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T H E C A B I N E T
S T A T E O F F L O R I D A
Representing:
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME I
The above agencies came to be heard before
THE FLORIDA CABINET, Honorable Governor Bush
presiding, in the Cabinet Meeting Room, LL-03,
The Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday,
March 13, 2001, commencing at approximately 9:17 a.m.
Reported by:
LAURIE L. GILBERT COX
Registered Professional Reporter
Certified Court Reporter
Certified Realtime Reporter
Registered Merit Reporter
Notary Public in and for
the State of Florida at Large
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
100 SALEM COURT
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301
850/878-2221
2
APPEARANCES:
Representing the Florida Cabinet:
JEB BUSH
Governor
TERRY L. RHODES
Commissioner of Agriculture
BOB MILLIGAN
Comptroller
KATHERINE HARRIS
Secretary of State
BOB BUTTERWORTH
Attorney General
TOM GALLAGHER
Treasurer
CHARLIE CRIST
Commissioner of Education
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March 13, 2001
I N D E X
ITEM ACTION PAGE
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION:
(Presented by Wayne V. Pierson,
Deputy Commissioner)
1 Approved 5
2 Approved 6
3 Approved 6
4 Approved 7
5 Approved 8
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT
TRUST FUND:
(Presented by David B. Struhs,
Secretary)
1 Deferred 9
2 Denied 109
Substitute 3 Withdrawn 110
4 Deferred 110
5 Approved 110
6 Approved 110
7 Approved 112
8 Approved 115
Second
Substitute 9 Presentation 116
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 190
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March 13, 2001
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (The agenda items commenced at 10:00 a.m.)
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Board of Education.
4 MR. PIERSON: Good morning.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
6 MR. PIERSON: Item 1 is minutes of the
7 meeting held on January 23rd, 2001.
8 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Governor --
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes.
10 COMMISSIONER CRIST: -- could I interrupt?
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah.
12 COMMISSIONER CRIST: I forgot to notice
13 some people that are very important to your
14 mentoring initiative who are here with us
15 today.
16 (Discussion off the record.)
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a motion on the
18 minutes?
19 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Yes.
20 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Moved.
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: Second?
22 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
23 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
24 Without objection, it's approved.
25 MR. PIERSON: Item 2 is delegation of
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March 13, 2001
1 authority by the State Board of Education to
2 the Agency Clerk, Department of Education.
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Motion?
4 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Second.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: One of you want to move the
6 thing, and then the other --
7 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Motion.
8 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH:
9 (Indicating.)
10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Second.
11 Moved and seconded.
12 Without objection, it's approved
13 (Discussion off the record.)
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 3.
15 MR. PIERSON: Item 3 is adoption of a
16 resolution authorizing the competitive sale of
17 not exceeding fourteen million five hundred and
18 eighty thousand dollars, full faith and credit,
19 State Board of Education Capital Outlay Bonds.
20 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Little out of sinc.
21 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Motion.
22 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
23 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
24 Without objection, approved.
25 What is that noise back there?
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1 COMMISSIONER CRIST: What is there, a radio
2 in here?
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: You can't hear anything?
4 Am I just --
5 COMMISSIONER CRIST: No, I hear it.
6 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- hallucinating or
7 something?
8 COMMISSIONER CRIST: I hear it, Governor.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: It's gone now.
10 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: I think it's
11 yours.
12 MEMBER OF THE MEDIA: No, it isn't.
13 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: You up too
14 late?
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: No, I didn't get --
16 I'm sorry. It was a little distracting.
17 Item 4.
18 MR. PIERSON: Item 4 is repeal of several
19 State University rules.
20 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Motion.
21 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
23 Without objection, it's approved.
24 MR. PIERSON: Item 5 is a revision of
25 Rule 6C-6.0105, Student Conduct and Discipline,
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1 State University System.
2 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Motion.
3 COMMISSIONER RHODES: Second.
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
5 Without objection, it's approved.
6 Thank you.
7 (The State Board of Education Agenda was
8 concluded.)
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1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Board of Trustees.
2 Mr. Secretary?
3 MR. STRUHS: Yes. Good morning.
4 We're asking to defer Item Number 1, sir.
5 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Motion to
6 defer.
7 COMMISSIONER RHODES: Second.
8 GOVERNOR BUSH: Motion to defer.
9 Is there a second?
10 COMMISSIONER RHODES: Yes, sir.
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: Without objection, the
12 motion is deferred.
13 MR. STRUHS: Item 2 is the issue of
14 Brickell Key Marina/Swire Properties, an item
15 that has been deferred a number of times.
16 We are today bringing that forward to your
17 consideration, and recommending a denial. As
18 you are well aware, the Biscayne Bay Aquifer
19 Preserve is a -- is a unique statutory
20 structure that sets a very high bar for these
21 kinds of projects.
22 We do have a number of individuals though
23 who are here speaking in support of the
24 project, and I'd like to invite them, at their
25 request, to speak to you, including
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1 Mr. Jack Peeples, Mayor Carrollo,
2 Attorney Frank Matthews, Sergeant Serig, and
3 Paul Larsen.
4 If you could all come forward, please.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning. Welcome.
6 Jack, you going to start us off?
7 MR. PEEPLES: Yes, sir.
8 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Oh, that's a map.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Careful.
10 COMMISSIONER CRIST: It's going to hit --
11 hit the roof.
12 MR. PEEPLES: Can you see it all right? Is
13 it --
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: I can see it. It's pretty
15 big.
16 COMMISSIONER CRIST: I can't see it,
17 Governor.
18 MR. PEEPLES: May it please the Governor,
19 and members of the Cabinet, my name is
20 Jack Peeples.
21 And I am counsel to Swire Properties, the
22 co-applicant with the City of Miami for a
23 marina park, along the lee shore of
24 Brickell Key, this area right here.
25 I'm going to attempt to conserve your time
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1 by having a series of very brief presentations
2 to deal with the issues that remain before you
3 today to be resolved.
4 I'm going to first make a very brief
5 overview of the orientation, remind you of the
6 physical setup in our city.
7 Then Mayor Carrollo is going to make a
8 presentation.
9 Following that will be Frank Matthews to
10 discuss the legal and regulatory issues
11 involved.
12 Then we have Sergeant Arthur Serig, the
13 Chief of the Miami Marine Patrol, who will
14 speak to you briefly; and then Paul Larsen, an
15 environmental engineer, will discuss some
16 details.
17 First I want to have all of you look for a
18 moment and see -- as I say, remind yourself of
19 the situation we have in our city.
20 In the first place, on the left side of
21 this aerial photograph, you'll see the main
22 north-south arterial roadway in our community.
23 This is the only limited access roadway east of
24 the extension of the Turnpike into Palmetto.
25 It is our primary road for access north and
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1 south.
2 You will notice a very -- major
3 intersection there, which intercepts the
4 traffic and takes it to Watson Island and to
5 the beach, and also receives traffic coming
6 from the airport into I-95.
7 It continues on down, and this, of course,
8 is the most essential intersection we have in
9 our city. This is the intersection which
10 brings all the traffic into our city.
11 Unfortunately, when the traffic comes into
12 this point, it arrives at the major problem we
13 have had in our community, and the Mayor's
14 effort to revitalize it, and that is the total
15 lack of any utilization of the core of our
16 city.
17 There are 10 acres here that have remained
18 undeveloped for the last 30 years, principally
19 because of some private litigation not germane
20 to your issue. And, of course, there's a
21 vastly undeveloped -- or improperly developed
22 resource here, and the -- and the Dupont Plaza
23 Hotel.
24 So when someone comes and enters our city,
25 they -- they -- that's what they enter to.
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1 And you're going to hear from the Mayor,
2 the plans that he has for energizing this
3 area -- infrastructure area, and getting our
4 city revitalization plan moving.
5 Now, from here, I -- I need to get you to
6 get some point of reference. This is
7 Brickell Key. The perimeter of this key is
8 almost exactly 1 mile. So to give you some
9 point of reference, this shoreline would go on
10 here -- from here to there. This shoreline
11 would go from here to the north end of the
12 Bicentennial Park.
13 So now you have some frame of reference on
14 this -- on this map.
15 Now, moving north from here, I need to
16 identify these, because the -- the -- the
17 representations that the Mayor's going to make
18 to you require you to focus for a moment on the
19 setup that we have in our city now.
20 If you go all the way to that point, you
21 will find the area that we normally think of as
22 the northern bookend of our downtown. It is
23 the site of our soon to be constructed
24 performing arts complex.
25 Of course, that's the Omni area there, and
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1 people in that area would quarrel with me that
2 that's -- they should also be included. But
3 essentially this is the -- the northern
4 boundary of our downtown.
5 This is Bicentennial Park, this is the
6 American Airlines Arena, this is the
7 Miami Marina, this is Bayside, this is the
8 Bayfront Park, and this is the Intercontinental
9 Hotel.
10 And, of course, we're now back down to
11 our -- basically our problem area, which is the
12 core of our city, which is totally undeveloped,
13 and lacks any infrastructure.
14 Now, when you cross the river, the first
15 thing you'd notice -- and the Secretary of
16 State would be upset, I'm sure, if I didn't
17 mention this as the most significant asset we
18 have south of the river -- and that is the --
19 the park which she recently came down and
20 dedicated for us. That's our Circle Park.
21 As you cross -- as you cross this --
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Has the County -- how are
23 we doing on the fund raising for that?
24 Miami Circle.
25 MR. PEEPLES: I'm -- I'm really not
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1 familiar with that.
2 GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
3 MR. PEEPLES: I'm -- I'm surprised I
4 haven't been asked to -- to assist in it.
5 But at any rate, when you -- when you --
6 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Well --
7 MR. PEEPLES: -- when you --
8 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: -- we're
9 asking now, sir.
10 MR. PEEPLES: Okay.
11 When you cross the river, we have three
12 bridges crossing the river here. We also have,
13 as all of you know, I think, our people mover
14 moves around, has -- circles here, and also
15 continues all the way down now into the
16 Brickell area to service this area also from
17 the people mover.
18 The Metro Mover, it also crosses the river
19 here, and brings the people from the south --
20 have the ability to come directly into the
21 downtown station and connect up to the
22 people mover.
23 So we have in our community essentially
24 almost a -- a seamless -- a seamless situation
25 here on the river in terms of the
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1 interrelationship in our city.
2 And as you cross the river and come to the
3 south, after the park, you will recall that
4 this is the --
5 (Treasurer Gallagher exited the room.)
6 MR. PEEPLES: -- area that General Milligan
7 has been so -- so helpful in -- in assisting us
8 into turning it into the -- emerging as the --
9 as the number one international financial
10 center in the world, and certainly now clearly
11 the financial capital of the Americas.
12 Also here we have an emerging, very
13 interesting project called Brickell Village.
14 It has been -- being developed under the
15 leadership of me began Megan Kelly of
16 Swire Properties.
17 And it is our intention that this village
18 will function very much like Coconut Grove and
19 South Beach to create a downtown entertainment
20 area.
21 The end of the City, most of us would say,
22 in terms of downtown, is just about in this
23 area. And -- and so, therefore, this,
24 of course, as -- as I started off to say, is
25 absolutely dead center in our city.
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1 Now, if you take the two intersections
2 here, and the interstate, and you recognize how
3 they -- it flows -- the automobile traffic
4 flows, you will find that if you take those two
5 intersections, and this north-south artery, and
6 bring it over with respect to marine traffic,
7 we replicate right here exactly that situation.
8 All east-west boat traffic in our county
9 is -- is on the Miami River.
10 There is -- it's a huge port. As you know,
11 there are arguments about whether it's fifth or
12 seventh largest port. I don't know. It's a
13 very large port. It's very active.
14 On the initiatives of the Governor and
15 others of you on the Cabinet, we are very
16 hopeful that the -- the new initiative is going
17 to assist us in -- in -- in bringing this river
18 into the -- into the valuable resource that it
19 is for us.
20 But this river exits here, and then the
21 Intracoastal Waterway, which obviously begins
22 in Maine, and comes right on down here, and
23 comes at this point, and hugs the shore of this
24 island, and continues on down.
25 Therefore, this intersection for boats is
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1 exactly like this intersection for automobile
2 traffic.
3 Now, we have over 60,000 boats in our
4 county that the State has registered. And I'm
5 not absolutely sure, but I'm almost sure, that
6 if you stopped any segment of those
7 60,000 boaters out on the bay, where I am
8 almost all of the time, you will find -- and
9 ask 100 of them, I am certain that all 100 of
10 them in their boating activities will come past
11 that intersection.
12 Why? Because any boat coming from the
13 south, attempting to exit to the ocean, is
14 going to come up the Intracoastal Waterway.
15 Unfortunately, after it has been loaded
16 on -- it has been put in by a -- on a -- on a
17 boat ramp, and moved out across the flats here
18 to get here, it will come up to here -- to --
19 to exit to the ocean, or to go north for the
20 activities up there.
21 Any boat coming down from the south, there
22 is no other access north-south waterway until
23 you get to the ocean, which is an unprotected
24 ocean. As you all know there, there's no reef
25 or anything to give you any protection.
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1 So all of the boat traffic has to move
2 here.
3 So this is an intersection that would --
4 that would remind you of any great intersection
5 of any place in the world where almost all of
6 the traffic must come past that.
7 So -- so it is important to notice that any
8 vessel berthed here is already at the point
9 that almost all of those 60,000 vessels, when
10 they are launched, are eventually going to get
11 to that point, one way or the other: By going
12 north, by going up the river, by exiting the
13 river, or going out to sea.
14 Boats to the south may go out the -- the --
15 the Cape Florida Channel, they may go out
16 Still Still Channel (phonetic) -- it's not too
17 desirable in either instance -- or they may go
18 north and exit out through Bakers Hollow.
19 But essentially this is our intersection.
20 I want to reserve a moment to -- when we
21 close, to discuss one other issue with you.
22 But I want to move forward quickly now, and
23 ask you to -- to receive our Mayor, who is now
24 going to discuss -- discuss the public interest
25 aspect of this application.
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1 Mayor Carollo?
2 GOVERNOR BUSH: Welcome, Mayor.
3 MR. CAROLLO: Thank you, Governor.
4 Good morning, Governor, and members of the
5 Cabinet.
6 Let me begin by thanking you for the
7 opportunity to address you this morning.
8 I come today on behalf of the co-applicant
9 for the submerged lands lease, and I seek your
10 approval in this project on behalf of the City
11 of Miami.
12 The City and Swire Properties have forged a
13 private-public partnership in developing this
14 public project to implement critical public
15 improvements for the health and safety of our
16 citizens, and the resources of the Biscayne
17 Aquatic Preserve.
18 This marina will be the gateway to downtown
19 Miami. It will provide critical boating access
20 to a coastal community, desperate to utilize
21 its waterways.
22 The marina is the critical redevelopment
23 and revitalization component of our downtown
24 plan, and the expected economic benefits will
25 provide us critical resources, which, in turn,
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1 will help us to provide essential services.
2 The tax revenues already realized from
3 Brickell Key have allowed us to make essential
4 municipal purchases, such as badly needed
5 firefighting equipment.
6 For example, most importantly, this project
7 concentrates the marine law enforcement
8 resources at the mouth of the Miami River.
9 The dedication of six wet slips and the
10 establishment of a high visibility,
11 fully-manned police presence at this location
12 is a critical linchpin in crime prevention,
13 boating safety, and manatee protection in the
14 Miami River, and the entire Biscayne Bay.
15 The City supports the revisions which --
16 which have been discussed here today involving
17 the reduction in slips in the reduction in the
18 preempted areas requested.
19 And we believe this proposal responds to
20 all of the concerns which have been identified.
21 We are convinced that the revised proposal
22 greatly advances the public interest, the
23 public health, and the public safety.
24 Any questions which have arisen regarding
25 public necessity should be fully satisfied by
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1 the economic redevelopment, law enforcement,
2 and recreational benefits which are a direct
3 result of your approving this submerged land
4 lease application.
5 The City Commission is unified in its
6 support for this project. And the citizens of
7 Miami respectfully request your favorable
8 consideration to this application.
9 I will be happy to answer any questions
10 that you may have on any other aspects of this
11 proposal, now or at -- at another time.
12 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Mayor.
13 MR. CAROLLO: Thank you very much.
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: Maybe we should hear the
15 rest of the presentations, and -- and then
16 we'll have time for questions.
17 MR. CAROLLO: Thank you, Governor.
18 MR. MATTHEWS: Thank you, Governor, members
19 of the Cabinet. I'm Frank Matthews, with
20 Hopping, Green, Sams & Smith, here on behalf of
21 both the co-applicants, the City of Miami and
22 Swire Properties.
23 My job is to try to simplify the policy
24 issue, which we present here with this
25 application.
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1 Basically, I wouldn't approve it if I was
2 going by the agenda item before you. The
3 comments contained within the agenda item
4 indicate an absence of public necessity, that
5 the public project does not achieve the
6 benefits required under the aquatic preserve
7 standards.
8 I want to just recount as quickly as
9 possible that we do, in fact, meet all of the
10 environmental resource permitting criteria. I
11 don't think that's an issue with anyone.
12 We meet all of the Federal regulatory
13 criteria as expressed by the Fish and Wildlife
14 Service, the United States Corps of Engineers.
15 We also basically have been concluded as
16 having no adverse resource impacts in the
17 Biscayne Aquatic Preserve. There --
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Who --
19 MR. MATTHEWS: -- is no subaqueous
20 vegetation at this location, the depth of the
21 drafts available for the boats to be moored
22 here is absolutely exceptional. And there is
23 no question that there is no environmental
24 adversity created by the location.
25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Frank, just a second.
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1 Did -- is -- did you say that someone
2 validated that?
3 MR. MATTHEWS: Yes, sir.
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: Who was that?
5 MR. MATTHEWS: It was the Fish and Wildlife
6 Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife
7 Service as --
8 GOVERNOR BUSH: That there was no
9 environmental --
10 MR. MATTHEWS: That is correct.
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
12 MR. MATTHEWS: And, in fact, the summary
13 that they've reached, Governor, is that
14 unbalanced, this project is a positive impact
15 on the manatee, which is obviously the
16 endangered species of their concern.
17 And they found that by what we're doing in
18 relocating the headquarters of the
19 Marine Patrol Unit, as Sergeant Serig will
20 speak to, we are providing the on-water
21 law enforcement that absolutely everyone agrees
22 is the response necessary for manatee
23 protection.
24 And, in fact, they have done a calculation
25 demonstrating 364 additional hours annually
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1 being brought to the waters of Biscayne Bay as
2 a result of this proposal.
3 So, in effect, we're sitting here today
4 wrestling with public necessity.
5 And I just want to lead you briefly through
6 the fact that the -- the hardship requirements
7 of the Biscayne Aquatic Preserve state that
8 inherently -- inherently, a public project,
9 which is being constructed with improvements to
10 achieve the public necessity by safety and
11 health advances for the public, accomplishes
12 satisfaction of those criteria.
13 And as -- as we've alluded to, and as the
14 Mayor has spoken to, the project provides
15 concentrated law enforcement for criminal
16 deterrence, boating safety, manatee protection.
17 We provide recreational amenity in a
18 three-and-a-half acre park. We also provide
19 economic revitalization, which will allow the
20 City to accomplish all of its economic
21 objectives in the downtown revitalization
22 effort.
23 What we've got then is, how much is too
24 much? How much can we introduce and meet that
25 public necessity test?
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1 We originally proposed 153 slips. The
2 proposal before you is 112 slips. Since the
3 Aides -- since the Aides meeting --
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: Go ahead.
5 MR. MATTHEWS: -- and I'll conclude as
6 rapidly just to describe the project before
7 you.
8 We have proposed a 70-slip marina, 48 slips
9 south of the brid-- 42 south of the bridge,
10 28 north of the bridge.
11 Under any scenario that anybody has
12 discussed with us, the -- Dade County Manatee
13 Protection Plan would permit eleven powerboat
14 slips, if this was a purely commercial marina.
15 If this was going to be used by fishing
16 charters and water taxis, who had repeated
17 daily trips generated at this marina, I think
18 it's unquestioned by everyone that the baseline
19 would be eleven powerboat slips, and as many
20 sailboat slips as logical to locate at this
21 location.
22 So what we have proposed is a 70-slip
23 marina, at this point, six slips dedicated to
24 the law enforcement effort at the confluence of
25 the Miami River, and then the remaining
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1 64 slips to be utilized on a commercial, slash,
2 support facility for the hotel, the
3 700,000 square feet of commercial space, we
4 have restaurants there, we have facilities that
5 will be augmented by access by boat.
6 We then will have a multifamily residential
7 component at this location, which we estimate
8 to be in the 39-slip area.
9 So what I have before you I believe is the
10 tough job of deciding --
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: That's over and above the
12 70?
13 MR. MATTHEWS: No, sir. That's --
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: That's included in the --
15 MR. MATTHEWS: -- contained within the 70.
16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
17 MR. MATTHEWS: So -- so I think what we
18 come here today looking for your divine
19 guidance on is how to balance the -- the policy
20 objectives of this aquatic preserve, which have
21 as one of their goals how to utilize this
22 waterway for recreational, fishing, boating,
23 and swimming.
24 This waterway will absolutely benefit from
25 the location of this marina proposal. And what
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1 we're asking from you is about 3.2 acres of
2 preempted area represented by the fingers
3 provided by the slips.
4 So -- so I hope we've been able to
5 demonstrate, and that the City and Swire can be
6 applauded for bringing a joint private-public
7 partnership here to achieve an overall public
8 project.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, we'll see how much
10 applaud -- applauding will go on in a little
11 bit. But any --
12 MR. MATTHEWS: I'm going to -- Art Serig
13 is --
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes.
15 MR. MATTHEWS: -- Miami Marine Patrol can
16 speak to the law enforcement issues.
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Welcome, sir.
18 MR. SERIG: Good morning, Governor,
19 Cabinet.
20 My name is Sergeant Art Serig. I'm with
21 the City of Miami Marine Patrol. Been a
22 law enforcement officer for 28 years in Miami,
23 and been assigned to the marine unit for
24 eight years.
25 The first thing I'd like to do is
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1 thank you, Governor, for your new initiative on
2 the Miami River. Thank you for your support
3 and your insight, your commitment to helping us
4 in Miami. It's a -- it's a big help. I've
5 noticed a difference already. And I -- I think
6 this project'll also help.
7 The construction of the six wet slips and
8 the relocation of the headquarters to
9 Brickell Key --
10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Where are you -- where are
11 you located now?
12 MR. SERIG: I'm at Watson Island on the
13 second floor of the Miami Yacht Club.
14 This improves all the services that we
15 could deliver to the citizens of Miami, the
16 crime protection, the boating safety, and the
17 environmental protection, the manatee
18 protection.
19 It's centrally located, and it quickens our
20 response to all areas of the city. It puts us
21 right in the central part of the city, and the
22 busiest part, and the busiest boating area in
23 the City of Miami.
24 Law enforcement can sometimes be just like
25 real estate, it depends on one thing, it
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1 depends on your location. This is an important
2 location to me. We spend a lot of time on the
3 Miami River.
4 We're one of the only agencies that patrols
5 it on a -- on a -- I'd say a daily basis, and
6 we're committed to the Miami River because of
7 the business opportunities that are there, and
8 the money that's generated on the Miami River.
9 Policing the Miami River is critical to
10 performing our mission on the
11 police department. And I don't think there's a
12 better alternative to accomplish this mission,
13 than to concentrate our resources there on the
14 northwest corner.
15 It's a location that everyone goes by, and
16 they see law enforcement there. Where I'm at
17 now, I'm sort of hidden, and I have boats up --
18 that are all over the city. I have boats at
19 Dinner Key now, I have boats at Bayside, and I
20 have boats there.
21 So my downtime for my officers to drive to
22 those vessels are time that will be made up if
23 they are at an office where they can get on the
24 boat and get out on the water faster.
25 The visibility at this location is
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1 invaluable to us. It really is.
2 In addition, the on-water law enforcement
3 time is very -- is practical, and it -- it
4 improves our ability to respond to the citizens
5 and their request for service.
6 Swire Property has already provided a bi--
7 the bicycle unit with the Miami Police
8 Department, a location on the island, and they
9 have shown to be a very cooperative partner
10 with us.
11 Law enforcement needs this facility badly.
12 I don't have a world class facility. I think I
13 have a world class operation, but I don't have
14 a world class facility.
15 I'd like to see this project go forward,
16 and it would benefit the citizens of Miami;
17 and, of course, law enforcement; and the
18 initiatives on the Miami River.
19 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
20 MR. SERIG: Thank you very much.
21 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Governor --
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes. Commissioner.
23 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Sergeant, I'm curious.
24 Could -- if it's possible, could you point on
25 that big map behind you where you're located
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1 now?
2 MR. SERIG: Yes, sir.
3 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Please, sir.
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: He can't.
5 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Can't do it.
6 SECRETARY HARRIS: It's a bit higher.
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: It's -- it's west -- east
8 of --
9 COMMISSIONER CRIST: It's off the map.
10 MR. SERIG: This is the location right now.
11 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Yes, sir.
12 MR. SERIG: We are located over here, sir.
13 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Okay. Thank you, sir.
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: And you have boats you said
15 in -- in Bay--
16 MR. SERIG: It's a little --
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- Bayside, which is just
18 north of the river.
19 SECRETARY HARRIS: Will you point out your
20 other locations of boats?
21 MR. SERIG: I have -- I have one slip
22 here --
23 GOVERNOR BUSH: And then one down --
24 MR. SERIG: -- I have three vessels here --
25 GOVERNOR BUSH: One at the bottom.
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1 MR. SERIG: -- at Watson Island. And
2 Dinner Key, you can't see it. It's -- it's
3 further south than -- I have a boat down there.
4 COMMISSIONER CRIST: So you would be right
5 next to the Miami River at this location; is
6 that correct?
7 MR. SERIG: Over in here I would have an
8 observation post to watch the Miami River, any
9 activity going in, any activity coming out,
10 which is sort of crucial.
11 In the last eight years that I've been
12 involved with the Miami River Commission, one
13 of the most important things that they've asked
14 for, and a lot of the studies that have come
15 forward is that they wanted a law enforcement
16 presence on the Miami River.
17 U.S. Customs now has their -- their
18 operation, which we call Papa 100. But the
19 marine unit has moved. The marine facility is
20 not there. It's at Homestead Air Force Base.
21 So they've taken the marina -- they keep
22 some of their vessels there. And they -- and
23 just added some marked vessels there.
24 But the fact that they're manned, and
25 they're there, and they're able to respond to
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1 the Miami River, U.S. Customs doesn't usually
2 do that. That's my responsibility.
3 But we -- we work with them on the seizures
4 on the Miami River and on the drug aspect. But
5 to have local law enforcement be there
6 basically a 24-hour operation, because we're on
7 call, and we would be there, and the boats
8 would be there, and they'd be seen by people
9 coming in and out.
10 And at that intersection, which are the two
11 major thoroughfares of the water community, it
12 would be a big benefit to all of us.
13 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Thanks, Governor.
14 SECRETARY HARRIS: Sergeant, how many boats
15 do you have now that cover that area?
16 MR. SERIG: Well, I have nine, ma'am. But
17 I couldn't tell you that I have nine in the
18 water.
19 I have -- I have four that are in -- in
20 disrepair, and we're trying to put those -- I
21 have new engines ordered, and we're trying to
22 have a fleet of about nine. And that would
23 include some smaller vessels, some jet skis.
24 But boats that would actually do the
25 major -- majority of the patrolling would be
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1 seven.
2 SECRETARY HARRIS: And so --
3 MR. SERIG: And a --
4 SECRETARY HARRIS: -- would you keep --
5 MR. SERIG: -- seven-man unit.
6 SECRETARY HARRIS: Would you keep your
7 posts, like, on Dinner Key as they're spread
8 out right now?
9 MR. SERIG: I would -- I would keep the
10 majority of them there. I might keep one down
11 there for an emergency if there was an incident
12 and somebody was coming from home, they could
13 have the boat down at Dinner Key.
14 But the officers and the boats that they
15 would patrol in, I would keep there --
16 SECRETARY HARRIS: Keep there --
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Keep at --
18 MR. SERIG: -- at --
19 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- Brickell Key?
20 MR. SERIG: At Brickell Key.
21 SECRETARY HARRIS: Okay. And how many --
22 do you -- I mean, right now, do you have in
23 your budget to have the six boats that will be
24 there?
25 MR. SERIG: I already have the boats --
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1 SECRETARY HARRIS: The boats. And you're
2 going to consolidate off --
3 MR. SERIG: They need to be repaired, and
4 that's in the process now.
5 SECRETARY HARRIS: Okay. And when did you
6 start working on this project for Brickell?
7 MR. SERIG: Well, I've been in the
8 Marine Patrol for eight years, and this project
9 has been talked about at least for five or six
10 in the community about moving my operation --
11 SECRETARY HARRIS: And this particular
12 project that we're talking about now, when did
13 you start working on it?
14 MR. SERIG: I'm going to guess, ma'am, and
15 say, probably in the last -- real heavily in
16 the last two years, year-and-a-half, two years.
17 SECRETARY HARRIS: And is there any other
18 land that you -- that you're aware of that the
19 City or State owns, like across -- exactly
20 across the way, or anything else along that
21 area?
22 MR. SERIG: That the City owns? The City
23 does own some more land, that I'm aware of,
24 up --
25 SECRETARY HARRIS: I can talk -- I can ask
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1 the Mayor. But --
2 MR. SERIG: -- up the -- up the river.
3 There's some parks and some locations like
4 that.
5 But to be, you know, at a point right
6 there -- and not only that, but to have another
7 entity build the facility right now at the --
8 the way the budget is in the City, I don't know
9 that there's the money to build a Marine Patrol
10 facility, and this is going to be provided for
11 us.
12 SECRETARY HARRIS: So they've committed to
13 build the facility -- it talks about a
14 temporary facility in the next nine months.
15 But -- but there will be a facility in their
16 plans, and --
17 MR. SERIG: Yes, ma'am.
18 My understanding is that they will make the
19 temporary facility that we could move into
20 right now. And we're ready to move in as soon
21 as -- as they're ready to have us move in. And
22 the -- and the slips would be built. We'd have
23 to have the slips there also.
24 SECRETARY HARRIS: And the permanent
25 facility?
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1 MR. SERIG: The permanent facility, you'd
2 have to ask Swire when the last building's --
3 or that building is going to be built on the
4 corner.
5 Because the -- the project was to build an
6 observation post so that from our offices,
7 where the officers and where I sit, we can
8 watch the Miami River.
9 SECRETARY HARRIS: And that includes their
10 building the observation tower as well, or
11 deck, whatever it is?
12 MR. SERIG: Either that, or having the
13 ability to watch from the office itself.
14 SECRETARY HARRIS: Thank you.
15 MR. SERIG: Thank you.
16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Any other questions?
17 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Not --
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah.
19 COMMISSIONER CRIST: If I'm hearing you
20 right, it sounds like this would give you the
21 opportunity to have a 24-hour -- you know, be
22 able to stand watch over where there's a
23 significant drug infusion problem in south
24 Florida.
25 MR. SERIG: That was the gist of all the
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1 other studies that have been -- they want a
2 24-hour marine operation, observation post at
3 the -- at the entrance to the Miami River.
4 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Okay. Thanks.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, David.
6 Anybody else have any questions?
7 SECRETARY HARRIS: One last question.
8 When did you get -- when did you do the
9 bicycle route on --
10 MR. SERIG: I -- I believe our bicycle unit
11 has been on there. And they use it as a -- a
12 storage place for the bikes for the -- the bike
13 unit. And they also use it I think as a
14 headquarters for the supervisors to do
15 paperwork.
16 But the actual bike unit themselves are
17 assigned to different areas. They just use
18 that as a meeting point.
19 SECRETARY HARRIS: Okay. Thanks.
20 MR. STRUHS: Mr. Larsen is also speaking on
21 behalf of the applicant.
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: If you could be brief, sir.
23 The little red light went off a while back.
24 I'm not sure they gave you notice that we were
25 trying to put a restriction on you.
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1 MR. LARSEN: I'd like to discuss as much --
2 First of all, my name's Paul Larsen. I'm
3 an environmental engineer working with Swire.
4 And I'd like to discuss why I believe
5 manatees are better off with the project than
6 without.
7 And the primary reason is because of
8 law enforcement and educational features of the
9 project vastly outweigh any possible detriments
10 of the docks and the boats.
11 There's more boats registered in
12 Miami-Dade County than in any other county.
13 I think it's up to 60,000 now.
14 And of these, only a relatively small
15 fraction, like eight or nine thousand, are
16 larger than 26 feet. Most of the boats are in
17 the category of 16 to 26 feet.
18 These are the fast, high-powered boats that
19 threaten manatees with blunt trauma and with
20 propeller damage.
21 Of the larger boats that are primarily kept
22 in marinas, about half are sailboats. So
23 considering the high speed boats that threaten
24 manatees, about 80 percent of them are kept on
25 trailers, or launched in government-owned
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1 ramps, or kept in dry storage facilities;
2 12 percent are kept in wet slips at private
3 docks behind houses; and only 8 percent are
4 kept in wet slip marinas and multifamily
5 marinas.
6 In other words, closing down all the wet
7 slip marinas in Dade County would have a very,
8 very small effect on boat traffic in
9 Dade County, and have little effect on reducing
10 manatee boat collisions.
11 It seems that the theory behind the
12 Manatee Protection Plan focus on restricting
13 wet slip marinas is to reduce powerboat
14 activity in the bay by making boating
15 inconvenient.
16 And that's like trying to reduce traffic
17 accidents in highways by not allowing
18 construction of parking garages.
19 Instead, we all know that the way to reduce
20 traffic accidents is to build safe roads,
21 educate drivers, and enforce traffic laws?
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Do you think we ought to
23 get rid of all the manatee protection plans in
24 the state?
25 MR. LARSEN: No, sir. I'm saying that in
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1 the context of all the efforts that we do to
2 protect manatees, the wet slip component is a
3 small one.
4 And to focus on that to the exclusion of
5 other things, like the boats that are kept
6 in -- in -- boats that are launched at
7 launching ramps is basically -- winds up being
8 ineffective and futile.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: So -- so, therefore, I'm
10 asking again. If -- if -- I don't think the
11 manatee protection plans have much of an impact
12 on the 92 percent of the -- the boats that are
13 registered in Dade County, as you stated, that
14 aren't in wet --
15 MR. LARSEN: No. Actually the Manatee
16 Protection Plan does cover those -- those
17 elements.
18 However, there doesn't seem to be much
19 focus on those elements in the plan. And we
20 believe a balanced plan should recognize the
21 fact that a very small percentage of the boats
22 in Miami-Dade County are kept in wet slips at
23 marinas.
24 GOVERNOR BUSH: How would you do it? How
25 would you focus on -- you're going to shut down
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1 public boat ramps, would that be the way to do
2 it?
3 MR. LARSEN: No, sir. The focus has to be
4 to have -- provide law enforcement that covers
5 all the boats, not just to try to restrict wet
6 slips.
7 So my -- I -- I see that the -- the red
8 light's on here.
9 But the -- I believe that the way to
10 protect manatees in this county is to focus on
11 law enforcement, boater education so that all
12 of the people then are regulated in -- and --
13 and are -- and are -- and we promote safe
14 boating, and safe boating in terms of manatees.
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Any questions?
16 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Would you -- Governor,
17 I --
18 I once introduced a bill to put prop guards
19 on all propellers for motor boats, and the
20 industry went bananas.
21 But -- it's an idea.
22 Have you ever thought about that?
23 MR. LARSEN: I think that what happens --
24 and I haven't given that a lot of thought. But
25 the -- most of the boats, the powerboats,
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1 the -- the outboard boats, become very
2 inefficient with a prop guard.
3 And I believe that what we can say though
4 is that legal boat operations don't jeopardize
5 manatees.
6 In other words, the people that are
7 observing the speed limits, and we can enforce
8 the speed limits. And theoretically, we should
9 have a safe co-existence between boats and
10 manatees.
11 And so that the best way to go is with
12 law enforcement.
13 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
14 Secretary Struhs?
15 MR. STRUHS: Governor, members of the
16 Cabinet, as -- as -- as staff to you as the
17 Board of Trustees, it's extremely frustrating
18 to have now before us an entirely different
19 proposal than the one we had on the agenda.
20 And I think to be fair, we've got to
21 recognize that this is an agenda that has
22 appeared before you six times since July of
23 last year.
24 And while there may be some very positive
25 aspects of what has been presented here, it's
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1 not at all what was on the agenda, or what we
2 originally brought to you for your
3 consideration.
4 So just be aware of that.
5 I think it's also probably worthwhile if we
6 could invite Mr. Brad Hartman from the Florida
7 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to
8 speak specifically to the issues of the
9 manatees from their perspective.
10 And then we have three individuals who
11 would like to speak on the opposing point of
12 view.
13 I would also add that the issue of citing
14 slips for law enforcement is an issue that can
15 obviously be dealt with in -- in a variety of
16 ways, and, indeed, one that we probably have
17 some of our own ideas that could be helpful to
18 the City.
19 I'm thinking that issue, while perhaps
20 related to this proposal, is not necessarily
21 the only solution to accomplish that end.
22 MR. HARTMAN: Governor, members of the
23 Cabinet, I'm Brad Hartman. I'm Director of
24 Environmental Services with the Fish and
25 Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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1 We've been involved with this project for
2 some time now.
3 We have leaned pretty heavily on the
4 Manatee Protection Plan for our guidance, and
5 we were also involved in the development of
6 that plan.
7 (Governor Bush exited the room.)
8 MR. HARTMAN: The Manatee Protection Plan
9 has this entire area an essential manatee
10 habitat. It has -- it has no provisions in it
11 for commercial traffic or commercial marinas at
12 this facility.
13 The plan does identify specific places
14 where -- where they are encouraging commercial
15 marinas, or allowing commercial marinas without
16 any restriction on powerboats.
17 In this particular location, what the
18 Manatee Protection Plan called for is allow
19 riparian access for multifamily residence, and
20 allowing up to one powerboat per 100 feet.
21 And it also does allow for water taxis.
22 Mr. Matthews mentioned that -- I think that
23 there's commercial water taxies would be
24 allowed at a density of one per 500 feet, or
25 the ten or eleven that Mr. Matthews mentioned.
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1 This is an area that -- that -- the reason
2 this is in essential habitat, and the reason
3 this has not been identified as commercial
4 area, is because it is -- there's such a large
5 amount of manatees in the area, in the
6 Miami River, coming out of the Miami River,
7 feeding on the grass flats in this area --
8 (Treasurer Gallagher entered the room.)
9 MR. HARTMAN: -- and it's not where we want
10 to see, or where the County wants to see in
11 their plan, the development of --
12 (Governor Bush entered the room.)
13 MR. HARTMAN: -- commercial marinas, or
14 additional boat ramps, or additional other
15 access for watercraft.
16 We disagree with the Fish and Wildlife
17 Service on this particular one, and we don't do
18 that very often. The Fish and Wildlife Service
19 went through a fairly complicated formula for
20 determining an increase in -- in
21 law enforcement effort that would result from
22 this.
23 We're not sure -- we don't see that as --
24 as important. We see it as more important
25 that -- that where we finally get a Manatee
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1 Protection Plan in place, and everybody agrees
2 to it, that we -- we stick to what that plan
3 calls for.
4 Be glad to answer any questions.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, sir.
6 MR. STRUHS: Okay. The three speaking on
7 the other side are Jerry Karnus, Save the
8 Manatee Club; Nancy Brown, Friends of the
9 Everglades; and Charles Lee, Florida Audubon.
10 If you could all cue up and keep things
11 moving, please.
12 And we're limiting, Jose, to what?
13 MR. BOSCAN: Three minutes.
14 MR. STRUHS: Three minutes a piece?
15 MR. KARNUS: Good morning, Governor,
16 members of the Cabinet.
17 I had -- woke up this morning, and I had a
18 horrible dream. It was that I was a sixty year
19 old environmentalist working here, and that I
20 was preparing myself for what I really thought
21 was going to be the D-day for Brickell Key.
22 This product has been 25 years in the
23 making in some form or another, and I know that
24 the venerable and wise Nancy Brown has been
25 there for every single one of those years.
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1 And it -- you know, we -- we say a lot in
2 the environmental community, that sometimes
3 projects don't -- just don't go away, they keep
4 coming back.
5 This -- this project is in -- as Brad
6 said -- essential manatee habitat. It's a
7 vital manatee corridor.
8 And the aerial survey data that I supplied
9 to y'all actually in July of last year was
10 truly compelling. The manatees hang out right
11 where they want to put these docks.
12 And although we have a -- a recommend-- a
13 new proposal here that would suff--
14 dramatically limit the number of powerboat
15 slips, we can't forget that added traffic in
16 this area, whether it be from sailboats or
17 powerboats, will, you know -- will really
18 change the manatees' activities in this area
19 that they use as a travel corridor and a
20 resting place.
21 A couple things I'd like to address here
22 is, one, the Corps permit has been suspended.
23 That is -- and upon denial from the DEP, it
24 will be revoked. They now understand that
25 they -- that they were in error, it was
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1 suspended yesterday, and they --
2 (Commissioner Crist exited the room.)
3 MR. KARNUS: -- notified the DE-- the DEP.
4 Basically the Fish and Wildlife Service,
5 because this product has gone through so many
6 permutations over the years, it was really
7 unclear as to what they were advising on.
8 And basically they looked at this project
9 as if it was solely a residential marina, not
10 as a commercial marina, which we now know today
11 that it is.
12 So --
13 GOVERNOR BUSH: What difference would that
14 make?
15 MR. KARNUS: Well, excuse me?
16 GOVERNOR BUSH: What difference would that
17 make?
18 MR. KARNUS: Well, according to the Manatee
19 Protection Plan, there -- there is a -- they
20 allow for residential marina at the -- at this
21 site.
22 Whereas, a commercial marina would be
23 limited to the one to five hundred shoreline to
24 boat rat-- powerboat ratio, or to the one to
25 100 ratio for the residential and multifamily
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1 slip dock.
2 GOVERNOR BUSH: Would that --
3 MR. KARNUS: So --
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- would -- if this was
5 residential, would this marina, as it's amended
6 here, would that comply?
7 MR. KARNUS: It --
8 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Nope.
9 MR. KARNUS: If it was purely for
10 residential purposes, yes, it -- it would
11 comply with the plan.
12 They would be all-- be allowed to have
13 46 powerboat slips, because there is
14 4600 feet -- linear feet of shoreline.
15 So --
16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, how about eleven --
17 MR. KARNUS: Well, eleven will --
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- powerboats?
19 MR. KARNUS: Well, yes, eleven would comply
20 with the plan. But what I'd like to highlight
21 here is that this is extremely confusing.
22 You know, obviously we received this this
23 morning, so we really --
24 GOVERNOR BUSH: I understand.
25 MR. KARNUS: -- can't comment on it.
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1 But I -- just a couple things jump out at
2 me.
3 And one is, if there's 25 set aside for
4 short-term rentals, how can we enforce that
5 those 25 are going to be not powerboats?
6 It doesn't make any sense.
7 If the eleven powerboat slips are for --
8 GOVERNOR BUSH: That's a good point.
9 MR. KARNUS: -- the -- the special
10 family -- special mixed use, which would be
11 1 to 500, they -- you know, those are for
12 either charter boats, or for water taxis. It's
13 clear in the plan that that's what it says.
14 So then what about these other short-term
15 rentals?
16 I don't see how that's enforceable.
17 The other issues I'd like to talk about
18 today is -- is that the enforcement
19 relocation -- it's a mere relocation. We --
20 we're not getting any net benefit of
21 enforcement officers, they're not keeping their
22 site at the Watson Island right -- right now.
23 GOVERNOR BUSH: See that red light?
24 MR. KARNUS: Oh, am I on -- am I --
25 TREASURER GALLAGHER: It's been on awhile.
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1 MR. KARNUS: It goes so fast.
2 GOVERNOR BUSH: I know. It's amazing.
3 Can you close?
4 And be around for questions.
5 MR. KARNUS: I'll -- I'll close on that.
6 Thank you.
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
8 Thanks.
9 MR. LEE: Governor, members of the Board of
10 Trustees, Charles Lee representing Audubon of
11 Florida.
12 And also asked to speak here this morning
13 on behalf of our largest Audubon chapter in
14 Florida, the Tropical Audubon Society from
15 Miami.
16 We fully support the staff recommendation
17 of denial for this project. We don't think
18 that the changes offered late by the applicant
19 make a material difference, and would move this
20 out from under the recommendation of denial.
21 (Commissioner Crist entered the room.)
22 MR. LEE: We think denial is the
23 appropriate response.
24 There are at least three levels to that:
25 One, the manatee issue as that has been
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1 discussed by Mr. Hartman of the Fish and
2 Wildlife Conservation Commission, and
3 Mr. Karnus of Save the Manatee.
4 Also the fact, as is specified very clearly
5 in your agenda item, this does not meet the
6 other tenets of necessity and extreme hardship
7 that exist in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve
8 rules.
9 Biscayne Bay, Governor, and members of the
10 Board, is different. It's deliberately
11 different. It was made so by the Legislature,
12 after projects like this proliferated along the
13 shoreline and threatened to take up the rest of
14 the shoreline and the bay.
15 The only way to get to it was to put on a
16 statutory, very tough test.
17 And the tough test in this case, as we
18 think accurately interpreted by your staff,
19 says appropriately, no.
20 I find it disturbing that instead of the
21 primary thrust of this marina being advocated
22 for its commercial and -- and other docking
23 purposes here today, that what the advocates
24 for this project seem to try to set this up as,
25 and face you all as Trustees, and us as the
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1 public off against, is a choice that involves
2 law enforcement.
3 And I just suggest to you respectfully that
4 there is not a law enforcement choice
5 associated with this project that is a
6 legitimate choice. If you're familiar with
7 this area, you know that the Watson Island site
8 is just a very couple of minutes away from this
9 location.
10 If you're familiar with the habits of law
11 enforcement and interception, you know that the
12 thing that people look out for is not a guy
13 standing on the shoreline or sitting in an
14 office on the shoreline, but a boat in the
15 water ready to intercept.
16 A boat in the water can be ready to
17 intercept at this location, and any other
18 location on the Miami River, regardless of
19 where the shore station is located.
20 And further we would suggest, if there
21 really is a need for a shore station at this
22 location, that instead of hitching up a -- what
23 is essentially a -- a commercial marina
24 facility is the reason to do it, let's do a
25 hard look at other potential sites at the mouth
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1 of the Miami River for a law enforcement
2 facility.
3 I don't think that anybody has set out on
4 that mission with any kind of deliberacy or --
5 or -- or commitment until this particular
6 marina project came along, and that was allowed
7 to be offered as sort of another ball to hang
8 on the Christmas tree, if you will, as a reason
9 to suggest that it ought to be done.
10 We don't think it ought to be done, we
11 think your staff has recommended the right
12 thing. We think the manatee is at stake.
13 And we also think a very critical precedent
14 for the continued protection of the
15 Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve is at stake, and
16 we think you ought to say no, as your staff has
17 recommended.
18 Thank you.
19 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Charles.
20 Yes. Commissioner.
21 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Thank you.
22 Charles. If I could ask a question.
23 Hi. Right here.
24 I want to make sure I understand the
25 manatee issue. I'm from St. Petersburg. My
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1 parents live on the water, they have a dock,
2 manatees hang out by the dock.
3 Do you think that having slips will have
4 manatees not hang out there anymore?
5 MR. LEE: Commissioner, I don't think the
6 question is whether they will hang out or not
7 hang out. I think the question is the degree
8 of danger they will be in while hanging out.
9 And if you are familiar with this location,
10 and it happens that our Audubon state office is
11 actually located in a building where we can
12 look over this area which Mr. Peeples described
13 as an intersection, which we would choose to
14 describe as our bay, it is one of the highest
15 areas. If you're up eight floors, as our
16 office is, you can look out and see a
17 tremendous amount of manatee activity in that
18 location.
19 The Miami River is one of the more
20 traditional places for manatees to go in, and
21 it -- it receives some of the highest activity
22 in the entire south Florida area.
23 So it's not a question of them being unable
24 to hang out, it's the fact that the more of
25 these kind of commercial slips you put in
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1 there, the greater you intensify the attractive
2 nuisance situation, and risk the manatees
3 being -- being destroyed in the process.
4 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Does it mitigate at
5 all in your mind the fact that there are going
6 to be mostly sailboats, as opposed to motor
7 boats? Or doesn't that matter?
8 MR. LEE: The -- first of all, I -- I would
9 have a lot of questions, based on experience
10 around the state, about who's going to be out
11 there enforcing rigorously that position.
12 I think it's probably pretty impractical to
13 enforce.
14 Larger -- larger motor boats don't go fast,
15 but they swing much larger propellers. And if
16 you look at the manatee statistics in terms
17 of -- of the manatees that are killed by
18 propellers, they're more often killed outright
19 by the huge slash of a large boat's propeller,
20 than they are a small boat's propeller.
21 There also is the problem of some of these
22 boats rocking and pinning manatees against the
23 sea wall when a -- when a wake throws them up.
24 So there are a lot of -- lot of issues
25 associated with commercial marinas, which is
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1 why, as an overarching matter, the plan does
2 not recommend them in this location, and why we
3 think your staff was justified in saying no.
4 COMMISSIONER CRIST: And final question on
5 the manatee issue, do you think it's relevant
6 that if law enforcement is there, that the
7 rules regarding manatees and their safety
8 would be more readily enforced; or do you think
9 that the closeness or proximity of
10 law enforcement there is irrelevant in that
11 instance, just as you think it's irrelevant to
12 drug interdiction?
13 MR. LEE: I don't think it's irrelevant to
14 drug interdiction, and I don't think it's
15 irrelevant to manatee enforcement either.
16 But in either case, the person in the boat
17 ready to write a ticket, or ready to pull a
18 suspicious party over, the boat on the water is
19 the issue, not a shore station.
20 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Thank you.
21 Thanks, Governor.
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
23 MR. STRUHS: There -- there is one last
24 speaker, Nancy Brown, from Friends of the
25 Everglades.
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1 I unfortunately had to step out for a
2 moment, and I apologize for that.
3 But I understand that while I was out,
4 there was a question raised as it may relate to
5 property rights and riparian access.
6 Just to -- to clarify --
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: I don't think so.
8 MR. STRUHS: No?
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Was there a question about
10 riparian rights?
11 Someone was just kidding you.
12 MR. STRUHS: They do that sometimes.
13 SECRETARY HARRIS: What -- what --
14 COMMISSIONER CRIST: They do it to us, too,
15 David.
16 GOVERNOR BUSH: What was the question?
17 SECRETARY HARRIS: What were you going to
18 say?
19 MR. STRUHS: I was going to say, if --
20 if -- if this were residential property --
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: Oh, okay. That was the
22 question.
23 MR. STRUHS: -- if there was residential
24 property, there is a riparian right to access
25 to the water for a pier, as opposed to a
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1 commercial facility where there's no ownership
2 of the upland.
3 That -- that would be the point.
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, if my -- if -- if
5 this is a commercial development of residential
6 property. Which one is this?
7 Just a second. Hang on a second, ma'am.
8 MR. STRUHS: I'm -- I'm advised that it's
9 commercial. It's not residential.
10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Even though residential
11 people live there principally?
12 MR. STRUHS: The marina is a commercial
13 marina.
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
15 TREASURER GALLAGHER: See, no -- no
16 individuals own the dock. Maybe if the
17 condominium wanted us to do it, it would work.
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, ma'am. Welcome.
19 MS. BROWN: Nancy Brown with Friends of the
20 Everglades.
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: You want to turn those
22 microphones back towards you?
23 MS. BROWN: Happy to see you all here
24 today. All --
25 I was just reminded to --
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1 (Commissioner Rhodes exited the room.)
2 MS. BROWN: -- remind you all that the
3 manatee mortalities take place to the north of
4 this area, north of Watson Island, in fact,
5 more so than they take place in the southern
6 area of the bay.
7 That may be significant, but, you know, I
8 have my own concerns about that. I think that
9 it is not the absence of manatee speed zone
10 signs that kill manatees, it is the props and
11 the hulls that, as Charles Lee pointed out,
12 injure, kill, and crush the manatees. And this
13 is an area of tight manatee activity.
14 I'm just going to speak to you, however, on
15 the statute itself.
16 You all are here today, not just because
17 we're talking about the potential for a lease
18 of sovereignty submerged land, but because the
19 Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve Act requires that
20 you all consider two things when you think
21 about the project and the lease of this land,
22 and that is that there must be an extreme
23 hardship on the part of the applicant here.
24 And I really haven't heard much about their
25 hardship, and I -- but I can tell you that
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1 their financial hardships are not part of that
2 hardship.
3 This is -- that is not a legal hardship,
4 according to the Act, and to the rules.
5 Let me read you just a little bit though
6 from the statute. Says extreme hardship -- and
7 this is sort of important, because the
8 applicants here have wrenched out some language
9 from one part of the rule, and the Act, and
10 tried to plug them into another section.
11 And that's called, you know, sort of a
12 violation of statutory construction. And I'm
13 sure that, you know, these applicants here
14 have -- know all about the statutory
15 construction, because they have, in fact,
16 constructed quite a few bills in the
17 Legislature.
18 Okay. Extreme hardship is a significant
19 burden that says -- but down at the bottom of
20 that definition of extreme hardship, it says:
21 The term may be inherent in public projects
22 which are shown to be a public necessity.
23 When you look at another section here --
24 and -- and I am not wrenching out of context, I
25 promise. I don't do that.
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1 (Commissioner Rhodes entered the room.)
2 MS. BROWN: -- there are eight projects in
3 which sovereignty submerged land may be
4 requested.
5 One of them is the creation of a commercial
6 industrial dock, which is what we're dealing
7 with here.
8 Down at the bottom of that list of eight is
9 something that says, other projects. Now,
10 other is to me an exclusionary word. It
11 doesn't include other things --
12 -- other projects which are a public
13 necessity -- and I'll just stop there. A
14 public necessity, because there's an or in
15 there.
16 But both of them must be consistent with
17 the act in this chapter.
18 So then you look at the definition of
19 public necessity -- and let me just finish
20 that.
21 Public necessity is not what the City of
22 Miami wants; or what the applicant wants; or
23 what representatives of, you know, Dade County
24 want. That is not important.
25 Public necessity by the definition in the
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1 rules of 18-18 mean works or improvements
2 required for the protection of the health and
3 safety of the public, and for which no other
4 reasonable alternative exists.
5 And this, friends, does not include a
6 marina. That is not a public necessity by any
7 twist of the words of this definition.
8 What that is is what Friends of the
9 Everglades themselves did by suing the DEP --
10 pardon me -- by suing --
11 Sorry about that.
12 -- suing Dade County and failing to
13 maintain its water and sewer system, they had
14 to replace a major sewage pipe across
15 Biscayne Bay, because it was leaking badly.
16 And before it became a shower in
17 Biscayne Bay, it was approved for replacement
18 without having to go through any of the
19 rigmarole of extreme hardship because it was
20 exempted for the reasons listed here in 8, that
21 it was necessary for the public welfare and
22 safety.
23 And that is the only thing that it applies
24 to.
25 Thank you very much for your time.
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1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
2 MR. STRUHS: If it would be useful to the
3 Cabinet, we do have, as a resource available,
4 a -- a lawyer from the Department who could
5 opine on the high bar that is set by the
6 Biscayne Bay Aquifer Preserve Statute, if
7 that's -- if that's useful to you?
8 SECRETARY HARRIS: Yeah.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: That'd be useful.
10 I think --
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
12 MR. COSTIGAN: Good morning, Governor, and
13 members of the Cabinet.
14 I'm John Costigan, Deputy General Counsel
15 with the Department of Environmental
16 Protection.
17 In his opening comments, Secretary Struhs
18 noted briefly that Biscayne Bay Aquatic
19 Preserve is unique, and that there was a high
20 bar in order to use sovereign submerged lands
21 in this particular aquatic preserve.
22 That is true, I think, like all aquatic
23 preserves, it first requires any lease or use
24 of sovereign submerged lands requires a finding
25 that it is in the public interest by you
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1 sitting as the Board of Trustees.
2 That is no different from any other aquatic
3 preserve. And in that context, you've heard
4 discussion here this morning and the agenda
5 item speaks to a balancing test of costs versus
6 benefits.
7 So when you discuss the impact on manatees
8 and the question of law enforcement, or
9 resource impacts, the presence of sea grass,
10 and other resources, those are all in the
11 context of the public interest, and the public
12 interest test.
13 The unique test in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic
14 Preserve stems from its own statute by which it
15 was created. And it does, as Mrs. Brown noted,
16 require a finding -- or first an affirmative
17 showing by the applicant that their -- their
18 application is necessary because it's an
19 extreme hardship not to grant them this use.
20 Now, if you'd looked at a flow chart on
21 this, you'd then take extreme hardship, which
22 is defined as a significant burden unique to
23 the applicant, and not shared by others in the
24 area.
25 Now, it then says that the term extreme
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1 hardship may be inherent in public projects
2 shown to be a public necessity.
3 And that's where much of the discussion has
4 centered this morning, and that -- that
5 discussion gets down to significant -- the term
6 may be inherent in public projects.
7 Now, a public necessity is a work
8 consistent with the Act, needed for protection
9 of the health and safety of the public, and for
10 which no reasonable alternative exists.
11 So in -- in determining whether or not
12 there's an extreme hardship here, or whether
13 that test has been met, you -- you consider
14 that definition.
15 One of the things in that definition is --
16 is the caveat that a public project, which is a
17 public necessity, may be by itself -- it's
18 inherent that that would be a sufficient
19 showing of extreme hardship.
20 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Could I,
21 Governor?
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: General?
23 MR. COSTIGAN: You have to plug everything
24 you've heard this morning, and everything in
25 the agenda item into this framework.
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1 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: John, has
2 Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental
3 Resource Management taken a position on this
4 particular issue?
5 MR. COSTIGAN: It is my understanding that
6 they have. They've come out in opposition. I
7 think that is reflected in the agenda item.
8 I'm -- I'm not directly familiar with that.
9 But I think Melissa Meeker probably is,
10 or --
11 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Is that
12 because it's --
13 MR. COSTIGAN: -- or Secretary Struhs.
14 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: -- it's
15 inconsistent with Miami-Dade County Manatee
16 Protection Plan?
17 MR. COSTIGAN: I believe that's in the
18 agenda item also.
19 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Okay.
20 Has the Florida Fish and Wildlife
21 Conservation Commission taken any position
22 on -- on this issue?
23 MR. COSTIGAN: I believe they have, and I
24 think you heard from them this morning.
25 They're in opposition also.
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1 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: What have
2 you heard as a lawyer, because you're -- may be
3 defending this -- what have you heard where --
4 of where the public interest is?
5 MR. COSTIGAN: Well, the public interest
6 is -- is the test that I've not concentrated on
7 as a lawyer. I mean, that's the same test you
8 have in your rules, and in the --
9 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Right.
10 MR. COSTIGAN: -- statutes on aquatic
11 preserves. That is a balancing test.
12 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Of course,
13 you're going to have to -- if we happen to go
14 for this, you're going to have to -- you're
15 going to have to defend this in -- in court.
16 MR. COSTIGAN: Yes, Your Honor.
17 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: What I've
18 heard so far today, I'll -- I'm not going to be
19 staying next to you second chair, that's for
20 sure.
21 MR. COSTIGAN: I understand.
22 Thank you.
23 Any other questions?
24 COMMISSIONER CRIST: I do.
25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes.
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1 COMMISSIONER CRIST: If I understand this
2 right, then we're coming down to, I think, two
3 interests away: Environmental interests
4 obviously; and a law enforcement interest,
5 apparently.
6 Is that fair to say?
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: Ung-ugh.
8 MR. COSTIGAN: Well, I don't know that
9 that -- that is exclusively --
10 COMMISSIONER CRIST: I mean, people can
11 have other conclusions. I'm just trying to --
12 MR. COSTIGAN: Right.
13 COMMISSIONER CRIST: -- cut to the chase.
14 MR. COSTIGAN: Well, the test is -- is in
15 finding whether or not something is an extreme
16 hardship that can -- that can cover a myriad of
17 circumstances.
18 In this particular instance, I think the
19 applicant is saying that this is a public
20 project because they have included the City in
21 this project. And they have created or
22 satisfied the public necessity test by placing
23 law enforcement and doing the other things
24 they've described today, both that were in
25 their application for, and the new additions to
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1 the application.
2 So I believe, and -- and Frank Matthews,
3 I mean, can better describe his client's
4 position than I.
5 But to me, it appears that they're trying
6 to satisfy the extreme hardship test by taking
7 the last caveat in the definition of that test,
8 and saying that this is a public project, and
9 is a public necessity.
10 That's -- that's the hook upon which
11 they're arguing to you that they satisfy
12 extreme hardship.
13 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Okay.
14 MR. COSTIGAN: And in doing that, they
15 raise questions about the law enforcement
16 presence and the other things.
17 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Right.
18 Thank you.
19 GOVERNOR BUSH: Has there -- has there been
20 a -- a case in the Biscayne Aquatic Preserve
21 where the -- an applicant came to this Board
22 and proved extreme hardship?
23 Prior -- I mean, it hadn't been since I've
24 been here. I'm just curious, in the past, has
25 there been --
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1 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: I can't
2 recall.
3 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Well, let me ask
4 this --
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes.
6 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- specific.
7 We --
8 Governor?
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes.
10 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Way back in probably
11 the early, mid-80s, Floral Island -- I think
12 Governor Graham was in office -- tried and
13 tried and tried and tried to get some boat
14 docks.
15 Were you around for that?
16 MR. COSTIGAN: No, sir, I was not.
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: I think we have a --
18 someone that --
19 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Maybe somebody was?
20 And finally -- maybe it was after Graham
21 left his office. But finally, I -- I don't
22 know what the procedure was, but there's --
23 there's docks there. So something happened.
24 Maybe somebody could tell us how.
25 MS. MEEKER: Melissa Meeker, Southeast
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1 District Director.
2 I'm not familiar with the case that you're
3 describing. However, I can say within the
4 last, I'd say, two months, I approved under
5 my -- the delegation that I have at my level --
6 a multislip facility for a sailing school for
7 disadvantaged students --
8 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Coconut Grove.
9 MS. MEEKER: -- associated with the County.
10 Yes.
11 So we do -- they do --
12 GOVERNOR BUSH: And why did it meet the
13 test? Just help us put -- this is all legal
14 talk.
15 I'm trying to get some --
16 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Public
17 interest.
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- why -- what -- why -- it
19 was an extreme hardship because of the
20 public -- I mean, it --
21 MS. MEEKER: Because of the --
22 |
Cabinet
Affairs
