Representing:
DIVISION OF BOND
FINANCE
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL
REGULATION
OFFICE OF INSURANCE
REGULATION
FLORIDA LAND AND WATTER ADJUDICATORY
COMMISSION
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER
SERVICES
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
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 Wednesday, November 12th, 2003 commencing
at
approximately 9:40 a.m.
Reported by:
KRISTEN L.
BENTLEY
Certified Court Reporter
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS,
INC.
2894 REMINGTON GREEN
LANE
TALLAHASSEE, FL 32308 (850)878-2221
.
2
APPEARANCES:
Representing the Florida Cabinet:
JEB
BUSH
Governor
CHARLES H.
BRONSON
Commissioner of Agriculture
CHARLIE
CRIST
Attorney General
TOM
GALLAGHER
Treasurer
* * *
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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3
I N D E X
DIVISION OF BOND
FINANCE
(Presented by Tim Tinsley)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
approved
5
2
approved
5
3
approved
5
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL
REGULATION
(Presented by Don Saxon)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
approved
6
2
approved
6
3
approved
6
OFFICE OF INSURANCE
REGULATION
(Presented by Kevin McCarty)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
approved
16
2
approved
16
3
approved
16
4
approved
16
FLORIDA LAND AND WATER ADJUDICATORY
COMMISSION
(Presented by Teresa Tinker)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
approved
19
2
approved
19
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER
SERVICES
(Presented by Sherman Wilhelm)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
approved
20
2
approved
24
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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4
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST
FUND
(Presented by David Struhs)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
approved
25
2
approved
28
3
approved
36
4
approved
70
5
approved
90
CERTIFICATE OF
REPORTER
106
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE - NOV. 12,
2003
5
1
P R O C E E D I N G S
2
(The agenda items commenced at 9:40 a.m.)
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: The next cabinet meeting is
4 Tuesday, November
25th, 2003.
5
Division of Bond Finance.
6
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
7
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
9 objection, Item 1
passes.
10
MR. TINSLEY: Item No. 2. Adoption of a
11 resolution
authorizing the issuance of $8 million,
12 University of Central
Florida Student Health Center
13 revenue bonds.
14
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
15
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
17 objection, the motion
passes.
18
MR. TINSLEY: Item No. 3. Report of award on the
19 competitive sale of
$200 million of Lottery revenue
20 bonds.
21
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
22
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
24 objection, the motion
passes. Thank you.
25
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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6
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Office of Financial Regulation.
2
Good morning.
3
MR. SAXON: Good morning. Item 1 is the adoption
4 of amendments to Rule
3C-560.102 and 3C-560.201,
5 Florida Administrative
Code.
6
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 1.
7
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
9 objection, the motion
passes.
10
MR. SAXON: No. 2, adoption of amendments to Rules
11 3D-40.031, 3D-40.051,
3D-40.100, 3D-40.200, and
12 3D-40.220, Florida
Administrative Code.
13
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
14
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
16 objection, the motion
passes.
17
MR. SAXON: Adoption of amendments to Rules
18 3E-600.002, Florida
Administrative Code.
19
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
20
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
22 objection, the item
passes.
23
Thank you, Don.
24
MR. SAXON: Thank you. Also before you, you have
25 the quarterly report
that we have submitted. If
you
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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7
1 would allow, I'd just
like to mention a couple of
2 things about it.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Sure.
4
MR. SAXON: As you notice, it will give you
5 information about new
initiatives that the Agency has
6 taken. It talks
about significant events. And it also
7 provides some charts
as to statistics and how we're
8 doing.
9
You'll notice on the first page there is a general
10 summary of the
office. The key thing for us there is
11 we continue to work
with our congressional friends in
12 Washington to make
sure that we have the tools we need
13 to protect the
industries that we regulate here in the
14 state of Florida,
primarily banking and securities. In
15 fact, we were
successful with one house bill in
16 Washington and that
was 2179, which was going to put
17 restrictions on how
we could administer remedies in the
18 state of
Florida. We were successful in getting that
19 amendment to that
bill to have that particular
20 provision
removed.
21
You'll also notice on our financial institutions,
22 probably the biggest
significant event for us there is
23 the fact that of the
new institutions that are coming
24 into the state of
Florida, 86 percent of them have
25 chosen to be
state-regulated rather than
federally
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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1 regulated. And I
think that's reflective of our office
2 and the kinds of staff
we have, that we can provide the
3 kinds of services to
meet the demands of those
4 industries in the
banking area that we regulate.
5
You'll notice in Finance and Securities on the
6 next page, you'll see
a number of actions that we have
7 taken. We've
gotten sanctions including incarceration
8 for people who have
perpetrated either securities
9 fraud, finance fraud,
or banking fraud. And we believe
10 that is imperative to
--
11
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I have a question. On your
12 finance fraud and
your other fraud deals. You got
13 arrests -- where are
you on arrests and prosecutions
14 and those kinds of
things? How old are some of these
15 cases?
16
MR. SAXON: Cases we have can vary anywhere from
17 two weeks to as much
as two years depending on the
18 circumstances of the
case and the involvement and
19 what's going on with
it.
20
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Now, two years like two
21 years for you to
investigate or two years to get them
22 prosecuted?
23
MR. SAXON: Two years to get it prosecuted.
24
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Is there a statute of
25 limitations on
these?
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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1
MR. SAXON: There can be, yes, sir, criminally and
2 civilly.
3
TREASURER GALLAGHER: So what you're saying is you
4 have it investigated
and then there is like two years
5 to get it
prosecuted?
6
MR. SAXON: In some cases, that is correct, yes,
7 sir.
8
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Well, is this a problem with
9 our local prosecutors
or nobody cares about them? Or
10 what's the issue?
11
MR. SAXON: It would depend on the circumstances
12 in that particular
area. And we work with the state
13 attorneys that are
local. We work with the U.S.
14 Attorney's
Office. We work with the Attorney General's
15 Office, statewide
prosecutor. Just depends on the
16 given situation and
there are circumstances as to how
17 soon those cases get
prosecuted.
18
TREASURER GALLAGHER: So we got a fed problem, a
19 local problem, a
statewide problem and a state problem?
20 So let's say the
longest case you have, is it a federal
21 problem? Are we
having problems with federal
22 prosecutors?
Are we having problems with state or with
23 local?
24
MR. SAXON: I'd have to go back and take a look to
25 see exactly the given
cases and time frames and
which
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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1 ones --
2
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Could you get us a list of
3 the cases so we can
see why they are not being
4 prosecuted?
5
MR. SAXON: Excuse me?
6
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Could you get us a list? Is
7 it a public record of
who is ready to be prosecuted?
8
MR. SAXON: Yes, sir.
9
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Could you get us a list of
10 how many cases you
have are sitting there waiting?
11
MR. SAXON: Sure. That's not a problem.
12
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Thank you.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. Any other? Are you
14 finished with the
report?
15
MR. SAXON: I had just a few more comments.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay, please.
17
MR. SAXON: The next page you have the regulatory
18 review. The key
thing there is we continue to process
19 applications at an
accelerated rate. Mortgage brokers,
20 because of the rates
at this time, where we might
21 normally do 300
applications, today we're doing about
22 2500 a month.
You noticed we process 45,000 renewals,
23 filings, and public
records requests. But I think it's
24 important to notice
that we did reject or deny almost
25 800
applications. And to me that suggests that,
you
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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1 know, we're not just
administratively processing this
2 as paper. We're
actually looking out and making sure
3 that only the right
people get licensed to do business
4 in the state of
Florida.
5
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Now, if I may ask you there.
6 Most of those are
based on the fingerprint; is that
7 correct?
8
MR. SAXON: It can be based on their criminal
9 background. It
can based on civil litigation, other
10 regulatory agencies
may have administered sanctions
11 against them to the
point that we don't believe they
12 should be doing
business in the state of Florida.
13
TREASURER GALLAGHER: How do we find those out?
14 On their application
or because of the fingerprint
15 return?
16
MR. SAXON: In some cases, we find it out through
17 the fingerprint
cards. In other cases, we find out
18 through records
checks, our own internal databases that
19 we have information
and intelligence.
20
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Are we using those same
21 fingerprint stuff
that Education and we're using for
22 agents?
23
MR. SAXON: At this time, we're using the manual
24 system. But we
are speaking with your licensing people
25 to see if we can go
with their process. In fact,
we
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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12
1 have a licensing bill
that we're going to be filing
2 this year to give us
the authority to make sure that if
3 we so choose, we can
go with the electronic process.
4 And we believe that's
the best way of doing business.
5
TREASURER GALLAGHER: How long is it taking you to
6 get yours back?
7
MR. SAXON: A fingerprint card?
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Right.
9
MR. SAXON: It depends on information we're
10 requesting. If
it's simply asking for state
11 information, it can
take up to two months. If we're
12 asking for
information federally, it can take even
13 longer.
14
TREASURER GALLAGHER: So people don't get a
15 license or you give
them a temporary license or you
16 give them some kind
of --
17
MR. SAXON: Generally, because of the nature of
18 the application, it
takes time to process other parts
19 of it anyway.
And normally we get the information back
20 on the fingerprint
cards beforehand, but there are
21 those occasions where
we don't. And fortunately in
22 those cases,
fingerprint cards come back and there's
23 nothing there that
would be an issue for us.
24
However, in those events where we do, we then have
25 to go back and revoke
that
license.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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1
TREASURER GALLAGHER: We had that problem in
2 Insurance. We
finally started giving people a license
3 subject to with a
consent order. And it was a huge
4 number of
people. And then we had to go get their
5 licenses back which
was a -- took quite a few lawyers
6 quite a bit of
time. And when we moved to electronic,
7 I mean, we're getting
24-hour turnaround. And we know
8 right from the
beginning if they're not going to
9 qualify. It
saves a lot of trouble.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Do you need statutory change to do
11 that?
12
MR. SAXON: Just to make sure that we don't have
13 any problems, we feel
it's better to do that. But we
14 are in the process of
working with the Treasurer's
15 Office to give
ourselves the authority to have
16 everything ready to
go so that when we get this
17 legislation passed
--
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Why don't you start beforehand?
19
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Yeah. We made a deal with
20 Education way back to
use one contract between -- and I
21 think that was for
Insurance and Education. And now
22 it's Financial
Services and Education. And I do
23 believe that you
ought to be able to piggyback on the
24 Financial Services
deal if you want to.
25
MR. SAXON: And we are looking at
that.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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1
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Great. I mean, at least get
2 it turned around in 48
hours instead of two months.
3
MR. SAXON: I agree with you.
4
TREASURER GALLAGHER: That just doesn't make
5 sense.
6
MR. SAXON: Absolutely.
7
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Okay. We'll work on that.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah, I mean, if you -- the
9 Legislature will
support this so I don't think there is
10 any problem with
going forward and then you can embed
11 it in the
statutes. But I think you probably already
12 have the authority to
do it --
13
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I think there is but there's
14 probably a fee.
It's probably a fee issue. Costs more
15 money to do it --
16
MR. SAXON: Primarily it is the fee issue because
17 there will be more
costs involved than what they pay
18 now.
19
TREASURER GALLAGHER: But we can let the people
20 pay. If they
want the service, let them pay for the
21 additional cost and
then they'll get their fingerprint
22 back quicker.
23
MR. SAXON: That could be their option if they so
24 choose, yes, sir.
25
TREASURER GALLAGHER: They wouldn't have to,
but
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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15
1 if they choose to,
they can get it quicker. All right.
2 We'll figure out
something. Thank you.
3
MR. SAXON: The last page would be the Bureau of
4 Financial
Investigations. Again, you'll notice there a
5 number of prosecutions
for criminal activity involving
6 banking securities and
finance fraud.
7
The key thing I'd like to mention there is down at
8 the bottom, special
recognition, you'll notice Andrea
9 Appleman (phonetic)
who was given the Outstanding Law
10 Enforcement Officer
Award by the U.S. Attorney's Office
11 for the southern
district. This is as a result of her
12 participation in a
program called Operation Flipper in
13 which they
investigated mortgage fraud and nine people
14 were convicted.
I'd also mentioned we had another
15 investigator, Chris
Hancock, who received the same
16 award for the
northern district, U.S. Attorney's Office
17 in Pensacola, and we
are very proud of him.
18
And with that, if you have any other questions,
19 I'll be glad to
answer them.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any questions? Thank you very
21 much, Don.
22
MR. SAXON: Thank you.
23
24
25
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF INSURANCE REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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16
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Office of Insurance Regulation.
2 Good morning,
Kevin.
3
MR. McCARTY: Good morning, Governor.
4
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
5
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
7 objection, the motion
passes.
8
MR. McCARTY: Item No. 2, seek approval of
9 adoption of amendments
to Rule 4-189, records and
10 reports for
information on workers' compensation
11 insureds.
12
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
13
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
15 objection, the item
passes.
16
MR. McCARTY: Agenda Item No. 3, approval for
17 adoption of
amendments to Rule 4-193.065, continuing
18 care contracts and
incorporate forms by reference.
19
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
20
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
22 objection, the motion
passes.
23
THE WITNESS: Item No. 4, approval for adoption of
24 amendments to Rule
4-202, donor annuity organization.
25
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on
4.
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OFFICE OF INSURANCE REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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1
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
3 objection, the item
passes.
4
MR. McCARTY: Item No. 5 is approval for adoption
5 of amendments to rule
Chapter 4-164, valuation and
6 nonforfeiture.
7
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 5.
8
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
10 objection, the item
passes.
11
MR. McCARTY: Thank you, Governor.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Kevin. You got
13 anything else going
on?
14
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I think you should tell him,
15 we were -- we just
talked about accreditation earlier
16 and the State of
Florida was the first state accredited
17 by the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners
18 back in 1989.
And since then, there's been one other
19 one. They do it
every five years and they just
20 finished -- I thought
you might want to tell him about
21 the exam they just
finished.
22
MR. McCARTY: The review team has just concluded
23 their audit for our
laws as well as examination and
24 evaluation analysis
of financial examination of
25 companies and is
recommending that we be accredited
for
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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OFFICE OF INSURANCE REGULATION - NOV. 12,
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1 a full five-year term
at their quarterly meeting in
2 December. But we
are very proud of that and had some
3 very high scores and
looking forward to receiving our
4 third
accreditation.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Congratulations.
6
MR. McCARTY: Thank you very much.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any other comments, questions?
8
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: No, I just wanted him to
9 tell us the good job
they're doing over there.
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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FL. LAND & WATER ADJUDICATORY COMM. - NOV. 12,
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19
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Florida Land and Water
2 Adjudicatory
Commission.
3
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
6 objection, the item
passes. Item 2.
7
MS. TINKER: Item 2, recommend approval of the
8 proposed final rule
establishing the Town Center at
9 Palm Coast Community
Development District in the city
10 of Palm Coast in
Flagler County.
11
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Do we have any speakers on
12 this?
13
MS. TINKER: No, sir.
14
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I'll move Item 2.
15
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Any
17 discussion?
18
Without objection, the item passes.
19
MS. TINKER: Thank you.
20
21
22
23
24
25
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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DEPT. OF AG AND CONSUMER SVCS - NOV. 12,
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20
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Agriculture and Consumer Services.
2
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
3
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
5 objection, the motion
passes. Item 2.
6
MR. WILHELM: Item 2 is staff is requesting
7 authority to issue one
two-acre ten-year lease in Levy
8 County for hard clam
culture to Rose Malone.
9
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Now, this went through a few
10 crazy mastications to
get here, right?
11
MR. WILHELM: Yes, sir.
12
TREASURER GALLAGHER: You want to just lightly
13 explain how we're
here?
14
MR. WILHELM: Sure. We are here because the
15 original lessee gave
up his lease to a company back in
16 '97. That
company transferred this lease to a lady,
17 Rose Malone, who has
been working it for over a year.
18 The company --
19
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Don't we have to be involved
20 in transfers?
21
MR. WILHELM: Yes, sir, and that was NCI. If you
22 recall, back in '97
NCI came before the Cabinet and
23 they asked for the
transfer of 17 leases from
24 individuals, separate
individuals, to this corporation.
25 It was at a cabinet
meeting. The cabinet approved
the
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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DEPT. OF AG AND CONSUMER SVCS - NOV. 12,
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21
1 transfer back before
there was a division of
2 aquaculture.
3
They transferred those leases. NCI did not do a
4 very good job filing
them with the circuit court in
5 Levy County. And
so when these transfers started
6 occurring from NCI
back to other individuals, the
7 owner, or the leasee
in this case of record, wasn't
8 always the correct
one.
9
So, yes, I know, yes, sir. So what happened was
10 the paperwork got
ahead of itself. They transferred it
11 to Rose Malone before
Rose Malone actually had it. And
12 Mr. Perez, in the
meantime, went to a county court, got
13 a judge to have a
hearing, issued an ejectment of NCI
14 when NCI actually did
not have authority or even the
15 title to the property
or any other little piece of the
16 property. And
so the judge issued an order to NCI to
17 give it back to Mr.
Perez. NCI didn't hold it.
18
The Court made a mistake in that the Court didn't
19 enjoin the
Department. They did not enjoin Rose Malone
20 and they did not
enjoin you-all. So there is no issue
21 here from a court
saying that the trustees have to give
22 it back to Mr.
Perez. There is no issue requiring
23 staff at the
Department of Agriculture to give it back
24 to Mr. Perez.
And there's no court decision giving a
25 decision to Ms.
Malone saying you have to give it
back.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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DEPT. OF AG AND CONSUMER SVCS - NOV. 12,
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22
1 It was to NCI which
was not the holder of record.
2
And so yes, sir, it's really ugly. And the bottom
3 line was Mr. Perez
wants his lease back. Ms. Malone
4 has been working a
lease for over a year and she is
5 actively growing clams
on her lease. And our
6 determination was the
best way to do it is we had
7 already terminated
some leases in the same area for
8 people not paying
their lease fees. And what we did is
9 we took one of those
leases, the two-acre leases, and
10 we took it off the
books because it is not conducive to
11 clam growing.
It's only conducive to oyster growing.
12
And we set up a two-acre lease that we could give
13 Ms. Malone so that
she could move her clams from her
14 lease less than a
half a mile from one spot to another
15 so she could stay in
the business and put Mr. Perez
16 back to being whole
again.
17
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Now, isn't it a little hard
18 to move clams?
19
MR. WILHELM: No, sir, they're in bags.
20
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Okay. I was thinking you
21 have to go dig them
all up and move them. Might as
22 well just pick them
and keep them.
23
MR. WILHELM: And there's all kinds of theft and
24 insurance issues that
relate to the bags and how easy
25 it is to go pick up a
couple thousand dollars' worth
of
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1 bags.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Commissioner.
3
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Governor, I want to make a
4 motion to approve Item
2 with the comment that this
5 issue has been worked
very hard by our Department. And
6 to follow the
guidelines of the court order and to make
7 sure everyone becomes
whole in this situation, it's
8 apparent this is about
the only way we can do it where
9 everybody feels like
they're whole again and still
10 gives the effort of
raising clams on this new portion
11 of the lease which is
really not a brand-new lease, but
12 a lease that was
given up by someone else and can be
13 used.
14
With the direction of the Cabinet, I want to go
15 ahead and make this
motion. I will tell you this. We
16 are following these
leases. All of this took place
17 before we officially
started keeping the records and
18 getting involved in
these clam leases before
19 Aquaculture became a
main player in the Department of
20 Agriculture. We
are now watching all of these leases
21 as to who is working
them and making sure they are
22 doing all due
diligence on these leases.
23
So hopefully this will not happen again unless
24 it's some real weird
experience that gets by us. But
25 we are watching every
one of these leases that
are
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1 being given by the
Cabinet across the state of Florida.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion. Is there a
3 second?
4
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Any other
6 discussion?
Without objection, the motion passes.
7
MR. WILHELM: Thank you very much.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Board of Trustees.
2
MR. STRUHS: Good morning.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
4
MR. STRUHS: Item 1 is an option agreement to
5 acquire .22 acres for
the benefit of the Florida Board
6 of Education and
Florida Agriculture and Mechanical
7 University. We
recommend approval of the item.
8
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on one.
9
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
11 objection, the item
passes.
12
MR. STRUHS: Item 2, Governor and Cabinet, is an
13 extraordinary case
study of how our national security
14 and our environmental
protection missions are
15 complimentary here in
Florida. As you know, we have
16 been -- you have been
working for these many years to
17 protect, among other
things, the Perdido Pitcher Plant
18 Prairie and the
Garcon Swamp in particular. This item
19 actually will
accomplish that in a very important way
20 by acquiring 226
acres in that Florida Forever project
21 from the Nature
Conservancy granting a conservation
22 easement over that
property to the United States Navy
23 so that they have the
benefit of ensuring that in the
24 future that land is
never developed. It's important
25 for their flight
training.
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1
In exchange for that, the Navy would provide to
2 the State of Florida
fee title over a portion, at least
3 160 acres over the
Navy's Bronson Field in order for
4 the first time to
provide us upland access to the
5 Tarkin Bayou State
Park. So it is clearly a very
6 important win/win
item. We're fortunate to have
7 Captain John Pruitt
here who is the commander of the
8 Pensacola Naval Air
Station and we'd invite him to
9 speak on the item.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning, Captain.
11
CAPTAIN PRUITT: Good morning, Governor. How are
12 you?
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Doing great.
14
CAPTAIN PRUITT: Governor and cabinet members,
15 it's great for me to
be here today and speaking on
16 behalf of this.
The 226-acre parcel in the Garcon
17 Swamp is actually --
a good portion of it underlies our
18 actual flight pattern
in Pensacola. So it's an
19 extremely important
issue to us.
20
In addition, we are more than happy to continue to
21 work with the State
on the granting of easement or
22 actually the transfer
of fee simple to the State for
23 the access to the
Bronson -- through Bronson Field to
24 the Tarkin Bayou
area. And, again, that's being again
25 worked by our
staff. As Secretary Struhs has
pointed
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1 out, this is a great
win/win. In fact, I will go so
2 far as to say that the
combination of the Navy, the
3 Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, and the
4 Nature Conservancy is
such a winning organization it's
5 only rivaled by the
Florida Marlins (Laughter) in the
6 way that they continue
to get win after win. So,
7 again, I'm here to dig
in my --
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Are you saying you're all
9 underpaid?
10
(Laughter.)
11
CAPTAIN PRUITT: I have to take that up with
12 another governmental
organization, not the State of
13 Florida.
14
Again, sir, I just can't say enough about my
15 strongest possible
support for this initiative and we
16 look forward to
continuing to work with the State and
17 the Nature
Conservancy in the future and this and many
18 other initiatives
that will both protect the
19 environment and
protect our national security. Thank
20 you.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Captain.
22
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Motion on two.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion. Is there a
24 second?
25
COMMISSIONER BRONSON:
Second.
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1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
2 objection, the item
passes.
3
Thank you, David. This has been an interesting
4 process of listening
to the concerns of the captain's
5 predecessor in terms
of encroachment several years ago.
6 And we really have
created a win/win to protect the
7 base and the economic
value that it brings. Protect
8 our country to make
sure the military can operate and
9 to do so in a way that
also protects the natural
10 environment. I
guess we're going to have a little
11 conversation about
that at the end of the meeting as
12 well. It's nice
when we have the convergence of these
13 good ideas
together.
14
MR. STRUHS: If I might add, sir, I'd like to
15 personally and
publicly thank you. My job, our job at
16 the Department in
getting these kinds of projects done
17 is made so much
easier thanks to your efforts to meet
18 with the military
base commanders here in Florida
19 several times during
the year. And as you know, this
20 particular project
has been on your agenda these last
21 couple of years and
your personal engagement in helping
22 advance this has been
--
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Onward. Let's go.
24
(Laughter.)
25
MR. STRUHS: Just wanted to say thank
you.
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1
Item 3 is an opportunity to acquire 7,597 acres
2 within the St. Joe
Timberland Florida Forever Project
3 from the Nature
Conservancy charitable trust. This
4 particular piece of
property is probably one of the
5 highest ranked
biodiversity hot spots, not just in
6 Florida, but indeed
anywhere in the nation. And we are
7 very excited about
putting this into conservation. It
8 includes 4300 feet of
frontage along the intercoastal
9 waterway and 1600 feet
along the Apalachicola River
10 along with many other
very important biological
11 attributes.
12
It too will, in a small way, contribute to the
13 ongoing protection of
the military mission by providing
14 lands that will be
free from development over important
15 flightways. So
we're very excited about this. I
16 recommend it to you
for your approval. We do have a
17 couple of speakers to
this item. David McLain is here
18 from the Apalachicola
Bay River Keepers as well as Don
19 Ashley from the
Franklin County Wildlife Federation.
20
MR. McLAIN: Governor and Cabinet. Thank you for
21 this opportunity to
speak in favor of this land and
22 being able to keep it
in trust and being able to allow
23 us in Franklin County
to protect and preserve the river
24 and the bay.
But this is an exceptional opportunity
25 and we strongly urge
that you be able to do that.
I
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1 will speak later
having to do with another one. But
2 that one we certainly
are in favor of. Thank you very
3 much.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, sir.
5
MR. ASHLEY: Governor, members of the cabinet, I'm
6 speaking for the
Florida Wildlife Federation but I also
7 live on St. James
Island in Franklin County. And we do
8 want to encourage the
State to continue to work with
9 this county in
protecting these important conservation
10 areas. I know
it's very difficult, perhaps, to look at
11 Franklin County as
maybe the entire breadbasket for the
12 Gulf of Mexico.
But these forested floodplains from
13 the Apalachicola
River to the Ochlockonee Bay are
14 absolutely essential
to the health of the Gulf of
15 Mexico and
Apalachicola Bay. So while this is only
16 7,000 acres --
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: Only?
18
(Laughter.)
19
MR. ASHLEY: There is an additional several tens
20 of thousands of acres
around Lake Wimico that are also
21 essential to
Apalachicola Bay. So we thank you for
22 this effort and
encourage you to continue to look at
23 Franklin
County. Tate's Hell doesn't exactly have the
24 ring of "the river of
grass." But I can assure you
25 from my experience in
the Panhandle, this area
is
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1 closest from
Apalachicola River to the Suwannee River
2 of being the
Everglades or the Panhandle. Those
3 forested floodplains
are actually at the heart of the
4 Gulf of Mexico, so
thank you.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Let me ask you a question. We
6 have been buying lots
of land. This is a high priority
7 and it's been
unanimous, there's not been any dissent
8 except for maybe
occasionally a price discussion.
9
What is Franklin County's -- I see Representative
10 Kendrick here.
He may want to come and talk about this
11 or someone from local
government who is here. We're
12 buying land that --
to protect it from future
13 development.
But that also implies that the county
14 would allow for this
land to be developed in some kind
15 of way. And,
you know, while it is important for us to
16 make sure that we
don't purchase -- that we do purchase
17 land that's in the
path of development, is this
18 property -- are we
worried about a threat that could be
19 dealt with at the
local level, not to say we still
20 wouldn't purchase the
properties, but what's going on
21 in growth management
in Franklin County? Has there
22 been an upgrade since
the 1980s?
23
MR. ASHLEY: Governor, the biggest upgrade is
24 Franklin County has
tried for the last year, through a
25 series of visioning
processes, I mean, these
meetings
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1 have been going on for
over a year. And I don't think
2 we've ever had less
than 50 residents, sometimes 100 to
3 150. And for a
small county like Franklin County,
4 that's a lot of people
to come to thousands of hours of
5 meetings. And
the intent was to try to find this
6 balance between
commerce and conservation because
7 Franklin County and
the State of Florida need to
8 protect these vital
areas. But we need economic
9 development too.
We need to increase the high school
10 graduation
rate. We need more affordable housing. We
11 need jobs for the
children of commercial fishermen and
12 loggers. Where
are they going to work in the future?
13 And if they did have
a job, where are they going to buy
14 a house they can
afford to live in?
15
The short answer is we're, in Franklin County,
16 trying to find these
balances between commerce and
17 conservation and the
State has a role, I think, in
18 protecting the major
areas. But the community then has
19 a role to incorporate
that into an economic development
20 plans that benefits
people and wildlife. And I hope
21 that's not too long
of an answer. But that is what we
22 are trying to do and
we continue to try to do that
23 through the next
year.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: We also have the issue of the
25 tristate negotiations
and the agreement. And we
need
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1 to make sure that as
we make our case, that Georgia
2 needs to allow the
natural flows of water to come to
3 Apalachicola Bay, that
we don't make decisions at the
4 same time that would
contradict that or that would
5 jeopardize, I think,
the more righteous position that
6 we have right now in
our negotiations.
7
TREASURER GALLAGHER: We had -- I mean for a while
8 there Franklin County
had the problem that the tax base
9 kept being eroded
because we kept owning all the land.
10 And now I guess some
development in south Franklin
11 helped that quite bit
I gather. Is that true?
12
MR. ASHLEY: Yes. And actually, the tax base in
13 Franklin County is
expanding. I mean the values on
14 St. George Island are
just absolutely incredible, it is
15 increasing. But
the gap, Governor, members of the
16 cabinet, the gap here
is between development for second
17 homes and very nice
beach homes. What about the
18 commercial
fisherman? What about the loggers? What
19 about the next
generation that was tied to the land
20 because nature in
Franklin County is a natural part of
21 those people.
It's not something that they visit with
22 to kind of think as
an environmentalist. They live it
23 every day. And
I think you're going to see more people
24 in Franklin County
trying to make these connections of
25 maintaining this
culture of a fishing village that
was
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1 a vital part of
Florida. So these purchases help.
2 Thank you very much
and thank you for your time.
3
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Governor, I just wanted to
4 extend on that to say
I've met with a lot of the
5 oystermen and women
down in Franklin County and they
6 have had a very, very
tough time the last few years
7 with red tide and
other things closing down their
8 operations and that's
their sole income for a lot of
9 these people.
And I can guarantee you they're as
10 interested in making
sure that some of these trades
11 that we do on land
and so forth is going to clean up
12 their waterways
because that's their livelihood on the
13 line.
14
And I think this cabinet has done a real good job
15 of balancing all of
that. And I think it can be done
16 with best management
practices and some of the other
17 things that's been
implemented so that you can have
18 some of both without
jeopardizing that water quality
19 that you were talking
about.
20
REPRESENTATIVE KENDRICK: Good morning, Governor.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Looking good.
22
REPRESENTATIVE KENDRICK: You-all are too this
23 morning.
There's two points I want to make in response
24 to that remark or
that question. Actually, this year,
25 Franklin County was
actually -- the school board
was
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1 actually able to
implement the two mills for facilities
2 monies without the
people even realizing the increase
3 in their property
taxes and I think that speaks
4 significantly about
the increases that we've seen in
5 property values.
6
But the most important thing in this particular
7 purchase, because it
involves St. Joe and what St. Joe
8 is doing in and around
Franklin County and west
9 Florida, is they don't
leave town when they sell it,
10 they reinvest it in
the community. They make sure they
11 take care of the
people in Franklin County. As you all
12 know, several years
ago -- and I'll talk about this a
13 little later on in
another item. I was one of the ones
14 who stood up against,
in opposition of some of the
15 things that were
going on there.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: I remember.
17
REPRESENTATIVE KENDRICK: And we've seen now that
18 St. Joe has come to
the table. They are working with
19 us. They're
looking to make sure we have land, we
20 don't have a
Marathon. We have a tremendous problem in
21 Marathon now because
their own deputies, school
22 teachers and those
type people can't afford to live
23 there. And St.
Joe has made the commitment to Franklin
24 County to allow parts
of lands that they own for
25 affordable housing,
not low income, but we're
talking
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1 about
affordable. People like you and I can afford,
2 police deputies,
teachers, nurses and those type of
3 people. And I
think that's important for part of that
4 vision and process to
take place and that's what
5 they're doing.
They've made that commitment already
6 and they continue to
work on a day-to-day basis there
7 in Franklin
County. We really appreciate the
8 partnership that
they've had there in Franklin County
9 to address those
future needs. And basically the
10 commissioners on the
Franklin County commission
11 supports most of
these land purchases.
12
You actually will receive a resolution at the next
13 cabinet meeting
because while this is a small piece of
14 land that we're
looking at purchasing today, I think
15 we've got a
14,000-acre piece coming at the next
16 cabinet
meeting. But the County supports that because
17 of St. Joe's
commitment to Franklin County to make sure
18 that we've got the
resources available for affordable
19 housing and those
type things.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Representative. Any
21 other
discussion? Is there a motion?
22
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Motion.
23
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
25 objection, the motion
passes.
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1
MR. STRUHS: Item No. 4 is a little bit unusual in
2 that we're actually
recommending it for denial. You
3 don't see many of
those from us. In this case, I'd
4 like to explain the
rationale why. The property in
5 question, which there
should be a map in your briefing,
6 is 96.92 acres within
the Fakahatchee Strand Florida
7 Forever Project.
If you look at the 96, nearly
8 97 acres, indeed only
16 and a half of those acres are
9 dry, are
developable. And if you took the purchase
10 price of $1.5 million
and divided it by those 16 and a
11 half developable
acres, you would see a price of
12 $95,000 per acre.
13
Our view of it is that these lands are not in any
14 imminent threat of
development and indeed the Division
15 of Recreation and
Parks is not particularly interested
16 in taking on that
management responsibility. For that
17 purpose, we're going
to recommend denial of this item.
18
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Question.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, Commissioner. Treasurer?
20 Oh, you both have
one.
21
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I know that we have looked
22 at some of these
types of issues before and this is, I
23 believe, 90 percent
of the current assessed value. Now
24 the way I was looking
at this --
25
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Assessed or
approved?
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1
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Of the appraised value, I'm
2 sorry. The
appraised value was 90 percent.
3
MR. STRUHS: That's right.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Now my understanding is
5 even though part of
this area could be or may maintain
6 its position under
protection because of the species
7 there, that roughly
one-third of this land can be
8 developed. And
if this deal goes down the tube, and
9 the owner decides and
it is theirs to decide okay, if
10 they don't want it,
then we're just going to go ahead
11 and apply to get our
permits to go ahead and develop
12 this one-third.
I can guarantee you, we will look back
13 on this and say, Why
in the world didn't we buy it when
14 we had the chance
instead of letting the value maybe
15 double or more with
the potential of developing that
16 one-third of this
land there.
17
Now, I mean, I can understand some of the thinking
18 that you're
showing. But on the other hand, I don't
19 want us to turn
around and say, Oh my gosh, why didn't
20 we buy this a year
ago or two years ago when we had the
21 opportunity at 90
percent of the value.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is it a third that can be
23 developed?
Sixteen acres out of 97?
24
MR. STRUHS: It would clearly depend on how the
25 mitigation would be
proposed for dealing with
the
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1 wetlands impacts
there. We didn't go down the path of
2 figuring out exactly
how many acres could be developed.
3 But clearly 16 and a
half would be developable without
4 any kind of
mitigation.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: David, that kind of begs the
6 question. If you
haven't figured out what can be
7 developed, how can an
appraiser figure out what the
8 value of the property
is? I mean we're back to the
9 problem what is the
embedded entitlement? What are the
10 entitlements on this
property now?
11
MR. STRUHS: Let me ask staff to speak to that
12 item in
particular.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: I mean, looking at a picture, it
14 looks like this is
pretty important. You know, has
15 environmental
values. But how did they get their
16 entitlements?
What are the entitlements? What's the
17 value? The
million-five, what does it buy?
18
MR. HINES: Yes, sir. Good morning. My name is
19 Chilton Hines.
I'm the bureau chief in appraisal.
20 Essentially, the way
the appraisers approached this
21 particular assignment
is looking at highest and best
22 use, multi-family and
single family, and they came up
23 with so many dollars
per unit. There is 16.05 acres of
24 uplands
currently. It's my understanding that an
25 additional -- up to
an additional three acres can
be
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1 filled for a total of
roughly 19 acres of uplands.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: This is a development right that
3 has been granted by
the local government and the State?
4
MR. HINES: I believe so.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: You believe so?
6
MR. HINES: Yes, sir. Yes, sir, that is correct.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, do we know so?
8
MR. HINES: Yes, sir, we do know.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: That's better. I thought there
10 was some question
about the development rights?
11
MR. HINES: Nineteen acres can be developed as we
12 understand it.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Can we take a pause in the action
14 here so we can get a
picture with the kiddos? These
15 are all Charlie
Gallagher's buddies.
16
(Pause.)
17
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I thank you for everybody's
18 indulgence.
19
MR. STRUHS: Governor, if I can ask Chilton to
20 pick up where he left
off.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, please. And the focus on
22 what rights were
given for this development that we are
23 now buying when
--
24
MR. STRUHS: We're proposing to not buy it
25
actually.
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1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, we're considering buying.
2
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Can I ask, David, a question
3 just before he
starts?
4
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir.
5
TREASURER GALLAGHER: If you don't believe that we
6 ought to be buying,
like it's denial --
7
MR. STRUHS: Yes.
8
TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- why do you bring it?
9
MR. STRUHS: For a couple of reasons. One, I
10 think it sends a
signal to you that we've heard the
11 instructions you've
given us these last four years to
12 be very
price-sensitive and to make sure that we're
13 looking at buying
conservation lands that indeed are in
14 the imminent path of
development and indeed are
15 important for
Florida's conservation agenda. It's an
16 opportunity for us to
demonstrate publicly to you that,
17 in fact, we've heard
that message and we're acting on
18 it.
19
The other issues in this particular case, a good
20 amount of time and
energy was invested in pursuing this
21 by your cabinet
aides, by the seller and their interest
22 as well as the
Department. And we also like to
23 preserve -- while we
come in with an opinion, we like
24 to preserve for you
the ultimate decision-making
25 authority because
after all, you are the
elected
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1 official.
2
TREASURER GALLAGHER: So does that mean from now
3 on you're going to
bring more to us or you're not going
4 to bring them unless
you're recommending them?
5
MR. STRUHS: We brought this one because it was a
6 close call.
7
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Because this isn't the first
8 time it's been
here.
9
MR. STRUHS: It's been before you before and it
10 has been sent back
for additional work. The result of
11 that additional work
was my conclusion that it was
12 probably not suitable
for acquisition. And that indeed
13 if the development
wanted to go forward, that would not
14 be a bad thing.
And I'll ask Chilton then to pick up
15 where we left
off. He's actually at intermission I
16 should say. He
was able to pull out the exact language
17 that was used from
the local officials by the
18 appraisers in
determining the property's value.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: All right. And if you could also
20 answer the question
about a future land use mandatory
21 preservation blanket
over the property.
22
MR. HINES: Okay. And as I understand it, the
23 City has written a
letter here to Mr. Gardner
24 indicating that, We
will not -- I'm going to read part
25 of this if I
may. We will not zone any of the
mangrove
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1 swamp without a swamp
order -- a court order, I'm
2 sorry, telling us to
do it. We will zone the upland
3 consistent with
proposed use if it is consistent in
4 other regards with
similar development on uplands
5 elsewhere in the
city.
6
So the City is essentially saying they will rezone
7 the property for
development. The appraisers appraised
8 the property based on
highest and best use --
9
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Excuse me a second. Were
10 they talking about
that specific property or were they
11 talking about
property within the city in general?
12
MR. HINES: Yes, specifically.
13
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Now this is one commissioner
14 or did they all vote
on it?
15
MR. HINES: This is from Perry Smallwood, city
16 staff, planning and
zoning.
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: So right now the property does not
18 have -- it's in the
process of being rezoned to be able
19 to allow for the
development to take place?
20
MR. HINES: It is currently zoned -- let's see.
21 Low density
residential, I believe.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: So it is zoned?
23
MR. HINES: Yes, sir.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. And what about the future
25 land use mandatory
preservation?
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1
MR. HINES: Well, as I understand it, I'm going to
2 have to defer to
someone else to answer that. I'm
3 sorry.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Is the landowner here?
5 Someone representing
the landowner.
6
MR. STRUHS: Mr. Tom Gardner is here representing.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Tom, would you like to talk, I
8 hope.
9
MR. GARDNER: Governor, Tom Gardner. Ron Richman
10 and Ralph Haben are
also here. So if you beat on me
11 too bad, they'll drag
me off and take my place. Haben,
12 Richman, and Tom
Gardner represent the landowners --
13 landowner or owners
on this property. The concern,
14 it's a little under
100 acres in total. And actually,
15 the nonjurisdictional
lands are 17.29. That's the area
16 of land that could be
developed.
17
The person that developed Pleasure Island, which
18 I'll speak of in a
moment, and also the airport
19 property indicates in
that area they generally can get
20 about two additional
acres through mitigation. But I
21 don't think that was
necessarily taken into
22 consideration in the
appraisal. The appraisal was
23 based on the
developable acres which was 17.29, I
24 believe. I've
got a jurisdictional map here if any of
25 you are interested in
looking at
it.
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1
GOVERNOR BUSH: I am.
2
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Let me put it out on the
3 table.
4
(Pause.)
5
MR. GARDNER: 17.27 acres.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: And those are the areas that are
7 along the river?
8
MS. ARMSTRONG: This is the boundary.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Right. But I mean the whited line
10 areas are the areas
that are upland?
11
MS. ARMSTRONG: Yes, this --
12
MR. GARDNER: That's correct. These areas in here
13 are the upland pods
that are developable and there are
14 17.27 acres of
it. I mentioned Pleasure Island, that's
15 Pleasure Island right
there. Now, the island shows
16 that it's been
cleared of exotic vegetation, but right
17 now if you had a
current picture, and I think all of
18 your staff have
current pictures of that island, it now
19 has about 10 or 15
two-bedroom single-family residences
20 on it and more could
be added. And those residences
21 are selling right now
for 350- to 375,000 apiece.
22
Similar development could take place on these
23 uplands and the
reason we say that, if you look at the
24 future land use, when
this thing came to you before, a
25 question about future
land use came up right before
the
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1 item came -- it was
actually on a Friday or Thursday
2 before the item came
to you on the following Tuesday.
3 And it was deferred at
that point to get the question
4 of future land use and
appraisal resolved. And I don't
5 want to put any words
in anybody's mouth, but the
6 appraisal people
relooked at it and so forth and they
7 felt like even with
future land use, which is mandatory
8 preservation, that the
upland acres, as presented on
9 the jurisdictional,
could be developed within the city
10 based on information
provided by the city planning
11 manager.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Tom, explain to me this, I'm just
13 trying to learn
here. Mandatory preservation doesn't
14 mean mandatory
preservation?
15
MR. GARDNER: Well, it's not defined.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Then why -- I mean -- is this an
17 Everglades City
term?
18
MR. GARDNER: Well, you have to look back in the
19 '90s, actually back
when the State began to work with
20 all the
municipalities on the comprehensive plan.
21 Everglades City
submitted a number of different
22 versions and the
Department of Community Affairs and
23 the reviewing
agencies had a number of comments.
24
And if you look at this particular piece of
25 property, it was
originally submitted, I think,
as
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1 urban estates.
That came back to the City saying,
2 There are a lot of
wetlands on this -- or, This
3 property appears to be
all wetlands and you can't have
4 zoning in
wetlands.
5
The City then changed their map to show under the
6 jurisdiction beyond
the control of the City -- oh,
7 under agencies --
under agency jurisdiction beyond the
8 control of the
City. And what they were trying to say
9 is, This is land that
is really going to be determined
10 the use of by the
water management district and Corps
11 of Engineers.
12
The Department of Community Affairs sent that back
13 and said, We don't
understand what this definition is
14 or what this term
is. It came back on one map showing
15 as mangrove
wetlands. It went back to them, they said,
16 Mangrove wetlands
doesn't work. The City at the time
17 didn't have the
resources to do a jurisdictional
18 determination on this
land to determine what was
19 uplands and what was
wetlands. They were in a
20 situation with the
Department of Community Affairs
21 where they had to
finalize their plan, or whatever the
22 term is, you know, be
banned from the State of Florida.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Whatever that term is.
24
MR. GARDNER: Whatever they call that, fits into
25 that term. So
they submitted a changed future land
use
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1 on this property
showing it as mandatory preservation,
2 unzoned mandatory
preservation. And they did that in
3 one day. And
their -- and since that was submitted in
4 their '93 plan, they
actually showed some of this zoned
5 as
single-family. So in talking with the City manager
6 and reading the
comprehensive plan, I asked him, How
7 can you go -- and this
is something that came to our
8 attention at the last
minute just like it did everybody
9 else -- how can you go
from mandatory preservation to
10 single-family
zoning? And he said, Well, you have to
11 read what's in
writing that took place during the
12 comprehensive plan
development.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: When did that take place again?
14
MR. GARDNER: That was in the '90s, '88 to '90,
15 early '90s.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
17
MR. GARDNER: And they haven't done any -- they
18 did one update since
then. They've not done periodic
19 reviews and
updates. But since that time --
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: When did your -- when did the
21 owner of the property
buy the property?
22
MR. GARDNER: He bought it back in the '70s.
23 Actually, the
trustees gave him approval to do a dredge
24 and fill out there
and actually fill the wetlands to
25 plus three. The
dredge marine -- I got a copy of
what
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1 that development would
look like if you'd like to look
2 at it. And the
City zoned the property consistent with
3 that development
plan.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: So the property was entitled --
5 the owners had the
property for 30 years. The property
6 was entitled then the
-- in some mysterious way the
7 property's values were
taken away by ordinance?
8
MR. GARDNER: Without notice.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Without notice. And then we're
10 paying for the value
30 years later for rights that are
11 uncertain?
12
MR. GARDNER: Well, if you were to ask the
13 planning manager
--
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: If we do it, I mean.
15
MR. GARDNER: -- what could be done with this
16 property, he'd say,
Well -- and I asked him after I
17 read the
comprehensive plan and after discussing it
18 with him, I asked
him, I want to know exactly what I
19 can do with this
property. And he said, If you get the
20 appropriate
documentation from the water management
21 district and the
Corps of Engineers which shows
22 nonjurisdictional
lands, if you get permits to fill
23 wetlands, we will
zone this property, the uplands on
24 this property
consistent with other uplands zoned in
25 the city. And
that's exactly what his letter back
to
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1 me says. That's
the way the property was appraised.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: So at a minimum, you have a
3 taking?
4
MR. GARDNER: That's something that you'll have a
5 hard time getting them
to discuss in Everglades City.
6 The thing they'll
discuss in Everglades City is that if
7 you bring to us a
development plan and you have the
8 signoffs from the
appropriate agencies, we'll give you
9 zoning to build what
you want to build on that property
10 as long as it's
consistent with what we've done in
11 other places in the
city.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Commissioner Bronson had a
13 question which is,
Why are all the uplands along the
14 river? Is that
just coincidental?
15
MR. GARDNER: Well, it could go back to when they
16 dredged the
river. You never can tell. Those are
17 spoil banks.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: That's what it is. That's the
19 answer.
20
MR. GARDNER: That's exactly what it is.
21
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: So the most prime lands for
22 building is right on
the water which is where everybody
23 would want it to be
anyway?
24
TREASURER GALLAGHER: That was made by government.
25
MR. GARDNER: It was made by government. Well,
I
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1 don't know if it was
made by government or quasi
2 government. I
think it was the Barron River -- I mean
3 the Barron Collier
Corporation that did all that work
4 down there in the
early 1900s that did that work on the
5 river.
6
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Well, my point, Governor,
7 if I could continue
with my original question is, if we
8 turn this down today
at 1.5, which is 90 percent of the
9 value that's been
given, they go ahead and start
10 developing these
areas on this river, first of all,
11 you've lost the
integrity of the total piece of
12 property which means
now you've got all types of
13 building and it could
be multi-story buildings from the
14 rest of it which
means if we want to go ahead and buy
15 the rest of it, the
price is probably going to go up.
16
We could end up paying as much or more for what's
17 left than we're going
to pay for the whole piece now.
18 And cabinet members,
I got to tell you, I remember
19 before I ever got on
the cabinet a piece of property
20 while I was in the
senate where we went after 300 acres
21 of beachfront
property and something like I forget how
22 many thousands of
acres at topsail became available and
23 ended up picking up
the whole piece for what we would
24 have paid for the
beachfront frontage.
25
I don't want to see us come into this thing now
in
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1 a few years and pay
more for what's left after the
2 building took place
than we could have paid for it
3 right now.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: And I don't want to pay for things
5 that are based on
prospective value that shouldn't be
6 given entitlements to
begin with. I mean, that's the
7 challenge we face
every time we have these
8 conversations and we
haven't been able to sort it out.
9 In this case, it looks
like it's added, you know, added
10 to the normal
discussion is this is Everglades City and
11 they have different
ways of doing things down there.
12 So it is a little
cloudy what the prospective rights
13 are. Which
leads me one more time to ask our
14 appraiser, What were
you valuing -- how many units were
15 you assuming could be
put on this property to get to
16 the million five,
because that may help answer your
17 question.
18
MR. HINES: Yes, sir, 152 units.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: 152 units?
20
MR. HINES: Yes, sir, based on multifamily
21 development.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: So that's ten units per acre?
23
MR. HINES: Yes, sir.
24
MR. GARDNER: There were two different methods
25 used, I
believe.
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1
MR. HINES: That is correct. Single-family and
2 multifamily.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: You can't do single --
4
MR. HINES: It's zoned multifamily so you could
5 put single or multi,
either way.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: Either way, you come up with a
7 million five?
8
MR. HINES: Yes, sir.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: So that's about 100,000 a lot in
10 Everglades
City. Wow, I got to get back down there.
11
(Laughter.)
12
MR. HINES: The appraiser did it in two ways, one
13 value based on the
multi family scenario was 1,672,000.
14 The other value,
based on single family, was a
15 1,760,000 and he
concluded at a 1,700,000.
16
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I got a question to ask.
17 I'm looking at this
thing. So what's the big deal,
18 David, about putting
houses on these -- on the islands?
19
MR. STRUHS: I guess my point is I don't think it
20 is a big deal and
they should probably develop it.
21
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Let them develop it. They
22 can't develop the
back part. If they can't develop the
23 back part -- I'm
looking here, doesn't look like it's
24 going to hurt a whole
lot to me if they put houses on
25 that stuff. I
mean, I don't know how long it's
going
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1 to take them to build
them, but Pleasure Island only
2 has a few done and
haven't sold it out yet. So why are
3 we in a hurry to buy
it?
4
MR. STRUHS: I think we agree with you that it
5 would be suitable for
development and not for
6 conservation. I
point out that the bulk of the other
7 property around this
particular parcel is zoned by the
8 Barron Collier Company
and they are not willing
9 sellers. They do
not look to have us purchase that
10 land for
conservation.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: David, why did the ARC agree to --
12 why did they amend
their boundaries to include this
13 property if you're
comfortable with its development?
14 Do they disagree with
you?
15
MR. STRUHS: I can't remember personally how I
16 voted on that
panel.
17
MR. GARDNER: You voted for.
18
MR. STRUHS: Did I vote for it?
19
(Laughter.)
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Sorry to ask the question.
21
MR. STRUHS: I'm glad you did. Thank you, Tom.
22
MR. GARDNER: We were quite pleased with that
23 vote.
24
MR. STRUHS: Thank you, Tom.
25
What we do is we look at existing parks. In
this
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1 case it was
Fakahatchee Strand and you look at the
2 ideal boundaries for
managing that parcel.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: I'm conflicted out here a little
4 bit because on the one
hand, I don't like the State --
5 I try to look at this
as though it was my money. I
6 don't have nearly
enough money to buy all the land that
7 the State buys but we
have a duty to buy this land on
8 behalf of the
taxpayers in a way that they should be
9 proud of.
10
On the other hand, if this is a property -- I
11 mean, on the surface
it just -- it looks like it's a
12 pretty valuable piece
of property in terms of -- we
13 just celebrated, we
went down to the southern part of
14 Golden Glades
Estates. This is the end portion of that
15 flow of water.
If this isn't valuable environmentally,
16 you could be led to
say we -- I don't like the price,
17 but you know -- I
wish you would have said, I don't
18 like the price, but I
wish it wouldn't be developed,
19 know what I'm
saying?
20
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir, I do.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: But you're not saying that.
22 You're saying go
ahead and develop it. So you're
23 saying the
environmental values of this are okay but
24 it's not the end of
the world?
25
MR. STRUHS: It's hard to separate those
two.
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1 Clearly if the price
were a lot lower, it would be a
2 more attractive
acquisition. Given our view of it at
3 this price, I think it
begs the question as to whether
4 or not it is worth
that kind of investment.
5
But, as I said to the commissioner earlier,
6 Governor, the reason
it's on the agenda is it is a
7 close call and
reasonable people have disagreed on
8 this. I don't
think there is a wrong answer. I think
9 it's a difficult
choice. I felt it was worthwhile to
10 put it on the agenda
in the form of a denial to draw
11 your attention to the
fact that we are concerned about
12 the price.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: General.
14
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Thank you. I just have a
15 few questions,
David. Kind of reflects the Governor's
16 comments. Do
you think this is important land to buy
17 in order to
preserve? Isn't that sort of the
18 overriding deal
here? That's what this land buying
19 thing is all
about?
20
MR. STRUHS: I approach it similarly to the
21 Governor in that I
try to view this as if it were my
22 money because I think
you make better choices. And
23 there is a limited
amount of money. And if we invest
24 this kind of money on
this parcel, those are dollars
25 that are now not
available to purchase other lands
in
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1 other areas of the
state that indeed are probably a
2 better value.
3
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: That's why I asked the
4 first question
first. Is it important land to buy to
5 preserve?
6
MR. STRUHS: The answer to that is yes. And
7 that's why the
Acquisition Restoration Council chose to
8 put it in the boundary
amendment to Fakahatchee Strand.
9 So the short answer is
yes.
10
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Okay. Then it kind of
11 leads to my next
question. Is the value that's
12 attached to it a
responsible purchase on behalf of the
13 taxpayers of Florida,
in your view?
14
MR. STRUHS: In my view, my recommendation is the
15 answer is no.
16
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Because you think it's
17 too high.
18
MR. STRUHS: Because I think it's too high.
19
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: So it's important to buy,
20 but not at this
price, in your view?
21
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir.
22
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Is there anything else we
23 need to know?
24
MR. STRUHS: That does it.
25
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Thank you very
much.
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1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any other discussions?
2
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Governor, I'm listening to
3 this and I'm intrigued
by the arguments. But I'm
4 thinking back at some
of the property we've bought on
5 river frontage and
water frontage before and I'm not
6 sure we haven't paid
this much or more. But I'd love
7 to go back and figure
that out and considering this is
8 a body of water, I'm
kind of intrigued to hear this
9 argument. But I
just have this bad feeling that if
10 this does get
developed and they figure a way to treat
11 their sewage and all
this stuff and then all of a
12 sudden we're going to
be coming in and asked to buy the
13 rest of it and maybe
it will be after we're off the
14 cabinet that the
cabinet will be asked to buy it,
15 you're going to end
up paying more for what's left than
16 we would have paid
for it in the beginning and that
17 kind of concerns me a
little bit.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: I guess, Commissioner, there's not
19 enough money in the
coffers of the state government or
20 in the pockets of the
taxpayers to pay for bad growth
21 management.
That's my view. And at some point, we
22 need to get these
subjects -- I always feel bad because
23 this is a broader
policy issue and we always discuss it
24 only with the people
that are coming, you know,
25 individuals, and it's
not related to this property
that
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1 gives me that
concern. It's related to this broader
2 issue that values are
established and then people come
3 and ask the State to
come pay for that more appreciated
4 value when -- and back
to Franklin County -- the same
5 question will come up
time and time again.
6
If the comprehensive planning process creates
7 these areas where
property should be preserved, we
8 wouldn't be buying
prospective values that are pretty
9 high and are growing,
you're right. I mean, they are
10 appreciating.
So it creates this huge conflict every
11 time we run into one
of these. Mr. Richman.
12
MR. RICHMAN: Governor, you know, we keep talking
13 about the high
price. During the appraisal process, we
14 challenged their
offer. And we were told to come back
15 with an appraisal
from a list of the State's
16 appraisers. We
paid $7,500 for it and that appraisal
17 showed $3
million. The State's appraisers came back
18 with questions.
And they found a couple of holes in
19 our appraisal.
But it would have only knocked the
20 appraisal down to
2.7, 2.6.
21
We believe that the property value is really in
22 the neighborhood of
2.4, 2.5 million. But having said
23 that, stop to think
about what you were just asking.
24 $100,000 a lot, you
can buy in Golden Eagle. This is
25 property overlooking
the Ten Thousand Islands and
the
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1 Barron River.
There is no comparison. So you're
2 talking about 100,000
a lot, that's not very much.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: It's Everglades City. Come on.
4 Yeah, it's overlooking
the Thousand Islands.
5
MR. RICHMAN: Go down there and try to buy some
6 property right
now.
7
TREASURER GALLAGHER: It takes 1,000 minutes to go
8 out there and find
somewhere you can fish.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Won't be any left because it looks
10 like the State is
going to be buying it all up.
11
MR. RICHMAN: There are questions about the
12 appraisal, we think,
in the first place. But we're
13 willing to go
along. Our seller is willing to go along
14 at 1.525.
Otherwise, he's just going to have to
15 develop it.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, and that may be what happens
17 here. Let me
ask you a question. This is a letter
18 from Mr. Smallwood
who is the planning and zoning man
19 down in Everglades
City apparently. Says, The process
20 is relatively
simple. If Mr. Jenkin -- is that his
21 name?
22
MR. RICHMAN: Jentgen.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: -- who is the owner of the
24 property, wants
zoning and building permits for his
25 property, I would
tell him to take his project to
South
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1 Florida Water
Management District and to the United
2 States Army Corps of
Engineers and come back to me with
3 either permits or a
letter of no jurisdiction. We will
4 not zone any of the
mangrove swamp without a court
5 order telling us to do
it. We will zone the upland
6 consistent with the
proposed use of it if it is
7 consistent in other
regards with development of uplands
8 elsewhere in the
city.
9
So sounds to me like he's asking you to do
10 something quite
curious which is --
11
MR. RICHMAN: And we have done that. And that is
12 the jurisdictional
that you have seen. Todd Terrell
13 (phonetic) is part of
our team. He's an engineer in
14 Naples, Florida,
civil engineer.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: You've got permits -- before you
16 get a permit from the
city, you've gotten permits from
17 the Army Corps --
18
MR. RICHMAN: No, we've been to the Army Corps and
19 the South Florida
Water Management District together.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Oh, South Florida.
21
MR. RICHMAN: Water Management District only.
22
MR. GARDNER: This is a signed jurisdictional map
23 that is signed by the
South Florida Water Management
24 District and it may
vary from the corps --
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: So they signed
off.
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1
MR. RICHMAN: Yeah.
2
MR. GARDNER: They did.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. And then what would be the
4 zoning that's
consistent with other upland developments
5 in your mind? Is
that what you proposed here, the 100
6 plus --
7
MR. GARDNER: Pleasure Island.
8
MR. RICHMAN: Pleasure Island zoning.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: And that's the ten units per acre?
10 That's what Pleasure
Island is? That's the density
11 there?
12
MR. RICHMAN: That's their allowable density.
13 They're not
developing it at that. They are actually
14 developing about
eight or nine units per acre.
15
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Let me ask you a question.
16 How do you -- I guess
you get to Pleasure Island by
17 taking a boat,
right?
18
MR. RICHMAN: That's the way all that property is
19 down there, yes.
20
TREASURER GALLAGHER: That's the only way you're
21 going to get to all
this property too I gather?
22
MR. RICHMAN: Right. Absolutely.
23
TREASURER GALLAGHER: So somebody has to own some
24 uplands on the other
side where you'd have a dock or
25
something.
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1
MR. RICHMAN: And we have the right to -- how many
2 docks is it,
Tom? We have a right to put in how many
3 docks?
4
MR. GARDNER: There is, based on the river
5 frontage and the
Department's submerged land rules, we
6 can put in enough
docks along the river frontage with
7 our river without even
requiring that it come before
8 the governor and
cabinet. It is -- for a multifamily
9 docking facility, we
would be in the exempt category.
10
So the docking is not an issue in terms of -- if
11 you'll look at
Pleasure Island I don't know if the
12 docks are in on the
picture I have here, but the
13 Pleasure Island docks
were put in the same way.
14 You-all approved
docking for the airport property which
15 is just south of
here. And I don't know how you make
16 this thing come up or
down.
17
The airport property is right across from the
18 Jentgen
property. It's got 17 or 18 developable acres
19 on it. You-all
approved the docking facility there
20 about four or five
months ago. That property sold for
21 3.5 million
dollars. It's in the process now of
22 groundbreaking and
they are starting development on it.
23
You got to understand, Everglades City is
24 landlocked.
There is nowhere it can go. It's got
25 parks to the right of
it, parks to the left of
it,
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1 parks to the north and
Ten Thousand Islands to the
2 south. What they
have down there is selling people --
3 people coming in down
there and buying little, teensy
4 houses on little
teensy lots, tearing down little
5 teensy houses to build
a nice fishing cottage so they
6 can come down during
the winter and get in their boat
7 and go fishing.
8
For this to be on the other side of the river is
9 really not an
issue. A lot of land down in this area
10 of the state sells
where it doesn't have land access
11 and people pay a
premium for it because it gives them a
12 certain amount of
privacy. So there will be
13 development that will
take place on there. The owner
14 has attachment to
this property because he's had it
15 since, I don't know,
the late '60s or the early '70s.
16 He's gone through a
lot with the City. He knows the
17 mayor and the people
down there and he says, I'll give
18 the State one
chance. If they'd like to buy it, that
19 would be great for
me, I'd like to see it preserved.
20 His son would like to
see it developed. And basically
21 what he'll do is turn
it over to his son to develop.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any other questions? I appreciate
23 you bringing a little
clarity to this.
24
Commissioner, is there a motion? General?
25
Treasurer?
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1
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Governor, I'm -- I see this
2 as a backup
situation. There is no doubt this is not
3 my father's Florida
anymore. And once this fellow
4 gives this property to
his son who is evidently wanting
5 to develop it anyway,
it won't be his father's Florida
6 anymore either.
And I somehow just have a gut feeling
7 that we're going to
turn this down at 1.5 because we
8 feel it's too
high. I've turned down land that I had
9 the option to buy
because I thought it was too high and
10 three years later
it's almost double what it was when I
11 turned it down.
12
But I'm just afraid we're going to come back and
13 have somebody come
back to us or the next cabinet,
14 whoever that may be
and ask to pay that much or more
15 for what's left after
the building goes on and not
16 knowing what effects
that building is going to have to
17 this water and all
the facilities down there. My
18 instinct tells me we
ought to go ahead and buy the
19 thing if it has that
much positive impact on not
20 developing that river
area for the whole water quality
21 issue. But
that's my opinion. But I would make the
22 motion.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Treasurer.
24
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Let me point out something
25 here. I see
here we have on my notes that the
purchase
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1 price -- am I reading
correctly the purchase price in
2 '71 was 150,000?
3
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir.
4
TREASURER GALLAGHER: That was by the present
5 owner?
6
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir.
7
TREASURER GALLAGHER: So we have 32 years
8 basically -- and I
don't have it, maybe you've got an
9 appraiser there that's
got some kind of a calculator
10 that you can tell me
what kind of return it is.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: I bet all the value has come in
12 the last five
years. It's probably worth --
13
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Well, it may or may not.
14 But the question is
it's a tenfold increase in 30
15 years.
16
MR. STRUHS: Yes.
17
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I'm not wondering what land
18 in Florida didn't go
up tenfold in 30 years.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Exactly.
20
TREASURER GALLAGHER: So I'm not sure -- and it's
21 waterfront.
It's hard for me at this point, David, I
22 don't know -- I feel
the appraisal is probably pretty
23 accurate just looking
at what they paid for it and what
24 it's worth
today. I'm trying to figure out why you
25 don't think it
is. Or I mean, you bring us
property
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1 based on
appraisals. This is an appraisal that your
2 department approved
and did.
3
MR. STRUHS: Correct.
4
TREASURER GALLAGHER: What are we going to do with
5 the rest of the
property you bring with the same
6 appraisal
process? I mean, are we not going to ever
7 buy anything
more? Where are we?
8
MR. STRUHS: I think what it does is it allows us
9 to take the dollars
that would be spent on this parcel
10 and acquire other
parcels that are on the list. As you
11 know, project demand
exceeds supply --
12
TREASURER GALLAGHER: That are appraised the same
13 way. But we
don't know what those are? They are just
14 something else that's
coming down the pike?
15
MR. STRUHS: As you know, we have a fairly
16 detailed list of what
those projects are.
17
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Long list.
18
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir.
19
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Well, Governor, if I might
20 intercede
again. I thought the original purpose in a
21 lot of the land
acquisitions that we had for Florida
22 was to protect
wetlands and water areas from
23 development under
certain conditions. And to me, it
24 looks like this is
definitely going to be a watered
25 area that's going to
be affected by the development
of
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1 multifamily homes on
this. And I guess maybe my
2 question is, Have we
changed our priority of what
3 should be bought
first? Of course I know we have a
4 committee together,
the ARC committee that looks at a
5 lot of this and tries
to determine which piece is more
6 valuable under certain
conditions than another.
7
But it seems like we are really buying a lot of
8 uplands right now and
this is definitely part of that
9 wetlands protection
type process that I thought we
10 originally were
buying land for, at least under P2000 I
11 thought that's where
we were going. Now Florida
12 Forever was a pickup
of that. And I would still think
13 that watered areas
would be a high priority.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: We're buying more and more
15 property that is in
the path of development which is
16 this property
apparently although -- and really related
17 to the appraisal
issue, I think the appraiser probably
18 professionally
created this value based on what he
19 thought the
development rights are and the development
20 rights are a little
clearer to me than when we started.
21 But it's still not
the cleanest system that -- the
22 cleanest process of
property that we've seen. So this
23 happens a lot
now. We're buying really valuable
24 property in the path
of development whereas before we
25 were just buying
large chunks of land in middle of
wild
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1 Florida. I think
that's the change in philosophy
2 because that's the
change in reality in our state. And
3 so the values are
higher too because of it.
4
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Are we paying wholesale or
5 retail for this?
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: I assume we're paying discounted
7 values.
8
TREASURER GALLAGHER: The seller says wholesale.
9
MR. STRUHS: Let me speak to that and at the same
10 time address
Commissioner Bronson's inquiry.
11
This project, this boundary amendment to
12 Fakahatchee, was
originally on our A list. The A list
13 are the projects that
are deemed most important and the
14 ones in which we are
prepared to bring to you
15 recommendations up to
the approved value and in rare
16 circumstances even a
little bit more.
17
This particular project was actually downgraded by
18 the ARC, the
Acquisition and Restoration Council, to a
19 B list project.
And that was the determination of the
20 panel of both
government officials and lay citizen,
21 that this parcel,
this particular project, while
22 important, didn't
merit being on that A list.
23
When we put a project on the B list, it suggests
24 that while it still
has certain attributes that we'd
25 like to conserve,
that we ought to move forward
with
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1 those projects only if
we can get it at a substantial
2 discount or with a
partner that would make it more
3 affordable for the
State.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. I think we've had enough
5 conversation.
Did you make a motion?
6
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Yes, Governor, I made a
7 motion to acquire this
piece at the price we have now.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
9
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I'll second.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Any other discussion? All
11 favor say aye.
All opposed.
12
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: No.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: It is approved. David, I, for
14 one, appreciate the
fact that you made your
15 recommendation even
though I voted against you which I
16 apologize for because
I want to show support for your
17 thinking. And I
think we need to have different
18 forums, this one and
others, to discuss this challenge
19 in our state and may
require some change in
20 legislation.
But this is one of the big challenges we
21 face and I appreciate
you allowing us to see it and
22 even to contradict
you so we can have an important
23 discussion on
this.
24
MR. STRUHS: Well, I'm sorry it was a little bit
25 messy. My
premise to you in the future is that we
will
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1 be better prepared to
speak to the details of how the
2 appraisals were
actually made for these
3 recommendations.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: And, Governor, in fairness
5 to David too, and I
know he did this based on some of
6 the ideas that the
cabinet has given him in the past on
7 these issues.
And not being a member of ARC, although
8 we do have a member of
our department that sits on that
9 committee, and I may
want to talk to them about the
10 thinking process,
but, you know, to go -- to take it
11 from an A to a B, and
I don't know all the details of
12 why that happened,
there may be some very good reasons
13 why that happened,
but it seemed to me like -- and I
14 just had a bad
feeling about this. We let this thing
15 go, in a few years
we're going to be asked to go ahead
16 and pick up the
pieces here after the development has
17 started. And
then we basically have development on the
18 water that affects
water quality and then we're going
19 to pay -- I just had
this bad feeling about this and it
20 has nothing to do
with your recommendation. There is
21 something here that
was clicking. As I said, this is
22 not my father's
Florida and it won't be my Florida in a
23 few years, it'll be
my kids' Florida and prices are
24 going up and all
these issues. I just want to protect
25 the waterway, make
sure we didn't have the
development
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1 in that area and cause
us another problem down the road
2 that we're going to be
asked to pay for in the future.
3
So I took the gamble of saying, Go ahead and pay
4 for it now, Governor,
even though we do feel like this
5 was a little bit
higher price and maybe we should
6 have --
7
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Commissioner, don't feel bad
8 because David
recommended buying it before. So you
9 were with him then
even though you weren't with him
10 this time.
(Laughter.) So you're 50/50 on it. Not a
11 problem.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 5.
13
MR. STRUHS: Some of my friends are for it. Some
14 of my friends are
against it. (Laughter.)
15
Item 5 is a request to surplus just under 49 acres
16 on Timber Island
located in Franklin County. And then
17 to approve a bid
amount of $6.8 million submitted by
18 the St. Joe Company
for the purchase of that land. A
19 little bit of
background and then we do have a number
20 of speakers.
21
The island in question, Timber Island, is a dredge
22 spoil island that was
acquired by the Board of Trustees
23 in 1985 for
development as an industrial port facility.
24 The island has never
been deemed or considered
25 conservation
land. It has also never been
sovereignty
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1 submerged land.
The Board of Trustees in turn leased
2 the property to the
Carrabelle Port and Airport
3 Authority. The
Authority was unsuccessful in leasing
4 or developing the
property.
5
It was recommended to the Board of Trustees in the
6 last administration
that that lease be terminated. The
7 Board of Trustees
agreed that the lease should be
8 terminated and indeed
it was terminated in 2001.
9 Consistent with the
previous directions that we should
10 seek to return
nonconservation lands to the tax rolls
11 whenever possible, we
entered into consultations with
12 Carrabelle and
Franklin County local officials to
13 determine their
preferred option to go forward.
14
It was determined that the best means of disposing
15 of the property was
through an auction. It was well
16 advertised and we can
speak to that in detail if you
17 care to hear
it. In the end, only one valid bid was
18 received and the
Board of Trustees now has before it
19 the option of either
accepting or rejecting that bid.
20 There are a
considerable number of speakers in. What
21 I'd like to do is ask
them to queue up so that we can
22 move
expeditiously.
23
Representative Will Kendrick is here to go first.
24 We also have Mr. Tim
Edmunds here who is the president
25 of Arvida. If
you just keep track of the
order,
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1 please. David
McLain from Apalachicola Bay River
2 Keepers. Jim
Lycett. Paul Johnson of Apalachee
3 Ecological
Conservancy. Tommy Bevis who is a
4 leaseholder on Timber
Island now. And then Don Ashley,
5 Florida Wildlife
Federation.
6
TREASURER GALLAGHER: David, let me just mention
7 to you, this brochure
you put out for the auction, to
8 me, is a very nice
piece of work done by your
9 department.
10
MR. STRUHS: Thank you, sir.
11
TREASURER GALLAGHER: I'm disappointed we only got
12 one bid, but it was a
pretty good bid. So we'll hear
13 whether people want
us to take it or not. But I think
14 the piece of mail, I
guess, as well as the offering
15 that you put out is a
quality piece and --
16
MR. STRUHS: Thank you, sir. I appreciate hearing
17 that. We have
tried, with your direction, to improve
18 the professionalism
in the way in which we market
19 property for
surplus.
20
Representative Kendrick.
21
REPRESENTATIVE KENDRICK: Thank you, Governor and
22 cabinet and good
morning again. This is the real
23 reason I was
here. So you caught me off guard earlier.
24 It's not often that I
jump into local politics from
25 back home.
However, there are exceptions though
and
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1 this certainly was an
exception because this is about
2 home. It's about
my family's home, it's about my
3 children's future and
the future of our county.
4
As most of you are aware, I've been working over
5 the past three years
to make sure that the development
6 in Franklin County
that occurred was approved first and
7 foremost by the local
people there in Franklin County.
8 Some of you will
recall again how I stood up against
9 St. Joe several years
ago. And although that wasn't
10 too popular from my
standpoint, I think it's the reason
11 we're here today all
together singing at the same time,
12 the same book and
page, the same hymn, cum byah.
13
One of the hottest topics that I got involved
14 during that process,
however, was the proposed marina
15 at summer camp, which
by the way, Franklin County
16 Commission has
approved unanimous the PUD for summer
17 camp. I was
concerned first because I felt like the
18 local public had
deserved or did deserve to know more
19 about what was fixing
to happen to Franklin County.
20 And secondly and
mainly the thought of any major
21 commercial marina
adjacent to the newly created clam
22 leases that you-all
had approved previously, the mere
23 thought of having 2-
to 300 boaters on any given
24 weekend there on
those pristine seagrass beds in the
25 northern gulf just
did not make sense and woke us
up
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1 real quick and made us
get involved. As a result, I
2 began to work on
alternatives for this marina and even
3 suggested that if St.
Joe felt that they needed a
4 marina in Carrabelle,
specifically Timber Island would
5 be the most sensible
site in Franklin County.
6 Actually, it would be
the most sensible site anywhere
7 between Panama City
and south of Cedar Key mainly
8 because it had already
had a DRI process completed on
9 it and it was one of
the only natural deepwater
10 channels in this
area.
11
St. Joe listened. They started looking at the
12 possibility of this
site. When the bid package was
13 sent out, St. Joe
made a business decision and decided
14 to try this site as
an option. I can tell you without
15 hesitation, this was
the best thing that could happen
16 to the city of
Carrabelle in Franklin County for
17 several
reasons. First, we automatically add
18 85 percent of $6.8
million to the tax equation in
19 Franklin County and
the city of Carrabelle. However,
20 the beauty of it all
is the fact that St. Joe listened
21 to local people, the
local ideas, and supported them.
22 They have even had
support of some of the environmental
23 groups who are
represented here today and others who
24 adamantly opposed the
commercial marina in the
25
beginning.
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1
For over 18 years, we have had the commitment from
2 the State of Florida
and this board on this site for
3 economic
development. To date we've had one tenant and
4 problems from the
get-go. Franklin County was one of
5 the original counties
designated as an area of critical
6 concern. We need
and want good, clean development to
7 come to our city and
to our county.
8
St. Joe has and will be a good partner to all of
9 us. City of
Carrabelle, Franklin County supports this
10 purchase. It
would also not be fair to allow this
11 purchase not to
happen just because perhaps there are
12 some cabinet staff
trying to flex muscles over agency
13 staff. If this
happens, no one will suffer except the
14 people in Carrabelle
and the people in Franklin County.
15
The question has arisen about other interested
16 parties in this
property. There were others. However,
17 they wanted the state
to give it away just like you
18 were discussing
earlier. However, St. Joe stepped up
19 to the plate and did
what most businesses do and they
20 took the
bullet. They did not come back looking for a
21 good deal. They
bid fair and square. St. Joe has
22 proven to be a good
partner again with Franklin County
23 and they will do a
quality job regardless of what they
24 decide to do with the
property.
25
As you-all know, St. Joe does not normally
buy
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1 property, they're
usually the seller. I truly feel
2 that this is the
reason this shows St. Joe's commitment
3 to Carrabelle and
Franklin County because they too want
4 to protect our most
natural resource in Franklin
5 County, the
Apalachicola Bay, and that's the reason
6 they chose this
site. Governor, at this point, I'd
7 like to defer to the
local people and then come back
8 and close if I
may.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
10
MR. EDMUNDS: Good morning, Governor Bush, cabinet
11 members. I'm
Tim Edmund. Thank you very much for
12 having me. I'm
the president of the capital region of
13 Arvida St. Joe
Company. I'm truly honored to be here,
14 to be in your
audience today. 1926, the St. Joe Paper
15 Company began to buy
a couple of acres in Florida, some
16 two million at that
point. 1958, Arvida was formed and
17 began to buy a few
acres in southeast Florida as a
18 community development
company. In 1997, the two
19 companies merged
together.
20
And the reason for that merger, I believe, is that
21 the St. Joe Paper
Company saw in Arvida a community
22 development company
-- and I stress the word
23 "community" because
that is, in fact, what we do every
24 day in all the lands
that we have, some 1,200,000 acres
25 worth of land now
mainly in north Florida. The
driving
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1 force behind our
company and Timber Island specifically
2 is the protection of
those interests are there today.
3 There has been a lot
of interest in our purchase, our
4 would-be purchase of
this property.
5
And I want to assure everybody that the interests
6 of the commercial
fishing fleet which are vital to
7 Franklin County, as we
heard this morning, they're
8 vital to Carrabelle,
they're vital to Apalachicola.
9 They're vital to
us. We believe those interests are
10 the essence of
Franklin County in working with a
11 commercial fishing
fleet, to help them, to help house
12 them, to help promote
them, that's certainly in keeping
13 with our modus.
14
Also, we think there is an opportunity here with
15 the Marine Patrol,
the Coast Guard, Fish and Wildlife
16 Commission that all
have locations in or around the
17 Carrabelle area to
accommodate them on what we want to
18 do on Timber
Island. Again, much has been said about
19 the thoughts of what
we'll be doing in Franklin County
20 on Timber Island
specifically and I'd like to reiterate
21 to those that think
we're going to do this, we have no
22 interest in high-rise
development on this island.
23
We own some 49,000 acres in that immediate region.
24 We think that
Carrabelle can be a cornerstone, a
25 touchstone of an
overall visioning process that we
are
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1 involved with.
This is not a mere standalone
2 development. And
to Governor Bush's comments a few
3 minutes ago about
planning process underway so you
4 avoid being in the
path of progress, this visioning
5 program today,
Governor, encompasses countless meetings
6 with citizenry of
Franklin County to understand local
7 concerns, to look at
the environmental concerns,
8 economic development
opportunities so we avoid the
9 issues you just
faced.
10
And I applaud all the people in Franklin County
11 that are working with
us in that visioning program.
12 But I think you'll
see at the conclusion of that, which
13 will be early next
year, a prototype for development.
14 I truly do. And
this is over a whole bunch of land.
15
We have met with your cabinet aides and we have
16 met with DEP staff
and we've agreed absolute compliance
17 with the development
order of mandates that accompanied
18 the seafood commerce
park that was approved a number of
19 years ago. That
includes disposal and recycling of
20 petro chemicals,
stormwater standards, port pollution
21 control plan,
wastewater treatment plant options to
22 bring a pipe onto the
island so we can treat our waste,
23 send it back into the
wastewater treatment plant --
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Can I ask you a question about --
25 you're not going to
fulfill the DRI, the existing
DRI
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1 and build an
industrial port.
2
MR. EDMUNDS: No, we're not.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: You're going to build residential,
4 right?
5
MR. EDMUNDS: No.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: No?
7
MR. EDMUNDS: Right now if you look at the seafood
8 commerce park DRI and
the benefits it provides to us,
9 we need to look at
that DRI, those development order
10 conditions, what can
we build now. Right now I would
11 tell you that I don't
see today there would be a big
12 residential interest
today. I think once a marina
13 program is in place,
the touch to the waterfront is
14 done, the venues
we'll put on that island, I think
15 residential would
follow. Right now, the seafood
16 commerce park DRI
does not provide for that. It
17 provides for the
other uses you may have seen in that
18 DO.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: So you don't envision going
20 through the
development process because the DRI would
21 have to be amended to
get beyond any industrial use,
22 right?
23
MR. EDMUNDS: That's correct.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: So you're not going to go through
25 the amendatory
process?
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1
MR. EDMUNDS: No, we will go through the
2 amendatory process,
not today. We're expecting to do
3 that later. The
development order lapses in October of
4 next year. And
so we see, let's secure what we can
5 secure today relative
to building of the marina, upland
6 wet and dry slips that
has other provisions and other
7 benefits in that for
commercial development. And then
8 residential, we'll
have to go back and amend the DRI at
9 some other time.
And that's to my point about the no
10 high rises. Is
there a demand today? No. Will there
11 be a demand
tomorrow? I think so. But I think that
12 tomorrow is probably
about an '06 or '07 event from our
13 market analyses.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: And you would have to come
15 back and --
16
MR. EDMUNDS: We would have to come back and go
17 through the process,
yes, sir. As painful as that is,
18 we would do
that. Did that answer your question?
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, there is some irony here in
20 that -- and I assume
you sense the irony. That the
21 first -- the item
before yours was in Everglades City
22 where I was
complaining that we were paying prospective
23 value for prospective
value, it was little cloudy.
24 Here you are paying
for value that you don't have.
25
MR. EDMUNDS: That's correct. And we trust
--
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1
GOVERNOR BUSH: I find that ironic.
2
MR. EDMUNDS: We trust --
3
TREASURER GALLAGHER: You know, if we do this
4 every meeting, we're
going to get ahead instead of
5 behind.
6
MR. EDMUNDS: And $6.8 million which is the bid
7 amount for just the
marina is crazy.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: I know. That's why I'm
9 wondering -- I'm
worried about you.
10
MR. EDMUNDS: And that's your point, What are you
11 guys thinking.
12
(Laughter.)
13
It's right now, as you know and your staff would
14 know, permitting a
marina in Florida is very, very
15 difficult to
do. It has value. It has value to us,
16 Governor, over 49,000
acres, not just the 49. And so
17 when we pencil this
deal out and my board of directors
18 says, Tim, what are
you thinking? Well, you take that
19 $6.8 million and you
think about what we're going to do
20 on this wonderful
place in Franklin County over the
21 next umpteen
years. So that's why that number would
22 seem to you as being
--
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: You're spreading this out over a
24 larger --
25
MR. EDMUNDS: Exactly right. We also, provided
we
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1 get permits for the
marina, would volunteer for the
2 Clean Marina
Program. And I know I've been at these
3 cabinet meetings long
enough to know that marinas and
4 the sensitivity they
bring to our state, it's about
5 education.
6
I think we have a very unique opportunity here as
7 a company who is
committed to education, that's
8 committed to
developing communities to do this right.
9 It's about aquatic
education, it's about seagrass bed
10 protection.
It's about nursery protection. In fact,
11 it's about manatee
protection. We can do that. With
12 this opportunity we
have, we view this, as we do in
13 every development,
this is a great responsibility and
14 we take that quite
seriously and we're hopeful to
15 develop this asset
and do it in a prototype fashion
16 which I think we have
done in our other properties
17 around the
state. I stand ready for any questions you
18 have. Please
let me know.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
20
MR. McLAIN: Gentlemen, I'm David McLain. I'm the
21 executive director of
the Apalachicola Bay & River
22 Keeper. I would
commend the governor and the cabinet
23 for the efforts that
have been undertaken to take a
24 signature Florida
crop, the citrus crop, and advertise
25 it and sell it as
fresh from Florida and
really
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1 successfully.
2
We have another signature Florida crop, our
3 seafood. We need
to do the same thing for it. We need
4 to be able to have --
if we have a great fishing
5 fleet -- let me get it
pronounced properly here
6 anyway -- then that's
not very helpful unless you have
7 a place to land
it. So I rise to support the sale of
8 Timber Island today
because I have the assurances of
9 the folks from St. Joe
that they will in fact promote
10 and help this part of
our community vision so that we
11 retain our seafood
industry. And I appreciate and
12 solicit your support
for that industry as well. Thank
13 you.
14
MR. LYCETT: Jim Lycett, I'm a shrimper that lives
15 in Carrabelle.
Appreciate the opportunity to talk.
16 Governor, if
Everglades City seems surprising to you,
17 the Carrabelle and
the Franklin County region is in a
18 gold rush mentality
that is, real estate wise, that is
19 not able --
comprehensive plans are not able to keep up
20 with the speed with
which this is moved. But I'm here
21 today to sort of
reinforce David's point and that is
22 that the State and
St. Joe are the only ones that can
23 make a commercial
dock happen in Carrabelle.
24 Everything else is
being vacuumed up. And if St. Joe
25 is going to make that
commitment here publicly, then
as
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1 a fisherman, I just
hope you-all will remember that and
2 hold their feet to the
fire when the time comes to talk
3 about it. Thank
you.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you for being here.
5
MR. DRAPER: Governor, Eric Draper with Audubon of
6 Florida. I was
not on David's announced list, but I'm
7 stepping in because I
want to support this project for
8 a very specific
reason. You have the opportunity here
9 to surplus a piece of
land that is not conservation
10 land and use these
funds to engage and exchange for
11 other lands that St.
Joe owns. As you know, they own a
12 considerable amount
of land in north Florida that's on
13 the Florida Forever
list and there's been some
14 discussion so far of
being able to use this
15 $6.8 million as value
for exchange on other
16 conservation
lands. And I think that turns us into a
17 real win/win for the
State of Florida if, in fact, you
18 can move these funds
into protecting other lands in the
19 Apalachicola Bay and
river watershed. That would be an
20 excellent
thing. We support this project. Thank you.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
22
MR. JOHNSON: Paul Johnson, special projects
23 director, Apalachee
Ecological Conservancy. We work
24 closely with St. Joe,
Franklin County government and
25 citizens and our
membership is stretched from
Leon,
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1 Franklin, and Wakulla
County on a variety of issues in
2 Franklin County.
Our organization was the one that
3 vehemently opposed the
private commercial marina and
4 summer camp. And
when that marina was then removed
5 from that development
plan, we directed them to look at
6 the Timber Island
property as a potential.
7
If we had a more sophisticated county that could
8 spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars on a water
9 dependent use study
and a marina siting study as is
10 routinely done in
south Florida, you would end up on
11 Timber Island as a
logical location. It is a disturbed
12 area. It's
ideal for a marina and we support this
13 particular
sale. We think it's in the public's
14 interest to actually
have this land be privately
15 developed for not
just the needs now, but the future
16 for public boating
that's going to be increasing in the
17 area.
18
It has close access to deep water. It will
19 provide provisions to
protect manatees and other
20 wildlife and we
support that. As was mentioned
21 earlier, we also
support this land sale that you're
22 considering today in
the larger picture of a purchase
23 that we hope will
come to you next week. And with that
24 done, it actually
sets the template for a larger
25 visioning on that
49,000 acres that citizens of
our
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1 organization and a lot
of these organizations here
2 today have been
working with St. Joe on for St. James
3 Island. So thank
you, Governor and cabinet.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
5
MR. BEVIS: My name is Tommy Bevis. I met with
6 the governor and Board
of Trustees on October the 10th,
7 1991. My lease
was approved there on Timber Island at
8 that time for 30
years. And there a little over 11
9 years, hope to be
there another 18 or 19 more years.
10
The situation we're in at this time, we've applied
11 for an amendment to
the development order where we can
12 move forward with
some of the things we'd like to do.
13 State Department of
Environmental Protection has asked
14 that we be held up
until this matter be settled,
15 whether you-all sell,
trade land or whatever. We would
16 just like for you-all
to act as soon as possible. We'd
17 not like to be on
hold any longer, one way or another.
18 Thank you.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, sir.
20
MR. ASHLEY: Governor and cabinet, Don Ashley
21 again, Wildlife
Federation, and I live on St. James
22 Island. This is
another example of this balancing act
23 that's going on in
Franklin County. The reason you see
24 so much local support
is we see this again as an effort
25 to balance this
economic development with
conservation
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1 lands. There is
another 50,000 acres on St. James
2 Island. We do
own a great deal in Tate's Hell State
3 Forest but it's
another 20 something miles to Bald
4 Point State Park.
5
The residents of St. James Island and most people
6 in Franklin County
want to see a corridor from Tate's
7 Hell that eventually
connects to Bald Point State Park.
8 Part of that equation
was to see a marina not put in
9 the aquatic preserve
at Alligator Harbor, but to choose
10 a site more suitable
like Carrabelle where you might
11 also benefit local
business. You might also benefit
12 commercial
fishermen. So it's kind of a down payment,
13 if you will, by St.
Joe to come into this community.
14 They have a right to
develop and profit from some of
15 the lands but we hope
that they will continue to work
16 with that local
community to balance these interests.
17 So we see Timber
Island as their down payment and then
18 we want to work with
them on Crooked River and other
19 corridors that
connect to Bald Point State Park.
20
TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 5.
21
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Representative, you don't need to
23 be saying much, I
don't think.
24
REPRESENTATIVE KENDRICK: Thank you. At this
25 point, I think you
know the rest of the story. I
think
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1 you understand
adamantly, you as governor and cabinet
2 hold the future of
Franklin County in your hands
3 without it costing you
a dime. Actually, you make
4 money on the
deal. I would just ask that you continue
5 to let the local
government decide and deal with
6 St. Joe in this
particular issue and that we not try to
7 continue to
micromanage. I think we've grown up quite
8 a bit down in Franklin
County and can manage our own
9 affairs and I'd ask
that you please accept the
10 secretary's
recommendation and approve the sale.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second.
12 Any other
discussion? Without objection, the motion
13 passes.
14
MR. STRUHS: That concludes the Board of Trustees
15 agenda and indeed
concludes the cabinet meeting.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: We have one more presentation?
17
MR. STRUHS: We have a very special presentation
18 and I would ask
--
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: In fact, all the people that just
20 made the
presentation, you-all may want to stick
21 around, it's only
going to take a little bit, but it
22 relates to the -- I
think a subject that is near and
23 dear to your heart as
well.
24
MR. STRUHS: Thank you, Governor. And I would
25 also point out to the
news media that
immediately
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1 following this event,
this ceremony, there will be a
2 press availability
with the cabinet and with
3 representatives from
the military as well as the Nature
4 Conservancy. So
please stand by.
5
What I'd like to do is very quickly introduce in
6 some of our very
special guests. We have four
7 individuals here from
the Office of the Secretary of
8 Defense in
Washington. Phil Grone is here Robert
9 Arnold, Bruce Beard
and Jan Larkin also from Florida
10 military bases here
in Florida. Rear Admiral Annette
11 Brown, Major General
Douglas Burnett, Brigadier General
12 Chris Anzalone,
Colonel Robert Nolan, Captain John
13 Pruitt, whom you
heard from earlier. Colonel Martin
14 Sayles.
15
Also, Vickey Tschinkel is here, the director of
16 the Florida Nature
Conservancy and we're also delighted
17 that Pam Dana
is here as well who represents the
18 governor's office on
all matters military.
19
I have a very quick slide presentation, just tee
20 this up and give you
an overview of what this is all
21 about.
22
What we are here to do today is to sign a
23 partnership agreement
in support of something called
24 the Northwest Florida
Greenway. The agreement is the
25 culmination of an
effort that was kicked off back
in
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1 September when
Governor Bush traveled to Washington and
2 at the Pentagon met
with Assistant Secretary of Defense
3 Wolfowitz, and also
Assistant Deputy, undersecretary,
4 Ray DuBois, and they
discussed this idea. And this is
5 what we're going to
present to you now. If I could
6 have the next slide,
please, Michael.
7
Many of the State's conservation land acquisition
8 projects that we've
been engaged in, in fact, offer not
9 just conservation
benefits but they offer long-term
10 national security and
economic development benefits.
11 We have 37 different
Florida Forever Projects that in
12 some way help or
assist with protecting the military
13 mission. The
State of Florida has already spent
14 $640 million to
purchase nearly a half a million acres
15 in these 37 projects,
400,000 acres remaining. But
16 again, this is a
statewide view of how the Florida
17 Forever Project and
the military interests converge and
18 are
complimentary.
19
I will point out that Florida's military base
20 commanders have
offered consistent and strong
21 leadership in support
of acquisition of these parcels.
22 Until now, however,
they did not have the opportunity
23 to become full
partners. When we say "full partners,"
24 we mean paying
partners. That has changed. That has
25 changed given passage
of new authority by the
Congress
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1 that has for the first
time given our military bases
2 the ability to partner
in that new and meaningful way.
3 If I could have the
next slide.
4
You heard earlier when I spoke about the issue of
5 Box R Ranch, that this
area was an area of biological
6 importance not just
here in Florida, but nationwide.
7 This map, which has
been peer-reviewed by scientists
8 from around the
country, was prepared by the Nature
9 Conservancy, and it's
a nice graphic way of depicting
10 those areas of the
country that really are those areas
11 where we find the
largest concentrations of rare and
12 endangered plants and
animals. And as you can see, the
13 Panhandle of Florida
is key among them.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: Looks like the people of San
15 Francisco are an
endangered species, which may not be a
16 bad thing.
(Laughter.) That's probably good news for
17 the country.
Did I just say that out loud?
18
(Laughter.)
19
MR. STRUHS: I don't know if they are endangered,
20 but they are
rare.
21
What I'm going to do now is with the next slide,
22 I'm going to ask you
to look to the Eglin Air Force
23 Base, to the west,
and Apalachicola National Forest to
24 the east and you will
see a number of blue lines
25 linking those
two. Those lines, in this
particular
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1 instance, are examples
of the movement of the Florida
2 black bear. But
indeed, that is just an indicator
3 species. And
that those same linkages also are true
4 for other plants and
animals. So we have a natural
5 corridor that occurs
between the conservation lands of
6 the national forest
and Eglin Air Force Base.
7
If you would now go to the next slide, you will
8 see the remarkable
coincidence that existing flight
9 patterns that are used
by the military are largely
10 consistent with that
same conservation interest on the
11 ground and that is
what has given rise to this idea of
12 a northwest Florida
greenway. This, in fact, is the
13 conceptual
plan. That stippled area, that corridor, is
14 an area that we would
mark for special consideration in
15 terms of protection
going forward, protecting
16 recreational uses on
the ground, plants and animals as
17 well as the
military's overflights above.
18
The Nature Conservancy brought a lot of leadership
19 to this back last
summer in 2002 when they sat down
20 with the commanders
at Eglin Air Force Base and DEP and
21 recognizing this
convergence, proposed that we move
22 forward with this in
a more formal way. And that is
23 what we are seeking
to do today. I'll point out that
24 the future military
use of the greenway could possibly
25 include Navy training
that is being displaced by
the
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1 closing of the A Class
as well as the new and expanding
2 F22 training and
testing of other new weapons systems
3 that are in
development. Next slide, please.
4
This is the Box R Ranch. This was the agenda item
5 you previously
approved during a formal cabinet meeting
6 and it is in fact a
gateway parcel.
7
This was a happy coincidence. I wish I could take
8 credit for planning it
this way. But indeed it was
9 just a happy
coincidence. But the parcel you approved
10 for acquisition
today, in fact, serves as an important
11 part of the gateway
to this corridor that will allow
12 the overflights from
the Gulf of Mexico over land, up
13 over the Panhandle
and into Eglin Air Force Base. So
14 you are well on your
way and this is a good example.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: David, is the second -- the
16 property that was
mentioned, that will come to us in
17 two weeks, is that
also in that swath?
18
MR. STRUHS: No, it's not, unfortunately.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: It's to the east of it?
20
MR. STRUHS: Yes, it is.
21
Next slide, please. This is truly a remarkable
22 partnership of
interests, not least is getting all the
23 various services and
branches of the military
24 enterprise focused on
this. But when you have every
25 branch of the service
as well as the secretary of
the
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1 Department of Defense
coming together and supporting
2 this, you know it's
important in Washington and your
3 trip, Governor, to
Washington to meet with some of
4 these individuals was
very helpful in moving this
5 forward. Next
slide.
6
Finally, the partnership goes beyond just the
7 military and just the
Nature Conservancy and DEP and
8 the cabinet. It,
in fact, includes Okaloosa County in
9 a very important
way. They're currently in a planning
10 process of figuring
out how they can preserve the
11 natural ecosystem
that makes their county such a
12 special place and at
the same time recognizing the
13 important economic
contribution that these military
14 operations have to
them.
15
The Florida Defense Alliance, University of West
16 Florida, a variety of
non-profit organizations, private
17 foundations and other
private landowners, all have come
18 together to move
forward with this concept.
19
What I'd like to do now is to introduce, it's a
20 great pleasure for me
to introduce Mr. Phil Grone who's
21 here representing the
secretary of defense.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning. Thank you for being
23 here.
24
MR. GRONE: Governor Bush, cabinet members, again,
25 good morning.
As the principal assistant
deputy
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1 undersecretary of
defense for installations and
2 environment, I am
deeply honored to be here today
3 representing the
secretary of defense to witness this
4 key step by the State
of Florida in making the
5 Northwest Florida
Greenway a reality.
6
The Northwest Florida Greenway is significant for
7 the natural
environment, for the long-term quality of
8 life in the Panhandle
in Florida and for military
9 testing and training
activities of the Department of
10 Defense in this
region. The primary mission of the men
11 and women who serve
in uniform is to remain ever ready
12 to defend the nation
and her liberty when called upon.
13 To fulfill this
mission, we must continue to prepare
14 our nation's
soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines for
15 combat and to test
and evaluate the weapons systems
16 they need to succeed
in battle and to return home
17 safely.
18
The Department of Defense is intensely interested
19 in the lasting
protection of lands and associated air
20 space on and around
our military installations needed
21 to fulfill this
mission. When surrounding areas are
22 too intensely
developed, the services can lose
23 flexibility and the
ability to adapt to future mission
24 needs. Lasting
and comprehensive environmental
25 management is
essential so the training and testing
can
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1 continue.
Comprehensive management is also crucial to
2 our collective
stewardship responsibilities as these
3 lands are a vital
piece of the national heritage.
4 Through the National
Defense Authorization Act for
5 fiscal year 2003,
Congress provided the Department of
6 Defense new
authorities to address encroachment that
7 increasingly threatens
the effectiveness of military
8 installations and
ranges.
9
The secretary of defense and the secretaries of
10 the military
departments are authorized to enter into
11 agreements with
private conservation organizations or
12 state or local
governments to work more cooperatively
13 around our
installations and ranges. The authority
14 provided by Congress
is tailored after the Army's
15 highly successful
private lands initiative at Fort
16 Bragg, North
Carolina, where over 7,000 acres have been
17 protected over the
past several years.
18
Each of the military services are now pursuing
19 appropriate uses of
the new authority. In addition to
20 Fort Bragg, the
services are using similar cooperative
21 agreements with
entities eligible under this authority
22 at places like Fort
Carson in Colorado, Fort Stewart in
23 Georgia, Fort
Wachucka in Arizona and Camp Pendleton in
24 California to name
but a few. Here in Florida, the
25 Army National Guard
recently concluded an
agreement
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1 with the State to
protect important habitat around Camp
2 Blanding.
Similar to the commitment we make today to
3 work together on
behalf of the Northwest Florida
4 Greenway, these
projects all share several common
5 traits:
Partnerships founded in mutual interest,
6 protection of valued
lands possessing important
7 biodiversity
threatened in some way by the pressures of
8 encroachment, and
proximity to military facilities or
9 operating areas
important to military readiness.
10
These efforts represent an important new direction
11 for the Department of
Defense whereby we will work
12 actively with our
neighbors to secure our shared future
13 as responsible
stewards of the lands in our care. The
14 Northwest Florida
Greenway exhibits all of these
15 traits. The
establishment of the greenway between the
16 Apalachicola Natural
Forest and Eglin Air Force Base
17 will help to ensure
that effective military training
18 and testing in the
Panhandle region can be sustained
19 while at the same
time preserving the region's
20 priceless
environmental attributes and recreational
21 opportunities for
many generations to come.
22
Today's announced acquisition of the Box R Ranch
23 by the State of
Florida will help anchor the southern
24 end of this corridor
and shows a strong commitment to
25 fulfilling the
promise the Northwest Florida
Greenway
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1 offers. On
behalf of the Department of Defense I
2 extend our sincere
gratitude to you, Governor Bush, as
3 well as to Secretary
Struhs for your vision and
4 leadership in
enhancing military installations
5 statewide and
especially for personally championing
6 this project.
7
Florida has led in conserving natural resources
8 and this initiative is
yet another example of that
9 leadership. I
also extend our appreciation to the
10 Nature Conservancy
with whom we have partnered for more
11 than a decade
nationwide to sustain the military
12 mission while
protecting the nation's natural
13 resources. The
Department of Defense and each of the
14 military services are
fully committed to working with
15 the State of Florida
and with any and all other willing
16 participants to make
this vision a reality. We look
17 forward to a long and
successful partnership. I thank
18 the cabinet.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much.
20
(Applause.)
21
MR. STRUHS: We're also delighted this morning
22 that we were joined
by Commissioner Elaine Tucker from
23 the Okaloosa County
Commission.
24
COMMISSIONER TUCKER: Good morning. I'm here
25 representing Okaloosa
County not only as a
commissioner
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1 but also as a proud
military retiree dependent. My
2 husband spent over 20
years of active duty in the Air
3 Force and we chose
this area to raise our children and
4 proudly send our
daughters to the university here in
5 Tallahassee.
6
Okaloosa County has been a partner with Eglin Air
7 Force Base, the
Florida Environmental Protection Agency
8 and the nature
conservancy from the beginning and your
9 grants have made that
possible. Okaloosa County enjoys
10 the sound partnership
with Eglin and Hurlburt Field in
11 supporting the
mission and in balancing the future
12 needs of our
community. Eglin serves as a strong
13 economic engine to
our area, contributing to our low
14 unemployment rate of
2.81 percent in addition to a
15 direct fiscal impact
in 2003 of $2 billion and an
16 additional $6 billion
to the state of Florida.
17
Okaloosa County has a military population of over
18 58,000 and a retiree
population of over 38,000. All of
19 Okaloosa County has
made a commitment to better serve
20 our military partners
through economic incentives with
21 DOD support customers
and strong emotional support to
22 both the active duty
and their families. This support
23 comes not only from
the county, but also from our
24 economic development
council, strong business partners,
25 our nine
municipalities and our four chambers
of
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1 commerce. I am
sure that you are very well aware of
2 the difficult balance
our county has between economic
3 growth and tourism and
Eglin Air Force Base and
4 encroachment.
Eglin land covers over one-third of
5 Okaloosa County.
6
With a variety of rare plants and animals in our
7 area, 19 of which are
federally listed as threatened or
8 endangered, Okaloosa
County and the military have
9 proven their
commitment to being proactive in the
10 environmental
management as an integral support of the
11 military, air, land,
and water ranges.
12
While the military mission is growing and
13 diversifying so is
Okaloosa County. And through great
14 partnership today,
you ensure the capability of the
15 military mission
while preserving some of Florida's
16 most beautiful land
for future generations. Our
17 progress today and
our ability to achieve the
18 opportunities we see
in the future are dependent upon
19 the continuing and
increases in the Florida Defense
20 Alliance and its
grants that allow us to pursue
21 projects like the
Northwest Florida Greenway. Thank
22 you.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much, Commissioner.
24
(Applause.)
25
MR. STRUHS: Governor, and members of the
cabinet,
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1 just another signal,
another symbol of how much this
2 project is supported
by the local community, we're
3 delighted that Mayor
Glenda Glover is also here in the
4 audience. Please
stand, Mayor. Mayor Glover is the
5 mayor of Fort Walton
Beach and we're delighted that she
6 was able to join us as
well. I'd now like to introduce
7 the state director of
the Nature Conservancy, Ms. Vicky
8 Tschinkel.
9
MS. TSCHINKEL: Good morning, Governor, cabinet
10 members, friends and
colleagues. On behalf of the
11 Nature Conservancy, I
would like to thank you for the
12 historic agreement
which we're about to sign which we
13 believe shows great
foresight in shaping the Florida we
14 all want to
see. This is a special partnership. The
15 Department of Defense
can be proud of the stewardship
16 of Eglin Air Force
Base, the largest single owner of
17 long leaf pine forest
and proud home to a remarkable
18 diversity of plants
and animals.
19
Governor Bush, you can be proud of the Florida
20 Forever Program and
its unique place in the United
21 States and even the
world as a way to ensure the
22 important
conservation lands are protected. The
23 Florida cabinet can
be proud of its careful stewardship
24 of the integrity of
the State's land acquisition
25 program. We
rarely get an opportunity just to
thank
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1 you for that and we
wanted to do that today.
2
Together these actions with the support of many
3 other
conservation-minded agencies and individuals and
4 local governments have
made and will continue to make
5 Florida's natural
lands and wildlife a priority. The
6 Northwest Florida
Greenway project focuses on the
7 protection of an area
critical to the mission of the
8 Nature Conservancy, in
fact, the very epicenter of
9 biodiversity in the
southern United States. TNC's
10 former president once
said, In the end, our society
11 will be defined not
only by what we create, but by what
12 we refuse to
destroy.
13
The greenway is not only a physical gateway to
14 Florida's Panhandle,
it is a passage to a new Florida,
15 a reaffirmation of
our commitment to the integration of
16 economic growth and
opportunity with the finest of our
17 natural heritage, a
commitment to the best of all
18 possible
Floridas. Thank you very much.
19
(Applause.)
20
MR. STRUHS: What I would like to do now is
21 invite --
22
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Well, first, Governor, let
23 me, as a point of
personal privilege, thank, as
24 commissioner of
agriculture the military commanders
25 that are here with us
for their work with
the
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1 Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services,
2 especially our
forestry division which we've had quite
3 a good relationship on
managing forest services both on
4 our state forest as
they connect to the federal lands
5 in the past and it's
been a very good working
6 relationship and I
think considering what you're about
7 to do here today, that
it is a good joint effort and
8 I'd like to thank them
for all the cooperation.
9
They've also opened up part of their lands under
10 this agreement for
the public where possible to come in
11 and do recreational
activities on those lands where we
12 have had the state
foresters working with them on those
13 properties. And
I think it's a good combination
14 between what you are
doing now and what they have done
15 in the past. It
will be a great relationship. Thank
16 you all.
17
MR. STRUHS: There will be a press availability
18 following this.
What I'd like to do now is invite the
19 members of the
military service to stand behind that
20 table and invite the
governor and members of the
21 cabinet to come to
that table to sign the agreement
22 with Mr. Groney and
Ms. Tschinkel.
23
(Thereupon, the proceedings concluded at 11:50
24 a.m.)
25
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1
2
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
3
4 STATE OF FLORIDA )
5 COUNTY OF LEON )
6
7
I, KRISTEN L. BENTLEY, Court Reporter, certify
8 that the foregoing proceedings were taken before me
at the
9 time and place therein designated; that my shorthand
notes
10
were thereafter translated under my supervision; and the
11
foregoing pages numbered 1 through 106 are a true and
12
correct record of the aforesaid proceedings.
13
14
I further certify that I am not a relative,
15
employee, attorney or counsel of any of the parties, nor am
16
I a relative or employee of any of the parties' attorney or
17
counsel connected with the action, nor am I financially
18
interested in the action.
19
DATED this 21st day of November, 2003.
20
21
______________________________
22
KRISTEN L. BENTLEY, Court
Reporter
Notary Public
23
24
25
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Cabinet
Affairs
