most recent episode occurred in 2004 after a series of hurricanes drenched the area, causing serious flooding all along the Peace Creek from Winter Haven to Bartow and raising the Peace River to its highest flood level since a stream gauge was installed at its head in Bartow in 1937.

Funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency covered 75 percent of the cost of the project, which also involved the buyout of a home near Banana Lake.

Jeff Spence, the county's director of natural resources, said the land will be used as a passive park.

"There are some beautiful oaks there," he said.

A visit to the property before the demolition crew arrived Friday afternoon revealed an unnatural- looking open area at the end of a cul-de-sac.

There are shade trees - mostly oaks with a couple of other species mixed in - that bracket the cleared land where houses formerly sat.

Spence said the reason the park, which is near the creek, will remain a passive recreation area is because the agreement with FEMA prohibits the county from building any structures on the property.

Overly high home appraisals target of protest against Citizens

By KORI FREDERICK
Hernando Today Correspondent

When Jane Mahar and her husband moved to Florida in 1984, they wanted a place they could call home. They found it 11 years ago in a small but cozy house on Fairway Drive in Ridge Manor.

Although her husband died three years ago, Mahar still considers the small house her true home. But with the rising cost of insurance, she’s not sure for how much longer.

When she started with Citizens Property Insurance Corp. her insurance was $700. The next year it increased to $1,100. This year her insurance more than doubled to $2,500.

One of the reasons her insurance has risen so much is the replacement value of her house was assessed at $200,250 — a figure which is more than double the $92,556 her property was assessed at by the county property appraiser.

“You’ve never seen such inflated prices,” Mahar said. “They wanted to charge $6,500 for an architect if my house needed to be replaced. I called a firm in Dade City that said it would only be $750-$1,000. This is outrageous.”

Even though she was slated to renew her policy Dec. 13, Citizens sent her a letter at the end of November effectively canceling her policy. She has called five other insurance companies and no one will insure her, including Citizens, the state’s insurer of last resort.

Now she has no insurance on her home.

“If my house blows away, I’ll just have to sell the property and get out of here,” she said.

Mahar is not the only Hernando County resident dealing with the problem of over-appraised housing.

In a meeting that took place last month with Citizens, the Office of Insurance Regulation and various Hernando and Pasco county legislators, numerous residents came forward to complain that Citizens was appraising their houses at double the value.

At the meeting, Norma Smith said her Citizens insurance has risen from $856 to $4,000 in two years. Her home, which had been appraised at $88,000, was assessed at $200,000 by Citizens.

Since the meeting, state Sen. Mike Fasano has been in contact with the chairman of Citizens working to stop the over-appraisal of homes.

“We are encouraging residents to get a private appraisal done,” he said. “And it is working. We are seeing people get huge reductions on their premiums because of this.”

“Citizens said they would accept anyone’s private appraisal,” he continued. “They would even go back to September of last year to give a reduction and give a refund for being overcharged.”

Fasano believes that the group Citizens hired to do the appraisals was looking too far into the future when they were assessing the value of the homes. The market in Hernando County has slowed down and they might have projected bigger numbers than there actually are now, he said.

A special legislative session has been convened for Jan. 16 to discuss the insurance problem statewide. Fasano and the Office of Insurance Regulation have been working with Citizens to figure out ways to reduce insurance costs statewide. They believe making sinkhole insurance optional and having an overall rate reduction are a couple of the things that could give residents a break on their insurance payments.

The Homeowners Against Citizens (HAC) group is making a trip up to Tallahassee to protest against the high cost of insurance. They already have three buses making the trip, two from Hernando County and one from Pasco.

Interested Hernando residents should call Pat Forster at 352-596-8267. The cost of the trip is $30 and they have extended the deadline to pay until Jan. 9. More information is available at www.hacfl. org.

“We want people to say ‘I’m tired of this,’” said HAC vice-president Chris Kowalczyk. “We want this trip to be big. This is a statewide thing. We want everyone we can get to go with us. This affects all of us. What more can we do?”

Reporter Kori Frederick can be contacted at 352-442-2871.

County to Fallschase: Cut back on parking
By Jeff Burlew
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Leon County staff is urging Fallschase developers to scale back the amount of parking spaces at a shopping center and preserve as many trees as possible.

AIG Baker, which is developing Fallschase in eastern Leon County, is asking the county for about 8,000 more square feet of retail space at the shopping center and 60 more parking spaces than previously approved. The developer wants 2,413 parking spaces at the shopping center, which is 207 more than a minimum requirement.

More parking spaces means more impervious surface, which some people fear will lead to flooding and pollution.

"I think if there's any way you can scale back that parking, it will help cut down on" the impervious surface, said Scott Brockmeier, a senior planner for the county.

County growth staff met with Fallschase representatives on Wednesday for an advisory meeting. A decision on the request won't come until a Development Review Committee meeting, possibly next month.

Rick Bateman, an attorney for Fallschase, said tenants at the shopping center requested more parking. The shopping center will include a Wal-Mart, a Costco and several smaller stores. Bateman said it's possible parking will, in fact, be reduced.

"We're going to take all (the county staff's) comments and go back to the tenants and see what we can do," he said.

Ann Bidlingmaier, former chairwoman of the county's canopy-road committee, said medians in the parking lot are too small for trees to reach mature size. She said the medians, about the size of two parking spaces, need to be at least eight times bigger.

"A tree could live for awhile but could not really be sustained for the typical life of a tree," she said.

The shopping center has four planned stormwater ponds, but only two are wet ponds designed to treat nutrients like nitrates and phosphates. Zoe Kulakowski, a member of the Buck Lake Alliance, said all four ponds should be wet ponds. She also is concerned about parking and traffic and whether the shopping center will be attractive.

"I have questions as to whether this will be a development that Tallahassee will be proud of," she said.

Final day of county, North Port talks

Neither party believes they will reach an agreement on planning.

By JOHN DAVIS

john.davis@heraldtribune.com

NORTH PORT -- County and North Port officials are not optimistic going into the final day of negotiations to forge a planning agreement that would shape southern Sarasota County growth for decades to come.

The county is trying to stop North Port from annexing and then developing thousands of additional acres of rural land, a trend that has strained roads, schools and other infrastructure while turning North Port into one of the fastest-growing cities in Southwest Florida.

If the two sides can't come to terms in Venice today, Sarasota County plans to hold a March referendum. If the proposal in the referendum is passed, the county would gain control over how much development could occur within city annexations in the future.

Should the referendum go forward, North Port has threatened to sue the county.

"The referendum is basically going to tell North Port, 'Hey you need a joint planning agreement,'" said County Commissioner Paul Mercier.

Meanwhile, the county and Venice are ready to finalize their own agreement about future planning today, a move that will guarantee Venice an easier path to annexations that have been mapped out in advance with the county.

North Port and Sarasota County still disagree on a wide range of issues, including:

Where North Port will annex in the future.

How many people would be allowed to live in annexed areas.

And to what extent the agreement will affect areas already in the city, such as the controversial Isles of Athena project, which could bring 13,000 new homes to a sprawling piece of land in the city's northeast corner that the county previously wanted to purchase and protect.

"Right now it's going to be very difficult," said North Port Commissioner Fred Tower of the possibility of reaching an agreement today.

Punta Gorda to sell its water

Tuckers Grade developer makes the city a $5.6M offer it cannot refuse.

By PATRINA A. BOSTIC

patrina.bostic@heraldtribune.com

PUNTA GORDA -- A developer made such an enticing offer for city water that the city council is looking to sell water outside its usual service area for the first time.

The city stands to make about $5.6 million in one-time fees if it sells city water to the Realmark Group for its proposed mixed-use development of 2,000 residential and commercial units in Tuckers Grade. The area is located south of the city between U.S. 41 and Interstate 75.

"It makes an offer we can't refuse," Mayor Larry Friedman said Tuesday.

The proposal goes before the city council today.

In the past, the city has refused to sell water to any development outside its utility service area, which extends beyond the city's official official boundaries into adjacent portions of unincorporated south Charlotte County.

City officials have been reluctant to go beyond those lines because its first priority has been to ensure it can meet the needs of its existing customers.

But Realmark has offered to pay for a water study and then cover the brunt of the costs to expand capacity.

Realmark wants the city to eventually provide 100,000 gallons per day initially and progressively increase to 500,000 gallons when Realmark Tuckers Grade is finished in about 10 years.

Charlotte County proposes to extend its water lines to the Tuckers Grade area by 2015 but could not promise any water for at least 10 years and even then gave no guarantee.

Instead, Realmark offered to help Punta Gorda acquire a permit from the Southwest Florida Water Management District for the additional 500,000 gallons Realmark would need.

The company also offered to cover the costs to extend the city's transmission lines to the project and pay retail rates rather than bulk rates.

In addition, the developer proposes to build an on-site groundwater storage tank and pump system to reduce the effect on the city's system.

The request would mean a major change in city policy, one of the first since the November election, when voters elected two council members considered to be friendly to development.

At the end of October, city staff had recommended against selling water to Realmark. The city manager was reluctant because Punta Gorda has no guarantee the county would have lines in place in time.

Howard Kunik also was concerned whether the city could expand to a new area while serving its customer base and providing water already contracted to the Peace River Regional Water Authority.

But Friedman and others said the city should handle each request on its own merits.

"There are so many pluses to us selling them water, verses any negatives, that it appears to be a good deal for us," Councilwoman Marilyn Smith-Mooney said.

Councilman Charles Wallace said he wants to make sure the time frames work. "The numbers look very interesting," he said. "We just have to make sure we have the capacity."

Water plant up for debate
Company wants to pump from Wakulla County
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Wakulla Springs Bottled Water Inc. again is seeking approval from Wakulla County for a water-bottling plant.

The company's previous proposal to build 1.7 miles from Wakulla Springs in 2005 was rejected by the Wakulla County Commission amid opposition. On Tuesday, the company filed a new application for approval on 17 acres at Spring Creek Highway at Wakulla-Arran Road.

The company has a state permit to pump 70,900 gallons a day - which is less than in 2005 when the company was denied. Some environmentalists say allowing the pumping would encourage other bottling companies to come to Wakulla County.

Paul Johnson, a consultant to Wakulla Springs Bottled Water, says the proposal is entirely new because it would use less water and would restrict future development on the plant site and adjoining property.

"We listened very carefully to the concerns Wakulla County residents had and addressed the proposals around those concerns," Johnson said.

But Debbie Atkins, a Wakulla County resident who attended the company's workshops last fall, said the proposal should be rejected again to protect the county's groundwater.

"(Company officials) are thirsty for the money and not for the water," Atkins said.

The Northwest Florida Water Management District says groundwater in the Wakulla Springs area is plentiful.

The agency previously issued a permit to Wakulla Springs Bottled Water for up to 1.4 million gallons per day. The company, which includes Ruth and D. P. "Dan" High and partner Sidney Gray, requested and received a permit for less water in 2006.

The application, filed by Gray, says the water-bottling plant would provide clean industry for the county. The plant would employ 52 people with average annual salaries of more than $30,000, according to the application.

The company also has agreed to enter into a revenue-sharing deal with Wakulla County, according to the application. But Johnson said he doesn't expect the company to offer a deal until later, when it seeks site-plan approval.

"It will depend on the commission and the other owners of the bottling plant," Johnson said.

Wakulla County Commissioner Ed Brimner, who voted with the 3-2 majority to reject the proposal in 2005, said he doesn't know how he will vote this time. He said he wants a revenue-sharing deal and he wants the county to have authority to shut down the plant if there isn't enough water.

"Certainly we would want the state to do it," Brimner said. "But if they didn't, we would want the authority to."

Johnson said the Northwest Florida Water Management District has authority in the state permit to shut down pumping. The company says in its application that it would reduce or end pumping if a water shortage is declared.

Commissioner Howard Kessler questioned whether there would be as many jobs as the company says. But he also added that the jobs are not the main issue.

"The big issue is - does our county and our citizens want this kind of industry in Wakulla County?" Kessler said

Polar Bears' Significance To Florida

Tampa Tribune Editorial Published: Jan 3, 2007

The plight of the polar bear should concern all Floridians, whether you love wildlife or not. The U.S. Department of the Interior wants to list the bears as endangered species because their numbers are plummeting.

Higher temperatures are melting the arctic ice and the bear's hunting grounds are dwindling.

The melting ice could, over time, increase sea levels enough to be disastrous for low-lying Florida. Scientists predict our beaches would be wiped away if sea levels rise 15 inches in the next century - the mid-range of scientific estimates given, should global warming continue. The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council estimates that more than 200 square miles of local land probably would need protection from inundation or erosion. The price tag would be staggering.

So Floridians share more kinship with the arctic predator than they realize.

Some scientists dispute the reality of global warming, particularly the significance of greenhouse gases. But they are in the minority. And new evidence appears to shore up the global-warming case. A recent report by the National Academies of Science found that Earth's temperatures have risen about 1 degree over the past century, which researchers called an "unprecedented" development. Two other recent studies linked global warming to stronger hurricanes. And researchers at the National Research Council concluded that the past few decades of the 20th century were the warmest in 400 years - "potentially" in several thousand years.

All this does not mean the nation should throw economic concerns to the wind in a panicky effort to eliminate greenhouse emissions. But it does suggest that ignoring the threat, as this nation has largely done, is irresponsible. The nation needs to get serious about developing clean energy sources and increasing conservation.

If we save the polar bear's habitat, we may also save Florida.

Levy wants to be ready should a tsunami hit

By KAREN VOYLES

Sun staff writer

BRONSON — Among the disaster scenarios that Mark Johnson and his staff have been considering is how Levy County would respond to a tsunami. This year Johnson, the county's emergency operations director, is drafting a plan for the what-if scenario of a tsunami landing at Cedar Key, Yankeetown or the entire Levy coastline.

Johnson's efforts are being encouraged by federal officials, even though they say the odds of it ever happening are miniscule.

"The thing about a tsunami is that it is a low probability, high impact event and that is why we are even talking about it," said Dan Noah, the National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist for the Guf Coast between Levy County and Fort Myers. "The chances are that we will not have one in our lifetimes, but that there will be a tsunami in the Gulf during someone's lifetime and it is up to emergency managers to prepare for all hazards."

Most tsunamis are formed by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption. The movement on the floor of an ocean raises up a tall, fast-moving wave like the one that formed in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004, and killed 230,000 people.

"We used to think that earthquakes were uncommon in the Gulf but maybe they are more common than we thought since we had those two last year," Noah said.

A February earthquake with a 5.2 magnitude was recorded close to Louisiana. A September quake with a 5.9 magnitude was recorded 250 miles west of Tampa and due south of Alabama. It was the strongest quake recorded in the Gulf in 33 years.

To alert Cedar Key residents about a tsunami — or anything else Mother Nature may throw at the island city — City Commissioner Pat O'Neal said huge sirens provided by Progress Energy are being installed this year. O'Neal said they sound like air-raid sirens.

"Now we are in the process of educating people about what to do when they hear the siren," O'Neal said. "It's pretty simple — if you hear one of those sirens, you know it's time to leave no matter what the emergency is."

Noah said a tsunami wave extends from the surface of an ocean to the floor. They have been known to move up to 500 mph in deep water but slow considerably — to 22 mph in 33 feet of water.

"A lot of that energy is cut off when you cut it off from beneath as is moves into shallower water," Noah said. "There is a shallow continental shelf in the Gulf, so we wouldn't see those huge waves like we would from the Atlantic."

"On the East Coast, we say people should get 10 feet up from the Atlantic (ocean) or move 300 feet inland," Noah said. "On the Gulf Coast, we want you to get out of the water. People can barely stand up in a 6 mile per hour current, so if a tsunami is traveling at 20 miles per hour and you stay in the water, you will be dragged along the shoreline and slammed into boats or whatever else is there."

To be declared tsunami ready, a community must meet several federally established standards, which are nearly identical to federal standards for community to be storm ready, such as having evacuation plans and and multiple warning systems in place.

At the end of December, federal officials had declared 37 municipalities as tsunami ready, but only one was in Florida, the Atlantic Coast community of Indian Harbour Beach.

"And we're working to have Levy County become the first on the Gulf Coast to be tsunami ready," Johnson said.

Karen Voyles can be reached at 486-5058 or voylesk@gvillesun.com

Weeki Wachee Springs algae removal stalled

By MORGAN C. MOELLER
mmoeller@hernandotoday.com


WEEKI WACHEE — The toxic algae choking native vegetation at Weeki Wachee Springs is here to stay — at least for another year.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (Swiftmud) had plans to combat the nuisance vegetation that carpets the spring through a one-two punch of redirecting and treating stormwater runoff and removing the algae.

After the algae is removed, Swiftmud planned to replant the spring with native vegetation. Essentially, Weeki Wachee would undergo a complete restoration.

The project was scheduled to begin about now so it would be completed before March, the beginning of the attraction’s peak season. But when Swiftmud put the project out to bid, there was only one proposal submitted. It was about $275,000 more than the projected cost of $300,929.

Swiftmud plans to get approval for more funding and put the project up for grabs again, according to Rebecca Courier, Swiftmud’s communication coordinator.

But because the district wants to have as little impact as possible on the attraction’s business, officials will wait until next winter to move ahead with the restoration. It won’t be until spring or summer 2008 that the algae itself is removed and the spring is replanted, Courier said.

Meanwhile, thick, hair-like algae called lyngbya cling to limestone submerged in the spring. Gone is much of the grassy vegetation that grew from the spring’s bottom in years past. The silky algae hinder light from getting to other aquatic plant life and often spreads to create dense mats at the floor of the water body it inhabits.

When it breaks loose and floats downstream it hangs up on other vegetation down river. As it begins to die at the water’s surface it creates a nasty odor.

“It’s a problem because when it grows it will grow everywhere, and what it will do is it will dominate and out-compete any desirable vegetation that should be there,” said Veronica Craw, environmental manager at the Southwest Florida Water Management District (Swiftmud). “...There are some areas (in Weeki Wachee Spring) where this stuff is super-thick, and it has basically taken over the system.”

In other water bodies infested with lyngbya, the algae are associated with the deaths of fish or skin problems in humans. The district has not seen any “fish kills,” Craw said.

Al Gray, Hernando County environmental health director, said over the last year he’s received a few reports of skin conditions that may have been associated with lyngbya. One girl who swam in the Weekiwachee River on a regular basis was diagnosed with dermatitis. But none of the cases were confirmed, he said.

It’s estimated that there’s about a 1,000 cubic yards of lyngbya in the head spring and another 5,000 cubic yards of sediment and other “organics” that have settled at the top of the river near the Buccaneer Bay, according to Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan.

It’s unclear when the nuisance algae began choking out native vegetation or how it ended up in the spring, Craw said. In some areas where lyngbya thrives, experts believe it’s because of slow-moving water. In other areas it may be attributed to recreational impacts or disturbance, she said. Still, some people think it’s because of increased nutrients in the water due to things like fertilizer in water runoff.

Whether it’s native or non-native is also debatable, she said.

What is perfectly clear is the negative impact the algae’s had on the spring. In addition to choking other plant life, lyngbya is known to indirectly impact fish as well.

“Aquatic vegetation is very big fish habitat, especially during ... breeding,” Craw said. “It’s a necessary habitat for juvenile fish for refuge for them from predators. So any sort of impact on native grass would be a definite impact on native fisheries.”

The first phase of Swiftmud’s project will address storm water runoff. At this point, water that runs off the parking lot at the Weeki Wachee Springs attraction goes into the spring untreated. Nutrients in the water enhance algae growth and sediments in it impact water quality.

Swiftmud will build two retention ponds near the parking lot, one at the western corner of the lot and another southeast of the lot along U.S. 19. Drop inlets will divert runoff from the parking lot to the ponds, where the water will essentially self-treat, said Scott Letasi, a staff engineer for Swiftmud.

While the water is in the retention area, sediment that would have traveled directly into the spring will settle. In the event of a major storm, the system will allow excess water to be diverted into the river downstream rather than at the head spring.

That’s phase one — diverting not-so-good stuff from getting into the spring. Once that’s under control, they can start on actually removing the algae from areas surrounding the head spring. Though plans aren’t final, Craw said removal will most likely involve some type of dredging. After they rip out the algae, they’ll replant native species.

Some lyngbya-laden areas have used herbicides to successfully oust the algae, but that’s not the best option for Weeki Wachee, Craw said. The spring is designated an “outstanding Florida water body,” or a water body worthy of special protection because of its natural attributes. The designation is intended to protect existing good water quality, Craw said. In addition, the river moves so quickly herbicides would not be effective, officials say.

For now, the district will try mechanical removal. Because research is still being conducted to gain better understanding of nuisance vegetation, no one knows how long the fix will last, Craw said.

Consumer education will play a large role, Molligan said. Area residents are responsible to some extent for the thriving lyngbya algae. Excess nutrients in fertilizer ultimately seep into the ground and wind up in the spring. Those nutrients fuel growth of nuisance vegetation.

Through the Florida Yards and Neighbors program, Swiftmud officials hope to educate consumers on responsible use of fertilizer. The department will also launch a media campaign to promote Florida-friendly landscaping, which ultimately preserves water and improves water quality.

“Improve water quality and reduce the things that help cause bad water quality, and that will reduce the likelihood that they’ll come back,” Molligan said.

Reporter Morgan Moeller can be contacted at 352-544-5229.

May Slow Rush to Develop

By Tom Palmer
tom.palmer@theledger.com

Last week I reviewed some of the environmental highlights of 2006.

Today I want to look ahead at 2007.

One major change that has implications for wildlife conservation and development policy is the move to increase protection for gopher tortoises.

State wildlife officials have agreed to reclassify the gopher tortoise from a species of special concern to a threatened species. What that means will depend on what's contained in a management plan. That plan, which is due sometime this year, will supply the details on how this increased protection will be carried out.

The hope is that the reclassification will slow the routine permission to kill hundreds of these reptiles a year in exchange for "mitigation," which under the current state formula uses below-market land values in the calculation, resulting in anything but a fair trade.

The details of the management plan will be important, given the history of this species' treatment, even after it achieved "protected" status.

Although state wildlife officials classified the gopher tortoise as a species of special concern in 1979, it wasn't until 1988 that it actually became illegal to hunt them for food or the pet trade.

In 1989, state officials went further and banned gopher tortoise races.

I'm not making this up.

The decision to reclassify gopher tortoises was based on continued population declines - more than 50 percent in the past century - and expected increased decline in the future without additional protection.

Gopher tortoises were hunted for decades for food and in recent years have faced additional threats because the high and dry land they favor is in the path of development.

Protection of gopher tortoises would also protect a variety of other species that use the tortoises' burrows, making them an important part of upland ecosystems.

Now, let's turn our attention to growth management in general.

Coming soon is a test to see whether the people who are grumbling about the county's growth decisions are willing to try to do something about it or whether they will leave the decision to the same folks who have been calling the shots for the past 35 years.

The test will be whether they participate in the public meetings on the revision of the county's growth plan. The meetings will occur this month.

By the way, if you live in a city, the cities are supposed to be going through the same process. If you live in a city whose growth rules don't make sense to you, consider getting involved.

If you get involved in countywide growth management changes, what are some of the issues that have been ignored in the past and could use some attention?

Here's my short list; feel free to bring your own.

Water conservation: The current rules pay lip service to this issue. Attempts to get serious have been blocked by a combination of opposition from the development industry and apathy on the part of elected officials. We can do better.

Tree protection: It is unavoidable that when land is cleared for development that the landscape will suffer. However, the current county regulations don't make much of an attempt to introduce any standards that could get people thinking about where trees fit in a developed landscape. That should change.

Urban growth boundaries: There should be a public discussion about where urban-type development should occur in Polk County and where it should not. That discussion should be accompanied by a discussion about how to fairly and legally implement that vision. Transfer of development rights from rural areas and an agreement to tolerate denser development in urban areas will be part of that discussion.

School concurrency: Yes, state law requires it and county and school staffers are working to devise a way to make sure new development doesn't continue to overwhelm the school system. Nevertheless, the real discussion will occur when it comes time to define precisely what standards should be used to achieve this goal. Pay attention to this one.

What happens statewide could affect local decisions, too.

This month the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida will issue its first set of recommendations.

This is the committee appointed in 2005 to take a long-range look at Florida's future. If you go to www.centurycommission.org/home.asp you can see what they're up to and comment.

2006 was a good year for preservation of wildlife habitat and working to expand the park system.

This property provides some great public recreation, but what's lacking is any overall summary of what's available.

That's especially true of the trail system.

A good project for 2007 would be the development of a countywide trail map that would be available to residents and tourists.

That could bring pressure to link as many of the trails as possible to create some kind of countywide trail network.

Although the discussion has primarily involved trails for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding, perhaps it's time to think more broadly.

We need to figure out a way to develop a "blueway" network as well to take advantage of the recreational potential of our scenic rivers and creeks.

This will take more work because very little support infrastructure is available.

Maybe everything won't be completed this year, but this year would certainly be a good time to start.

Happy New Year.

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

19 States Issue Alert On Mortgages

By KIRSTIN DOWNEY The Washington Post

Published: Jan 3, 2007

WASHINGTON - Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have moved quickly to warn state-regulated lenders about the hazards to consumers from nontraditional mortgages.

Tens of thousands of state-licensed lenders and mortgage brokers are affected by the advisories, also known as a "guidance." Such loans include interest-only mortgages and other arrangements in which the borrower cuts monthly costs by paying back less than full interest and principal.

The states are following closely behind federal banking regulators, who issued a sternly worded advisory in late September to the lenders they supervise, telling them they should not make these loans to borrowers who may be unable to repay them. Within 24 hours after the federal guidance was released, six states had issued similar warnings to their own lenders, a notable flurry of activity in a field known for its slow-moving bureaucracies.

"They were ready for this; they wanted it," said Mike Stevens, senior vice president for regulatory affairs at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, who said it was the fastest state-by-state regulatory rollout he had ever seen. "We had a national need to do this."

Nontraditional loans, also known as "exotic" mortgages, once marketed to the wealthy as a cash-management tool, have expanded to the mass market because they allow borrowers to pay only the interest on a loan, or a partial monthly payment, without paying down the principal.

In 2003, 10.6 percent of new loans tracked by First American LoanPerformance, a San Francisco-based real estate information service, were nontraditional mortgages. During the first nine months of 2006, about 34.1 percent of all borrowers used these loans to buy or refinance homes. In the Washington area, where housing prices have skyrocketed in the past five years, about 47.7 percent of loans originated in 2006 were nontraditional, versus 10.7 percent in 2003.

These loans became popular because they let borrowers stretch to afford homes. The concern is that some borrowers may not fully understand they face payment "resets," or upward adjustments after a set period, often three to five years.

Regulators have noted that many consumers are unaware their payments could double or triple when they reset. At a recent Consumer Bankers Association conference, some lenders marketing fixed-rate loans to borrowers with nontraditional mortgages said that 30 percent to 50 percent of the borrowers seemed unaware of the resets looming.

Many economists now say the surge in these loans contributed to the real estate boom of the past few years. Regions that had the highest rates of nontraditional lending were also areas where housing prices rose most quickly.

Regulators and consumer activists also say these loans increase the risk of foreclosure, particularly if monthly payments jump at a time when home prices are stagnant, making it more difficult to sell homes or refinance into other loans.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors put out a model set of guidelines based on the federal guidance. It spells out that lenders must take into account whether borrowers will be able to afford to pay when the loans reset and must explain the loans more explicitly.

The warnings vary by state, as does the universe of mortgage lenders covered by each state. Some state regulators have proposed the guidance but are awaiting final approval.

The federal guidance covers institutions that have federal deposit insurance. These state warnings will encompass lenders who do not also accept deposits.

In Kentucky, the guidance covers about 525 enterprises, including mortgage brokers and lenders; in Indiana, it covers 350 licensed second-mortgage brokers; in Connecticut, it covers more than 3,800 licensed mortgage companies; in Iowa it covers 342 state-chartered banks, 110 loan companies and 737 mortgage brokers or lenders.

Many federally supervised lenders opposed the federal government's decision to issue a guidance on nontraditional lending, saying they think it was overly prescriptive and that restrictions might block consumers from receiving loans. They also expressed concerns that they would be subject to federal restrictions while state-regulated lenders would be unaffected.

"The idea is to get as much consistency as possible out there for all the players," said Mark Tarpey, division supervisor for the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions.

City Commissioners Reject Rezoning Plan
Bartow city commissioners rejected a proposal Tuesday to rezone two acres owned by the city's planning director.

The rezoning would have allowed planning director Bob Wiegers and his wife, Lisa, to build eight homes on the site at South Kissengen Avenue and Mann Road.

Current zoning allows for only six houses.

Wiegers didn't particpate in the city review of the rezoning application or the presentation to commissioners Tuesday.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to deny the request.

Late last year, the city's planning and zoning commission voted 3-2 to recommend the request be denied.

New high-end project in works

CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published January 3, 2007

SPRING HILL - Land O'Lakes developer John Dalfino made headlines in 2000 when he announced plans to turn an illegal rock 'n' roll campsite east of Ehren Cutoff - a favored haunt for members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang - into a 97-acre upscale subdivision.

He even called the 37-home development Outlaw Ridge, preserving a bit of local history in the monolith of suburbia.

Now Dalfino wants to bring the same touch to a 100-acre pasture in the northern reaches of central Pasco that used to belong to Hernando County developer Ralph Glover.

The property is zoned for more than 600 mobile homes.

But under Dalfino's plan, it's poised to become a ring of million-dollar homes around a 50-acre lake, to be called Lago Verde.

The lake will be the artificial leftover of a sand mine that Dalfino wants to dig before he creates the subdivision. Little wonder, with the cost of dirt having tripled since 2003 to $30.56 a cubic yard.

But if Outlaw Ridge is to be a model, Lago Verde may take years to get going, and only after the sand pit has been mined out.

To date, just a handful of homes are starting to get built in Outlaw Ridge, though a stately subdivision sign and a boat trailer park have gone up.

The Lago Verde proposal goes before the Planning Commission on Feb. 7 and is scheduled to be heard at the County Commission on Feb. 20 at the West Pasco Government Center in New Port Richey.

Dalfino, whose company is called Outlaw Ridge Inc., is behind other Pasco projects, including the 212-acre Asbel Creek at U.S. 41 and Asbel Road, Hidden River in Zephyrhills, and developments in Dade City. He is also working in Hillsborough County.

At Lago Verde, at the southwestern corner of U.S. 41 and Somerset Acres Lane, Dalfino wants to raise only 19 homes.

But these will be 19 pricey homes.

"They'll be high-end homes," he said. "Outlaw Ridge has $1.5-million homes in there. The design for Lago Verde is basically identical to the Outlaw Ridge subdivision."

County records show that the pasture is home to only a dairy feed warehouse, built in 1930.

As with Outlaw Ridge, part of the Lago Verde deal includes digging a huge sand mine that would later be a lake for the development.

Dirt from the 50-acre, 27-foot-deep pit will be sold or used for fill in the development, Dalfino said.

When all is said and done, the pit will be turned into a waterski lake, he said.

County records show that Dalfino bought the property from Glover in September 2005 for $3.2-million.

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development. He can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.