Reported by:
MARY ALLEN
NEEL
Registered Professional Reporter
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS,
INC.
100 SALEM
COURT
TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA
32301
(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
* * *
.
3
I N D E X
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
(Presented by Ben Watkins)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
5
2
Approved
5
3
Approved
6
4
Approved
6
5
Approved
6
FINANCIAL SERVICES
COMMISSION
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL
REGULATION
(Presented by Don Saxon)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
8
2
Approved
9
3
Accepted
11
FLORIDA LAND AND WATER ADJUDICATORY
COMMISSION
(Presented by Barbara Leighty)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
12
2
Approved
12
3
Approved
12
POWER PLANT SITING BOARD
(Presented by Colleen Castille)
1
Approved
13
2
Approved
13
.
4
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST
FUND
(Presented by Colleen Castille)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Deferred
14
2
Deferred
14
3
Withdrawn
16
4
Withdrawn
16
5
Approved
17
6
Approved
18
7
Deferred
18
8
Approved
50
STATE BOARD OF
ADMINISTRATION
(Presented by Coleman Stipanovich)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
52
2
Approved
52
3
Approved
52
4
Accepted
53
CERTIFICATE OF
REPORTER
54
.
5
1
P R O C E E D I N G S
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: The next Cabinet meeting -- no
3 resolutions
today. The next Cabinet meeting is
4 Tuesday, August
24th, where I'm sure we'll have all
5 sorts of
resolutions.
6
Division of Bond Finance.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
8
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second.
10 Without
objection, Item 1 passes.
11
MR. WATKINS: Item number 2 is a resolution
12 authorizing the
issuance of $473,500,000 in PECO
13 bonds and
authorizing the competitive sale of $200
14 million of that
authorization.
15
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Motion on 2.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
18 objection, the
item passes.
19
MR. WATKINS: Item number 3 is a resolution
20 authorizing the
issuance of up to $12-1/2 million in
21 parking
facility revenue bonds for the University of
22 South
Florida.
23
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
24
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
.
6
1 objection, the
motion passes.
2
MR. WATKINS: Item number 4 is a resolution
3 authorizing the
issuance of up to $36-1/2 million of
4 housing facility
revenue bonds for Florida
5 International
University.
6
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 4.
7
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
8
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
10 objection, the
motion passes.
11
MR. WATKINS: And item number 5 is a report of
12 award on the
competitive sale of $300 million of
13 right-of-way
acquisition and bridge construction
14 bonds.
The bonds were awarded to the low bidder at
15 a true interest
cost of 4.73 percent.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 5.
17
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
19 objection, the
item passes.
20
What's the Fed going to do today?
21
MR. WATKINS: The conventional wisdom has them
22 moving a
quarter point.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Up?
24
MR. WATKINS: Up. But that being said, the
25 employment
numbers last week came in weaker than
.
7
1 expected, and so
rates come down. So it has been a
2 random walk this
summer, but rates are still
3 extraordinarily
attractive on a long-term basis.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Ben, have you had a chance to
5 visit with my
office regarding -- this is an
6 off-Cabinet
subject, but I don't get to see you
7 often -- on the
Everglades, the Water Management
8 District
proposal?
9
MR. WATKINS: Yes, sir, I have, and I'm
10 available at
your convenience to discuss that.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Thank you.
12
MR. WATKINS: Just let me know.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
8
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Office of Financial
2
Regulation. Mr. Saxon, good morning.
3
MR. SAXON: Good morning, Governor. And allow
4 me to
congratulate you on the marriage of your son.
5 Wish you all the
best.
6
CFO GALLAGHER: Many grandchildren.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Exactly. Is there a motion on
8 Item 1?
9
(Laughter.)
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes. On the many grandchildren
11 part or the --
is there a motion?
12
CFO GALLAGHER: He didn't do one yet, did you?
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, we're ready to.
14
MR. SAXON: Not yet. Adoption of the
15 amendments to
Rules 3C-560.103 --
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: No motion on the minutes.
17
MR. SAXON: 3C-560.707.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 1.
19
MR. SAXON: 3C-560.805, 3C-560.902, 3C-560.903,
20 3C-560.904, and
3C-560.908, Florida Administrative
21 Code.
22
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
23
CFO GALLAGHER: There's a motion and a second.
24 Without
objection, the item passes.
25
MR. SAXON: Second, the adoption of repeal to
.
9
1 Rule 3E-301.005,
Florida Administrative Code.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
3
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Motion and a second. Without
5 objection, the
item passes.
6
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion to receive the
7 quarterly
report.
8
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Would you like to comment on
10 the quarterly
report?
11
MR. SAXON: Yes, I could, sir, if you would
12 like. I
would like to tell you that in all of our
13 functional
areas, we seem to be doing very well as
14 far as growth
is concerned. Just a couple of
15 examples.
In securities, Florida is now ranked in
16 the top three
in the number of agents that we have
17 that can sell
and buy securities for others. We're
18 also ranked
third in the state in terms of the
19 numbers of
firms that are licensed to do business in
20 the State of
Florida. And we've had a 77 percent
21 increase since
1999 in the number of branch offices
22 that are
domiciled here in the State of Florida. We
23 now have over
8,500 branch offices selling
24 securities for
others.
25
In our credit unions, we're ranked in the top
.
10
1 five in assets
that are under supervision, and they
2 now serve over 4
million citizens in the State of
3 Florida.
We have 194 institutions that are
4 chartered as
banks that will receive $46 billion in
5 assets.
We've seen a 41 percent increase in terms
6 of banks that
have been doing business in the State
7 of Florida for
less than five years. And in the
8 last five years,
over 85 percent of any banks that
9 come into the
State of Florida are seeking state
10 chartered
regulation versus being regulated by the
11 Feds. And
we also have currently 14 applications
12 that are
pending to be chartered as state
13 institutions
now in the State of Florida.
14
On the mortgage broker side, we have 45,000
15 mortgage
brokers, and we have 15,000 mortgage broker
16
businesses. That's a 38 percent increase since the
17 beginning of
the millenium. And we recently were
18 accredited by
the CSBS. That's the Conference of
19 State Banking
Supervisors, which accredits us for
20 the work that
we do in regulating state institutions
21 in the State of
Florida. This is a group that comes
22 in that's made
up of other states, and they certify
23 that we are
doing business in a way that is
24 commensurate
with the way other way states regulate
25 banks and the
way the Feds regulate banks. And at
.
11
1 this time we're
also looking to get accredited for
2 the first time
for our credit unions and our
3 examination
program in that area.
4
And if you go through the report, you'll see in
5 all of our
functional areas that we've been very
6 aggressive in
trying to do what we can to protect
7 consumers out
there where our industries are
8 wronging our
consumers.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any questions? There's a
10 motion to
accept the report and a second. Without
11 objection, it
is accepted.
12
Thank you, Don. Appreciate the report.
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
12
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Florida Land and Water
2 Adjudicatory
Commission.
3
MS. LEIGHTY: Good morning. I'm Barbara
4 Leighty.
Teresa Tinker is on leave.
5
Item 1 is recommend approval of the minutes of
6 the June 24th
meeting.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
8
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
10 objection, the
item passes.
11
MS. LEIGHTY: Item 2, request approval of the
12 proposed final
rule establishing the Tern Bay
13 Community
Development District in Charlotte County.
14
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Motion on 2.
15
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second.
17 Without
objection, the item passes.
18
MS. LEIGHTY: Item 3, request approval of the
19 proposed final
rule establishing the Concord Station
20 Community
Development District in Pasco County.
21
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
22
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
24 objection, the
item passes.
25
Thank you.
.
13
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Power Plant Siting Board.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
3
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
5 objection, the
item passes.
6
MS. CASTILLE: Item number 2 is consideration
7 of an ALJ's
recommended order finding that FP&L's
8 Turkey Point
power plant site is consistent and in
9 compliance with
the existing land use plans. FP&L
10 has applied for
certification of an 1,150 megawatt
11 natural
gas-fired power -- combined cycle steam
12 electric
generating system as an expansion of their
13 Turkey Point
power plant.
14
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
15
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
17 objection, the
item passes.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
14
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Board of Trustees of the
2 Internal
Improvement Trust Fund.
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion to defer Item 1 to
4 September
21st.
5
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion to defer Item
7 1 to September
21st and a second. Without
8 objection, the
item passes.
9
CFO GALLAGHER: Item 2, defer till August 24th.
10
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: There is a motion to defer Item
12 2 till -- when
is it?
13
CFO GALLAGHER: August 24th.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: August 24th. And a second.
15 Without
objection, the item is deferred.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion to withdrew Item 3 and
17 Item 4.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Wait a second. Can we have a
19 little
discussion on Item 3?
20
CFO GALLAGHER: Sure.
21
MS. CASTILLE: We sure can.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: This is the one that we asked
23 to go back to
the drawing boards?
24
MS. CASTILLE: Yes, sir.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: Commissioner Bronson, do you
.
15
1 have any
thoughts? Since this is a Division of
2 Forestry
property, I want to show a little
3 deference.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Well, we're still --
5 we're trying to
work out the issue. We think there
6 is a chance to
try to work this out. I know my
7 staff is working
with those involved, and it is an
8 issue that we
really need to concentrate on doing
9 something with,
simply because we have people across
10 the state who
want the place, since the State is
11 buying land on
behalf of the people, that they can
12 actually
use. And we're trying to create a
13 situation where
it is going to be environmentally --
14 I guess I would
say safe, but environmentally
15 positive to use
this facility in such a way that
16 we're not going
to harm the environment, but yet
17 give the public
a chance to use these properties.
18 But we're still
working on it, and I believe we can
19 come up with a
solution hopefully by the next --
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Would it make sense then not to
21 withdraw the
motion, but to defer it?
22
CFO GALLAGHER: Well, they can bring it back up
23 anytime they
want, including the next meeting. And
24 if they're
ready for the next, they will, and if
25 they're not,
they'll wait till they are.
.
16
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: So withdrawing doesn't change
2 the --
3
CFO GALLAGHER: No. It just makes it easier
4 for them to
figure out when they're ready to bring
5 it to us.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Are you good with that?
7
CFO GALLAHAGER: Three and 4, withdraw.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion to withdraw
9 Items 3 and
4.
10
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: And a second. Without
12 objection, both
items are withdrawn.
13
MS. CASTILLE: Item 5. Governor and members of
14 the Cabinet,
this is the consideration of an option
15 agreement on
9.16 acres in Monroe County. This is a
16 part of our
initiative to work out with the County.
17 This is our
second acquisition, and we are in the
18 process of
determining how to use the $10 million
19 for water and
sewer that was in the budget, and
20 we're working
on an agreement on that with the
21 communities
down there. And so this is our part of
22 the deal, and
we continue to work on it.
23
This particular parcel, if you recall, the Keys
24 properties are
the only tropical hardwood forests
25 that we have in
the continental U.S., and this
.
17
1 particular site
contains just over eight acres of
2 undisturbed high
quality hammock. The purchase
3 price for the
property is 385,000, and we are
4 purchasing it
from Monroe County Land Acquisition
5 Authority, Land
Authority, which allows them to
6 utilize -- they
have a dual role. They can use some
7 of their money
for land acquisition for conservation
8 lands, and they
can also use it for affordable
9 housing.
So us buying the property for them frees
10 up their
dollars for affordable housing as well.
11
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 5.
12
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
13
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second.
15 Without
objection, the item passes.
16
MS. CASTILLE: Item 6 is the consideration of
17 an option
agreement to acquire 23.5 acres in Terra
18 Ceia in
Pinellas County from the Nature Conservancy.
19 The goal of
this particular acquisition is to
20 preserve the
natural creek system which provides
21 proper
nutrients to Bishop's Harbor and to Terra
22 Ceia Bay.
The price for this acquisition is
23 $360,500, which
includes closing costs for the
24 Nature
Conservancy.
25
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 6.
.
18
1
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second.
3 Without
objection, the item passes.
4
This is in Manatee County, correct, not
5 Pinellas?
6
MS. CASTILLE: I'm sorry. Manatee County, yes,
7 sir.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
9
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion to defer number 7 to
10 August
24th.
11
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion to defer Item
13 7 and a
second. Without objection, the motion is
14 deferred till
August 24th -- the item is deferred.
15
MS. CASTILLE: Item 8 is a little bit of a
16 controversial
item we've been working with over the
17 summer.
It's a -- let me set up the item for you.
18 It's a
determination that a 1.86-acre parcel of
19 state-owned
land is no longer needed for
20 conservation
purposes.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Secretary, can you change the
22 picture here on
the screen?
23
MS. CASTILLE: Oh, yes, sir.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. This is a new
25 system we've
got. This is very exciting, except
.
19
1 that doesn't
mean anything right there.
2
MS. CASTILLE: Can you see it?
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes. We've got it in a better
4 form that's
easier to follow, I think. It's a
5 little
complicated.
6
MS. CASTILLE: What you see before you -- let
7 me just sort of
set up the map for you. What you
8 see before you
is a trail which is adjacent to I-95
9 on the
north-south -- on the right side of the page.
10 The green in
there is the proposed trail. If you
11 see the blue
dotted lines, that's a proposed roadway
12 that is
required to be built as a part of the
13 Florida
Landmark Communities development of the
14 area,
development which has 2,500 dwelling units and
15 a number of
commercial developments to support that
16 neighborhood.
17
This is a very hot growing area of the state.
18 If you look at
-- there are some other maps that we
19 have
there. You can see that there are a number of
20 roadways that
are already built for housing
21 developments as
well. The County has been
22 adequately
planning for their growth. They have two
23 roads that are
going to be major north-south
24 connector
roads. One of them is Old Kings Road,
25 which is to the
right of I-95. And to the left,
.
20
1 about the center
of the page, is the Belle Terre
2 roadway, two
major north-south connectors.
3
This particular roadway that is being built
4 here will be to
take some of the pressure off those
5 two north-south
connectors for the development
6 itself and for
the Town Center itself. The greenway
7 is designed as a
part of that Town Center as well.
8
As we develop the trail systems in the State of
9 Florida, what we
try to do is, we try to accommodate
10 development,
but we also try to make sure that the
11 public is safe
in the location of the trails. And
12 part of what
we're doing is to have a 12-foot-wide
13 pedestrian
trail, an FDOT approved overpass at this
14 road, trail
landscaping, physical barriers under
15 I-95 to protect
the pedestrians, because at that
16 point, that's
where all of the traffic will be
17 bottlenecked
together, and then construction of the
18 3,600 linear
feet of trails as a part of the Town
19 Center
project. And we appreciate working with the
20 developer on
these pieces of property and on the
21 development of
this trail.
22
When we develop trails with a community, we try
23 to develop with
the developer as well as -- with the
24 developer's
money, with the community's money, and
25 with FDOT's
money, as well as our money. And in
.
21
1 order to make
that money go further, we try to
2 leverage as much
as we can from the community.
3
In this particular case, we will have
4 difficulties
over those two north-south connectors
5 that I mentioned
to you earlier, Kings Highway and
6 Belle
Terre. Those are also locations that we would
7 hope to get
ISTEA money that we can leverage for
8 from USDOT and
from Florida DOT for overhead trails
9 there as
well.
10
This is not an unusual situation. We generally
11 work with
communities to do this. And I want to
12 show you a
picture of a couple of different trails.
13
The one that I can remember last coming here
14 about -- can
you switch over to me for the dotcam?
15 The ones that I
remember coming --
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: I like this new system.
17
MS. CASTILLE: -- to are in Seminole County and
18 the West Orange
Trail that we worked out through the
19
community. Now, this particular -- there are
20 different
levels of prices.
21
The issue here is whether the developer should
22 be required to
build a trail overhead at this
23 location.
When we signed a contract with the
24 community to
buy the trail and to establish the
25 trail, the
commitment was that if an overhead was
.
22
1 needed -- I mean
an over-road bridge was needed,
2 that they would
be committed to developing that as
3 well.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: Is that part of the contract
5 that was written
when they --
6
MS. CASTILLE: Yes.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: When we sold to them?
8
MS. CASTILLE: Yes, it was.
9
CFO GALLAGHER: Well, then they knew it was
10 coming.
11
MS. CASTILLE: When we did some other trails
12 around the
Orange County area, which you know has
13 explosive
growth, there were a number of roadways in
14 Seminole and
Orange County that were six-lane roads
15 and were slated
to be six-lane roads. This
16 particular
trailhead overpass -- not trailhead, but
17 trail overpass,
is at State Road 434, and this
18 particular one
is a $2 million --
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: It's got to be more than that.
20
MS. CASTILLE: A $2 million -- can you zoom in
21 a little bit,
Michael? It's a $2 million trailhead.
22 The trailheads
come in various prices and various
23 designs.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: That's 2 million?
25
MS. CASTILLE: This one is 2 million, this one
.
23
1 is 3 million,
and this is over the Cady Way Trail
2 over State Road
436, which is a major statewide
3 connector in
Central Florida.
4
Now, this one is the one that you typically
5 see. It is
the low cost option, $500,000. It
6 certainly
doesn't beautify a community, but it
7 certainly meets
the need of safety of the public who
8 is traversing
the trail.
9
CFO GALLAGHER: Is the left side of this a ramp
10 that a bike can
go down?
11
MS. CASTILLE: Yes, it is.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Colleen, isn't there a process
13 where after a
certain traffic level, or if you go
Cabinet
Affairs
