ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION
BOARD OF
TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
STATE BOARD OF
ADMINISTRATION
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 the 29th day of April, 2004 commencing at
approximately
9:30 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
Chief Financial Officer
* * *
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
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3
I N D E X
ADMINISTRATION
COMMISSION
(Presented by TERESA TINKER)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
4
2
Approved
25
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST
FUND
(Presented by COLLEEN CASTILLE)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
27
2
Approved
27
3
Approved
28
4
Approved
33
5
DEFERRED
34
STATE BOARD OF
ADMINISTRATION
(Presented by COLEMAN STIPANOVICH)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
35
2
Approved
35
3
Approved
35
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1
PROCEEDINGS
2
THE GOVERNOR: Administration Commission. Well,
3 first of all, the next
cabinet meeting will be May 11th,
4 Tuesday, 2004.
T-square, don't hide behind that thing.
5
MS. TINKER: Good morning, sir, cabinet members.
6 Item No. 1, recommend
approval of the minutes of the
7 March 9th meeting.
8
THE GOVERNOR: Is there a motion?
9
GENERAL CRIST: Motion.
10
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
11
THE GOVERNOR: Moved and seconded. Without
12 objection, the item
passes.
13
Item 2.
14
MS. TINKER: Item 2 is the University of Central
15 Florida campus master
plan. I'm pleased to report this
16 morning, Governor,
that the parties have reached an
17 agreement on the
proposed final order with a few
18 amendments. So
our recommendation is to enter the amended
19 proposed final order
with these changes.
20
The first change deals with the northwest corner of
21 the property where
we're going to be putting housing in
22 that southern
portion. We want to make sure that there is
23 a permanent fence
between the housing and the area that
24 will remain a natural
conservation.
25
Number two, the University will notice the director
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1 of the arboretum when
any proposed amendments to the
2 arboretum area are
contemplated. Item No. 3, there are
3 amendments to the
conservation element and the future land
4 use element just to
clarify what development is allowed in
5 those conservation
areas.
6
And then No. 4, we want to clarify that in the
7 existing parking area
of that arboretum, that was
8 designated parking,
and we're suggesting it be designated
9 as undeveloped, that
the University will be allowed to
10 square up that
existing parking area. The order right now
11 says that they have
to stay within the same footprint but
12 they need to be able
to square it up. So staff supports
13 those good changes
that the parties have agreed to.
14
We have a few speakers this morning, Governor, and
15 we've asked the
speakers to limit their time to no more
16 than two minutes
each.
17
First, we'll hear from the Petitioners, Terrell
18 Arline.
19
MR. ARLINE: Good morning. It's an honor to be here.
20 I'm Terrell Arline,
attorney here in Tallahassee. I
21 represent the
Petitioners. In order to expedite things
22 today, I'd just like
to let a few of the folks that were
23 involved in the
process make a brief presentation. And
24 that will be --
first, you'll hear from Karina Veaudry who
25 will talk about the
arboretum. Then from Becky Eagan who
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1 will explain to you
her point of view in the northwest
2 quadrant. After
that, you'll hear from Marge Holt who's
3 with the Sierra Club
and Sierra Club has been monitoring
4 this for over ten
years. Then you'll hear from Sue
5 Eberle.
6
And to finalize our presentation, we felt it
7 appropriate that you
hear from some of the students who
8 actually are going to
benefit from this order. So four
9 students from UCF have
come up here and they'd like to
10 make a brief
presentation too. And after that, I'll
11 close.
Karina.
12
MS. VEAUDRY: Hello. I want to thank everybody
13 involved for
recognizing the importance of outdoor
14 classrooms and
conserving unique and endangered
15 ecosystems.
While it's not permanent preservation of a
16 conservation
easement, everybody is thrilled and the
17 biology faculty and
students, the rest of campus, and
18 indeed the general
community can continue on the level of
19 excellence that we've
provided at UCF in the field of
20 biology and
ecology. And we look forward to working with
21 UCF in the
future. Thank you.
22
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you.
23
MS. EAGAN: I'm Rebecca Eagan. And I want to thank
24 you, Governor Bush,
for listening to me on the northwest
25 quadrant issue when
you could easily have turned a deaf
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1 ear. I want to
thank all the cabinet aides for their
2 sincere effort to sift
through the Petitioners' grievances
3 to arrive at this
final order because I feel like our
4 genuine conservation
concerns have been addressed.
5
I feel the process has worked, the general public
6 will be better for it,
and we've been heard. Thomas
7 Jefferson in his
inaugural address of 1801 spoke of the
8 sacred preservation of
the public faith. And I think we
9 can, with confidence,
say that the public faith has been
10 preserved with this
final order. And so I thank you for
11 this opportunity to
speak.
12
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you, Rebecca.
13
MS. HOLT: Good morning, Governor and cabinet
14 members. I'm
Marjorie Holt with the Sierra Club, central
15 Florida group.
And first of all, I would like to thank
16 the cabinet aides and
the staff who put so much time and
17 effort and assessment
into the criteria that has been put
18 forth. I too
look forward to working with UCF in the
19 amendment process and
in the future and hope we can keep
20 this issue going and
do what's best for the University and
21 the community.
Thank you.
22
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you.
23
MS. EBERLE: Good morning. I'm Susan Eberle and I
24 too wanted to praise
the aides and thank them for all the
25 time and effort they
put into this. I want to thank you
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1 for all your
considerations and for doing what is right.
2 I also want to say
that you've done a good job in
3 protecting UCF's
environmental treasures, the arboretum
4 and the northwest
quadrant.
5
Additionally, I'd like to thank Walker Banning and
6 Moses Williams from
the Department of Community Affairs
7 from all their
effort. They did such a job combing
8 through thousands of
pages of documents. And I would also
9 like to say that I
remain committed in working with UCF
10 and the community on
two very important issues and they
11 are the floodplain
issue and the transportation issues,
12 that we have safe
places to live. And I thank you for
13 your attention.
14
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you. Thank you for being here.
15 Do you have some
students?
16
MS. EHRING: Hello. My name is Susan Ehring. I'm a
17 senior environmental
engineering major at UCF. I'm the
18 president of the
Environmental Society. And I just wanted
19 to thank you for
having us speak today and also thank the
20 cabinet members for
going to the arboretum and actually
21 seeing the beauty in
the natural ecosystems.
22
I just wanted to say, as a member of the
23 Environmental
Society, we use that area for our members,
24 our meetings and for
nature hikes and learning experiences
25 like workshops and
it's just really good to have that for
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1 future use for
students and I'm appreciating that there is
2 going to be that
opportunity for future students to come
3 and see that.
Thank you.
4
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you.
5
MS. KAMKE: Hello. My name is Bridget. I'm a UCF
6 alumni. I
graduated in '94. And I'm grateful that you
7 guys are helping to
preserve the arboretum because I think
8 it's one of the most
beautiful things about the campus and
9 it's also a selling
point to prospective students. Even
10 my husband is a
botanist and he's thinking about going
11 there for, you know,
higher education like his graduate
12 degree because of the
arboretum. So thank you.
13
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you for being here.
14
MR. PFINGSTEN: Thank you for allowing me to speak
15 today. My name
is Ian Pfingsten. I'm a student at UCF
16 and I'm also vice
president of the UCF Environmental
17 Society and I'm also
a biology major there and I've taken
18 numerous courses that
have utilized the 84 acres of the
19 arboretum and we've
studied numerous examples of keystone
20 species and natural
habitats there and there is future
21 classes that I plan
to take that use the arboretum and I
22 thank you for all the
amendments and the passage that you
23 made.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
24
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you.
25
MS. RUFF: Good morning, Governor and cabinet members
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1 and aides. I
want to thank you very much for all your
2 work and efforts to
allow us to come to an agreement this
3 morning. My name
is Emily. I've been a student at UCF
4 for three years.
I'm a philosophy major, student leader
5 in several
organizations and also a member of the Who's
6 Who at UCF. I
want to, again, thank you for your time
7 this morning.
8
We are very pleased that a permanent fence agreement
9 has been come to in
the northwest quadrant. Although the
10 development in that
area is still not available to over
11 90 percent of the
students, we are pleased that most of
12 that land will still
be preserved. I do ask the State and
13 UCF to, in the
future, please make sure that the public
14 process is upheld in
matters such as this. Many students
15 and community members
as well felt that there were limited
16 opportunities for
student voices to be heard in this
17 matter.
18
We do appreciate your time this morning. Thank you
19 for hearing us and we
hope to work together in the future.
20 Thank you.
21
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you.
22
MR. DeVLIEGER: Good morning, all. My name is Matt
23 DeVlieger. I
live just behind the campus in an area
24 called
Bonneville. And behind my house and my backyard is
25 the arboretum.
I get to see it every day. I ride my bike
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1 to school. On my
way home, I go through Research Park
2 which is right along
the arboretum and you can see a lot
3 about Research Park in
the pamphlets that you'll receive
4 today. One thing
that I do see on my way home are deer
5 galloping through the
streets there. And it's just nice
6 to know they are
having a little bit of their home saved.
7
I've used the arboretum for a lot of events. I've
8 organized a two-week
event a couple months ago and we use
9 the arboretum as a
classroom to hold many workshops there
10 and it's been really
great to have it. Henry David
11 Thoreau, a great
American, once said, In wilderness is the
12 salvation of
humanity. And I believe in the arboretum
13 lies a salvation of
UCF, its students and the surrounding
14 community.
Thank you.
15
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you for being here.
16
MS. TINKER: Governor, we're going to allow
17 Mr. Arline to close
for the Petitioners. But right now,
18 Representative Mealor
is here and he'd like to say a few
19 words. As you
know, he represents this area.
20
REPRESENTATIVE MEALOR: Governor, members of the
21 cabinet, good morning
and thank you. It is an honor to be
22 here. And as a
member of the Legislature in these final
23 two days where things
become very tense, it's very hectic.
24 I think it is a
remarkable moment in time, particularly
25 for central Florida,
that we see the art of compromise
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1 take place in true
negotiation. As a former mayor Lake
2 Mary, I work closely
with the Seminole County commission
3 in creating what we
call a quality of life in Seminole
4 County. And here
is the University of Central Florida,
5 one of the largest
growing universities in America, truly
6 a remarkable public
education story in America.
7
This compromise is so important to the future
8 students, the future
leaders of the state of Florida. We
9 have those
leaders. I think we have the current student
10 body present, the
next student body present here. What I
11 want to say is good
morning. This is the way government
12 should work, when we
find solutions to problems and we
13 work together hand in
hand and find the appropriate
14 solution.
15
THE GOVERNOR: Representative, are you saying this is
16 the way it should
work, comparing and contrasting the way
17 it works up on the
fourth floor?
18
(Laughter.)
19
REPRESENTATIVE MEALOR: Governor, I may not be the
20 best example of that
this session. I do want to thank you
21 so very much.
This is a remarkable time, not just for
22 central Florida, but
for the University and our future
23 leaders. Thank
you.
24
MR. ARLINE: That's a hard act to follow. To
25 conclude, I grew up
in Palm Beach County. I used to hunt
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1 where PGA National is
right now. I'd ride my horses down
2 I-95 out in the
Palmetto hammocks there and it was an
3 important experience
for me. And I'm sure you've had
4 those same
experiences. And those places, unfortunately,
5 are not always there
today. And the same thing happened
6 in Orlando.
7
And what's really happening today is we're realizing
8 that perhaps what was
insignificant 20, 30 years ago,
9 17 acres of scrub
habitat in this arboretum area, is very
10 important given the
growth of metropolitan Orlando. And
11 you've made a
decision that is both environmentally,
12 economically and
educationally sound. Because the
13 arboretum in the
northwest quadrant are laboratories, they
14 are teaching
laboratories, but they don't require any
15 money to -- I mean,
you have to maintain them but you
16 don't have to buy
them. It's public land. It's not like
17 the physics lab that
needs to spend money for a new
18 laboratory.
19
So that is a sound economic decision, to use a
20 laboratory that is
natural, that's been in place for over
21 10,000 years.
And it provides, as we've learned, you
22 know, habitat for
critters that are endangered and
23 necessary and they
will be able to continue to have that
24 place. From an
environmental standpoint it's good. And
25 the students, both
the biology department and even the art
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1 department, use these
areas as an outdoor laboratory. So
2 from an educational
standpoint, it's a victory as well.
3
So on behalf of Susan Eberle and the Florida chapter
4 of -- central Florida
chapter of the Sierra Club, I want
5 to thank you for
having the vision to understand the
6 importance of these
natural resources to education and
7 helping to protect
them with this proposed order. We
8 would stipulate to the
order as amended and agree not to
9 appeal. Thank
you.
10
CFO GALLAGHER: I'll move Item 2 as amended.
11
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
12
THE GOVERNOR: Motion and second. I think we have --
13
MS. TINKER: We have some more speakers, the
14 University and then
we've got a couple of citizens that
15 would like to speak
as well, Governor.
16
THE GOVERNOR: Before I implied that I was making fun
17 of the Florida
legislature since there are many important
18 bills still waiting
for passage (laughter) I want to
19 retract my
remarks.
20
But I do want to say one thing about what the
21 Legislature did and
Representative Mealor deserves credit
22 in this as
well. There was a pretty historic agreement on
23 the Wekiva that I
will gladly sign into law and I
24 appreciate a lot of
give and take there. So a compromise
25 in listening and
working out a Shared vision can happen in
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1 the Florida
Legislature as well. If I implied that I
2 didn't believe that,
I'd want to make sure I did not
3 misspeak at such a
critical time. (Laughter.)
4
MS. TINKER: Governor, representing the University
5 today we have Brenna
Durden; vice president of
6 administrative
affairs, William Merk; university
7 president, John Hitt;
and student body president Brian
8 Battles.
9
THE GOVERNOR: Very good.
10
MS. DURDEN: Good morning, Governor and cabinet
11 members. I'm
Brenna Durden with Lewis, Longman and Walker
12 on behalf of the
University of Central Florida. And for
13 the record, we are in
agreement with the final order, the
14 draft final order as
was amended this morning by
15 Ms. Tinker. In
addition, the University of Central
16 Florida stipulates
that the -- it will not file any
17 challenge to the
final order as amended. At this time, I
18 believe Mr. Merk will
speak, followed by Brian Battles and
19 then Dr. Hitt.
20
THE GOVERNOR: Very good.
21
MR. MERK: Good morning. And thank you for the
22 opportunity for all
of us to say a few words. We're very
23 happy that we are
finally coming to the conclusion of a
24 long and arduous
process here. And I just wanted to say
25 that the University
administration and the student leaders
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1 are quite proud of
actually the environmental record we
2 have at the University
of Central Florida. Couple of
3 points that I think
are important to keep things in
4 perspective and that
is that the University has 330 of its
5 acres in conservation
easements with St. Johns at the
6 moment now and in
perpetuity. I don't know of any other
7 university that has
anything approaching that kind of
8 commitment.
9
This particular plan that you're preserving, the plan
10 added 6 acres to that
arboretum, so that stays as it is.
11 Just trying to work
with the environment, we've created a
12 successful bus
service in the past couple of years. It's
13 taken a lot of cars
off the road and has allowed us to win
14 some clean air
awards. We have, as part of that preserve
15 area that I was
talking about, 24 acres in a preserve for
16 gopher tortoises for
the relocation of those that we need
17 to do in the
future.
18
And one thing that I thought was quite interesting,
19 we were talking the
other day, if you took the impervious
20 surfaces on our
campus, the roads, the sidewalks, the
21 buildings,
everything, and you pushed them all together in
22 our 1400 acres,
pushed every hard surface together in our
23 1400 acres, there
would be 1,000 acres of green left. I
24 think that's pretty
remarkable when you think about it.
25 And we are the only
university in the system that I'm
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1 aware of that's
designed their whole campus around a
2 cypress strand.
But at any rate, we appreciate your time
3 and effort and look
forward to moving forward into the
4 future. Thank
you.
5
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you very much. Mr. President.
6
(Laughter.)
7
MR. BATTLES: Good morning. My name is Brian Battles
8 and I'm the current
student body president at the
9 University of Central
Florida. On behalf of the student
10 body, we are
appreciative of our University administration
11 and our board of
trustees' efforts to balance the concerns
12 of the students, the
development of goals of the
13 university, and the
environmental community interests at
14 stake in this
process.
15
The student body and its elected representatives are
16 equally committed to
the thoughtful development of our
17 campus. I know
your time is very valuable so I'd like to
18 briefly acknowledge
students in support of the master
19 plan, including next
year's student body president, by
20 asking that they
stand. They have taken the time --
21
THE GOVERNOR: Good morning. Thanks for being here.
22
MR. BATTLES: They have taken the time, probably in
23 the one free week
they have during the year between the
24 spring and summer
semester, to voice their concerns. So
25 while we supported
the University's original proposed
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1 order and campus
master plan, we understand and appreciate
2 the efforts of the
administration and commission and its
3 staff have dedicated
to developing a compromise among the
4 various parties.
Therefore, on behalf of the student
5 body, I'm here to
support the proposed order being
6 considered today and I
thank you for allowing me the
7 opportunity to speak
with you.
8
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you, sir.
9
Good morning, sir.
10
MR. HITT: Good morning, Governor. Well, let me add
11 my words of
appreciation to the cabinet and governor and
12 their staffs for
taking time to deal with a really
13 difficult
issue. You as we have had to balance a number
14 of strong competing
interests and I am very glad that
15 we've arrived at a
compromise that all parties are pledged
16 to accept. And
as has been said, we will not protest or
17 appeal it.
18
Just to remind us all what we're about, our mission,
19 our goal is to
provide an ever-growing student body access
20 to high quality
affordable education on a campus that is
21 at the same time
aesthetically pleasing and
22 environmentally
friendly. Vice president Merk has already
23 mentioned we got 330
acres in perpetual conservation
24 easements with St.
Johns Water Authority -- or Water
25 Management
District. We're proud of that. The original
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1 plan, as we presented
it, added 6 acres to the arboretum.
2 We know it's an
important asset for our campus and we are
3 delighted that we're
going to be able to preserve it.
4 We've got a full-time
director. In the process of
5 appointing a full-time
director who will be a tenured
6 member of our biology
faculty. And I think we're going to
7 enhance in very
significant ways the quality of that
8 asset.
9
But at base, we are serving 42,000 students and that
10 population is
growing. We turn away about half of those
11 who apply. We
get about 25,000 applications for admission
12 every year and we are
urged by the Legislature, by the
13 Board of Governors,
by the Department of Education, to
14 meet Florida's need
for an increasingly well-educated
15 workforce.
Because we have to turn away so many students,
16 our average SAT keeps
rising year by year. We're now at
17 1176 as an average
SAT and a high school GPA of 3.9 for
18 the 4200 freshmen we
admitted last year.
19
Some are concerned that we are large. I'm concerned
20 we aren't as large as
Florida needs us to be for its
21 future. We have
now an estimated economic impact on
22 central Florida of
1.278 billion dollars annually. You
23 combine that with the
Research Park that you see how
24 people founded and it
works hand in glove with us and the
25 economic impact is
2.649 billion a year in central
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1 Florida. And
direct and indirect jobs number 35,000. Is
2 it tough to balance a
lot of competing interests when
3 you're serving a
community that size? Absolutely. But it
4 can be done and I
think the compromise we've reached here
5 does so in a very good
way. We're now the second largest
6 university in the
state. I don't know that we'll ever be
7 the largest, but we're
proud that we have been able to
8 sustain growth and
increase quality year by year.
9
And we think while we didn't get everything we wanted
10 in this master plan,
we really appreciate the time that
11 you and your aides
have spent in sifting through the
12 issues. And,
Governor, we thank you for what I think is a
13 fair and balanced way
in which we've arrived at a
14 compromise that
you've heard all parties say today we can
15 live with. So
thank you very much.
16
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you, President Hitt, for all
17 your work on this and
your team and your trustees.
18
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Governor, thank you. And I
19 wanted to
congratulate President Hitt and the University
20 too. My oldest
daughter graduated from UCF and she
21 graduated on a
program where they actually go to and went
22 to Brevard Community
College and offered their four-year
23 degrees and there are
a lot of students at Brevard that
24 don't go over and
clutter up UCF campus with extra bodies
25 and cars that
actually have the chance to graduate from
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1 UCF and I think that's
a great program for those who maybe
2 don't necessarily want
to move away from home particularly
3 to go over to a
university but still have an opportunity
4 to graduate from a
great university. So I'd like to
5 congratulate you on
that program and I hope you even
6 expand that program
further.
7
MS. TINKER: Governor, we do have two more speakers.
8 Ronald Brooke, who is
president of a homeowners'
9 association in the
area, followed by Charles Lee with
10 Audubon Society.
11
THE GOVERNOR: Okay. If we can just urge them to be
12 brief.
13
MR. BROOKE: Governor, cabinet.
14
THE GOVERNOR: Good morning.
15
MR. BROOKE: The first thing I'd like to say is thank
16 you for recognizing
the donor program. After 21 years of
17 service my ACL right
side, I lost it. And they replaced
18 it a year and a half
ago. Thank you. Now I'm not
19 actually the
president of one of the homeowner's
20 associations but I
do, in fact, own this house right here.
21 I live in this house
right here. (Indicating.) All
22 right.
23
THE GOVERNOR: Okay.
24
MR. BROOKE: And I'm representing -- there are two
25 housing developments
on the east side of UCF. If you'll
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1 notice on the
right-hand side over there, behind all the
2 cameras, you have
pictures that show the beginning of --
3 starting way back in
the '70s, coming all the way up to
4 the picture that's in
the screen as to where we are today.
5 Although the picture
on the screen is not the current
6 picture and I don't
know why they don't have that. We do
7 have one behind
us. The thing you do notice is that there
8 has been a horrendous
amount of explosive development in
9 this area. And
the environment is very important because
10 we only have one
earth.
11
And the one thing even UCF cannot control is the
12 amount of rainwater
that we get. In the paper that's been
13 presented today that
both sides have agreed upon, if you
14 look back on Page 10,
the potential research -- future
15 research area, it
discusses the agreement between
16 St. Johns and
UCF. St. Johns and UCF have just gone into
17 a permitted program
that allows for 383 acres to be
18 impermeable
land. As was mentioned by Bill over here
19 earlier, if you take
all of the impermeable land and push
20 it together at UCF,
there is 1,000 acres left over.
21
At 14, 15 -- of the total acres on campus, that means
22 they have 14, 15
acres of impermeable structure already on
23 campus. They
are authorized 383. They have already
24 exceeded the maximum
of any impervious structure on the
25 entire main
campus. In their own master plan they say
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1 they're authorized 374
acres. Should I stop, sir? I
2 thought you had a
question.
3
When you take the agreement that UCF has with
4 St. Johns Water
Management District to ensure that the
5 people such as myself
and my neighbors do not get flooded
6 out, they cannot
exceed 383 acres according to their own
7 plan. They've
only already stated themselves, Mr. Hitt in
8 an article in the
Sentinel said that there is 28 percent
9 which represents, I
think it was, 390 something acres.
10 Bill has just said it
represents 415 acres of impervious
11 right now.
They're only authorized a number less than
12 that. They are
authorized 383.
13
So what we have is just -- if you look at the big
14 picture and you look
at do we really care about the
15 environment, do we
really care about creating a flood
16 hazard, right now UCF
cannot build any more buildings.
17 They can't build six
acres over in the northwest quadrant.
18 They for sure can't
build that research center because
19 that separates the
riparian way of the Little Econ. And
20 it will automatically
create a flooding situation in two
21 housing areas.
I really don't think that's what we want
22 to do.
23
They have agreed to this final draft order. The
24 final draft order
says they have to comply with the
25 St. Johns
permitting. And the St. Johns permitting says
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1 they can have no
further construction on campus. Do you
2 have any questions for
me?
3
THE GOVERNOR: No, sir. We appreciate you coming.
4
Mr. Lee. How come you always get to speak last?
5 What's this? Do
you have some special deal?
6
MR. LEE: I'm not sure, Governor. I didn't set the
7 order. I'm just
here on behalf of Audubon Florida,
8 State's oldest and
largest environmental group, to thank
9 your staff and
particularly the staff of the Department of
10 Community Affairs
that took seriously the concerns of
11 Marge Holt and others
with the environmental groups in
12 central Florida who
began examining this plan and reached
13 the kind of
problem-solving compromise we have in front of
14 you today.
15
And I really think that if you look at the work of
16 the Department of
Community Affairs on this case, if you
17 look at the work that
they have recently done and brought
18 to a successful
conclusion through the legislation on the
19 Wekiva River, the
work, Governor, you have recently
20 initiated by the
executive order-created task force in the
21 lower east coast on
the Indian River, this is the kind of
22 problem-solving that
really gets to the route of that
23 critical balance
between protection of the environment and
24 growth that's going
on in the state and brings us
25 solutions that can
work and have promise.
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1
And I think what we have here with regard to
2 protecting the
environment, the great assets of the
3 arboretum and other
teaching tools at the University as
4 well as the natural
environment in that area is exemplary
5 of what the Department
of Community Affairs can and has
6 been able to do.
And so we would hope in addition to
7 endorsing your action
here today that we could take this
8 as another indication
of sort of the highest and best
9 purpose of what D.C.A.
can do in terms of bringing
10 together solutions to
these kind of problems. And we hope
11 and urge that this
kind of effort be continued with the
12 other very difficult
environmental problems we have
13 throughout Florida
because it can bring some very
14 important solutions
to the table and it has here.
15
Thank you very much.
16
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you, Charles. There is -- are
17 there any other?
18
MS. TINKER: No, sir.
19
THE GOVERNOR: There is a motion and a second. Any
20 other
discussion? Without objection, the amended order
21 passes.
22
Thank you, Teresa, for all your work. Staff,
23 e-mailers, student
leaders. Appreciate everyone's work on
24 this.
25
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES - APRIL 29,
2004
26
1
THE GOVERNOR: Board of Trustees.
2
MS. CASTILLE: Morning, Governor, members of the
3 cabinet.
4
THE GOVERNOR: Good morning, Secretary.
5
MS. CASTILLE: Item 1 is consideration of an option
6 agreement to acquire
23.92 acres within Rookery Bay,
7 Florida. The
acquisition involves two of the last three
8 remaining parcels on
Cannon Island which is a 320-acre
9 island within Rookery
Bay which is where you were last
10 year -- last week,
Governor.
11
The ghost orchid, the butterfly orchid, and the
12 American crocodile
are some of the species that we'll be
13 protecting through
the acquisition of this island. There
14 is a last 20-acre
parcel that remains --
15
THE GOVERNOR: Wasn't the ghost orchid in that movie
16 that --
17
MS. CASTILLE: Yes, sir. Adaptation, I believe, is
18 the name of the movie
-- or the book.
19
THE GOVERNOR: It's illegal to take it. So how did
20 they get this
picture?
21
MS. CASTILLE: It's just a picture. (Laughter.)
22 It's not the real
thing.
23
THE GOVERNOR: You weren't personally involved in
24 this?
25
MS. CASTILLE: Take only photos. That's our motto at
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES - APRIL 29,
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27
1 state parks.
2
THE GOVERNOR: I don't see the stem.
3
MS. CASTILLE: It's up to the right.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: Do we have a guard on this guy?
5
THE GOVERNOR: That's a beautiful flower, isn't it?
6
MS. CASTILLE: It is a gorgeous flower. It's a very
7 intriguing and -- what
was the word that -- I'll have to
8 think of it, that Eric
used about the birds. Anyway, this
9 acquisition is a
consideration of $540,000.
10
THE GOVERNOR: Is there a motion?
11
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion.
12
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
13
THE GOVERNOR: Moved and seconded. Without
14 objection, the item
passes.
15
MS. CASTILLE: Item 2 is consideration of an option
16 agreement to acquire
29.83 acres within the Brevard County
17 coastal scrub
ecosystem.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
19
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
20
THE GOVERNOR: There is a motion and a second. Would
21 you like to say
anything more, Colleen?
22
MS. CASTILLE: No, sir.
23
THE GOVERNOR: It's passed without objection.
24
MS. CASTILLE: Item 3 is a -- I'm sorry, was there
25 anyone who wanted to
speak on Item 2? No. Okay.
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1
Item 3 is an authority to enter into an acquisition
2 agreement with
Northwest Florida Water Management District
3 and the Conservation
Fund as a cooperating entity. This
4 is a 161 acquisition
agreement that we have with the
5 District and a third
party. This is the first time we
6 have involved a third
party in this acquisition agreement.
7 This is simply the
authorization for acquisition of some
8 parcels in Escambia
County.
9
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
10
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
11
THE GOVERNOR: Moved and seconded. Without
12 objection, the item
passes.
13
MS. CASTILLE: Item 4 is one of the things I'm very
14 excited about,
Governor. Treasurer Gallagher, you may
15 remember when Eva
Armstrong and I were your cabinet aides
16 that we started with
the negotiations with the City on the
17 cleanup on this
park. And it's been 15 years and there
18 are a lot of people
to thank for this agreement.
19
The consideration that is before you is a conveyance
20 of two parcels of
land at Cascades Park and part of a
21 settlement agreement
between the City of Tallahassee and
22 the state of
Florida. The parcels proposed for conveyance
23 are the 7.72-acre
Centennial Field site, which is
24 Parcel A, and the
5-acre site east of Gadsden, which is
25 Parcel B. The
settlement agreement ends this 15-year
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1 debate on the
apportionment of costs for cleanup from a
2 former coal
gasification plant.
3
The pollutant that is at issue is coal tar that
4 remains in the ground
and was moved around by some dirt
5 moving that occurred
at the site. So I would like to
6 thank in this item,
Mayor Marks and his staff, Jim
7 English. And I
would like to thank many folks at DMS.
8 It's Robert José and
Sam Marley and Secretary Simon is
9 here as well.
And last but not least, the DEP staff, Mike
10 Sole, Bud Vielhauer,
Dale Adams and Bob Ballard. And Kent
11 Perez who brought it
all together and tied it up in a bow
12 to present to
you.
13
THE GOVERNOR: He disappeared. His moment of truth.
14 There he is.
15
MS. CASTILLE: I would like to go ahead and unless
16 you would like more
information on the details of the
17 agreement, I would
like to go ahead to ask Mayor Marks if
18 he'd like to step
up.
19
THE GOVERNOR: Please. Mayor, welcome.
20
MAYOR MARKS: Thank you, Governor and members of the
21 cabinet. It's
an absolute pleasure. I'm not crying, the
22 allergies are getting
me.
23
(Laughter.)
24
I kind of, in a way, feel like crying.
25
THE GOVERNOR: Tears of joy.
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1
MAYOR MARKS: That's probably very accurate as well.
2 I want to thank you
for this opportunity to make a few
3 comments in this
regard. And on behalf of the City of
4 Tallahassee, I'd like
to thank all of you for supporting
5 this agreement between
the City, Department of Management
6 Services, and DEP and
others for this remediation
7 activities that's
going to happen at Cascades Park, a
8 very, very historic,
historic place for all of us in this
9 community.
10
And as indicated by Colleen, the agreement provides
11 for us, for the
return of about 12 acres to the City in
12 funding. This
is very important, of course, to assist in
13 the cleanup and to
convince us to work together, which is
14 so significant in
this entire matter to secure the
15 additional funds to
make sure we get this site cleaned up.
16 And as I understand
at this point in time the Legislature
17 has acted
appropriately in this regard. So I will keep my
18 comments and make
sure everything goes smoothly as well,
19 Governor, in terms of
providing funds to at least begin
20 the cleanup process
for this particular site.
21
This partnership will enable the City to move forward
22 with the necessary
steps to clean up this contaminated
23 property and really
return it for what it should be
24 returned, our
community use. And with Cascades -- with
25 the Cascades trail
being such a signature part of
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1 Blueprint 2000, I hope
you've heard of Blueprint 2000 and
2 that effort.
This is really going to be great and we're
3 very anxious to get
started.
4
I have to indicate my appreciation for this
5 collaborative effort
between a number of individuals.
6 Governor, thank you
first of all and your staff for
7 getting us together so
we can get this thing done. As
8 Colleen indicated,
this has been a 15-year-long journey
9 and we're finally
coming to an end. Kent Perez, Mike
10 Sole, Bill Simon,
Robert Jose. And, of course, Colleen
11 Castille were so
very, very vitally important in this
12 process and there are
many others. I know I'm probably
13 missing some in the
DMS staff and DEP for their
14 commitment.
15
I want to acknowledge the people from the City.
16 There are a lot of
people involved in this. But I want to
17 especially
acknowledge Jim English, the City attorney
18 who's worked on
this. Jim, please stand up. Jim English
19 has worked on this
matter for so very, very long. And
20 Ralph DeMayo, outside
counsel, has work on this as well
21 and Corrin Taylor,
she's worked on it. And somebody very
22 special to me, my
chief of staff, Donna Hart who's worked
23 on this matter as
well.
24
But I would be remiss if I didn't thank some other
25 individuals as
well. Our local legislative delegation.
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1 This has been a truly
bipartisan effort. Especially
2 thankful to
Representative Loranne Ausley. Representative
3 Kilmer and Curtis
Richardson. And on the Senate side, as
4 far as our legislative
delegation is concerned, Senator Al
5 Lawson and Senator
Argenziano. They just worked together
6 on this manner.
And without their assistance, quite
7 honestly, I don't know
if we would have gotten to where we
8 are.
9
So, again, thank you for being a partner. Thank you
10 for being a partner
in this effort and a friend of the
11 City of
Tallahassee. And I'm pleased to see our mutual
12 respect and
cooperation continue to grow and I look
13 forward to future
interactions. I want to repeat that, I
14 look forward to
future interaction and to continue to
15 improve the quality
of life for the capital city, your
16 capital city, our
capital city. The capital city of all
17 the people of the
state of Florida. Thank you so very,
18 very much for this
effort.
19
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much
20 for your leadership
of this beautiful city. It's been a
21 joy to work with you
and look forward to doing it, at
22 least in my case a
couple years more. I hope you're
23 staying mayor as long
as you want.
24
CFO GALLAGHER: After 15 years of working for this,
25 I would like the
motion to approve Item 4.
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1
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
2
THE GOVERNOR: Moved and seconded. Without
3 objection, by
acclamation, with great joy, the motion
4 passes.
5
CFO GALLAGHER: And, Governor, if I may for a
6 second, we have three
students with us this morning who've
7 been selected to
participate in our legislative affairs
8 program in our office
today and tomorrow. Would you
9 please stand and be
recognized. We have Amanda Marie
10 Adkins from Pedro
Menendez High School in St. Augustine.
11 And Ashley Marie
James from South Forsyth High School,
12 Cumming, Georgia and
Amy Adkins, Ashley's mom.
13
THE GOVERNOR: Welcome. The treasurer is bringing in
14 the guns to get the
bills passed for the last two days.
15
CFO GALLAGHER: Major heavyweights here to work it
16 out for us.
17
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you. Hope you've enjoyed your
18 time here with
us. Okay.
19
MS. CASTILLE: Moved and seconded and approved?
20
THE GOVERNOR: It's passed and all that.
21
MS. CASTILLE: Thank you, Mayor Marks. Appreciate
22 it.
23
Item 5 is Mr. Hardy's item and we're deferring that
24 to finalize the
engineering that we're receiving and
25 looking at other
options as well.
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1
THE GOVERNOR: Have you spoken to Mr. Hardy or his --
2
MS. CASTILLE: I personally have not. However, staff
3 has a meeting set up
on May 7th? May 7th.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: I move to defer.
5
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
6
THE GOVERNOR: There's a motion to defer and a
7 second. Without
objection, the motion is deferred until
8 two weeks from
now?
9
MS. CASTILLE: Yes, sir.
10
THE GOVERNOR: Okay.
11
MS. CASTILLE: And that concludes our agenda.
12
THE GOVERNOR: Thank you.
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION - APRIL 29,
2004
35
1
THE GOVERNOR: State Board of Administration.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes for April
3 13th.
4
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
5
THE GOVERNOR: There's a motion and a second. Item 1
6 is approved without
objection.
7
MR. STIPANOVICH: Good morning, Governor, members.
8 Item No. 2 is a
request for approval of fiscal
9 determination of
amount not exceeding 21,170,000
10 tax-exempt, Florida
Housing Finance Corporation
11 multi-family mortgage
revenue bonds.
12
GENERAL CRIST: Motion.
13
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
14
THE GOVERNOR: Moved and seconded. Without
15 objection, the item
passes.
16
MR. STIPANOVICH: The third item is request for
17 approval of fiscal
determination of amounts not exceeding
18 11,340,000 tax exempt
and --
19
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion.
20
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
21
THE GOVERNOR: Moved and seconded. Without
22 objection, the item
passes.
23
MR. STIPANOVICH: Governor, I'd like to bring to your
24 attention and the
members some good news and that is
25 something we've been
working on for several years with the
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36
1 Florida Hurricane
Catastrophe Fund and that the Standard
2 and Poors has
increased our rating from an A plus to a
3 double A minus.
We're hopeful that Fitch and Moodys will
4 follow suit. And
with that, Lord forbid we ever need to
5 bond as a result of a
hurricane hitting land, we would
6 have an estimated 3 to
5-million-dollar savings.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: And if I may just mention to fellow
8 board members, the
House has made a deal with the Senate
9 and the bill has gone
back on the Cat Fund that we talked
10 about at the last
meeting and next meeting, May 11th, we
11 will be bringing --
they set up a deal where people can
12 participate in '04 or
'05 at different rates. I don't
13 think anybody will
pick '05, but they can do either one.
14 So it will require us
to approve that. You will bring
15 that back.
16
MR. STIPANOVICH: May 11th, treasurer, we're looking
17 to bring that
back.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: And we'll bring that up so we can do
19 the rates for
that.
20
MR. STIPANOVICH: And one of the things that was
21 pointed out by S and
P was the strong support from the
22 trustees and the
Legislature has made this possible and
23 then of course with
the work of the staff, the SBA, and
24 the Cat Fund --
25
CFO GALLAGHER: Best known as lack of rates.
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1
(Thereupon, the proceedings adjourned at 10:15 a.m.)
2
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STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION - APRIL 29,
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38
1
2
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
3
4 STATE OF FLORIDA )
5 COUNTY OF LEON )
6
7
I, KRISTEN L. BENTLEY, Court Reporter, certify that
8 the foregoing proceedings were taken before me at
the time and
9 place therein designated; that my shorthand notes
were
10 thereafter translated under my supervision; and the
foregoing
11 pages numbered 1 through 37 are a true and correct
record of
12 the aforesaid proceedings.
13
14
I further certify that I am not a relative, employee,
15 attorney or counsel of any of the parties, nor am I
a relative
16 or employee of any of the parties' attorney or
counsel
17 connected with the action, nor am I financially
interested in
18 the action.
19
DATED this 10th day of May, 2004.
20
______________________________
21
KRISTEN L. BENTLEY, Court
Reporter
Notary Public
22
850-878-2221
23
24
25
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS,
INC.
.
Cabinet
Affairs
