Think traffic is bad? Get used to it

By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER

H-T CAPITAL BUREAU

SARASOTA -- Stephanie Kopelousos has seen the future of Florida 's roads, and it is colored red.

The new head of Florida 's Department of Transportation has three charts showing the growth of road congestion on the state highway system, beginning in 2005 and ending in 2025. The jammed roads-- those where the service level drops below a standard -- are identified by red blotches.

By 2025, the red blotches have overwhelmed many of the state's major highways, including Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando , and Interstate 75 in Southwest Florida as well as between Wildwood and Gainesville . Most of the major highways in heavily populated Southeast Florida are red.

"We call these the bleeding charts," said Kopelousos.

The wave of congestion is coming even though Florida will spend $8 billion a year on its roadways, with about half of that paying for new highways.

Yet traffic is increasing at nearly four times the rate of road-building.

"Look at how bad it gets," Kopelousos said as the 2025 chart appeared during a presentation at the annual conference of Floridians for Better Transportation in Sarasota late last month. "We truly are not keeping up."

Among the nation's worst

A study from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte shows Florida has more congested major cities -- six -- than any state but California . Travel time in those cities -- including Sarasota-Bradenton, Miami , Orlando and Tampa -- during peak hours is at least 18 percent longer than during off-peak hours.

Only nine states have more crowded interstates, according to the study, which was financed by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank based in Los Angeles .

And, most ominously, the study shows the future is no better. In Miami , where motorists already face peak-hour delays of 42 percent, their travel time delay will be significantly higher by 2030.

State transportation officials say Florida cannot build its way out of the problem. Right now, they project a $45 billion shortfall in road funds by 2030, attributable in part to the slow growth in state fuel taxes and the rapid growth in the state's population.

Kopelousos, a former congressional and gubernatorial aide, said part of her mission is to educate Floridians about the problem and offer some solutions.

"We're not going to stop growing," she said. "People are not going to stop visiting Florida , because it is a great place. But we have to look at the realities."

Kopelousos said those realities include getting the most "out of what we have," using more mass transit and the inevitability of "congestion pricing," which is likely to mean more toll roads or toll lanes on major highways.

"We're going to have to look at choice," she said. "There is a trade-off between time and money, and we're going to have to give Floridians the option."

The changes may be unsettling. But transportation experts say they may be necessary if Florida is to keep a healthy highway system.

Last modified: July 09. 2007 4:35AM

Arsenic-tainted wells: Just how bad is it?

Twelve Spring Lake wells have unsafe levels. One resident wants wider testing.

By DAN DEWITT
Published July 9, 2007

SPRING LAKE - Nobody disputes certain facts about arsenic, said Renee Holcomb, who lives on Batten Road in Spring Lake .

It is a toxic metal that can occur naturally in the soil. Farmers once sprayed it in orange groves to kill fungi and nematodes. Ranchers throughout Florida regularly filled 3, 400 "dipping vats" with arsenic solution to kill ticks on cattle.

"Arsenic is everywhere, " Holcomb said.

Though the state Department of Environmental Protection does not agree with this last statement, a recent round of testing has found 12 contaminated wells, many of them near the intersection of Batten and Powell roads.

These include Holcomb's well and one that serves live-in workers at Pleasant Valley Dairy on Powell, where the concentration of arsenic was more than 16 times the level the federal and state governments considers safe.

These levels are not high enough to make residents sick immediately, said Pamala Vasquez, DEP spokeswoman. They do, however, increase their long-term cancer risk, she said.

The DEP will continue to test surrounding wells until it is sure it knows the limits of the contamination, she said. The agency has installed filters for residents who depend on contaminated wells.

"Our No. 1 priority is to get folks a safe source of drinking water, " Vasquez said.

But Holcomb said the state has not moved fast enough to identify the risks or to ensure that residents have safe water.

The pollution in these wells also raises a broader problem, she said: The state does not take the threat of arsenic contamination seriously enough. It has no system in place to ensure that dangerous levels of the toxin are not present in private wells.

"Everybody should have their wells tested, " she said.

Cancer among risks

The previous owners of the Holcomb's house first suspected their well was contaminated in the 1980s, said a neighbor, Iduma Jones, 80.

"Every time their daughter came home from college, she would get sick, " Jones said.

Renee Holcomb and her husband, Jodi, knew this when they bought the house in 2001. A filter they installed removed slightly more than half the arsenic, Renee Holcomb said, putting the level just below 50 parts per billion.

That concentration was considered safe by the state, but not by the Holcombs. "We have not drunk the water since we moved in, " she said.

Because of mounting evidence that long-term exposure to arsenic causes cancer in humans, the standard was reduced to 10 parts per billion in January.

That prompted Holcomb to request a new test, which found 104 parts per billion of arsenic in her water. The county Health Department, which performs this work for DEP, found a similar level at a neighbor's well.

When DEP finds contaminated wells, it orders tests for surrounding wells in a widening radius until it reaches wells that are clear of pollutants - a process called "stepping out, " Vasquez said.

More tests in March and June led to the discovery of 10 more wells with unsafe arsenic readings, most of them within a mile of Holcomb's house and including a well on the dairy where the reading was 165 parts per billion.

This well serves seven or eight mobile homes occupied by dairy workers, Vasquez said, and the residents of only two of these homes have allowed the state to enter their homes to install filters. She said that the owner of the dairy, George Alvarez, told her that the workers drink bottled water. Alvarez did not return several calls requesting an interview.

Followup tests in June showed the levels in the worker' well had dropped to 37 parts per billion, Vasquez said.

Mark Singer of the Health Department, who takes the water samples, said he had found three contaminated wells near a known cattle vat close to the intersection of Hayman and Culbreath roads. He also tested three more wells in that area last month; all had levels below 10 parts per billion.

But recent findings of contaminated wells near Powell and Batten mean the testing will continue.

"We have found some interesting results that will push us out farther, " said Singer. "I'm not done yet."

DEP also wants Singer to help find the source of the pollution. So far, he hasn't even settled on a main theory.

"This is a completely baffling situation, " he said.

No testing required

One possible source is the old citrus grove at Powell and Batten road. Though Singer has not found evidence of a cattle dip vat near the intersection, he said he cannot rule one out as a source.

These vats typically were about 25 feet long and held between 1, 500 to 2, 000 gallons of arsenic solution that was pumped out and replaced annually, according to the Web Site of the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

The Health Department knows from records that ranchers dug 36 of them in Hernando County , but it has confirmed the location of only four, said Al Gray, the department's director of environmental health.

Despite the prevalence of arsenic, homeowners are not required to test their wells, he said. And though most wells are checked for bacteria after they are dug, arsenic testing is not standard.

"Private wells are basically unregulated and untested, " he said.

Though he did not endorse Holcomb's call for universal testing, "If you're in an area where there's some former agricultural use, there's a chance of finding arsenic."

But usually at low levels, Vasquez added.

Arsenic is a well-known poison that can cause death, nerve and brain damage, and reproductive problems, said Joe Sekerke, a toxicologist with the state Department of Health. But at levels 10 to 100 times as high as the levels that cause cancer.

Residents with the readings found in Hernando County are in no immediate danger, Vasquez said, adding that the procedure for informing residents, telling them when contamination shows a need to test their wells, is appropriate.

"What we've seen here is not any cause for a widespread alarm, " Vasquez said.

But Holcomb disagrees.

She said that one of her neighbors has reported the kind of symptoms that might come from exposure to high levels of arsenic: persistent numbness in her feet.

More importantly, she said, exposure to a chemical that can cause cancer is cause for alarm.

She showed statistics from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, that place the risk of getting cancer from regularly drinking water with 10 parts per billion of arsenic at 1 in 500. When the level rises to 50 parts per billion, the risk climbs to 1 in 100, according to the council.

"I might not get numb feet from the levels here, but I can get cancer, " she said.

Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or (352)754-6116.

Fast Facts:

A primer

What is it? Arsenic, a toxic metal that can occur naturally, is odorless and tasteless.

Safe levels: The EPA has set the arsenic standard for drinking water at 10 parts per billion.

Health hazards: It has been linked to cancer of the vital organs, skin and nasal passages.

Symptoms of arsenic poisoning: Thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, numbness in hands and feet, partial paralysis and blindness.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Record is mixed on Everglades fix

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published July 9, 2007

Restoring Florida 's Everglades was to be a major ecological achievement and a model of federal and state cooperation. But a report card on the project shows that Washington has lagged in providing money and the necessary leadership. These setbacks, while serious, are manageable, and should not detract from the progress being made or the merits of restoration itself.

The recent report by the Government Accountability Office is a useful barometer of a restoration plan that has decades more to go. The federal government and the state agreed in 2000 to a restoration strategy that was expected to take 40 years and cost $15-billion. But some of these projects, the GAO reported, are six years behind schedule. A third are in the planning stage or not under way, including those "most critical to the restoration's overall success." And while the federal-state deal calls for splitting the costs 50-50, Florida spent twice, or $4.8-billion, what Washington did from 1999 to 2006.

The Everglades plan is designed to repair South Florida 's ecosystem from 100 years' worth of engineering projects that diverted the area's natural water flow. Urban development and farming, which polluted the Everglades, were to be addressed under a plan that sought to balance restoration with South Florida 's water and flood control needs. The GAO found not only that projects were behind schedule, but also that estimates have shot up 28 percent, to at least $19.7-billion. And while costs have gone up, spending for critical ecological work already is nearly $1.2-billion short from the 1999-2006 period.

Florida should be proud for stepping up and providing hundreds of millions of dollars when Congress fell behind. Now Washington must do its part. The federal government needs to increase funding and bring stability to the appropriations process. That is key to cutting the backlog. So is better planning of the construction schedule. Many projects are linked, and one delay can have an accordion effect. As the GAO noted, in many cases agencies make decisions on scheduling "if and when funding becomes available." That's no way to manage such a massive undertaking, and it is the wrong message to send to the state.

Still, Congress and federal agencies can fix those mistakes, which do not rise to a level that discredits the restoration effort. The GAO and others point out that even early signs indicate important progress, such as with reducing pollution from agricultural runoff and with restoring a more natural water flow to the Kissimmee River, the headwater of the greater Everglades ecosystem.

Lawmakers both in Washington and Tallahassee should see this as a long-haul project with long-term benefit. As the GAO underscored: "The Everglades has been reduced to half its original size and the ecosystem continues to deteriorate, " mostly due to increased urbanization. Florida and the federal government need to continue undoing the damage that past and future growth pose to a complex and essential watershed.

Divers exploring uncharted caves at Weeki Wachee

By TONY MARRERO
lmarrero@hernandotoday.com


WEEKI WACHEE — The dry weather has helped unlock the door to a previously unexplored underworld beyond the mermaid’s stage.

Now, researchers could be on the verge of discovering the deepest underwater cave in the United States .

Cave divers are exploring, mapping and photographing the vast caverns at the source of the Weekiwachee River , dozens of feet below where the mermaids perform at Weeki Wachee Springs.

Last week, a diver hit a depth of nearly 400 feet before turning around. That would make the cave system the deepest in the United States , said Jeff Petersen, president of Karst Underwater Research, Inc., or KUR, and project manager for the Weeki Wachee endeavor.

“From a cave diver’s perspective, Weeki Wachee has always been considered one of the crown jewels,” Petersen said.

Experts have known for years the river’s source was an access point to a maze of some of the most awe-inspiring underwater caves in the world.

Usually, however, the force coming out of a doorway-sized split in the limestone about 145 feet below where the mermaids perform is simply too strong for a diver to access.

Water can rush from the opening at up to 250 cubic feet per second.

“It used to be that, as soon as you hit 40, 50 feet, you were hanging on for dear life,” Petersen said. “It’s like swimming into a fire hose.”

But the Weekiwachee spring head is at record low flow levels. One recent test showed water coming through at a rate of just 97 cubic feet per second.

Still, that’s enough force to make the entry a struggle, Petersen said. Once through the door, however, there is hardly any resistance at all because of the vast size of the cavern.

Petersen blames the low flow on a combination of development that pulls water from the aquifer and the recent drought.

“While it’s tragic in many ways, it’s kind of a bittersweet boon for us,” he said.

Divers cannot only access the cave system now, but also can bring in the necessary gear, including powerful lights and battery-operated “scooters” that can be used to propel them to distances of more than a mile.

Other technology is on the side of the explorers. Divers are using special “re-breathers” that allows them to recycle the air they’ve already used by removing the carbon dioxide. The gear is much smaller than the typical double-tank scuba gear, Petersen said.

The team has charted about 3,000 linear feet of cave. Petersen said the breathing equipment and scooters would allow divers to go roughly twice that distance.

The team also hopes for another achievement: Connecting with the so-called Twin Dees Spring and its network of caves about a mile south of Weeki Wachee Springs.

A KUR team explored and inserted guidelines in that network of caves back in 1995. It’s very possible that divers on the current project will come around a corner and see one of those lines, Petersen said.

“It’s just a matter of finding the right tunnel,” Petersen said.

Like the ‘ Lincoln Tunnel’

These tunnels are big.

Think “Lincoln Tunnel” big, Petersen said.

Of course, it’s difficult for divers to get a true sense of size because even with powerful lights, not much of the area can be illuminated at one time.

Scattered on the floor are boulders that have settled over eons. There also are rock formations that Petersen said resemble piles of “two-by-fours and broomsticks.”

It’s all covered in a brown layer of sediment and fossilized organic matter that he likened to Magic Shell chocolate coating.

One mind-boggling statistic: Divers who hit depths of nearly 400 feet must remain in the water for seven hours to safely decompress, Petersen said.

KUR is a nonprofit organization that relies mostly on a dedicated group of volunteers eager to go where no divers have gone before.

The group mapped about 5,000 feet of cave in Tampa ’s Sulfur Springs network. Closer to home, KUR explored areas underneath the Chassaho-witzka Wildlife Area.

Divers take still photos and videos of the caves they explore and also create maps. The data collected is free for the taking and has bolstered such resources as the Florida Geological Survey.

Divers get the thrill and conquest of uncharted territory and the pride in helping science take a step forward.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” he said.

The team for the Weeki Wachee project is comprised of about 20 people, said Petersen, who is an accountant by day.

“We’re going to keep diving until the rain returns,” Peter-sen said.

The exploration is creating a buzz at Weeki Wachee Springs, said marketing director John Athanason. Current and past employees alike keep inquiring about the team’s progress.

He said park management is talking to Petersen about creating a short film about the project using KUR footage that could be played between mermaid shows.

“For so many years everyone has always wondered what was underneath us,” Athanason said. “It’s pretty exhilarating.”

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

Slimy goo may help resurrect ailing lake

BY RICH MCKAY

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAKE APOPKA -- G. Thomas Bland reached into a trough of green goo and pulled out a slimy mat of algae.

It looked more like cartoon-monster hair than the key to saving Lake Apopka .

Bland and his Winter Park company, AquaFiber Technologies Co., are tackling the lake's infamous pollution, water with a history of defying the state's best efforts to clean it.

"It feels like wet cotton," he said, holding up the algae, which are the cleaning agent and byproduct in the burgeoning technology being developed by his company.

The process uses the voraciously hungry algae, combined with ozone bombardment, to turn polluted water into clean water.

It is not quite the Midas touch, but Bland said that when the system is up and running at full throttle, it can clean 10 million gallons a day.

The system has impressed the officials at the St. Johns River Water Management District, who along with Orange County environmental officials have been watching the progress of the practice site on Lake Apopka .

The agency charged with protecting our waterways and drinking water recently awarded AquaFiber a $2.5 million contract to help clean up Lake Jesup in Seminole County.

But there is a caveat on that deal. AquaFiber does not get a penny unless it shows positive results within one year of starting the Lake Jesup project, said Regina Morse, a St. Johns project manager overseeing that lake's restoration.

Bland and his company are willing to risk their investors' money for a payoff down the road. And Lake Apopka could be the beneficiary of their entrepreneurial risk-taking.

AquaFiber pumps the polluted, greenish water out of Lake Apopka into a tank, where it is zapped with ozone -- a three-molecule form of oxygen that tears apart microscopic organisms, including a form of algae that robs the water of oxygen. The process releases any nutrients locked inside them.

"Ever see a clay pigeon hit with a shotgun blast?" Bland asked. "Pah-SHHEW. It blows them apart."

The water is pumped into a 500-foot concrete trench where another form of algae has been seeded and grown. Those algae (called periphyton, which is natural to the lake) gobble up all the nutrients and bad elements.

"It's like a teenager," Bland said. "It's always hungry and never stops eating."

Within 24 hours, this small-scale demonstration site behind locked gates on Lake Apopka can turn between 100,000 and 300,000 gallons of pollution into clean, potable water.

Bland and his partner Kyle Jensen chose to set up their demonstration project (with the water district's blessings) on Lake Apopka about three years ago. They have been tweaking the technology and now want the world to see their results.

Raw sewage and fertilizer-laden water were dumped into the 30,000-acre lake for decades, eventually turning the fishing and boating magnet into the state's largest polluted lake.

"We're here because we decided that if we couldn't clean up the worst lake, then we should try something else and get out of the game," Bland said.

A lot of Central Florida bigwigs believe in the project, and its board of directors includes former Walt Disney World president Dick Nunis.

Last modified: July 08. 2007 12:00AM

County offers protection for endangered wildlife

By REGINALD ALCEUS
Hernando Today Correspondent

Hernando County is home to an array of endangered or threatened animal and plant species.

As of June 28, the once threatened bald eagle, which makes its home in Florida as well as throughout the country, was taken off the endangered species after more than 40 years.

That announcement came last month from Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne in Washington D.C.

In spite of the eagle’s remarkable survival, there are still many local species still considered in danger of extinction.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s record of federally listed species for Hernando County , there are presently 13 mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and plants that officially carry either a threatened or endangered status because of a loss of critical habitat.

Fortunately, wildlife parks and preserves provide acres of untouched environment to help in their recovery.

Among those nature parks are the Withlacoochee State Forest , Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, Chinsegut Hill National Wildlife Refuge, the Weeki Wachee Preserve, Weeki Wachee Springs and the PK Ranch. The series of reserved land and preserves is part of the Nature Coast , extending throughout nine counties along the Gulf of Mexico .

According to Chuck Under-wood, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services in Jacksonville , a species classification as endangered or threatened is based on the biology of the animal itself and its ability to breed or adapt to its natural environment.

“Should a creature be particularly fragile to sudden changes such as a shortage to the food or species it hunts, destruction or land, or influence by pollution, it becomes that much more difficult for the species to rebound its numbers,” said Underwood.

“A species is removed from its classification only if the conditions accommodating their biological recovery improve,” he said. “Even afterwards, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with state wildlife agencies to monitor any recently declassified animal for a mandatory period of at least five years while reserving the right to reestablish protection rights if their numbers fall again.”

Though some local animal species — including the Florida Scrub-Jay, Gulf Sturgeon and the Eastern Indigo Snake — receive federal protection, other regional creatures are given only state protection as endangered or threatened. Those species include the American alligator, the Florida sandhill crane and the Florida black bear.

Another threatened species gaining notoriety is the gopher tortoise, which has seen its numbers plummet due to construction prompted by the state’s pay-to-pave program, which is scheduled to end by July 31.

Even single individuals can have a devastating effect on the environment where endangered species live, Underwood said.

Simple actions such as dumping oil into sewers, failing to recycle, careless use of pesticides or deliberate hunting or tampering of a critical habitat could not only affect endangered species, but influence other species years later.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the Endangered Species Act, offenses can warrant a penalty of $100,000 and/or a year in federal prison for every counted violation per afflicted creature, plus $25,000 for civil penalties. In addition, a misdemeanor fine of $500 and 60 days in jail can be applied under Florida law.

Various institutions and programs within Florida remain determined to protect both rare species and their frail habitats. They include Defenders of Wildlife, which has offices in St. Petersburg , and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which has acquired several tracts of wetland for use in the preservation of threatened animals.

Henry Cabbage, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Com-mission, said factors such as loss of habitat are among the greatest threat to endangered species.

He said Florida has the second highest number of endangered species in the country behind California .

The commission offers practices individuals can take to aid local listed species should they ever encounter on or near their homes.

“Don’t feed or encourage them to stay in populated areas,” said Cabbage. “If they associate people with food, it’s only a matter of time until it alters its natural behavior and becomes exposed to local pets and animals, oncoming traffic, or other things not normally associated with its natural habitat.”

The commission further recommends that scarce animals should be left alone and not relocated if found on local property. Cabbage said cats and dogs can have a particularly negative effect upon the recovery of local species. He encouraged owners to keep them away from locations they may know to contain dwelling creatures.

The commission currently lists 118 species as endangered, threatened or of special concern throughout the state. Other jeopardized creatures that reside within the county include the wood stork, red cockaded woodpecker, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, Britton’s beargrass, the Brooksville bellflower, and Cooley’s water willow.

Individuals who have questions about local endangered species may call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 850-488-4676.

Reporter Reginald Alceus may be contacted at 352-613-2274.

If off the list, should manatees celebrate?
Officials consider 'threatened' label
By Eun Kyung Kim
DEMOCRAT WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - Now that bald eagles are off the endangered-species list, what's next?

Mermaids, perhaps.

Wildlife officials say the population of Florida manatees, those roly-poly creatures that led to the mermaid myths, has rebounded enough to remove them from the ''endangered'' list. They want to reclassify the puppy-eyed mammals as a ''threatened'' species, a move that wouldn't change the level of protection granted manatees or their habitat.

But environmentalists aren't preening the way they did when the bald eagle soared off both the endangered and threatened lists.

''The agencies charged to protect and recover manatees are literally lobbying to have the laws weakened so that they can give more relief to the boating community and to developers to allow things like more docks to be built,'' said Pat Rose, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club.

The government regards those claims as unfounded. But the argument mirrors a battle nearly as old as the Endangered Species Act itself, one of the most controversial laws on record since its 1973 passage.

The act was a frequent target by conservative Republicans after they seized the House in 1995. It survived repeated overhaul attempts, including one earlier this year by the Department of the Interior. The agency later scrapped that effort after backlash from environmentalists and Congress, which argued that changes should be made legislatively and not by regulation.

A more recent attempt to update the 34-year-old law has support from both Republicans and Democrats. A measure progressing in the House and Senate would provide $400 million in annual tax incentives for property owners who improve habitats for endangered or threatened plants and animals.

The Bush administration has been criticized for adding fewer species to the endangered-species list than any other administration since the law's enactment. But officials said the hundreds of species added during the Clinton administration resulted from court order.

The current administration has instead focused on recovery, said Interior Department spokesman Hugh Vickery.

''It isn't success to list species, it's success to get them delisted. Getting the species to improve is the goal of the act,'' he said.

He used as an example a hospital that took in 1,000 patients, but discharged only 10 after three decades.

''That's effectively what we've done with the Endangered Species Act. We have about 1,300 domestic species that are enlisted, and 10 to 20 of them have been delisted because of recovery,'' Vickery said.

Improving recovery efforts for manatee habitat has been a key goal for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, although it's not sure how to go about doing that, a frustration to both environmentalists and boaters.

Boaters remain the biggest threat to manatees, despite the proliferation of reduced-speed zones throughout Florida . Watercraft killed 92 manatees in the state last year, just short of a record high, and caused more than 25 percent of all manatee deaths. As of May, 30 manatees have been killed this year.

The second-biggest danger to manatees is the impending shutdown of aging power plants. These facilities discharge warm water that manatees have grown to rely on during the winter, but new plants usually don't have a similar cooling system.

Current estimates place the manatee count at about 3,200, but the inability to accurately tally these half-ton animals has been a sore point for groups like Citizens for Florida's Water Ways, a boating-advocacy group founded to deal with manatees.

The group's executive director, Steven Webster, said manatees are an everyday sight for those living near the water. They often can be found by the docks, using barnacles to rub their teeth or their backs clean.

''Our position is that the manatee barely qualifies as threatened,'' he said. ''It probably is what we should call a state species of special concern. It shouldn't probably be on the federal list at all.''

The Florida chapter of the sport-fishing group Coastal Conservation Association petitioned the state in 2001 to review the manatee's status. Board member Jim Gray said both sides need to ''get the emotion out of the issue.''

Gray would like to see a definitive study that evaluates the effectiveness of slow-speed zones, or accommodations for technology like airboats, which don't use underwater propellers.

''We really want to be known as the organization of reason and sound science,'' he said. ''We don't want to be painted as the wild-eyed people who want to see the last manatee disappear, because that's not the case.''

For now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to change the manatee classification, which would require a lengthy administrative process including public-review and comment periods.

Rose said his Save the Manatee group would fight any change, arguing that he has yet to see any plan that fixes problems such as boater-related manatee deaths.

But others said the fact that manatees have rebounded this far should be celebrated. Twenty years ago, people would have laughed if anyone suggested that the manatees could reach a level where they might be removed from the endangered-species list, said Chuck Underwood, a spokesman for the Jacksonville office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

''Now, with the cooperation with local agencies, individual citizens, and the industry, that's a real possibility,'' he said. ''I wouldn't call it around the corner, but down the road I think there's a real possibility here.''

Population figures for area manatees remain murky
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

There may be fewer manatees on the Wakulla River , or they may just be spending more time in Wakulla Springs State Park .

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says there are an estimated 30 to 50 manatees that use the St. Marks and Wakulla rivers.

Jacki Youngstrand says there seem to be fewer in the Wakulla River .

From her T-N-T Hide-a-way canoe rental on the river along U.S. Highway 98, Youngstrand said she's been seeing only about eight manatees a day compared with about 30 before three or four years ago.

"It really has been quite dramatic," she said. "More than half of the population we don't have anymore."

She said she's also hearing reports of more manatees on the nearby St. Marks and Ochlockonee rivers.

But state park manager Sandy Cook said there have been more manatees at Wakulla Springs since they were first recorded there in 1997.

Their numbers and frequency have increased, and they are now seen occasionally around the spring and swimming area and on boat tours, Cook said.

"It's kind of hit-and-miss," she said. "They don't see them every tour."

The state hasn't done an aerial count of manatees since the late 1980s because of limited funding and concerns about manatees in other parts of the state, said Kent Smith, a biological administrator in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Where have all the bees gone? Blame people, not cellphones

By KEVIN BERGER
GUEST COLUMNIST

The buzz about the alarming disappearance of bees has been all about people food. Honeybees pollinate one-third of the fruits, nuts and vegetables that end up in our homey kitchen baskets. If the tireless apian workers didn't fly from one flower to the next, depositing pollen grains so that fruit trees can bloom, America could well be asking where its next meal would come from. Last fall, the nation's beekeepers watched in horror as more than a quarter of their 2.4 million colonies collapsed, killing billions of nature's little fertilizers.

But as a Salon round table discussion with bee experts revealed, the mass exodus of bees to the great hive in the sky forebodes a bigger story. The faltering dance between honeybees and trees is symptomatic of industrial disease. As the scientists outlined some of the biological agents behind "colony collapse disorder," and dismissed the ones that are not -- sorry, friends, the Rapture is out -- they sketched a picture of how we are forever altering the planet's delicate web of life.

The scientists: Jeffery Pettis, research leader of the USDA's honeybee lab, told us the current collapse is one of the worst ever. Eric Mussen, of the Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California-Davis, maintained it may only be cyclical. Wayne Esaias, of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, an amateur beekeeper, outlined his compelling views about the impact of climate change on bees. John McDonald, a biologist, beekeeper and gentleman farmer in rural Pennsylvania , reminded us, if at times sardonically, of the poetry in agriculture.

First things first. The Internet, as you know, loves a rumor. Are cellphones killing the bees?

JEFFERY PETTIS: All the explanations that bees became disoriented by cellphone radiation, or this, that and the other thing -- there is zero evidence for any of it. All we know is we lost the worker population and they died away from the hive. What's unusual is they died over a short time period. Who knows where they are? They are just dying away from the hive, which is normal.

ERIC MUSSEN: It's important to look at what's normal. In the summer, bees go through a six-week life cycle: three inside the hive, three outside it as foragers. Then they die of old age. When bees are coming to the end of their life for whatever reason, they just fly off and don't come back. The question is, Why are we seeing bees with such a shortened life cycle? Well, now we're talking about winter bees. As you move into fall, the colony is supposed to be rearing bees that have a long life expectancy -- from about October to March of the next year. The problem is the winter bees aren't making it. Everything just sort of fell apart near the end of this summer and those bees that were supposed to live up to six months didn't come close.

One scientist has said solving the bees' disappearance is like "CSI" for agriculture. What's the latest word from the lab?

PETTIS: The latest word is we're working on a lot of different samples we've collected throughout the year. We're working under the idea that bees have suffered a one-two punch. The first is a primary stressor -- poor diet, mites, or low-level pesticide exposure. That puts them in a compromised or weak state, and then a secondary pathogen takes over. Because of how quickly the bees are dying, it seems most likely a pathogen would be involved. So we're looking for a secondary pathogen that might be unique or novel.

Are pesticides a major culprit?

MUSSEN: Perhaps 10 percent of commercial bee colonies in any given year are severely damaged or die on contact with agricultural pesticides. But there's no reason to believe the exposure is any different from any other year.

John, you wrote a pretty strong opinion piece that fingered Bt crops, which have been genetically modified to control insect pests. Based on your experiences as a beekeeper, how did you come to that conclusion?

JOHN McDONALD: My first collapse started last summer when a powerful colony, in a manner of a week, went downhill. The drone cone sort of cascaded down over the foundation like ice on a mountain. In another hive that was equally strong, the bees ended up lying dead on a mat that extended about six feet. That didn't happen with the other hives, which is indicative of agricultural poisoning. Also, the drones hung around until snowfall, which is unusual, indicating some kind of kind of behavioral dysfunction with the worker bees.

I did a little research and found two studies about the Bt phenomenon. When you look at the action of Bt gene proteins taken up in the gut of insects, including bees, you find an enzyme that gobbles its way through any protein there and affects the insects. And bees are known to forage on cornflowers to get pollen to rear their young brood. I'm not saying Bt is the sole cause of collapse, only that I would like to have it investigated.

Is there any evidence, Jeff or Eric, of Bt crops killing bees?

MUSSEN: When Bt crops were being used in the fields to control lepidopteron insects, or butterflies, there were a significant number of studies to try to determine whether incorporating Bt into the food of the adult bees, or the larvae, would hurt the bees. And the answer was no.

PETTIS: I contributed to a recent study where we directly fed the Bt toxin to whole bee colonies and could demonstrate no effects on them.

Can you tell us about your experiences with colony collapse, Wayne , and your studies to understand wider ecological causes?

WAYNE ESAIAS: Sure. I'm a small beekeeper. I have about 15 colonies and have experienced some loss. I realize there are many symptoms involved. Still, there are one or two I'm puzzled about. I keep records of when my bees collect pollen and nectar in my backyard. I weigh the hive and I have a time series that goes back to 1992. What I've seen over the course of that time is due to local warming: The pollen and nectar flow come almost a month earlier than they did in the 1970s. This is coincident with the urbanization of the D.C.-Baltimore area, causing temperatures to rise.

I'm also using data from NASA satellites to address how global warming or environmental change might be impacting our honeybee populations, and even the spread of the African honeybee. We see plants blooming at different times of the year, and that's why the nectar flows are so much earlier now. I need to underscore that I have no evidence that global warming is a key player in colony collapse disorder. But it might be a contributor, and changes like this might be upping the stress level of our bee populations. One new study suggested the collapse might be the result of a rare spore called Nosema ceranae.

MUSSEN: If you get enough Nosema ceranae, a colony will die. If you get enough viruses, the colony will die. If you get exposure to insecticides, the colony will die. So all these things we are looking at are capable of doing in a colony. There's no doubt about it. So could a true lack of food. Literally, you could starve the bees to death. What you're going to find is that in most cases there is not going to be one factor that did them in; it's going to be a combination. This is the perfect storm for honeybees.

Millions of bees in California alone are trucked around from town to town to be used as pollinators on farms. That's got to be awfully stressful on them, right?

MUSSEN: Yes, it's a stress. But commercial beekeepers have been moving substantial numbers of colonies on trucks for decades. I'm not convinced that they're being moved more, or that it beats them up any worse that it did 10 years ago. California beekeepers have told me that in a course of moving the colonies around in the back of the truck, they tend to lose 10 percent of the queens with each move. Some feel it's that high. But that doesn't mean that 10 percent of your bee colonies died; many of them will come back and you will still have a colony.

One researcher has said that the competition for food among the millions of bees used to pollinate almond trees in California could, essentially, be working them to death. Do you agree?

MUSSEN: Almond trees aren't the problem. It's what happens after the bees are done with the trees and are brought back to the holding yards. In late fall, there is basically no food -- after the almonds -- so the bees have to fend for themselves. Besides eucalyptus trees, there's a bunch of weeds that the bees can feed on. They don't get heavy and fat but they've got some food available.

PETTIS: Beekeepers are always looking for what they call "good pasture," places they can put the bees and not have to feed the bees themselves. Florida has an abundant and diverse set of floral plants, so the bees are not suffering. What's interesting is that there's a number of government control programs for invasive weeds. Beekeepers love invasive weeds. Most produce a lot of nectar for the bees. So there's been competition in some cities over getting rid of the noxious weeds and keeping them for beekeepers. But California is unusual in that beekeepers are doing what we are starting to call "feedlot beekeeping," where we are having to provide resources because there is just not enough food out there. And this is just to meet the almond-pollination demands.

MUSSEN: The real problem in California is that we've only had half a normal rainfall this year. So after the almonds, when the bees went out to find other things, there was barely anything there. What was really interesting was some of the bees looked like they were well on their way to establishing good colonies. They looked like they could live on the stored almonds they had picked up in the late summer and fall. But this time they collapsed. So that's the question: Why?

And what's your answer?

MUSSEN: I'm probably the strongest advocate in the United States suggesting that malnutrition was the underlying thing that set up our bees to be whacked by everything else researchers are looking at. Honeybees rely on pollen for protein, vitamins, fats and minerals. That's where their major "health food" comes from. If we are having a typical year, and the rains come, there aren't too many places in the United States where the bees cannot find their mix of pollens to meet their dietary needs and get them through a normal life cycle.

The question is, What happens when things don't go like that? Well, you get this blast of hot temperature, which is about the time the flower buds are forming and the pollen grains are beginning to form. What does that do? You get sterile pollen. A beekeeper could look into the hive and say, "I've got all kinds of pollen in there and the bees disappeared." Well, right, you've got pollen grains, but do they have any nutrition in them?

Anything that interferes with the availability of food, or the quality of the food, is going to be detrimental to the bees. They don't have much of an immune system, so the only way that they can resist being infected by a lot of things is when they have their innate resistance up, and the best resistance is when they're best fed. So my feeling is that their nutrition just wasn't what it was supposed to be, and they were susceptible when they should have been resistant. I think something happened at the end of last year in many places in the temperate climate around the world, not just here, and fouled up the bees' food supply. Unless somebody tells me differently, I'm blaming it on the weather.

ESAIAS: One of the things that I've noticed in my short little time series in my backyard is that I could pick out every El Niño and La Niña effect. These are normal. These short-term climate changes are normal, and our bee population and our natural pollinator population have seen them, and they can probably handle them. What is disturbing is the long-term trend.

Could the bees be dying because once they are sent out to do their work as pollinators on farms, they can't find their way back to their colonies? Sometimes it seems like there are more mini-malls in America than flowers, and maybe the bees can't navigate urban land patterns.

MUSSEN: Land patterns would be the least of their problems. When a honeybee transitions from an in-hive bee to an outside bee, it flies back and forth around the hive for a few minutes. Then it backs off and goes further away. In the process, it is taking a bunch of snapshots. That's how it's going to navigate from that time on -- through those snapshots. It's going to learn the roads, the trees, the houses, and the part of the hive with the entrance it uses. Bees use those landmarks to determine where they are and where they are going.

Can bees survive climate changes?

MUSSEN: I can tell you that beekeepers take their honeybees north to the upper Canadian border and all the way down to the equator. If they're warm, they cool themselves by evaporating water, and if they're cold, they heat themselves by sucking up a little bit of extra carbohydrate and rattling their muscles.

So they're great adapters?

MUSSEN: They're going to handle it. The honeybees are not the ones I'm concerned about. I think Wayne will back me up on this: Historians have said that thousands of years ago, there were some pretty nasty fluctuations in the Earth's weather. And through this period of time, we became and continue to be very good farmers. But for whatever reason, we are beginning to kind of move into a cycle where we are going to find more extremes than we used to have. The droughts may be hotter and longer, the storms and floods may be more severe. Things aren't going to be so nice in the future. But again, I think the honeybees are more likely to handle that as long as they've got some food available. But with some other pollinators, if they get knocked around too much by the weather, that's going to be really consequential.

Kevin Berger is the features editor at Salon. Research assistance by Jonathan Vanian. Originally published on Salon.com.

Religious expansion, land use raise issues
By Julian Pecquet
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The controversy over a synagogue's expansion plans has spread beyond Plantation Road and the Chabad Lubavitch to encompass all religious institutions that are considering accessory uses such as day-cares, gyms and dining halls.

Religious leaders say those uses are part of their mission to provide community services.

But some residents say that they're more like round-the-clock businesses, far removed from the traditional vision of religious facilities that are packed with people only once or twice a week. They're worried that these new, multi-use facilities will alter residential neighborhoods by increasing noise, light and traffic and will worsen neighbors' quality of life.

The "religious use is not a divisive factor," Wanda Arlo Pace, who lives in a neighborhood across Meridian Road from the Chabad, wrote in a recent letter to the Tallahassee Democrat. "The proposed ancillary (other) uses for a day-care, pre-school, overnight facility, fitness center, dining hall and student laundry facilities are divisive factors."

Now, with Tallahassee city commissioners expected to rule Wednesday on a rezoning request that would let the Chabad move forward with plans to build a 15,000-square-foot facility on its 2.1-acre lot, neighborhood activists are hoping local government leaders will take the opportunity to rethink land-use laws.

"We have rules that say religious buildings can go anywhere they want," said Don Axelrad, the immediate past president of the Tallahassee/Leon County Council of Neighborhood Associations. "The law is supportive of allowing this, but I think we should find some middle ground."

Some elected officials agree discussion is needed.

Tallahassee 's challenge is to better deal with the "broadening role of the church in today's society," City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey said. "A church today is not what we used to think of. We need to adapt better to a multitude of functions and activities now associated with religious uses."

The trend isn't all that new, however. First Baptist Church on College Avenue downtown, for example, has operated a Christian Life Center since 1974 that has a pool, a gym and a summer camp.

"It meets a need in the community," said Preston Odom, the church's minister of Christian life. "We believe the mind-body-spirit are all wrapped up in one."

Likewise, Rabbi Schneur Oirechman, the Chabad's director, conceived the Chabad's expansion as a way to reach out to the Jewish community, especially students at Florida State University .

But what's new is the religious facilities' move or expansion in established residential neighborhoods, said Wayne Tedder, the director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department. Recent examples include Killearn United Methodist Church , which has a day-care program, and the Taoist Tai Chi Society off Thomasville Road , which offers exercise classes.

Both were opposed by some neighbors.

That's a challenge because land-use planners can't differentiate between public community facilities and those attached to religious institutions. Tedder said the planners have started working with neighborhood organizations to come up with guidelines on how to build community facilities close to where people live while preserving quiet residential neighborhoods.

"What we have to do is educate the folks about what the rules are," he said. "Once they have a good understanding of the regulations, we can identify the problems that we can address versus those that we may not be able to. It's not an easy issue."

Tempers boil over in water debate

By STACEY SINGER

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, July 09, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — Arguing that regular rainfall now makes drought restrictions meaningless, Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman says he doesn't want his code officers to waste time enforcing once-a-week irrigation rules.

"There is no public benefit at all - none at all - to enforcing the rules in the coastal zone," Weisman said. "They're almost just for show."

Weisman is not alone in calling for the South Florida Water Management District to relax its extreme watering restrictions. The Seacoast Utility Authority, which serves 41,000 homes from Lake Park to Juno Beach , recently sent a protest letter to the district.

And on Sunday, West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel called for a change. The lakes supplying her city's 150,000 customers are now at capacity, Frankel said.

"Hopefully people have learned to conserve, but our lake is full, and I don't think there is a need to continue the restrictions," Frankel said.

The district's governing board will have an opportunity to reconsider the restrictions at its Wednesday meeting, but district executives are hesitant to lift the rules.

While canals and wells along the coast have recovered from spring's historic drought, new modeling suggests there's only a 10 percent chance that Lake Okeechobee will hold adequate water at the end of this wet season, Deputy Executive Director Chip Merriam said. Because the lake is a backup water source for several utilities and the Everglades , it's likely the extreme restrictions will be critical during next winter's dry season.

"We don't want to get into this habit of 'you're in restrictions, you're out of restrictions; you're in restrictions, you're out of restrictions,''" Merriam said. "We're making sure the resource is there to provide for peoples' needs."

Weisman oversees the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department, which serves 475,000 people. His unusually harsh words put him at odds with Merriam, who called his attitude "unfortunate."

"I guess I don't quite understand the testiness, since what we're doing is managing a much bigger system than just their well field," Merriam said.

It's the latest flare-up between the two agencies most responsible for managing growth and development in Palm Beach County . While the county controls land use, density and zoning, the district controls the water resources.

The district's tough Phase 3 watering restrictions have been in effect for nearly three months in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Phase 3 limits lawn watering to once a week.

Winter rainfall was half of normal levels, causing an already lowered Lake Okeechobee to reach new record lows. Canals dried, groundwater shrank and the danger of saltwater intrusion into coastal wells grew. The Treasure Coast draws from a different aquifer, so it was put under Phase 2 watering restrictions, which allow twice-weekly watering.

But since last month rainfall has been normal. Weisman accused the district of prolonging the watering restrictions to stoke an anti-development mood among the public.

"I think a lot of things are being done for perception - control development, and all that," Weisman said. "I think some people get some satisfaction out of that."

A series of development efforts have been thwarted by opposition from the public and government regulators in recent months, from 10,000 homes that will not rise at Callery-Judge Grove to the 1,500 condos, time shares and hotel rooms contemplated in Briny Breezes.

The water district insists it has little power over development beyond imposing conditions on the water permits it issues. In February it imposed the ultimate condition, requiring that all new development draw from costlier alternative water supplies, such as the salty, deep Floridan aquifer or recycled wastewater. Merriam helped write the regional water-availability rule, which was years in the making.

That rule is now at the heart of a fractious and costly dispute between the county and the district. At issue is how to irrigate the county's partly constructed 27-hole golf course at South County Regional Park next to the Everglades .

Merriam has taken the position that the county must use alternative water on the golf course or a nearby property.

The golf course's remoteness means the requirement would add $7 million to $16 million to a project that's already over budget and nearly two years behind schedule.

The county forged ahead with construction, even though it consistently had trouble obtaining the permit. More than $40 million in taxpayer money has been committed to the project, and its future is now uncertain.

The county has a nearly complete golf course, amphitheater and festival area, but no grass, no trees and no landscaping. New state-imposed budget restrictions make additional millions for irrigation out of the question.

Weisman is not happy.

"One of the questions we've discussed was: Should we have been entitled to this permit, given that we applied for it two years ago?" Weisman said. "There's a fairness issue."

Weisman thinks it's also unfair to ask coastal residents to continue following once-a-week watering when it does nothing to help the lake.

"If you did end up with a five-day period where it didn't rain, that damages people for no reason," Weisman said. "Why have that?"

Finger pointing in ‘who’s not talking’

Bocanews By John Johnston

News Analysis 

Boca Raton based Ocean Land Developments, Inc. wants to buy a 43- acre trailer park called Briny Breezes, pay $510 million for it, and over 10-15 years redevelop it into a residential and commercial property, about 12 miles north of Boca Raton.

Ocean Land says it’s a wonderful development.

Opponents call the plan horrendous.

And the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has wasted little time in leveling a multi-layered, 14 page analysis of the proposal.

It isn’t pretty.

Nonetheless, “the entire management team felt it was largely as expected,” Ocean Land Investments VP Logan Pierson told the Boca Raton News, adding:

“And we’re going to be able to address the recommendations.”

The DCA View

In sum, the DCA analysis says the plan proposes too many units and overall is a development not consistent with the surrounding communities.

“What we’ve said all along,” Ocean Ridge Mayor Ken Kaleel told the Boca Raton News.

The DCA analysis, and signed by Mike McDaniel, chief of DCA’s Office of Comprehensive Planning, specifically identified the following “issues of concern” in a report directed to Briny Breezes Mayor Roger Bennett:

• The absence of public participation procedures.

• The absence of a concurrency management system.

• Inadequate density and intensity standards for the proposed land uses.

• Lack of data and analysis regarding the impact on public facilities and roads.

• Inadequate provisions for affordable housing.

• Lack of level of service standards for public facilities.

• Inadequate provisions to protect manatees.

• Inadequate data and analysis related to hurricane evacuation and planning issues.

• Inadequate mechanisms to ensure intergovernmental coordination.

• The lack of a financially feasible five-year schedule of capital improvements.

Kaleel “Validated”

“This validates our concerns,” Ocean Ridge Mayor Kaleel said, noting that, “on the first two pages it says there’s an incompatibility with the surrounding community.”

“Boom.  There it is.  Smack dab.  Right up front,” said Kaleel.

Another DCA objection is the plan’s proposal to “develop land use regulations later on,” said Kaleel. The DCA says those regulations should be part of the plan submission.  Kaleel suggested that DCA see the same “fox and chicken coop” problem he has noted previously.

Kaleel’s concern is that Briny Breezes’ governmental body --- the group that endorsed the first plan submission to DCA, and then will now work with Ocean Land to modify that plan – “is like the fox guarding the chicken coop.”

“They’ve already scheduled four meeting, but are holding them in-house, without coordination or dialogue with the surrounding communities.”

Kaleel’s point is that Briny’s governmental body is composed of the same persons who stand to become millionaires if Briny is developed.  As such, he cautions, what’s best for both Briny and the surrounding communities might be blinding those persons to what otherwise, and objectively might cause the group to see it differently.

“Every single agency across the state has said the same thing,” Kaleel said. “This development is wrong in its entire scope.”  And it’s the self-interest of otherwise becoming millionaires that perhaps has caused Briny’s government to see it otherwise, and to endorse Ocean Land ’s plan, says Kallel.

“Personally”

Ocean Land VP Logan Pierson shakes his head – the sort of shake that says he’s resigned to hearing skewed facts “because all they (Kaleel and other opponents) want to say is no.”

He’s particularly upset that Kaleel says Ocean Land has ignored surrounding community input.

“The number one issue is compatibility,” Pierson agrees “and it’s certainly something we want to address.”

But Pierson adamantly disagrees with Kallel that Ocean Land has turned a cold shoulder to dialogue.

“We have invited and have a standing offer to come visit us.  We want to hear what they want,” he said, “but to date no one has come.”

“I have personally asked Tom Evans,” Pierson continued, voice rising, “and I have personally asked Mayor Kallel and I have personally asked (Town of Gulfstream ) Mayor (William F.) Koch, (Jr.,) and not one person has taken me up on that offer.”

“If they were really looking for solutions, they would have already met with us,” said Pierson, “but to date, there’s a small group not interested in dialogue, and their position is no.”

Who Pays?

One person who definitely says “no,” is Tom Evans.

Evans, president of the Florida Coalition for Preservation, told The Boca Raton News:

"Every objective analysis by governmental entities and others has been highly critical of the plan, except those financially linked to the developer. We believe the initial proposal was so grossly out of bounds that even with a vastly reduced proposal, the developer's plan will not resolve the inherent risks to the environment or strains on the local infrastructure."

A group with specific concerns is Delray Beach based Safety As Floridians Expect (SAFE).  According to SAFE President Jim Smith, SAFE is concerned about “the bottle-neck traffic congestion that will occur at the Woolbright/SR A1A intersection during peak hour.”

“That congestion will occur as traffic from Briny Breezes travels north and makes a left hand turn onto the bridge at Woolbright. SAFE estimates that 75 person of outgoing Briny Breezes traffic trips will take this route,” Smith said.
 
However, Smith adds, “there's no right-of-way to be able to put in adequate turn lanes on SR A1A. The only way to obtain sufficient, additional R/W is to buy two houses on the corner of the intersection.”
 
“Who will pay for that?” Smith queries.

“Also,” he continues, and although the comp plan provides for left and right turns for entering and exiting the proposed redevelopment, there are no plans for a traffic signal, a pedestrian crossing and a pedestrian signal. If a traffic and pedestrian signal is not provided, SAFE believes that needless crashes will occur.
 
“Who will pay for that?” Smith asks again -- and then answers his own question.

“The answer to both questions is that the developer should plan for, and pay for, both these needed infrastructure requirements as part of the construction plan.”

Biding Her Time

Quietly biding her time through all of the posturing by both sides is Briny Breezes resident Diedre Fischer.  Fischer originally told the Boca Raton News:

“There is no deal yet and no firm plans have been laid out or approved. The acrimony my Briny neighbors and I have received…..has been based on speculation and fear, not facts. Please, let us see the plan and respond to facts with facts rather than continue with the bitter name-calling.”

Following the highly negative DCA report, she now says the report
“confirms my faith in the procedures and the officials elected to apply them. When the vote for the sale occurred, I decided to have faith that the developers would not be permitted to build something that was inconsistent with the area and its ability to support a redesigned community. I still have faith in that process and those decision-makers.”

Sums It Up

And what does District 4, and Briny Breezes County Commisioner Mary McCarty have to say?

McCarty told the Boca Raton News several weeks ago that “DCA is a very important agency in this controversy. Hopefully they will support a sensible plan and not the insanity proposed.”

McCarty’s concerns about Briny Breezes have been growing, primarily the number of proposed development units, vis a vis the road systems; available water and general neighborhood impact of such a major development.

Of the water issue itself, McCarty said in June: “Briny does not have the water for increased consumption and they’re going to have a hard time getting it.”

Her response to the DCA analysis?

“DCA succinctly summed it up,” she said.

The Vote

The Briny Breeze “community” has been around in one form or another since the 1920’s -- was bought out by residents in 1958 and was incorporated as a municipality in 1963 – out of which grew a formula that each property owner had so many “shares” in the community, according to the size and location of each lot.

The $510 million deal inked by the community’s board of directors in 2006 required that 2/3rds of the total shares (15,703) had to say “yes” for the deal to go forward.

When the counting was done, some 79.95 percent of the voting shares had said yes, with 17.13 percent saying no, and 2.9 percent not voting.

John Johnston can be reached at 561-549-0833, or at jjohnston@bocanews.com

State wants to extend park pipe

By JASON SCHULTZ

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, July 09, 2007

A proposal to run water lines deeper into Jonathan Dickinson State Park south of Hobe Sound has environmentalists feeling antsy.

"I'm not sure what the purpose of this is," said Martin County Conservation Alliance Chairwoman Donna Melzer. "The whole point is that Jonathan Dickinson is sort of a wilderness area."

The state Park Service will ask county commissioners Tuesday for permission to run water lines north from Tequesta up U.S. 1 to the Pine Grove Campground, near the park's entrance.

The campground is being renovated to repair hurricane damage, said Paul Rice, assistant bureau chief for District 5 of the Park Service.

"We feel it's time to bring it up to a central system instead of a septic system," said Rice, adding that a central water and sewer system would be better for the environmentally sensitive land and streams in the park than septic systems, which can leak.

The water lines would be coming from Jupiter, which provides water service to the Tequesta area, Rice said. He did not know how much the lines would cost but said the entire renovation project will cost $1.8 million.

The park is outside of the urban service district, which normally limits where water and sewer lines are allowed.

In Martin County , where growth issues are always debated hotly, any proposal to extend water lines renews concerns about urban sprawl.

The county's growth management department has recommended extending water lines to the entire park, but Rice said the Park Service is interested in lines only to the campground at the moment.

In 2004, commissioners voted 5-0 to extend water service to the Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps, an environmental education center and other buildings on the on the southwestern section of the park.

Environmentalists expressed concerns at the time that extending water service could spur residential development around the park.

Melzer said she thinks the new proposal has the same dangers and would strengthen arguments developers around the park could make later for having water lines extended to them.

"The park has in fact been part of the buffer," Melzer said. "If they want to extend it up U.S. 1, I would object to that."

Rice said he did not think it would be feasible to run the water lines through the park from the campgrounds that get service now, so the lines would have to come up U.S. 1.

"It would be a long way back to the river side" where the water lines are now, Rice said.

Commissioner Sarah Heard said she also is worried about the possibility of sprawling development around the park and is not sure whether she is going to vote for this extension as she did in 2004.

"We were very careful in how we did it last time," Heard said. "I don't know what this is or where it is or anything about it."

County Planner Clyde Dulin said the 2004 amendment that allowed water into the park was written to prohibit any other developers from tapping into those lines or using it as justification to get their own water lines.

Any new extension law probably would be written with the same prohibitions, Dulin said.

Commissioner Lee Weberman, who represents the Hobe Sound area that includes the park, said he strongly supports extending the lines.

Weberman suggested that commissioners should expand the urban service boundary to include the entire park so it could get water service throughout the park.

"It's a no-brainer," Weberman said of the request to extend the water lines. "I've never believed that public facilities should be treated like private ones."

Preserving land: Collier voters supported conservation, but tax cut looms

By Eric Staats

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Collier County ’s pot of money for land preservation is expected to shrink next year in the wake of Florida property tax reform legislation.

The legislation mandates a property tax cut that could reduce the coffers for Conservation Collier by as much as $2.35 million, the county’s bu