St. Johns road's money hinges on stalled development

The transportation department plan would create an overpass so motorists could travel above the railroad crossing and above U.S. 1. The change would get rid of a mile-long stretch where the two roads overlap, instead connecting the west end of County Road 210 directly to the east end of the road. A half cloverleaf interchange consisting of two loops and two ramps would replace the current east intersection between the two highways. A dogleg intersection on the west side would be replaced with ramps.

State's Plan For New Roads Favors Developers Over Taxpayers

Tribune Editorial Published: Mar 9, 2007

The justification for building new superhighways through remote areas of the state follows a twisted logic that will infuriate most Florida drivers and taxpayers.

In short, the Future Corridors report notes that because highway improvements are so expensive in and around commercial centers, the state should improve mobility elsewhere.

Where? In places that now have few people, businesses or roads, areas defined by the Legislature as "rural areas of critical economic concern."

This policy proposal threatens to turn the state Department of Transportation into an economic development agency for farmland, pastures and groves, especially acreage owned by politically connected landowners. Because funds are limited, these improvements would come at the expense of Florida's congested urban centers and suburbs.

New Gov. Charlie Crist is right to raise his eyebrows at the Future Corridors program and to promise that the state's top priority will continue to be trying to solve existing mobility problems. When he selects a new head of the transportation agency, he should pick someone who shares this sensible view.

State highway planners warn that major highways, including parts of Interstates 4 and 75 in the Tampa area, are "expected to fall below service standards in 2025, even with planned improvements." A reasonable conclusion is that more improvements should be planned in or near those roads, not in other parts of the state.

A Department of Transportation report arguing for new corridors says that "only a small number of new corridors have been built over the past 20 years, and all of these have been short segments within a single region." It points out that many areas are "not well served by statewide corridors today."

True enough. One of those areas is a 150-mile long corridor between Lakeland and Fort Myers, in which many influential interests, including a company led by Republican state Sen. J.D. Alexander of Polk County, own large tracts of land.

The new highway would be partially paid for with tolls and would promote the creation of new towns, businesses, parks and wildlife preserves. Some of it no doubt would be beautiful, but the public price would be high.

Tolls would be inadequate to pay for the roads, which will cost billions. There's nothing wrong with using gasoline taxes to help pay for a new toll road, but when the state lacks the money to build long-needed highway projects, including the east-west road in New Tampa, priorities must be set carefully.

The proposal to make "proactive investments" to encourage growth in undeveloped areas will be hard to explain to folks stuck in traffic on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and other congested roads that lack expressway alternatives. And it will be hard to explain to users of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, whose tolls have just been raised.

Florida needs to concentrate its limited resources on places where investments will benefit today's residents and businesses. Access to ports and airports must be improved. High-occupancy lanes must be added to urban interstates. Transit in selected areas demands significant subsidies.

New corridors do merit consideration. Planners envision wide rights of way that include highways, railroads, pipelines and power lines. A few of these projects can be justified to connect emerging commerce centers. But the debate over where and when to build them must go beyond the benefits of the new highway.

The money will be taken directly from the transportation budgets of urban counties. Crist must not let highway planners overlook the sacrifices the new corridors would require of Florida's growing and congested cities.

Lake to keep closer eye on traffic
‘Transportation concurrency’ to encourage governments to make roads keep up with development

Joshua Davidovich
Staff Writer

LEESBURG - Lake County leaders and planners will convene today to learn about a state-mandated plan to ensure future developments don't render roads impassable.

Leaders are hoping to come to an agreement that would encourage governments to make sure there is capacity for additional traffic on the roads before they approve new developments.

Though the principle of "transportation concurrency" has been on the books for 20 years, this will be the first time the system is run through a central system, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization will lobby to take that role.

"It'll be the first time we'll all be seeing off the same sheet of paper," MPO director T.J. Fish said. "We're bringing a level of coordination."

A system which looks at the service levels of all the throughways in the county will help prevent more clogged roads, Fish said, and reverse years of damage done by cities that only looked at roads inside their jurisdictional boundaries.

"These plans are based on the fact that (cities) screwed up on concurrency," he said. "There was no master tracking system."

The word "concurrency" has been in the news lately in relation to a plan to curtail school crowding. But unlike school concurrency, which was hotly contested by cities loath to give up planning power to the School Board, transportation concurrency will be non-binding, and therefore less controversial.

"What I'm proposing will be nowhere near as painful as that process," Fish said.

Rather than force cities to turn away builders whose developments would generate more traffic than local roadways could handle, the MPO's system would leave it to residents and funding agencies to take notice when governments disregard concurrency.

"It gives the citizens power," Fish said. "(The governments) need to be held accountable."

Fish is hoping to have the system in place by the fall, after gaining commitments from all 14 cities and the county to go along with it. He said that there are several areas in the county that will already be over capacity from the start. One such area surrounds U.S. Highway 50 in south Lake County, where developers will be forced to pay a mitigating fee if they want to continue to build.

"I don't want to see any cities stuck. Our job is to come up with options," Fish said. "This is to manage growth, not stop it."

Growth-control advocate to speak in Ormond

ORMOND BEACH -- She may be the most feared woman in Florida -- and she's coming to Volusia County.

Lesley Blackner, the woman behind the Florida Hometown Democracy movement, will speak about the drive to put future land-use changes in the hands of voters at 7 p.m. Monday in the Ormond Beach City Commission chambers.

Blackner's group is seeking to amend the Florida Constitution so that if developers wanted to turn farmland into strip malls, voters would have to approve it. The group needs more than 600,000 petition signatures to get the issue on the 2008 ballot.

Builders, landowners, Realtors and business interests hate the idea. This month's Florida Trend magazine quoted one calling it the "worst idea" ever. Fear of the Hometown Democracy movement helped prompt a separate constitutional amendment -- approved by voters in the fall -- that will require future amendments to be approved by 60 percent of voters.

But Blackner -- a Palm Beach attorney best remembered locally for the lawsuit that forced Volusia County to improve protections for sea turtles -- says her critics make their living by supporting unsustainable growth. The constitutional amendment is needed, she says, because local governments support the interests of developers over those of residents.

Counties deny they overtax residents

ANNA SCOTT

N.Y. Times Regional Newspaper Group

TALLAHASSEE - Florida counties fired back at state lawmakers Thursday with a report showing that population growth and inflation - not wasteful government spending - are fanning the need for higher property taxes.

It was widely criticized by Republican lawmakers and economists, who reaffirmed their position that overtaxing by counties is partly to blame for the property tax crisis.

"It really doesn't matter where the counties say the money is going, the fact is the people of Florida can't afford to pay for it,'' said Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach.

The Florida Association of Counties is most worried about a plan forwarded by House Republicans to cut county taxes back to 2001 levels to ease the financial burden. The plan would also eliminate all property taxes on homesteads and raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 8.5 percent, the highest in the nation, to replace some of the lost revenue.

It is moving quickly through the chamber, although Gov. Charlie Crist has a different plan, and the Senate has not yet developed its proposal.

State lawmakers wrongly cast counties as "the villain for rising tax bills,'' said Susan Latvala, president of the Florida Association of Counties, at a news conference Thursday. Cutting taxes would mean cuts in services such as sheriff protection and road maintenance.

"Florida counties cannot and will not support hastily crafted, one-size-fits-all state solutions that could severely impact crucial local programs and services to our citizens,'' she said.

The counties' report shows how costs have gone up 58 percent since 1999 based on what counties have historically paid for goods and services, although the federal Consumer Price Index, or the market value of goods and services, shows an increase of only 17 percent.

"Local governments don't buy the same things that households buy,'' said the study's author, Hank Fishkind, an Orlando economist. "Local governments don't buy a whole lot of food. They buy a whole lot of pensions. They buy a whole lot of fuel. They buy a whole lot of other things that are more expensive.''

Republicans said the study's method was wrong.

"The basic premise of the study is flawed,'' said Donna Arduin, the economist who drafted the House tax proposal. "It says county government says they cost more because they spend more.''

As property values have skyrocketed statewide, local governments have brought in an additional $11.4 billion in property taxes.

Republican lawmakers say residents feel the burden of property taxes because county governments, which brought in $3.9 billion of the $11.4 billion, have either raised tax rates needlessly or have not dropped the tax rates low enough.

The report showed the additional tax revenue since 1999 has been used to fund the boom in growth - for roads, community beautification projects, parks and sheriff's services.

However, it was not an audit ensuring that's how the money was actually spent. And it did not include 2006 property taxes, even though last year's unprecedented jump in property assessments stirred the beginnings of a tax revolt.

Gov. Charlie Crist said he doubted counties would drop essential services like law enforcement if faced with cuts.

"The notion that in a reduction of property taxes that the first things that are going to go are the things that people want the most is laughable,'' he said.

Rather than cutting essential services, Crist said local governments should cut out "those Washington monuments.''

"People are much smarter than that. They're not stupid. They understand that government efficiency doesn't begin with the services that they want, need and deserve the most,'' he said.

Latvala said counties could probably absorb a cut up to 10 percent. The proposed cut would be more than that, about 20 percent.

"That's what we believe they should be spending if they lived within their means,'' said state Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami.

 

GOP senator gets approval to make petitioning for ballot initiatives tougher
By Bill Cotterell
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU POLITICAL EDITOR

A Space Coast legislator won party-line approval Thursday for a package to tighten restrictions on gathering petitions for issues going on the Florida ballot.

Several civic organizations - including the League of Women Voters, People for the American Way and Common Cause of Florida - warned that the plan by Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, would put the public-initiative process out of reach of truly grassroots organizations.

But business interests, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida, said Posey's bill would help root out fraud, forgery and misrepresentation in the petition method of amending the constitution.

Posey's bill (SB 900) would require professional canvassers to wear identifying badges so that voters would know whether a petition was pushed by civic-minded volunteers or professional political consultants. All petitions would be stamped with the names and addresses of the persons gathering them, whether they are unpaid volunteers or employees getting paid by the signature.

And voters would be able to revoke their signatures if they learn more about an issue and regret helping to place it on the ballot. Posey said that is important because people sometimes fall for a nice-sounding title on an initiative but later find out they signed for something else entirely.

Posey's interest goes back decades.

In the 1970s, he said, canvassers seeking a public referendum falsely told his mother that he was on their side. He declined to identify the issue or the organization pushing it but said ''they were just trying to get in my face'' by claiming that his mother endorsed their petition.

''My mother - who, unlike me, is a very unassuming and kind-hearted person - had no way to remove her name from that petition,'' said Posey.

Common Cause lobbyist Ben Wilcox and attorney Mark Herron, a prominent elections law practitioner in the Capitol, warned that the signature revocation provision would start a whole new ''cottage industry'' of canvassing companies that torpedo petition campaigns.

Several consultants specialize in rounding up the 611,009 petition cards needed to put a constitutional amendment on Florida's ballot. Herron and Wilcox said allowing revocation would create a new line of work for them, tracking people down and getting them to take back their signatures.

Only rich and powerful industries - not true grassroots civic organizations - could afford that, they said.

''This is a solution in search of a problem,'' said Wilcox. ''The real beneficiary of this bill would be the petition-gathering companies themselves.''

But Posey said that in one Santa Rosa County case, petition gatherers were charged with 40 violations of canvassing laws. In another case, he said, a county elections supervisor was surprised to find his own name - which he hadn't signed - on a petition for a referendum.

All three Democrats on the Ethics & Elections Committee, Sens. Gwen Margolis of North Miami Beach, Charlie Justice of St. Petersburg and Nan Rich of Sunrise, voted against Posey's plan. The proposal now goes to the Judiciary Committee for debate.

Push on to slow Florida constitutional changes

A measure to make it harder for Floridians to amend the Constitution made progress in the Legislature.

BY BETH REINHARD AND GARY FINEOUT

breinhard@MiamiHerald.com

• Counties protest House's tax cut concept 

TALLAHASSEE --

At a time when it's harder than ever for citizens to change the Florida Constitution, stricter rules for getting proposed amendments on the ballot cleared House and Senate committees Thursday.

 

The bills would place time limits on turning in signatures and allow people who have signed petitions to remove their names.

Opponents of the measure told the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections that the proposal would hamper efforts by grassroots organizations on shoestring budgets. An amendment backed by big business last year requires future proposed amendments to garner 60 percent of the vote, not just a majority.

''We see this contributing to a larger trend, a door that is creaking shut on the initiative process,'' said Brad Ashwell, of the Florida Public Interest Research Group.

Corporate interests spent at least $58 million and as much $100 million to lobby the Florida Legislature in the past year.

''The effort to restrict the initiative effort is coming from the biggest special interests in the state,'' said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida.

Nonsense, said the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Bill Posey of Rockledge. He said the measure would prevent aggressive petition-gatherers from taking advantage of voters.

''Every constitutional amendment that passes takes rights away from someone or takes money away from someone,'' he said.

The Senate committee passed the bill 6-3. The House Economic Expansion and Infrastructure Council approved a similar measure 11-2.

Another measure making it harder to gather petitions passed the House Ethics and Elections committee. The bill, pushed by Publix Supermarkets and other business groups, would allow stores to kick signature gatherers off their property. It comes on the heels of a court decision that said the grocery chain can bar advocates of petitions to legalize marijuana.

City engineer: Coal-plant costs vastly underestimated
By Julian Pecquet
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The partners behind the proposed Taylor County coal plant are asking that the Florida Public Service Commission delay its decision on whether the 800-megawatt plant is needed.

The request comes after a city of Tallahassee engineer discovered that a city consultant had used incorrect data when estimating the cost of the coal plant, underestimating the $4.5 billion cost to build it and operate it over 30 years by about $40 million.

Coal-plant advocates portrayed the error as a simple mistake that changed the coal plant's cost by less than one percent.

But City Commissioner Allan Katz said it raised doubts about whether the city's energy plan, which includes the coal plant, biomass and energy reduction measures, was still the best option.

"The credibility of the material that was presented to us has been compromised," Katz said. "I think we have a serious credibility problem."

Katz said the disclosure raised doubts about the credibility of the consultant, Black and Veatch, which is working for both the city and the coal-plant partnership. He called for the city to hire an independent firm to re-examine the city's energy options.

City commissioners adopted the energy plan in December in a 3-2 vote, with Katz and Commissioner Andrew Gillum opposed.

The coal-plant partners are asking for the delay so they can provide an updated economic analysis to the Public Service Commission, including recent increases in projected costs, said project manager Mike Lawson. The agency was set to make a decision Tuesday.

"We do not expect this to change the overall conclusion that the (Taylor plant) is the most cost-effective option," Lawson said in a statement, "though we felt it was important to share this updated information with the commission so that they could factor it in their decision."

Tallahassee is one of the four partners in the proposed plant, which is scheduled to start operating in 2012 if it gets its permits it needs.

The City Commission is expected to hear an update on its energy-planning process during a workshop at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday on the second floor of City Hall.

Water-use estimates for ethanol plant go up 60 percent

By JANET ZINK
Published March 9, 2007

TAMPA - An ethanol plant proposed for the city's port area could need up to 800,000 gallons of water a day by 2013, making it the second-largest water user in the city.

The request for the water to run the plant, which will need 400,000 gallons a day by 2010 for its first phase of operation, comes at a time when the city is at its limit for withdrawing fresh, cheap water from the Hillsborough River.

Initially, plant backers said it would require 500,000 gallons a day, but on Thursday, city officials confirmed it would be 60 percent higher if the plant fully expands.

Steve Daignault, the city's administrator of public works and utilities, told the Tampa City Council he is working to determine if the plant can use reclaimed water instead of fresh water.

Bradley Krohn, president of United States Envirofuels, the company looking to build the plant, said he is happy to use reclaimed water.

But he has asked city officials to give the company permission to buy reclaimed water from the county. It's cheaper than the city's reclaimed water, might be higher quality and it will be easier to lay pipes to the county's water treatment plant.

The city needs to approve the deal because although the plant is proposed for the county, it's in the city service area.

But Krohn said he will talk to city officials about what they might be able to offer.

Daignault said he believes the city could get the pipe built in three years.

Reclaimed water would be significantly less expensive for Krohn than freshwater, which costs more than $4 per 1,000 gallons. The county charges only 7 cents per 1,000 gallons for reclaimed water. The city charges $1.34 per 1,000 gallons of reclaimed water.

Daignault said the city has hired a consultant to identify potential industrial users of reclaimed water throughout the city. The city dumps more than 60-million gallons of treated wastewater each day into Tampa Bay. Piping that water to industrial users, or more residents, could help reduce the use of precious drinking water.

"We want to get the reclaimed water out there for them," Daignault said.

State DEP to cite developer for tree cutting
Rainbow River Ranch LLC says state, city issues are unrelated.

BY FRED HIERS
STAR-BANNER

DUNNELLON - The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is citing an out-of-town developer that is already embroiled with the city of Dunnellon over alleged tree-cutting violations.

FDEP officials confirmed they plan to fine Rainbow River Ranch LLC $3,000 and force the developer to plant at least 50 trees to replace the aquatic vegetation he cut down in violation of state rules.

Meanwhile, Rainbow River Ranch continues to feud with the City Council over whether the developer violated its city-issued tree-cutting permit. In November, the council suspended the permit amid complaints from residents and environmentalists that the developer cut too many trees on the proposed 250-acre site, many along the pristine Rainbow River near the County Road 484 bridge.

"[FDEP] is doing its job and I'm very pleased with that," Dunnellon Councilman Fred Stark said. "Finally, I see the results of an investigation, which is what we've been asking for since day one."

Developer Gerald Dodd said he would cooperate with FDEP to resolve the issue.

"I'm disappointed. We tried to follow their rules," Dodd said Thursday.

Dodd's lawyer, Clark Stillwell, said he and Dodd would address FDEP's citation and follow procedures that allowed the developer to review the citation or appeal it if necessary.

But Stillwell emphasized that FDEP's citation was unrelated to the city's tree-cutting permit.

"The city applies different legal standards. Neither are intertwined," Stillwell said.

Trees that the state does not allow to be cut often are allowed to be removed according to city rules, Stillwell said.

Stark said the issue of FDEP's citation and that of the city's tree-cutting permit suspension are not as distinct as Stillwell wants to make out.

"Of the 52 trees they cut down, there's no doubt in my mind that the trees FDEP identified are not so different than the very ones we identified as being removed in violation of our permit," he said.

FDEP spokeswoman Sarah Williams said agency investigators went to Dodd's property in February where they saw that wax myrtle, bald cypress, sweet gum and red maple, located in high-water areas, had been removed.

Williams said Dodd would have to replace at least those he cut down and perhaps more. She said the details of how he would have to replace removed trees is still being worked out.

Williams said as soon as FDEP officials told Dodd of the violations in February he stopped cutting in those areas.

Meanwhile, Dunnellon's code enforcement board is scheduled to hear the Rainbow River Ranch permit issue March 19 and rule whether the developer violated city tree-cutting rules.

During a Wednesday Dunnellon council workshop, council members said they wanted to remove their code enforcement board chairman when it came to this case, complaining they did not think he was impartial. Last month code enforcement board chairman Curt Bond complained the council handed his board the case after it already suspended the permit. Council members will discuss whether to recuse Bond during their Monday council meeting.

Stillwell said removing Bond for what he said would reflect badly on the council.

"If that's the standard, I would think all the council members should recuse themselves ... for far more egregious comments," Stillwell said.

Dodd said maneuvering the legal hurdles to develop his land has not been easy.

"But the property ... is worth going through the process for," he said. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Fred Hiers may be reached at fred.hiers@starbanner.com and (352) 867-4157.

DeBary battles rising waters

By BOB KOSLOW
Staff Writer

DEBARY -- Soon after three hurricanes ravaged the unprepared city and flooded more than 70 homes in 2004, 64 drainage projects were identified to keep the waters from rising.

The projects range from cleaning pipes and ditches to lake interconnects.

Wednesday night, the City Council awarded the first construction contracts from that list, which was whittled down to 24 projects. C-3 Construction will be paid $409,495 to construct retention ponds at 24 Seminole Drive and 58 Park Lane in a 1950s-era neighborhood.

"The severity of flooding and the opportunity to buy these properties so quickly pushed those two to the top of the list," said David Hamstra, the city's drainage engineer consultant.

DeBary received eight bids for the Seminole Drive project and nine for the Park Lane project. The total price is $270,759 less than what city consultants estimated.

"Costs have come down and are a lot more reasonable. There are more workers now and we don't have the skyrocketing costs we had a year or two ago," Hamstra said. Officials hope to have the two ponds started by April 1 and completed in 90 days if the contractor provides the required completion bonds.

Both projects will have underground overflow pipes to the east. The Seminole Drive overflow will empty into the U.S. 17-92 storm drain system. The Park Lane overflow will go into Lake Marie.

It took more than two years for the start of construction because a detailed mapping and system inventory was needed at the start, Hamstra said. Heavy rains in 2005 also stalled some work as the city was busy with more than 40 pumps trying to keep lakes from overflowing. More than $700,000 was spent in the summer and fall of 2005 to control flooding.

Time also was needed to get federal grants to help pay for a proposed west side lake control and drainage system, get a stormwater utility fee in place and have voters approve a $10 million bond to pay for the projects.

"We got the bond money and now we can rock and roll through these projects," City Manager Maryann Courson said.

Last month, the council approved $553,076 for the design, permit and construction drawings for new ponds Monroe Avenue, DeBary Drive, Matanzas Road/Lucerne Drive and Rivera Drive, as well as drainage improvements on Margarita Drive/Sunrise Boulevard, Bougainvillea Drive, Pine Valley Court and Soft Shadow Lane.

Another $231,940 was approved Wednesday for the design, permit and construction drawing for drainage improvements to Valencia/Plumosa roads, Catalina Drive, Magnolia/Aster drives and Marsella Road.

An additional $685,000 was approved to buy all or parts of 13 properties for ponds and easements. Only one home at 305 Alemander Ave. is to be purchased. A draft project schedule has the construction completed in two years.

Disappearance of honeybees is creating a buzz

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

A mysterious disorder is causing honeybees to disappear from their hives, threatening the pollination of crops from almonds to watermelons.

Florida is at the epicenter of the problem and is searching for a solution. A Dade City beekeeper was one of the first to report the disappearance of bees and a Gainesville inspector is part of a group investigating the cause.

"We can't seem to find one smoking gun," said Jerry Hayes, the Gainesville-based chief of apiary inspection for the Florida Division of Plant Industry.

Called colony collapse disorder, the malady is believed to compromise the immune systems of honeybees. The insects apparently flee their hives, become disoriented and die.

The disorder adds to a long list of challenges facing beekeepers, from cheap foreign honey to vampirelike mites.

Beekeeper David Hackenberg was one of the first to report the disorder. He said he brought 400 hives to Dade City from Maine in October. The next month, he returned to find empty hives.

The bees had even abandoned their unhatched brood.

"Bees don't just go and leave their young," he said. "It just makes you speechless."

The impact of the disorder goes well beyond beekeepers.

About one-third of crops depends on honeybee pollination, said Jamie Ellis, an assistant entomology professor at the University of Florida's honeybee research lab.

"The agriculture industry is built on the backs of honeybees," he said.

Bees pollinate alfalfa and other crops fed to livestock, he said, so the loss of bees has the potential to disrupt the entire food supply.

Ellis, like other bee experts, references a quote attributed to Albert Einstein to illustrate the importance of the insects: If all bees disappeared tomorrow, humans would have four years left on the planet.

While beekeepers make money from honey, competition from cheap Chinese imports has reduced profits. So beekeepers must rely on fees from renting hives to farmers.

The growth of the California almond industry has increased demand for bees, boosting fees to $100 per colony. But trucking bees out West is thought to stress the insects and could play a role in the disorder.

A tiny non-native mite, which acts like a bee vampire, is also believed to play a part. The mite, native to Southeast Asia, first appeared in the U.S. in 1986 and has since wreaked havoc with colonies.

There's also other pests and the chemicals used to battle them. Adding everything together could explain colony collapse disorder, Hayes said.

"There is a lot of stress involved," he said.

The disorder has been documented in 24 states. Hayes said something is apparently causing bees to become disoriented and lose their way.

The behavior is similar to the effects of the pesticide imidacloprid. France banned the use of the pesticide in 1999 because of concerns about its effect on bees.

Pennsylvania State University entomologist Maryann Frazier is studying whether the pesticide plays a role in the disorder. She said the insecticide has yet to be found in pollen here, so researchers suspect it might be one of a combination of factors.

"Something's pushing them over the edge," she said.

Alachua County is home to small beekeeping operations as well as Dadant beekeeping supplies in High Springs.

Dadant manager Jerry Latner said beekeepers have always faced challenges, including previous disorders that caused bees to leave hives.

But he said the combination of problems mean beekeeping is failing to attract a younger crowd, threatening the industry.

"I don't think we're in a crisis in this country yet but we're getting close," he said.

He said beekeepers aren't the only people who should be concerned. Bees are an indicator species and their disappearance could signal greater environmental problems, he said.

"I hope it's not the canary in the coal mine," he said.

Farm Girls: Young Women Dominate Agriculture Classes

By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH The Tampa Tribune

Published: Mar 9, 2007

PLANT CITY - It's 7 or 8 or 9 p.m., and Deneile McKee knows where her daughters are: feeding the chickens, training the cattle, washing the pig, mucking out pens and stalls or attending an FFA meeting.

"If Kaila had to choose between going to the mall or breaking a new heifer, she'd say, 'Forget the shopping, give me the heifer,'" McKee said.

Forty years ago, the Marshall Middle School sixth-grader and her 15-year-old sister, Hailey, would have found little encouragement and even less access to the exclusive brotherhood of future farmers who once dominated student agriculture.

Today they are among a growing and powerful force of youngsters who are turning tradition on its head.

"Girls have almost taken over the program," said Ray Clark, who for 35 years has headed the Plant City High School agriculture department.

With the livestock shows of fair season in full swing, the blue-jacketed, ponytailed pig and steer wranglers are hard to miss in local arenas. Many are walking away with top prizes and money for college.

"One of the direct effects of having so many females in FFA is its effect on enrollment in the University of Florida's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. There are now more women than men in the program," said Ila Crocker, an FFA state officer in the mid-1990s.

Crocker, who graduated from UF with a degree in agriculture communications, met her husband, Shawn, another former state officer, while working with FFA. Both were born into Florida farming families and have carved out careers both within and beyond traditional agriculture.

After a stint as marketing director for The Florida Strawberry Growers Association, Ila Crocker now manages Crocker Country Farms in Polk County.

Her role, like that of many of this new breed of farm girls, is a far cry from her mother's generation, where the women took care of the bookkeeping, the house and the children.

"Today the women are driving the tractors, managing the farms, taking on leadership roles and sharing in the ownership," she said.

Role Revolution

About one-third of America's farms are owned by women these days, and even more are being managed by them. Many are left to run the operations when their husbands die. Others, like Crocker, were born into it, married into it or both.

Before 1969, when female members of the Woodstock generation gained entree into Future Farmers of America, girls were expected to marry farmers, not run farms.

"When I was in middle school, we were supposed to take" home economics, said Mary Suralis, who has taught agriculture at Mann Middle School for 18 years.

By the 1980s, girls were flocking to the organization, which changed its name in 1988 to FFA to reflect a broader mission.

"The face of the industry was changing to encompass over 300 careers in agriculture - from researchers and scientists to veterinarians and marketing specialists," said state FFA Executive Director Ronnie Simmons. "It sent out a new message that we're about more than just farming."

Florida's FFA recently claimed a record of more than 15,000 members, about 40 percent of them girls. That mirrors the makeup of the national membership, Simmons said.

More than half of the leadership roles, however, are held by young women.

"I think the females tend to strive for that more than the males, even on the national level, and that tends to make them more visible," said McKee, whose daughter Hailey has served as a county FFA officer since her middle school years. Daughter Kaila, 12, is secretary of the Antioch 4-H.

Unlike many FFA moms, McKee was a city girl raised in Key West.

"We started with the love of animals when my oldest was 3, the first time she rode a horse," McKee said. "It escalated from there."

The girls still show and ride Tennessee walkers in addition to their livestock activities. Meanwhile, Cade, 7, has followed his sisters into competition at the Strawberry Festival with his own chicken entries.

Animals also prompted Alex Wanner, 13, to follow her older brother and sister into FFA. The Tomlin eighth-grader started out with roosters and bunnies three years ago. This year she raised her first pig, a boar named Pork. She brought him to the Strawberry Festival to show - and to sell to the highest bidder.

The day before the sale, Wanner and Pork relaxed contentedly in a livestock pen, her head resting on the boar's plump side. She has spent two to three hours a day for the past eight months feeding, bathing, grooming and training the pig. It is the first animal she has sent to slaughter.

"I try not getting too attached to him," she said. She swipes at an errant tear.

In local student agriculture programs, girls outnumber boys by as much as 2-to-1.

Suralis said she can't put her finger on what attracts so many girls to FFA. An affinity for animals and a nurturing instinct might be part of it, she suggested. But there is more.

"I think a lot of them see involvement in the program goes beyond the classroom," she said.

Family Ties

Parents of FFA members say the program instills leadership, presentation skills and self-confidence.

Michelle Williamson's daughter, Samantha, became adept at judging meat quality, testing soil and served as an alternate on the agricultural mechanics team at Durant High School.

"FFA gave her the ability to come out and speak publicly and do things she normally would not have been able to do," she said.

Williamson, vice chairwoman of the Florida Farm Bureau's women's leadership committee, was not involved in FFA as a student. She never imagined she would grow up to marry a farmer.

Today she helps manage an extended family farming empire that has 700 acres of fruit and vegetables in Dover.

Judi Whitson, executive director of the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau, said changes in how farms operate as well as new kinds of job opportunities make the once male-dominated industry "wide open for women."

"There's more and more agriculture being run from offices and not necessarily in the field," Whitson said.

That is not to say the girls can't wrassle a critter with the best of the boys - and not just bunnies and chickens.

Shawna Newsome, 18, has twice won the steer competition at the Strawberry Festival and is no longer eligible to enter the Plant City event.

Instead, the Durant senior walked away this year and last with the Florida State Fair's grand champion steer, as well as this year's grand champion pig.

"I think I'm just as capable as anybody handling a 1,200-pound animal," she said. "It's not about strength. It's where you put yourself and if you take the right safety precautions."

Newsome's parents, like those of many in FFA, are an integral part of her projects.

"It takes dedication, commitment and hard work to raise a champion," said Durant agriculture teacher Tim Cribbs, whose own children are active in FFA.

Son Joshua, who graduated from Durant in June, is a state FFA officer who aspires to work in the field of embryo transplants. Daughter Caitlin, 16, has been active in the organization since sixth grade.

"She shows cattle and does the beauty contest thing, too," Cribbs said.

More often than not, FFA tends to be a family affair.

"There's a lot of parent involvement," Cribbs said. "They know where their kids are and what they're doing."

Just as important, FAA parents say, are the life skills and confidence that come from hard work and responsibility.

"I'll never have to worry about any of my children when they go off into the world," McKee said. "They know how to handle themselves."

Tribune photographer Robert Burke contributed to this story. Reporter Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813) 865-4436 or jhollingsworth@tampatrib.com.

Developer's dollars linked to jeweler

By Tony Doris

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, March 09, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — A developer's $50,000 payment to City Commissioner Jim Exline in 2004 was funneled through a downtown business whose president is a political insider at city hall.

Sources familiar with the criminal case filed Tuesday against Exline identified the business as Provident Jewelry & Loan, at 331 Clematis St.

The money, paid to Exline for helping to push a subdivision's approval through the city's planning and zoning department, was recorded on the business' books as a purchase and refund. But no merchandise changed hands, one source said.

Provident Jewelry's president is Robert M. Samuels, a city business booster appointed in June 2004 to the Downtown Development Authority by Mayor Lois Frankel. He was reappointed to the board last June on a motion by City Commissioner Bill Moss that was seconded by Exline.

Samuels also was named by Frankel last April to an advisory panel helping to update the city's master land-use development plan.

Samuels denied doing anything improper.

"Neither I nor anyone associated with Provident Jewelry knowingly assisted Mr. Exline in violating any laws," he wrote in a brief letter Thursday to The Palm Beach Post.

Exline, 42, has been charged by federal prosecutors with failing to report the $50,000 on his 2004 income tax return. A hearing is set for March 19, and he is expected to plead guilty. He faces three years in prison and a $250,000 fine upon conviction.

The single criminal charge was the result of plea negotiations between prosecutors and Exline's attorney that began in June, shortly after the news broke that City Commissioner Ray Liberti had resigned while facing corruption charges - and that corruption hunters were circling city hall. Liberti is serving an 18-month prison sentence.

Exline paid the overdue taxes on the $50,000 before confessing to prosecutors.

He also agreed to wear a wire for the FBI during a meeting with the developer who made the payment, a source said. In the taped conversation, the developer acknowledged that the payment was made through the jewelry store so the commissioner could hide the money from Exline's wife while negotiating their divorce settlement.

Exline never mentioned the income on a sworn financial affidavit filed in February 2005 as part of his divorce case. And there's no specific reference to the developer as a primary or secondary source of income on the financial disclosure form he filed with the state in 2005.

The charging document - known as a criminal information - filed against Exline does not name the developer, identifying him only as a real estate broker with whom he was affiliated. State records show that in 2004, Exline worked as a real estate sales associate at a brokerage owned by John Sansbury, a developer and lobbyist who once was a Palm Beach County administrator.

The document filed by prosecutors said the developer paid $50,000 on Oct. 7, 2004, for "past and future real estate commissions and land-planning services" related to a development in West Palm Beach. Exline, a professional land-use planner, worked for the developer through May 2005, the document states.

During that time, Sansbury was seeking city staffers' approval of a subdivision off Okeechobee Road in the west end of the city. Prosecutors say Exline worked on the deal, never divulging to city staffers that he had a financial interest in the project.

Sansbury has not been charged, but he has hired criminal attorney Douglas Duncan, who defended millionaire Fred Keller, convicted in January of murdering his ex-wife over a divorce settlement. Neither Sansbury nor Duncan returned calls for comment.

Samuels, a longtime close friend of Exline's, also figured in a real estate deal closed by Sansbury and Exline on Oct. 5, 2004, two days before Exline allegedly directed Sansbury to pay him the $50,000 through the jewelry store. Samuels and two partners bought property on Evernia Street in a sale brokered by Sansbury and Exline. Sansbury allowed Exline to pocket the entire $36,000 commission.

Aside from his jewelry business, Samuels used to run nightclubs in the downtown entertainment district. He also was a partner in the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art and Antique Show, an event that drew thousands last month to the convention center.

Frankel directed the city attorney's office to make inquiries to U.S. attorneys.

"He has one of the most successful businesses on Clematis Street," Frankel said of Samuels. "I don't want to ruin somebody's reputation or speculate. If there's a charge, an indictment or something that would make it be inappropriate for someone to be on the Downtown Development Authority or any other committee, then I feel certain that both myself and the city commission would take steps for removal."

Exline resigned from the commission Jan. 19, saying he was in trouble over failing to pay income taxes. He surrendered Wednesday at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach and was released on $50,000 bond.

He has since declined comment.

Petition for condo project withdrawn

A planner on the project cites a lack of time, not the opposition to the building, as the reason for dropping the proposal.

By MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
Published March 9, 2007

TAMPA - A development company is backing away from its effort to build a 1,500-unit multistory condominium project on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Giunta Group Ltd. is withdrawing its petition to rezone 644 acres just south of Tampa Palms from wetlands to residential.

The project drew stiff opposition from local residents, many of whom worried the condos would worsen the already congested traffic on Bruce B. Downs. Some have alleged that Giunta Group delayed a zoning hearing on the matter in an effort to shake off vocal protesters.

A Feb. 8 letter from Paula Harvey, director of the county's Planning and Zoning Services Division, warned the developer that if it did not complete its application in time for a May 1 hearing, the application would be withdrawn.

Ty Makey, the principal planner on the project, said this week that wasn't enough time. He said the developer is withdrawing its petition.

Harvey said she decided to put a stop to the application because "it had gone on too long with no action or inquiry at all," not because of local opposition.

"After a while, it's costing the county money," she said.

Maggie Wilson, a Tampa Palms taxing district consultant who has led opposition to the project, greeted the announcement with wary optimism.

"It's a two-edged sword," she said. "I consider this a momentary reprieve, but I don't think it's a surrender."

Michael A. Mohammed can be reached at mmohammed@ sptimes.com or 813 226-3404.

In Race Of 3 Retail Centers, Grove Breaks Ground First

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Mar 9, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Developers of The Grove at Wesley Chapel, the first of three major retail centers planned for fast-growing central Pasco County, broke ground Thursday morning on the site of the Oakley family's former orange grove.

Bulldozer crews could begin moving earth on the former Oakley Groves property within a week, said developer Bill Krahe, managing partner of Pittsburgh-based Echo Real Estate Services Co. The project still needs a county-issued site development permit for earthwork to begin.

The 800,000-square-foot shopping center will face Interstate 75 just north of Wesley Chapel Boulevard (County Road 54).

Thursday's ceremony put The Grove even further ahead of its main competitors, Forest City Enterprises' Shops at Wiregrass and Richard E. Jacobs Group's Cypress Creek Town Center.

Both competitors remain bound to varying degrees by red tape.

The developers of Wiregrass Ranch, which includes Forest City's project, still must convince county commissioners their 5,000-acre development's traffic won't gridlock the regional road network. The two sides hope to resolve their differences by the time of the county commissioners' meeting April 10 in Dade City.

Cypress Creek Town Center developers recently beat back a legal challenge but still must sell federal regulators on their plan to fill more than 56 acres of wetlands feeding nearby Cypress Creek to make space for their 510-acre regional mall complex.

The Grove's tenant list includes a who's who of major retail centers across Florida, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, PetSmart and Toys R Us.

The centerpiece of the plaza will be a 16-screen megaplex built by Cobb Theatres of Birmingham, Ala. The theater will be similar to one Cobb opened recently in Lakeland, said Cobb Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Welman.

Thursday's invitation-only ceremony included members of the companies that are partners in the development.

Mary Jane Stanley, president of the Pasco Economic Development Council, praised the project as an important resource that will help her staff recruit major employers to the county.

"It's really going to do a lot for us by improving the quality of life in Pasco County," Stanley said.

Aside from the 1,800 retail jobs the developer expects to create, the project will bolster the construction industry at a time when residential construction has slipped to 2002 levels, Stanley said.

Randall Stovall, chairman of the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, also attended the groundbreaking.

Stovall said he sees the new focus on retail development as key to bringing Wesley Chapel into its own.

"Maybe we'll become a destination instead of a place to start from," Stovall said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at kwiatrowski @tampatrib.com or (813) 948-4201.

Mall brings dining to the movies

The cinemas of the Grove at Wesley Chapel will serve alcohol and food.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published March 9, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Here's a question you never thought you'd hear as you're settling into your cinema seat: "Would you like some wine or beer to go with that burger?"

But when the Cobb Theatres 16-screen multiplex opens at the Grove at Wesley Chapel mall next spring, that's the question patrons should expect.

The cinema will be the first in Pasco County to offer 350 "premium seats" in six upper-level auditoriums, where patrons can have alcohol, beverages and food served directly to their seats before the screening starts.

That's not all, Jeremy P. Welman, Cobb's chief operating officer said at the mall's groundbreaking Thursday.

Imagine this:

One would enter the cinema and take either a "grand staircase" or a glass elevator to the upper floor, where Cobb is building a lounge; a 140-seat restaurant offering burgers, sandwiches and salads; and a bar that can fit about 20 people.

A concierge on that floor would sell tickets for the balcony auditoriums, featuring oversized leather seats that have holders for wine and entrees, Welman said. The premium seats would be priced "a little bit more" than the regular seats downstairs, although Cobb hasn't finalized prices yet.

One more thing - 21 and over only, please.

"It's a kid-free zone," Welman said. "It's an adult experience."

Well, it's not as if you'd be ditching your kids altogether. The young ones can still be dispatched to the 2,600 ground-floor seats for a more traditional cinematic experience.

Cobb Theatres is in the final permitting stages to build a five-screen cinema with similar premium seats in Miami, Welman said. The Miami theater is expected to launch about the same time as the Pasco one.

The $175-million Grove will open a few months ahead of the theater, in time to catch the 2007 holiday shopping season, said Bill Krahe, managing partner of the mall's developer, ECHO Real Estate Services.

In addition to confirmed leases with Bed, Bath & Beyond, Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods, among others, the developers are still negotiating with Toys R Us, Babies R Us, T.J. Maxx and "a national book retailer," Krahe said.

This would mean Barnes & Noble, Borders or Books-A-Million.

ECHO is spending $8-million to widen County Road 54 and Oakley Boulevard, which leads into the mall off Interstate 75. Work is ongoing.

Krahe is betting that the northward expansion of central Pasco's growth would place his mall in a better position than rivals farther south.

"Granted, south-central Pasco might be where the growth is now, but if you look ahead five to 10 years, we're in a more central location and we've got visibility along the interstate," he said.

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

By the numbers 

16 Number of screens in Cobb Theatres at Wesley Chapel mall.

350 Number of premium seats at cinema.

21 Minimum age of clients for premium seats.

140 Number of seats in upstairs restaurant.

2,600 Number of seats on ground floor.

Study Sees Housing Rebound

By SHANNON BEHNKEN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Mar 9, 2007

TAMPA - Whether you're trying to sell your house or contemplating buying a home, there's one question on everyone's mind: Has the housing market bottomed out yet?

The answer varies, depending on who you ask. For months, economists and industry experts debated the question, as the number of Florida homes on the market rose dramatically and prices in some areas dropped.

There may be a glimmer of hope, however, according to a study released Thursday by the University of Florida.

The single-family market has indeed bottomed out, the report says, and prices are expected to rise this year. The report urges potential buyers to act now.

"I expect that for most of Florida, prices are as good as they're going to get," said Wayne Archer, director of the Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, which conducted the report. "This is comforting news."

The university surveyed industry professionals, including real estate lawyers, title insurers, financial advisers and real estate scholars. There were 318 respondents.

This is the sixth quarterly survey the university has conducted. The questions are sent to the same 700 people each quarter.

Respondents answered a series of questions in mid-January about their observations of the market. Their answers, Archer said, showed that respondents are seeing a drop in single-family housing prices and that a growing number of respondents think prices are staying even with inflation.

It was the first time since the survey began that respondents' outlook on the market brightened, Archer said.

"When prices maintain the same level as inflation, then we're probably in some kind of equilibrium."

Some analysts and economists are doubtful and were quick to question the report.

"I see absolutely no scope for rising prices this year," said Per Gunnar Berglund, senior economist with Moody's Economy.com. "I think prices have a bit further to go."

The median sales price of existing single-family homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was $214,000 in January, down 7 percent from December and significantly below the real estate market's $239,900 peak in June, according to data released last month by the Florida Association of Realtors.

There were 1,768 sales in January, down 41 percent from a year ago and down 27 percent from December's sales volume of 2,438.

More than 34,000 existing homes are on the market in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, according to local real estate trade groups.

Berglund says inventory levels in the Bay area are more than twice the normal level. It would take more than 16 months to sell all the houses, Berglund said.

"The ratio of homes on the market has risen way above the six-month supply that is considered equilibrium," Berglund said.

Tim Rogers, an economist at Briefing.com, was more optimistic.

"I think sales are starting to turn, but it might be a little longer before we see pricing turn," Rogers said. "We have lower interest rates and lower prices. These are a good recipe for the housing market."

The survey may offer encouraging news on the single-family housing front, but the condo market looked gloomy, especially in areas such as South Florida and Tampa Bay.

The most recent data from the Florida Association of Realtors show 379 condo sales in January, down 49 percent from 740 sales in the same month last year. Condo prices dropped 1 percent year over year to a median sales price of $183,200.

"If you're buying a home to live in for five years or more, you'll be OK," said Mike Larson, real estate analyst for Weiss Research, based in Jupiter. "But if you're looking at it purely from a financial standpoint, renting may be more economical."

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804 or sbehnken@tampatrib.com.

A happy ending for the Biltmore

By RITA FARLOW
Published March 9, 2007

BELLEAIR - An international asset management firm in Baltimore announced Thursday it wants to buy and save the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa.

Executives with Legg Mason Real Estate Investors would not disclose the proposed purchase price or the closing date, but said in a written statement they had a contract to buy the resort and intend to preserve the 110-year-old hotel.

"Our No. 1 goal is to devise an economically feasible plan to rehabilitate and restore this landmark property," Legg Mason managing director Joseph Penner said in a press release.

Reached Thursday, Penner confirmed the purchase contract but declined to comment further.

Vince Sanfillippo, the chief investment officer for the hotel's current owner, Urdang Capital Management, did not return a call late Thursday afternoon.

But Legg Mason's announcement quoted Sanfillippo as saying the buyer's plan for the resort's future was an important factor in reaching a deal.

A preservationist who led a 2 1/2-year fight to save the 820,000-square-foot hotel applauded the agreement.

"It's a perfect solution for the hotel because they want to save it and they want to save the golf course," said Rae Claire Johnson, president of Friends of the Belleview Biltmore.

"It's just exactly what we demonstrated for and why we asked the city to put the protections on the property, and these people are willing to abide by those protections," she said.

Preservationists have fought to save the historic hotel, which was built by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant, ever since DeBartolo Development announced plans to raze the hotel and build condominiums on the property, said G. Michael Harris, who is on the town's historic preservation board. That deal fell apart in 2005.

Harris said saving the hotel has far-reaching implications.

"It's just as important for the residents of Belleair as the whole future of Pinellas County and the state of Florida," he said. "It's preserving history for future generations."

Legg Mason is involved in the redevelopment and restoration of two historic buildings into a new hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.

Times staff writer Lorri Helfand contributed to this report. Rita Farlow can be reached at farlow@sptimes.com or 727 445-4167.

Fast Facts:

Preserving history

Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa - Built by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. Opened in 1897. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1979.

- Includes 244 rooms, 13,000-square-foot Tiffany Ballroom, 18-hole golf course

Legg Mason Real Estate Investors

- Provides "creative and flexible" commercial real estate financing.

- Part of publicly traded Legg Mason Inc., the world's fifth largest asset manager, with assets of more than $800-billion.

$1B deal? Let public talk, says Jacobs

But negotiators for 3 sports and arts facilities say there has already been plenty of feedback.

David Damron | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 9, 2007

A series of town-hall meetings and citizen surveys should be conducted before elected leaders approve a $1 billion deal for sports and arts facilities downtown, a county commissioner said Thursday.

Commissioner Teresa Jacobs is pushing the proposal, arguing that city and county leaders know little about how residents feel about a new performing arts center, arena and Citrus Bowl renovations.

"The more public input you get, the better the final product," Jacobs said.

"And that's more likely to happen the more you open up the process."

There has been no public vote or poll as government negotiators have hammered out a complex financial deal for the costliest public building project in Central Florida history. Although some workshops have been held, citizen input was minimal.

And there is no formal public hearing scheduled until the day commissioners vote to cement the deal, possibly as early as April.

Both Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty reacted coolly to Jacobs' proposal.

"We've had at least 10 [public meetings], if not more," Dyer said, later adding through a spokeswoman that roughly two dozen workshops and presentations have been made.

"They were all in the city. But if Commissioner Jacobs wants to hold them in the county . . ."

Crotty said he doesn't "discount the idea of more public input" but added that "the problem is, we are moving pretty aggressively" to get a final deal done.

Dyer, business leaders and venue backers all are pressing Crotty to quickly call a vote on the venues package.

Town-hall meetings

Jacobs' proposal would include scheduling town-hall meetings in all six County Commission districts, and perhaps televising them on Orange TV's public-access channel. In that setting, critics and supporters can weigh in, and residents who attend can sound off in an exit survey.

Jacobs said the meetings could air opposing views and solicit public concerns about the projects, which may prove more trustworthy than any phone poll about such a complicated venues deal, Jacobs said.

"Right now, the pressure is all one-sided," Jacobs said, "and that's to get [a deal] done and get it done quickly."

A call for a referendum on the downtown-venues package floated last month by County Commissioner Fred Brummer is all but dead from lack of elected-leader support.

No major media polling has been conducted since the most recent venues package was put together.

Previous public surveys showed weak support for tax dollars going to build a new arena, but stronger public backing for spending tourist taxes on a new arts center or Citrus Bowl.

Poll done by Magic

The only recent public poll was done by the Orlando Magic late last month.

It shows 65 percent of residents back the projects if mostly tourist taxes and some private dollars help pay for it, and if all three are built at once.

A more complete report of that Magic survey of 400 people in Orange County was circulated to county leaders Thursday.

It showed the residents' support increased if they knew more about the team's $50 million upfront cash contribution, along with other operating and financial pledges to the overall deal.

Residents also were asked if their support for the three-project plan would grow if they knew that tourist taxes being used to fund much of the venues' package couldn't be spent on schools or roads.

State lawmakers have written that restriction into law. Once again, support rose with that added information.

Crotty said there is no shortage of opinions coming in from e-mails, phone calls and comments on the street.

"We don't want to get sidetracked by . . . calls for a poll or referendum," Crotty said. "Truthfully we're getting a lot of feedback on this."

David Damron can be reached at ddamron@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5311.

Critics: State's plan won't protect Peace River

By KATE SPINNER

kate.spinner@heraldtribune.com

In the past two decades alone, more than 31,000 acres of wetlands along the Peace River have disappeared, largely victim to phosphate mining, farming and development.

State regulators, environmental groups and county leaders all agree that the loss bodes poorly for the the river, a key source of water and eco-tourism in Southwest Florida. But the parties differ on who is responsible for the damage and how to fix it.

This week, the state Department of Environmental Protection released a management plan that it said would better preserve the river and reverse the damage done to it.

The DEP will present the plan to the Legislature this session, but will have to come back next year for approval to put many of the recommendations in place.

The plan was immediately criticized by local government officials and environmentalists, who said it will do little to protect the river.

"Only approximately 10 to 15 pages of the 100-page document appear to be things that you could call management steps," said Charles Fletcher, a Tampa attorney working to help Charlotte County protect Charlotte Harbor. "A management plan is supposed to have certain quantifiable goals. That is not done here."

The Peace River begins near Bartow in Polk County and travels 100 miles to Charlotte Harbor, the second largest estuary in Florida.

The river serves as the primary water source for Charlotte and DeSoto counties and also provides water to Sarasota County.

Fletcher said the study that preceded the management plan did a great job of documenting dramatic losses in the basin: 343 miles of streams, 600,000 acres of forests, huge decreases in fish populations, serious degradation of water quality and severely reduced flow in the upper portions of the river.

But the management plan provides no tangible goals or deadlines for reversing those loses or preventing them from continuing to occur, Fletcher said.

What it does offer is vague suggestions, such as:

Buying more land along the Peace River, though no funding mechanism is suggested.

Evaluating whether phosphate mines need to be permitted differently.

Examining environmental laws to find out how they allowed wetland loss between 1979 and 1999.

Rick Cantrell, a DEP official in the resource management division, said the plan starts a process.

"It is not cast in stone," he said. "As we get more details, we will change the document as necessary."

Cantrell said the agency has to rely on the Legislature and the governor for authority to act on many of the recommendations in the plan, which is why it lacks specifics.

The DEP will likely review the plan and make changes every five years, Cantrell said, although he does not expect to make any change within the year.

The Legislature ordered the DEP to create the plan in 2003, at a time when Charlotte County was winning battles against the agency in court over the way it issued phosphate mining permits.

Phosphate mining and intense agriculture are largely responsible for drying up the small streams that once fed the river.

In recent years, the river has gone dry near its headwaters and the harbor has grown increasingly salty.

To reverse some of the old damage, the DEP suggests restoring forests and old streams.

Also, the DEP will ask the Legislature to put back a trust fund that pays for reclaiming old phosphate mines. The mines act as plugs in the landscape, diverting water flow to the river. Reclamation would involve returning the original water flow.

The DEP also sees the need to stop future stream and wetland losses. But first, Cantrell said the agency needs to figure out how those losses are happening.

Cantrell said he does not believe any land-use permitting in the watershed is leading to wetlands loss today, but he said it's worth reviewing the laws in place to make sure they are effective.

Jim Cooper, head of a regional environmental group called Protect our Watersheds, said the plan's priority needs to focus on putting laws in place that keep development, mining and agriculture from causing future harm to Charlotte Harbor.

To achieve that, Cooper said there needs to be a lot of follow-up to the plan, including money to form a committee that will make sure the plan doesn't gather dust.

Otherwise, Cooper said, "it'll be like opening up a fortune cookie and reading some good news."

Water will be tested off polluted beach

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

CROSS CITY - The mystery of Florida's dirtiest beach could soon be solved.

Water samples will be taken next week around Shired Island in Dixie County. After previous tests showed high bacteria levels near the remote island, a national environmental group named the beach there the dirtiest in the state.

The new samples will be DNA tested to determine whether human or animal waste is polluting the water. Officials suspect birds or other animals are the source, though they say health warnings will be ramped up in either case.

"We don't care from a public health standpoint whether it's human or animal, because both of them can make you sick," said Robert Vincent, environmental administrator for the Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Water Programs.

The Dixie Soil and Water Conservation District discussed Wednesday how to address the problem. District members said they would improve signs warning swimmers and seek funding for additional water tests and improved waste treatment at facilities there.

The beach is in a county park surrounded by the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, south of Horseshoe Beach on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Because of the remote location, officials have been puzzled about the high bacteria levels.

The Natural Resources Defense Council last year named Shired Island one of 22 "beach bums" for violating water-quality standards at least half the time samples were taken. Fifteen of 20 tests in the past four months found high levels of enterococcus, a bacteria that can cause diarrhea and infections of the eyes, nose, throat and skin.

Shired Island is in an estuary attracting migrating birds, so county officials suspect birds are the bacteria source. While health warnings are posted when bacteria levels are high, officials say they'll now install a permanent sign.

"Maybe it's just a location that wasn't meant for swimming. It's not Daytona Beach," said Wesley Asbell, the county's environmental health director.

The conservation district also will seek money to improve facilities at the park. Asbell said a high-efficiency septic tank could be installed for a public restroom, and recreational vehicles could be allowed to dump waste there.

The soil district also will seek money for additional tests. The Suwannee River Water Management District funded a study finding that human and animal waste were bacteria sources in water samples taken in 1999 and 2000.

The study used less sophisticated technology than DNA testing and was conducted in dry years, limiting runoff that could contribute to bacteria.

The new tests could use DNA testing and provide a more accurate picture.

But they won't solve the mystery completely. While the tests can identify animals as the source, they won't show the species.

Dixie County Commissioner Buddy Lamb said a discovery that humans are the source will create another mystery for the county.

"If you identify the problem, you've got to identify where it comes from," he said. Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.

Ads focus on clean water
Campaign urges residents to pitch in
By Jennifer Jefferson
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

“There is nothing cute about pollution” warn the new public-service announcements about to come your way from the city of Tallahassee. Yellow rubber ducks symbolically follow the route of stormwater through town.

“Don't duck your responsibility," is the theme.

And therein lies the message.

With a combined budget of $1.2 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, private companies and tax dollars, the city is kicking off its Think About Personal Pollution (TAPP) initiative to educate residents about everyday habits that contribute to water pollution. They advise residents to curb their dogs, avoid fertilizers with phosphorus and nitrogen, avoid dumping chemicals down the drain and contain stormwater with rain gardens so that water can naturally filter back into the aquifer.

“We cannot do it alone,” said John Buss, director of the city's stormwater management division. These practices will “ensure runoff from their yard is as clean as possible.”

“Everything that goes on the ground will end up in the water eventually,” project coordinator Nancy Miller said.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection reports that more than half of the pollutants that enter Florida's water systems and more than 75 percent of the pollutants in Florida's lakes are attributed to personal pollution.

"Just as each of us relies on water every day, each of us also pollutes daily, often without realizing it,” Miller said.

Water quality in Tallahassee is not bad, but there are some spots that aren't good.

“We have fairly good water quality,” TAPP grant manager Blas Gomez said. “Except for Lake Munson, it's one of the most polluted lakes in the state.”

The lake was once used as a sewage dump, but has since been restored, though not to its original pristine condition. Wakulla County officials have also blamed Tallahassee's sprayfields and stormwater runoff for the deterioration of Wakulla Springs.

Because of these dangers to the environment, residents are reminded to be a little more mindful of their everyday habits.

“We are blessed to have a large quantity of water,” Miller said. “We are on top of the aquifer. When you see a sinkhole, you're really looking into our drinking water.”

Agencies oppose all 4 routes for new river bridge

By Teresa Lane

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, March 08, 2007

PORT ST. LUCIE — Three environmental agencies that hold the key to a new bridge over the St. Lucie River have rejected all four possible routes, meaning the city will become the first agency in Florida to undergo a complex dispute resolution that could end with the governor and Cabinet deciding a crucial question: Will the Crosstown Parkway be a road to nowhere?

Although city officials already are building the first segments of the six-lane road between Manth Lane and Interstate 95, they still need state approval to cross state-owned preserves along the river to reach U.S. 1.

Without the bridge, the Crosstown Parkway belies its name and serves only those west of the river, doing nothing to relieve parking-lot conditions on two existing roads that span the pristine river: Port St. Lucie and Prima Vista boulevards.

During a recent meeting with the city and state Department of Transportation, local agents from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission raised red flags over four possible bridge routes between Manth Lane and U.S. 1.

A red flag indicates a project is contrary to an agency's goals, is impermissible, has significant environmental impacts or that the need for it is questionable.

DEP ultimately reduced its opposition to the northernmost route to an orange flag, meaning it had substantial concerns.

City Engineer Walter England said state officials like the northern route because it doesn't cross state-owned preserves, but it would have similar environmental impacts while disrupting far more homes and businesses than the city's favored route, between West Virginia and Village Green drives.

It also is projected to attract fewer motorists than the remaining routes because it is farther from heavily used Port St. Lucie Boulevard.

"It doesn't satisfy the problem," England said. "We could live with the Walters Terrace route, but it also has a high socioeconomic impact because it cuts diagonally across neighborhoods."

City Manager Don Cooper said that, despite the opposition, he's happy to be moving from local agency officials to those at a higher level so final decisions can be made more quickly. The city has been studying potential bridge routes for several years and had hoped to be designing a new span by now.

"We can finally get to a level where people can make decisions," Cooper said.

Beatriz Caicedo-Maddison, senior project manager for DOT in Fort Lauderdale, said the Efficient Transportation Decision-Making Process the city is undergoing has been in effect for a few years but said Port St. Lucie is the first agency to receive red flags, resulting in an appeal to agency directors.

The dispute process will take about 120 days.

If the parties can't agree on a route by then, the city could appeal to the governor and Cabinet for relief, officials said.

Brooker Creek flooding study expanded

By NICOLE HUTCHESON
Published March 8, 2007

A study to find ways to ease flooding near the Brooker Creek Preserve is being expanded to three other flood-prone areas in North Pinellas.

Engineers with the Southwest Florida Water Management District will look at the areas around Lake Tarpon, the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal and Hollin Creek, which feeds Salt Lake just south of the Pinellas-Pasco county line.

In 2004, the state planned to spend $1.4-million to study ways to reduce flooding and improve the water quality of the Brooker Creek watershed, which covers about 30 square miles across Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

Development has created flooding problems in neighborhoods surrounding Brooker Creek.

The 2004 Brooker Creek study is still under way, but will cost only $902,356.

So the water management district will use the rest of the money to analyze the three adjacent watersheds, which cover a total of 28 square miles.

The studies will look at:

- Land elevation, drainage ditches and culverts.

- Flooding or water quality problems.

- Potential projects to solve the flooding problems.

Those could include installing different sized culverts or rerouting drainage.

"We're trying to do studies on every watershed," said Michael Molligan, spokesman for the management district, also known as Swiftmud.

"A lot of the problems are from developments prior to 1984 when district permitting went into effect."

After the study conducted on the three outlying watersheds is complete, the findings will be shared with local officials.

We Must Stop Wasting Water

Pasco Tribune Editorial Published: Mar 5, 2007

"Waste not, want not."

Dad repeated these words of wisdom throughout my youth. Then, and for a long time, they were more memorable than meaningful.

Today, they are words I live by. I live them in the context of water resources, which once seemed as limitless as the oceans but now seem as finite as the span of our lives.

Being wasteful was never a characteristic of the America I grew up in. At most, it is a recent and transitory behavior that is sometimes referred to as "affluenza." It is an aberration in this land of plenty which has just about run its course, as the law of supply and demand forces us to focus on using resources more wisely.

The signs of a return to common sense are all around us.

Water resources are as much governed by supply and demand as any other resource. The soundtrack of my life conjures up the musical phrase "take what you need and leave the rest." Drawing from the aquifer to create and sustain unnatural landscapes isn't the whole problem, and just using less individually isn't the whole solution. That is just one part of the equation.

The other side of the equation is where even greater waste occurs. As we pave paradise, we encourage our precious rainfall to run off our yards and flow through gutters, pipes and channels into the sea instead of directing it back into the ground to replace what we borrowed. In the process, all the wastes flushing into pipes, ponds, puddles and streams degrade surface waters instead of being naturally cleansed and recycled as it infiltrates the earth.

Beating ourselves up for temporarily being a little neglectful, self-indulgent and unengaged is a waste of time and energy. The solution is quite simply achieved by paying attention to both the supply and demand sides of the water balance where we live and work.

The problem cannot be solved solely by government rules, regulations and public works projects. The solution doesn't require spending a lot more money, either, but it does need the active participation of "we the people." Simply stated, the solution is no more complicated than eliminating wasteful irrigation and doing all you can to help the rain soak into the earth instead of running into the street.

Eliminating wasteful irrigation is mostly ensuring that water is evenly distributed to turf and groundcovers or directed to the roots of shrubs and trees. The most difficult part is scheduling the irrigation by taking into account recent weather conditions. When attached to irrigation systems, soil moisture sensors do that automatically. Fortunately, irrigation technology advances have made the sensors so affordable that their cost can be quickly recovered through lower water bills.

Directing water into the ground isn't difficult. Direct gutter downspouts onto the lawn and landscape, or collect it into a rain barrel for later use. Revisit the idea of using shell, gravel and mulch driveways. The water will be filtered and absorbed before it gets to street gutters and pipes to be carried off into surface waters that eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

Expanses of concrete and asphalt pavement are currently the norm, and its imperviousness has made stormwater control a necessity at the expense of groundwater recharging.

The good news is that many forward-thinking architects, engineers and builders of today are busily designing driveways with paving stones and some roads, parking lots, bike paths and sidewalks with porous asphalt or concrete. Even accumulated mountains of discarded tires are being recycled into surfaces that allow water to pass through faster than a heavy downpour of rain may fall upon it.

Waste not, want not - we would all do well to keep those words in mind.

The writer is Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program coordinator in Pasco County, a position funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. He can be reached at (727) 847-8177 or e-mailed at Cdewey@pascocountyfl.net.

Resort wins early legal battle

A circuit judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Save the Homosassa River Alliance against the River-side Resort expansion, saying the alliance and its members lacked standing to file suit.

Circuit Judge Charles Harris said the lawsuit failed to show how the alliance or its members are negatively af-fected to a higher degree than others in the Homosassa River community. He said they lacked standing and gave the alliance 20 days to amend its paperwork and file again.

The alliance said it would amend the lawsuit.

The alliance has filed two lawsuits challenging county commission approval of the expansion of Riverside Resort on the Homosassa River. Harris dismissed the suit that alleges the county violated its own comprehensive plan by approving the project.

Harris said the alliance must provide more information than merely claiming its members live in Homosassa.

“Living and owning property in the community, even in the vicinity, is insufficient in and of itself to establish standing,” Harris wrote. “There are many in the community who own property, even along the Homosassa River sys-tem. Contributing to environmental causes and participating in public meetings also is insufficient to grant standing. And merely being more willing than others to litigate does not confer standing.”

The resort is converting motel units to condominiums on a piece of property zoned general commercial. The two-story resort would become a four-story resort on the river.

In the suit Harris dismissed, the alliance argued that Riverside Resort lies in the newly established Old Homo-sassa Redevelopment District, which is part of the comprehensive plan. They say the district has enhanced land use standards that prohibit buildings that don’t look like Old Homosassa, a one-story community.

However, Derrill L. McAteer, attorney for Riverside Resort owner Gail Oakes, said his client bent over back-wards to design the resort to look very much like the fishing community that surrounds it, including tin roofs. He said the resort would become the economic hub of Old Homosassa.

McAteer and the county’s attorney, Michele Lieberman, raised the issue of standing in a hearing last week. McAteer said the judge made it clear that when people don’t live within sight or sound of a project they lack the standing to file this type of challenge in court. He said they have also made no claims that the project will do envi-ronmental harm.

He also said the alliance is chartered as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization and is not supposed to be involved in trying to influence politics.

“They are playing with fire on their 501(c)3,” he said. “They are going on an anti-development kick with this or-ganization and that’s not what it was intended to do.”

Alliance President Priscilla Watkins said the alliance is not allowed to take part in partisan politics, or to support or oppose political candidates, and it has not engaged in those activities.

She said last week’s hearing before Harris was confusing. She said the alliance was under the impression the judge would rule only on Oakes’ request to intervene in the lawsuits against her project, but the judge began asking questions about standing, which was unrelated.

“All that was supposed to be heard was the motion to intervene. It should have been a case of yes or no and we’re out of here,” she said. “That’s why we didn’t attend the hearing. His position on standing is weird, to say the least. The community of Old Homosassa is under enhanced land use standards and we participated in that. I don’t see how he can say we don’t have standing.”

The judge’s ruling does not affect the alliance’s second lawsuit, which alleges alliance members were not given due process when the resort was approved in a county commission public hearing.

Phony ballots for myregion.org tossed

A growth poll may have been the target of a Web prank, but the results weren't affected much.

State frowns at mine permit

Efforts to expand the Inglis Quarry in northern Citrus County ran afoul of a state envi-ronmental agency Monday.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection notified a consultant for Cemex Inc., the mine operator, it has concerns about the potential effects of the mine expansion on water quality and residential wells in the area.

Cemex has applied for an amended surface water management permit that would allow the company to expand limestone mining activities from 335 to 809 acres. The surface water management system would grow from 704 to 1,074 acres and 30 acres of wetlands would be dredged or filled, according to DEP.

To compensate for wetland damage, the owner of the mine, Dixie Hollins, offered to con-vey to the state his harvest rights to an area of slash pine saw timber on state-owned lands adjacent to the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway.

However, Richard W. Cantrell, deputy director of the Division of Water Management, said the agency has a number of concerns about impacts to water levels, fish and wildlife, and water quality. The agency also has concerns about whether the proposed surface water man-agement system can effectively protect the environment.

In a March 5 letter to Creative Environmental Solutions Inc., a consultant for Cemex, Cantrell said Cemex will have to conduct extensive groundwater monitoring and a detailed study of subsurface soil and water conditions to address agency concerns.

“It is expected that the study will be ongoing for some period of time,” Cantrell wrote. “The results of the study may recommend significant changes to the design of your proposed surface water management system. For these reasons, Department staff recommends that the applicant withdraw environmental resource permit modification application No. 231108-002.”

Dave Berkley, president of Withlacoochee Area Residents (WAR), said that with DEP re-questing such a volume of information from Cemex, “it gives them a high hill to climb.” WAR is opposed to the mine expansion.

“I think what they are saying is there is no chance for expansion until they address all of DEP’s concerns,” he said.

Sarasota County eyes property held by city

Panel OKs $14.5 Million Land Deal

By Robin Williams Adams
The Ledger

BARTOW - A lakeside orange grove owned by a fifth-generation Floridian is poised to become a park for the recreation-starved Four Corners area, while congested Hunt-Fountain Park in North Lakeland will get some relief from a new park slated for Daughtrey Road.

Polk County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to spend $14.5 million for two pieces of property, with the bulk of that amount - just under $12.5 million - going for the Hayman Family Partnership's 83.15 acres. That land, which Leisure Services Director Don W. Wilson described as the "crown jewel of the Four Corners area" is east of U.S. 27 , 1.2 miles south of the Lake County line, and includes lakefront acreage along Old Lake Davenport.

The other parcel, the 28.57 acre Ottinger property, is at 2010 W. Daughtrey Road in North Lakeland and will cost just over $2 million. It's a short distance south of Hunt-Fountain Park on Duff Road.

These are the first of several purchases to be made under a 10-year plan for acquiring 550 acres of parkland, which will reduce some of Polk County's existing shortage of parks, Wilson said. Meetings will be held to get input from area residents on what they want while plans for the parks are being designed.

Commissioner Jack Myers said he wants to know whether Four Corners residents would like the park to include a community center near the lake, available for holding events such as weddings.

Although many areas in Polk County feel the strain of needing more park facilities, the shortage is particularly acute in Four Corners where booming growth has absorbed much of the desirable land and owners often are unwilling to sell large tracts.

Both purchases will close by the end of the month, unless there are delays in moving a small amount of dirt with traces of arsenic in it on the Four Corners site, Wilson said. He said the arsenic traces developed naturally and are confined to a 40-foot-by-40-foot area. Clean-up will involve hauling away three dump loads of dirt, he said.

Initially, when the county looked at the Hayman property, it wasn't for sale.

Dr. W.P. Bill Hayman, who has owned the property since 1954, said he and his wife, Maude, began considering selling the land as they became older, but that their daughters were reluctant to let it go.

The land is still a producing orange grove, said Hayman, who was born alongside Lake Cannon in Winter Haven in 1923.

"It is an outstanding piece of property," he said, recalling how desolate the area was when he bought it.

Once the family decided to sell, he and Wilson said, the steps that brought it to the county seemed almost preordained.

Hayman, a retired Air Force veterinarian now living in Maitland, had an appointment with his lawyer, Don. H. Wilson, and a prospective private buyer. But the potential buyer canceled their appointment.

Don H. Wilson, who does legal work for the Polk County School Board, checked to see whether the School District was interested in buying the land. The site was too far north for the district, but school officials suggested the county might be interested.

A county official, Don W. Wilson, meanwhile, had gone to take another look at the Four Corners land and resolved to make another try at acquiring it. Don H. Wilson called within hours of his return from that trip.

Hayman said he is glad Polk County is acquiring the land, rather than a private developer, not only because he thinks it will make a beautiful park but because "I grew up here in Bartow. I still have roots here."

Robin Williams Adams can be reached at robin.adams@theledger.com or 863-802-7558.

241 homes planned for Ridge Manor

Planning staffers are recommending the P&Z board approve the rezoning of the property from agricultural and planned development (single family) to a planned development accommodating multi-family housing (townhomes).

The development is expected to add about 80 additional students to Eastside Elementary, D.S. Parrott Middle and Hernando High schools, according to Ken Pritz, the county school board’s facility and support operations executive director.

This will be the third time engineer Nicholas Nicholson will appear before the board to pitch the project, which has been downsized since it was first submitted in October 2006. At that time, the developer sought approval for 392 condominiums.

Townhomes are not only less expensive to build but fill a needed niche in Hernando County, Nicholson said.

The developer plans to sell these units for around $150,000, which would classify them as workforce housing. Nicholson said his idea of workforce housing is a household that earns $45,000 annually or less.

“We’re trying to keep the price down to $150,000 so teachers, policemen, firemen and people working at the nearby Wal-Mart Distribution Center can live there,” Nicholson said.

The units will be for sale only and there will be a homeowners association, clubhouse and pool.

Nicholson said the Withlacoochee State Forest across the street and the easy access to Interstate 75 should be main draws.

The developer has agreed to improve Croom Rital Road, which had been a concern with planning staffers. He also reduced the number of homes to satisfy the county and nearby residents.

Nicholson said he will present on Monday a plan to alleviate potential flooding on the site.

If approved, Selway would piggy back on the county’s flooding relief project planned for that area to enhance his own development and save the county money.

Recently, the county worked out an agreement with the owners of Sherman Hills Golf Club that would allow the county to construct and maintain a stormwater pump station in the drainage retention area at Stoney Brook.

The county will lay pipe lines and pump water into the irrigation holding pond there for the golf course, which can use it for irrigation.

The pump station will affect about 15-20 homes along Sherman Hills Boulevard, close to the proposed project. At times, the flooding is so bad that emergency vehicles are unable to access many of those homes.

The developer has agreed to give the county easement to construct a force main along the western boundary of our property so residents property won’t be torn up.

Nicholson’s plan is to add on to the existing pond and move the pump station to the north, which means the county would have to pump less often and save money.

It will also solve the flooding problem for residents, he said.

The pump station will be designed so that during the times when Sherman Hills Golf Club does not need irrigating, the treated water from nearby Stoney Brook pond will bypass the golf course and continue through the system to other areas off-site.

The planning and zoning meeting begins at 9 a.m. Monday, March 12 at the Government Center, 20 North Main St. in downtown Brooksville.

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

Land sale to test Stuart's historic rules

By Rachel Simmonsen

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Developer balks at providing playground equipment

Polk drives panel away

A state senator says the transportation authority wouldn't benefit the county.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO and MIVHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published March 8, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Is Polk County part of Tampa Bay?

Not according to state Sen. J.D. Alexander, who helped withdraw Polk from a proposed regional transportation authority that would finance major projects, including a possible rail system, for seven counties: Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota.

A Senate transportation committee on Wednesday gave the unanimous nod to the proposed authority, which is sponsored by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

Missing from the list of counties is the one east of Hillsborough with two vital Tampa Bay-area roads: Interstate 4 and State Road 60.

Despite these ties, Polk doesn't belong, Alexander said.

"The interests of Tampa Bay are different . . . than the interests of Polk County," he said. "We're not Tampa Bay, we're not Orlando. We're in the middle. ... I think we should develop on our own."

Alexander said last week that Polk should develop ties to inland counties south of it that aren't included in the proposed authority. Those rural counties are where Alexander wants the state to build a $7-billion toll road. He controls companies that own land along the proposed 152-mile route.

His lobbying for that road had nothing to do with his effort to remove Polk, he said.

Alexander has played a prominent role in Polk's withdrawal. Fasano and the sponsor of a similar bill in the House, Bill Galvano, said the request to omit Polk came from Alexander.

Transportation Committee member Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, said she was surprised to learn Wednesday that her home county wasn't a part of the bill.

"If I were to find out that Polk County wanted to be there ...," she started to ask Fasano.

"We would welcome them with open arms," he answered before she could finish.

Fasano said when Alexander approached him, he assumed he was speaking for the county leadership.

But on Feb. 26, Polk County's Transportation Planning Organization sent a letter to its local delegation recommending Polk be included in the authority.

"Polk County is part of Tampa Bay," said Michael Skipper, a senior transportation planner for the group. "The DOT's own analysis shows much of the ridership of a commuter rail system would come from Polk."

On Wednesday, Alexander said he didn't believe the Polk delegation had taken a position on the issue. He said the TPO endorsed the Tampa Bay authority only after it listened to a presentation from a Tampa representative.

Freshman Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, said he would at least like the legislation to allow Polk County to opt into the plan. He said he wasn't aware of Alexander's concerns, but feels lawmakers should be attentive to the recommendation of the county's transportation experts.