Representing:
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION
OFFICE OF INSURANCE
REGULATION
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION BOARD
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, The Honorable Governor Bush
presiding, in the Cabinet Meeting Room, LL-03, The
Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday, January 27,
2004, commencing at approximately 9:12 a.m.
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
STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
(Presented by Coleman Stipanovich)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
5
2
Approved
5
3
Approved
6
4
Approved
6
5
Approved
6
6
Approved
7
8
Approved
8
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL
REGULATION
(Presented by Don Saxon)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
9
2
Approved
9
OFFICE OF INSURANCE REGULATION
(Presented by Kevin McCarty)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
10
2
Approved
10
3
Approved
11
4
Approved
11
5
Accepted
11
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
BOARD
(Presented by Martin Young)
1
Approved
12
2
Accepted
12
.
4
ADMINISTRATION
COMMISSION
(Presented by Teresa Tinker)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
13
2
Withdrawn
14
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST
FUND
(Presented by David Struhs)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
15
2
Approved
89
3
Approved
90
4
Approved
90
5
Withdrawn
91
6
Approved
91
7
Approved
102
8
Accepted
104
CERTIFICATE OF
REPORTER
105
.
5
1
P R O C E E D I N G S
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: We're going to start with the
3 State Board of
Administration.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
5
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
7 objection, Item
1 passes.
8
Item 2.
9
Good morning, Coleman.
10
MR. STIPANOVICH: Good morning, Governor and
11 members.
12
Item 2 is a request for approval of fiscal
13 determination
of amounts not exceeding 13,500,000
14 tax exempt and
950,000 taxable Florida Housing
15 Finance
Corporation multifamily mortgage revenue
16 bonds, 2004
series, Clipper Bay Apartments.
17
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Motion.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
20 objection, the
item passes.
21
MR. STIPANOVICH: Item number 3 is a request
22 for approval of
fiscal determination of an amount
23 not exceeding
10,600,000 tax exempt Florida Housing
24 Finance
Corporation multifamily mortgage revenue
25 bonds.
.
6
1
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
2
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
4 objection, Item
3 passes.
5
MR. STIPANOVICH: Item 4 is a request for
6 approval for
fiscal determination of an amount not
7 exceeding
9,015,000 tax exempt Florida Housing
8 Finance
Corporation multifamily mortgage revenue
9 bonds.
10
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Motion on 4.
11
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
13 objection, Item
4 passes.
14
MR. STIPANOVICH: Item 5 is a request for
15 approval of
fiscal determination of an amount not
16 exceeding
7,350,000 tax exempt Florida Housing
17 Finance
Corporation multifamily mortgage revenue
18 bonds.
19
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 5.
20
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
22 objection, the
item passes.
23
MR. STIPANOVICH: Item number 6 is a request
24 for approval of
fiscal determination of an amount
25 not exceeding
2,500,000 taxable Florida Housing
.
7
1 Finance
Corporation multifamily mortgage revenue
2 bonds.
3
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Motion on 6.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
6 objection, the
item passes.
7
MR. STIPANOVICH: Item 7 is the reappointment
8 of two
Investment Advisory Council members, Mr. Don
9 Burton and John
Jaeb, as an appointee of -- Don
10 Burton of the
Chief Financial Officer, and John Jaeb
11 of the Attorney
General. These are reappointments.
12 The composition
of the present Investment Advisory
13 Council does
not change.
14
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Motion on 7.
15
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
17 objection, the
item passes.
18
MR. STIPANOVICH: Item number 8 is the Florida
19 Hurricane
Catastrophe Fund's request that the
20 Trustees
approve the filing of a notice of proposed
21
rulemaking. There are five rules that are outlined
22 in agenda item
number 8. The rules are largely
23 technical, and
they are non-substantive.
24
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 8.
25
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
.
8
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
2 objection, the
motion passes.
3
Thank you, Coleman.
4
MR. STIPANOVICH: Thank you, Governor. Thank
5 you,
members.
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
9
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Office of Financial Regulation.
2
MR. SAXON: Good morning.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
4
MR. GALLAGHER: Good morning, Don.
5
MR. SAXON: Item 1 is the adoption of
6 amendments to
Rule 3E-600.015.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 1.
8
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
10 objection, the
item passes.
11
MR. SAXON: And Item 2, we're submitting our
12 quarterly
report for the fourth quarter for 2003.
13
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion.
14
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
16 objection, the
item passes.
17
Thank you.
18
MR. SAXON: Thank you.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
10
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Office of Insurance
2 Regulation.
3
MR. McCARTY: Good morning, Governor and
4 members.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
6
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
7
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
9 objection, Item
1 passes.
10
MR. McCARTY: Item 2 is approval for adoption
11 of amendments
to Rule Chapter 691.54, Minimum
12 Reserve
Standards for Individual and Group Health
13 Insurance
Contracts. These rules define minimum
14 actuarial
reserve and liability standards for
15 accident and
health policies.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
17
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
19 objection, Item
2 passes.
20
MR. McCARTY: Item 3 is approval for adoption
21 of amendments
to Rule 690-176.013, Notification of
22 Insured's
Rights and Standard Disclosures Form for
23 Personal Injury
Protection Benefits.
24
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Motion on 3.
25
CFO GALLAGHER: Second.
.
11
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
2 objection, Item
3 passes.
3
MR. McCARTY: Item 4, approval for repeal of
4 Rule
690-200.007, Motor Vehicle Service Agreement
5 Companies and
Cancellation Refunds. This rule is in
6 conflict with
Section 634.121(5) of the Florida
7 Statutes.
8
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 4.
9
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and second. Without
11 objection, the
item passes.
12
MR. McCARTY: Item number 4 is for
13 informational
purposes to advise that --
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 5.
15
MR. McCARTY: -- the Department and Office
16 rules have been
transferred.
17
CFO GALLAGHER: Accept the information.
18
MR. McCARTY: Thank you, members.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
20
Kevin was in a hurry.
21
22
23
24
25
.
12
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Financial Management
2 Information
Board.
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
4
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
6 objection, Item
1 passes.
7
Item 2.
8
MR. YOUNG: Item 2 is a request for acceptance
9 of the
Enterprise Resource Planning Integration Task
10 Force 2003
annual report.
11
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
12
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Seconded.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
14 objection, the
item passes.
15
MR. YOUNG: Thank you.
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
13
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Administration Commission.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
3
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
5 objection, Item
1 passes.
6
Item 2.
7
MS. TINKER: Governor, we're going to withdraw
8 Item 2. We
would expect it to come back the first
9 Cabinet meeting
in March.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Why is it going to take so
11 long?
12
MS. TINKER: It's going to take a while for the
13 staff to
examine the actions that the local
14 governments
took, look at the rule that the
15 Department of
Community Affairs recommended, work
16 with the
interest groups to try to build consensus
17 on the rule
changes that will be necessary, and then
18 bring,
hopefully, something back to you that
19 everybody can
embrace.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. But there is an
21 agreement down
there with the Department of
22 Community
Affairs and the County?
23
MS. TINKER: The County took action a week or
24 so ago, and I
believe the Department was pleased
25 with that
action.
.
14
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Do we have to have a
2 motion to
withdraw?
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion to withdraw until the
4 first week in
March.
5
MS. TINKER: First Cabinet meeting in March,
6 yes, sir.
7
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion to withdraw
9 and a
second. Without objection, the item is
10 withdrawn.
11
Teresa, after the Cabinet meeting, if you could
12 come up and see
me or come down and see me on
13 housing issues
in the Keys.
14
MS. TINKER: Will do.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
15
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Board of Trustees.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
3
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: Of the October 12th and 28th
5 meetings.
6
MS. ARMSTRONG: Good morning, Governor and --
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion on Item 1 and
8 a second.
Without objection --
9
MS. ARMSTRONG: I'm sorry. I thought I had
10 heard that
already.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: -- the item passes.
12
Item 2.
13
MS. ARMSTRONG: I'm standing in for the
14 Secretary,
because I -- he's somewhere up in the
15 office, and --
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Here he is.
17
MS. ARMSTRONG: Oh, here we are. Very good.
18 Here's
Secretary Struhs.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: He didn't time it right.
20
MR. STRUHS: I was actually upstairs watching
21 you all on TV,
and I thought I had it on the wrong
22 channel.
I thought I was watching the QVC channel.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: That was my joke.
24
MR. STRUHS: Sorry.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: It wasn't very good the first
.
16
1 time.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: But it was much better the
3 first time,
Governor.
4
(Laughter.)
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 2.
6
MR. STRUHS: You know, a number of months ago
7 when we all
learned, quite by surprise, that Cypress
8 Gardens was
being shut down and shuttered up,
9 Governor Bush
and Attorney General Crist and
10 Commissioner
Gallagher and Commissioner Bronson,
11 each one of you
approached us and said to me and to
12 the Department,
"Can you please do everything you
13 can to use your
existing programs and your existing
14 funds to find a
way to try to save and preserve
15 Cypress
Gardens."
16
That was an interesting challenge, because, as
17 you know,
that's not typically the business we're
18 in. We
are typically in the business of
19 conservation of
natural areas. And what this
20 represented was
a unique, perhaps a once in a
21 lifetime
opportunity to preserve something that's
22 also important
to Florida, but not necessarily a
23 natural area,
but rather an icon of early Florida
24 and Florida's
tourism industry.
25
Back in the 1950s, when you thought of Florida,
.
17
1 you thought of
Cypress Gardens, or when you thought
2 of Cypress
Gardens, you thought of Florida. They
3 were one and the
same. And we recognize that the
4 closing of
Cypress Gardens would be the loss of a
5 very important
historical and cultural resource for
6 the State of
Florida. So you assigned us the task
7 of figuring out
how we could be creative and use our
8 existing
programs to try to give you the option of
9 saving this
property.
10
We did that by partnering with the Trust for
11 Public Land,
and you've all heard from Greg Chelius
12 in previous
meetings, and you'll hear from him again
13 shortly this
morning. But what they did is, they
14 purchased the
option agreement from the existing
15 landowner, and
then they began looking for private
16 partners to
team up with to develop the property in
17 a way that
would make it economically viable for the
18 future.
19
What we have before you today, gentlemen, is a
20 specific
decision as the Board of Trustees as to
21 whether or not
you wish to approve a conservation
22 easement.
That conservation easement valued at $11
23 million would
be part and parcel of a larger
24 arrangement in
which the Trust for Public Land and
25 Kent Buescher
from Wild Adventures would actually
.
18
1 become the new
owners of the property and the
2 manager of the
property. But the public of Florida
3 would have in
perpetuity the understanding and the
4 knowledge that
Cypress Gardens would remain Cypress
5 Gardens.
6
Now, it won't be exactly the same Cypress
7 Gardens as it
was in the past, because things
8 change, and
business opportunities require that kind
9 of change.
But the core property, the Gardens
10 themselves,
would be preserved in perpetuity, and
11 indeed, the
larger property would remain an
12 important
cultural and historical resource for the
13 State of
Florida.
14
So the choice you have is to determine whether
15 or not as a
state we want to enter into that
16 partnership or
not.
17
There are a lot of folks who would like to
18 speak to this
item. And what I would propose is,
19 given the
numbers, is that we have a three-minute
20 limit per
person.
21
MS. ARMSTRONG: Two minutes.
22
MR. STRUHS: Two minutes.
23
MS. ARMSTRONG: Two minutes, yes, sir.
24
MR. STRUHS: Okay.
25
MS. ARMSTRONG: We have the timer set at two.
.
19
1
MR. STRUHS: We have a timer set at two minutes
2 per
person. And what I would like to do is suggest
3 -- lay out the
order in which we're going to line up
4 the speakers so
that you can hear all the various
5
viewpoints.
6
First you'll hear from Greg Chelius, the
7 president of the
Trust for Public Land here in
8 Florida,
followed by our elected representatives,
9 J. D. Alexander,
Senator Paula Dockery, and
10 Representative
Baxter Troutman. And then we've got
11 Paul Senft and
Mike Easterling and Howard Beckert
12 from the local
government, the local elected
13
representatives; Nancy Daley, who is representing
14 the Cypress
Gardens employees, or former employees;
15 and then we'll
hear from Kent Buescher from Wild
16 Adventures and
Espan Tanburg, also with Kent
17 Buescher.
18
And then what we'll do is, we'll switch to
19 those who have
a contrary view, who are not
20 completely
confident that this is the right
21 approach.
We've got David Siegel, Burma Posey, and
22 some of their
friends and colleagues.
23
And then to close with, we're going to hear
24 from Dick Pope,
who represents the family's
25 interests in
this property going way back to when
.
20
1 they first
started Cypress Gardens, and Rick
2 Dantzler.
3
We've got all sorts of technical folks here who
4 can answer any
questions that you might have as to
5 the valuation
and the determination of the value of
6 the conservation
easement, and we can take that
7 either now or at
the end if you have questions.
8
So what's your pleasure?
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: I think you have a good plan.
10
MR. STRUHS: Okay.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: And I would ask that since
12 Eva's tough,
she be the one that politely yanks on
13 the shoulder or
the sleeve of the person to keep it
14 within the
limit so that everybody that wants to
15 speak will have
a chance to do so.
16
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir.
17
CFO GALLAGHER: So basically, Eva gets the
18 hook.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, because we've had these
20 events in the
past, and there wasn't anybody with
21 the courage to
have the hook, so it went on a little
22 bit
longer. But I'm counting on Eva. I think she's
23 capable of
handling that.
24
MR. STRUHS: So if we could ask Mr. Chelius,
25 Senators
Alexander and Dockery, and Representative
.
21
1 Troutman to
start us off.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Now, Greg, if you need more
3 than two minutes
--
4
MR. CHELIUS: Thank you, Governor.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Go ahead and explain --
6
MR. CHELIUS: Thank you, Governor. Good
7 morning, and
good morning to the members of the
8 Cabinet.
9
I first want to thank Secretary Struhs for the
10 promotion to
president of the Trust for Public Land
11 from the state
director of the Trust for Public
12 Land.
Thank you, David. I hope a nice raise comes
13 with that
promotion.
14
Last month I came to you with an update as to
15 where we stood
with working on protecting and
16 preserving
Cypress Gardens. At the time, I informed
17 you that we had
gone through a bidding process
18 during the
months of September, October, and
19 November.
We had two bids that were not successful,
20 and the third
party interested in sitting down and
21 negotiating to
acquire Cypress Gardens was Wild
22 Adventures,
Kent Buescher.
23
So that's where we were a month ago. We also
24 talked about
perhaps bringing the Cabinet meeting in
25 before today so
that TPL, with this exercise of
.
22
1 January 22nd,
would have a yes or no vote from the
2 Cabinet.
We were able to work through those issues
3 so that you
didn't have to have a special session.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Oh, no special session.
5
MR. CHELIUS: Special Cabinet meeting. Yes,
6 that's one thing
that you don't want to have again,
7 Governor.
8
Since that time, what we did was, we worked
9 with DEP on
creating a conservation easement that,
10 in essence,
acquires the development rights from the
11 150-acre
property. There was much negotiation that
12 went on
creating that conservation easement. And
13 once it was
done, I was able to sign a contract,
14 having a
financial interest in the property, that if
15 we did acquire
the property, then we were willing to
16 sell that
conservation easement to the State of
17 Florida for $11
million.
18
During the past week, a number of events have
19 taken place
that has led us to the vote today. On
20 Wednesday,
January 21st, Polk County voted to
21 acquire the 30
acres of the historic gardens from
22 the Trust for
Public Land, subject to a conservation
23 easement, for
$2-1/2 million. We have a signed
24 contract now
between TPL and Polk County to acquire
25 30 acres for
2-1/2 million.
.
23
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Do you have a map that you can
2 -- you may want
to -- do you have a map that we
3 could -- it
might make it easier to refer to these
4 things.
Woops.
5
CFO GALLAGER: They'll get it.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: You've got to get closer than
7 that.
Okay.
8
CFO GALLAGHER: There you go.
9
MR. CHELIUS: Okay. It you look to your left
10 toward Lake
Eloise, you'll see "Protected Parcel,
11 29.52 acres,"
and Eva is outlining that area, which
12 includes the
botanical gardens, the ski area, and
13 essentially the
shoreline of the historic gardens.
14 That will be
owned by Polk County and will have a
15 conservation
easement by the State of Florida
16 attached to
it.
17
In addition to that, on the 22nd of January, we
18 signed a
contract with Wild Adventures to sell the
19 remaining
parcel, and it's called the remainder
20 parcel, and
that's 120 acres, also subject to a
21 conservation
easement. TPL has committed to lend
22 Kent Buescher
and Wild Adventures $7 million for up
23 to 120 days in
order to acquire that parcel. We'll
24 be taking back
a mortgage and a promissory note on
25 that parcel.
.
24
1
I took that to our board of directors on
2 Thursday, and
there was a very lively and
3 interesting
discussion. Our board in San Francisco
4 recognizes the
unique history of Florida in creating
5 botanical
gardens attractions and theme parks, and I
6 think the
underlying theme there was, "Only in
7 Florida do we do
this kind of thing at TPL."
8 However, they
were willing to vote unanimously to go
9 forward with the
project and allow us to exercise
10 our option
contingent on your vote today.
11
Should you vote not to go forward, then
12 everything ends
at that point, and we walk away.
13 Should you vote
to go forward, then we will close on
14 the project on
February 24th. TPL will buy the
15 entire 150
acres. The first thing we will do is to
16 sell a
conservation easement to the State for $11
17 million, and
then would sell 120 acres to Kent
18 Buescher, Wild
Adventures, and 30 acres to Polk
19 County.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: And you would have a mortgage
21 on the --
22
MR. CHELIUS: We would have a mortgage and
23 promissory note
on the 120 acres.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: With no expectation that the
25 State is going
to bail out anybody if they don't
.
25
1 make the
mortgage payment.
2
MR. CHELIUS: That's correct. And we have
3 worked to
provide security basically for my board of
4 directors to
allow us to go forward with that.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: You have security beyond the --
6
MR. CHELIUS: Beyond the land, yes.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: From Mr. Buescher?
8
MR. CHELIUS: Because we don't, obviously, want
9 to --
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, that sounds pretty bold.
11
MR. CHELIUS: -- own a theme park. And I
12 appreciate you
thinking about that. But we have
13 other
securities from Buescher.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: I'm not sure I would have been
15 making a
unanimous vote unless you do have
16 additional
security.
17
MR. CHELIUS: That's correct.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: Now, if in fact something
19 happens that he
can't go forward with this, then you
20 obviously are
going to get it back.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: You may own two theme parks.
22
CFO GALLAGHER: And at that point, do you come
23 back to us to
talk about what's going to happen to
24 it, or do you
just figure out what you're going to
25 do with it and
sell it to --
.
26
1
MR. CHELIUS: If you don't go forward today?
2
CFO GALLAGHER: No, no. We go forward.
3
MR. CHELIUS: We go forward.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: You make your deal, you now
5 have Mr.
Buescher on, and you now have a mortgage.
6
MR. CHELIUS: That's correct.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: It blows. He can't get any
8 additional
financing, cannot do something, cannot do
9 something there
that's going to produce income for
10 him to pay off
the mortgages. It's now back in your
11 hands.
12
MR. CHELIUS: It's back in our hands.
13
CFO GALLAGHER: And what happens?
14
MR. CHELIUS: What we've done is, we've
15 provided to
secure that transaction with what we
16 perceive to be
enough revenue to carry the property
17 until we can
find another operator.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: Right.
19
MR. CHELIUS: Right now the economy is
20 improving, and
for the first time since 9/11,
21 Universal
Studios and Disney are actually doing
22 better.
So we think we would have a greater
23 marketplace to
actually sell the property should
24 Mr. Buescher,
which we don't think would happen, but
25 should
something happen to him.
.
27
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Can you tell us what the
2 additional
security is, or is that --
3
MR. CHELIUS: It's things like life insurance
4 policies,
personal guarantees, securities in homes,
5 different things
that we could cash in.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: Non-Cypress Gardens related.
7
MR. CHELIUS: Yes. That's not related to the
8 transaction,
that we could cash in to give us
9 holding power
until we found another buyer-operator.
10
CFO GALLAGHER: Okay. So that's basically the
11 120 acres.
12
MR. CHELIUS: That's correct.
13
CFO GALLAGHER: Now, the 30 acres that the City
14 takes over
--
15
MR. CHELIUS: The County.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: The County, I'm sorry. The
17 County takes
over. And I got to see it Sunday for
18 the first time
in my life, and obviously, it's in
19 pretty
disheveled shape compared to what the
20 pictures are
I've seen of it historically.
21
MR. CHELIUS: Right.
22
CFO GALLAGHER: What's the obligation of the
23 City once you
close the deal with them and they buy
24 it?
25
MS. ARMSTRONG: The County.
.
28
1
CFO GALLAGHER: The County. I'm sorry. I keep
2 saying the wrong
thing. Thank you very much.
3
What's the obligation of the public down there,
4 the County, to
get it back to where it was and keep
5 it that way, and
what do we do about making that
6 happen?
7
MR. CHELIUS: The obligation would really be on
8 Mr. Buescher,
and Mr. Buescher and the County will
9 be signing a
lease. And in that lease, it will call
10 for Mr.
Buescher to actually work to manage the
11 Gardens
long-term. I think he can probably speak to
12 you better when
it's his turn as far as exactly what
13 he's going to
do, but I think everyone involved is
14 convinced that
he will attempt to bring the Gardens
15 back to where
they were as much as possible, and
16 continue with
shows and the beautiful belles, as we
17 have sitting
down here.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: So if -- I'm on the scenario
19 that if the
thing blows, and now he's obviously not
20 going to be
taking care of the Gardens if he can't
21 get the other
part going, so what happens to the
22 Gardens?
23
MR. CHELIUS: Right. What we've recommended --
24 and we've been
involved in a number of projects like
25 this.
McKee Botanical Gardens used to be McKee
.
29
1 Jungle
Gardens. TPL acquired that and conveyed it
2 to a non-profit
called the Indian River Land Trust.
3 They raised $9
million and transformed this old
4 roadside
attraction into an incredible botanical
5 garden that's
used for educational purposes now,
6 and it's a major
success.
7
Fairchild is another one in Miami. Fairchild
8 is owned by the
City, but run by a non-profit that
9 has 500
volunteers and in fact is very successful.
10
So that was my recommendation to the County
11 should they
lose the management entity of the
12 historic
gardens. And I think there's a number of
13 people that
have already contacted me about the
14 prospect of
putting together a friends group, a
15 volunteer
organization that would even help
16 Mr. Buescher
accomplish his goals.
17
CFO GALLAGHER: Because it's my understanding
18 that it's 40 or
50 thousand dollars a month easy to
19 keep that
garden up.
20
MR. CHELIUS: Yes. We've been picking up the
21 tab, so you're
right. It's excessive.
22
CFO GALLAGHER: Well, what you've picked up,
23 you're on the
absolute minimum, from what I saw. I
24 mean, you've
trimmed back some things, period. It's
25 got a long way
to go to be -- you know, what your
.
30
1 minimum is
compared to what needs to be done to have
2 it, you know,
where it was.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: All right.
4
MR. CHELIUS: And as you think about this, that
5 is the amenity
or part of the amenity, why people
6 will come to
Cypress Gardens and spend money.
7
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Governor, if I could
8 ask, could you
show us also the exact area of where
9 -- of the total
map, what is covered under the
10 conservation
easement?
11
MR. CHELIUS: Everything you see completely
12 outlined in
red.
13
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Okay. So it is the
14 whole piece of
property.
15
MR. CHELIUS: The entire piece, yes.
16
Just before I leave the podium here, I would
17 really like to
thank a number of people, because
18 this has been
an incredible effort and partnership.
19 And I would
certainly like to thank first the
20 Friends of
Cypress Gardens and Burma Posey, who has
21 done an
incredible job of really bringing this to
22 the
forefront. I would like to thank --
23
(Applause.)
24
MR. CHELIUS: I would like to thank Bob Gernert
25 with the
Chamber of Commerce in Winter Haven, and
.
31
1 former Senator
Rick Dantzler, both who have been
2 great supporters
of the project, along with Dick
3 Pope, whose
family actually began Cypress Gardens,
4 and Mike Herr
and the County Commission of Polk
5 County.
6
And I think the greatest partnership for me was
7 the partnership
with your Department of
8 Environmental
Protection professionals, that being
9 Bob Ballard, Eva
Armstrong, and Rob Lovern. You've
10 got a great
staff there.
11
So thank you very much, and --
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Greg, for all your
13 hard work on
this.
14
MR. CHELIUS: You bet.
15
(Applause.)
16
SENATOR DOCKERY: Good morning.
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning, Senator. How are
18 you doing?
19
SENATOR DOCKERY: I'm wonderful, thanks. We
20 don't spend
enough time up here, so we thought we
21 would come and
visit you in our time off.
22
I'm here as Chairman of the Polk legislative
23
delegation. And I know that in issues that affect a
24 certain part of
the state, although we do believe
25 that the
impacts of this will be statewide, but
.
32
1 being from
Imperial Polk County, we wanted to come
2 in person, not
send you a letter, but come in person
3 and let you know
that the entire Polk County
4 delegation, all
eight members, have been informally
5 polled, and we
all feel very strongly that we
6 support this
project, and want to let you know that
7 we support it
and urge your support as well.
8
The actual Cypress Gardens property lies within
9 Senator J. D.
Alexander's district, and
10 Representative
Baxter Troutman, so they're going to
11 follow me and
get into more of the details of why
12 it's
important. But I will tell you as the author
13 of Florida
Forever, I am aware that the parameters
14 of how we wrote
the legislation does include this as
15 a viable reason
for spending state funds for a
16 conservation
easement. And as you know, especially
17 Commissioner
Bronson, I'm a big fan of conservation
18 easements, so I
love the fact that part of this
19 deal, part of
this partnership is using a
20 conservation
easement rather than fee simple.
21
I will tell you that I'm proud of all the
22 parties that
got involved, from the community, to
23 the Chamber, to
the City, to the County, to the
24 State.
This is truly a partnership. You have
25 county
involvement, and you have state -- hopefully
.
33
1 state
involvement. You have private industry
2
involvement. And then thank you to the Trust for
3 Public Land for
being the facilitator in bringing
4 this all
together.
5
So I just urge your favorable support, and I'll
6 turn it over to
my good friend, Senator J. D.
7 Alexander.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Senator.
9
Good morning, Senator.
10
SENATOR ALEXANDER: Good morning, Governor and
11 Cabinet.
How are you all today?
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: We're fine.
13
SENATOR ALEXANDER: Thanks for all your work in
14 trying to --
allowing your folks to move this
15 forward,
because we wouldn't even be here today
16 discussing this
if you hadn't allowed your folks the
17 full latitude
to consider things that are a bit out
18 of the box from
the normal way we do things.
19
You know, when I first heard about this, I
20 thought back to
when I was a senior in high school
21 and I went with
my high school class -- actually,
22 John Lorenz's
mom took us, who you used to know, up
23 to New York
City. And we rode the train and came
24 into Grand
Central Station. And as we walked into
25 the big main
room of Grand Central Station, and
.
34
1 there on a great
big billboard was a beautiful
2 picture of
Cypress Gardens.
3
You know, Cypress Gardens has been the heart
4 and soul and a
great advocate for the beauty of
5 Florida for
generations, and it is critically
6 important to the
people in my district. I heard
7 within days very
clearly that the vast majority of
8 my district
wanted it to be preserved, and if
9 possible, wanted
to continue a theme park that would
10 help with
economic development in our area.
11
You know, there have been a lot of good ideas
12 brought
forward. I am convinced that this is as
13 solid a plan as
we can have.
14
Governor and Cabinet, I know how closely you
15 steward the
funds of the State, and I certainly
16 don't want to
get into the State operating theme
17 parks, but
we've got someone here that's bringing
18 real cash to
the table to help make this thing work,
19 and we would
strongly urge your support of the
20 project.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Senator.
22
Representative.
23
REPRESENTATIVE TROUTMAN: Good morning,
24 Governor and
Cabinet. I come to you today also to
25 support this
issue. I guess I'm a little closer to
.
35
1 the heart than
most, in that I live less than a half
2 a mile from the
Gardens itself.
3
There are some concerns. You might hear some
4 concerns with
those testifying behind me in regard
5 to noise or
traffic concerns, but I might inform
6 you, or remind
you, rather, that the Gardens have
7 been here for
some 60 years. Traffic and noise has
8 been an issue in
the past. I have had extensive
9 conversations
with Mr. Buescher and with the County
10 and with the
City, and the local issues relative to
11 these concerns
will be dealt with, will be dealt
12 with swiftly
and promptly.
13
Goodness, I have to live in the area as well,
14 so I don't
necessarily want to live in the mess and
15 the quagmire of
that as well, but I believe that,
16 with the rest
of the delegation and the others
17 coming behind
me, that this is the best thing for
18 Winter
Haven. The economic impact from the Gardens
19 is estimated to
be somewhere in the neighborhood of
20 $130 million to
the City and to the County. That's
21 big business
for Polk County.
22
As I testified to you some three or four months
23 ago, we don't
have the luxury of being an Orlando
24 with Disney
World, or a Tampa with Busch Gardens,
25 et
cetera. So this is very important to us, and I
.
36
1 would humbly
encourage your support as well.
2
Thank you.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Representative.
4
MR. STRUHS: Governor, just a personal point,
5 if I might, very
briefly. When Senator Dockery and
6 I, actually then
Representative Dockery, worked on
7 the Florida
Forever program at your behest, we never
8 would have
imagined we would be using it for this
9 fine public
purpose.
10
But the other person who deserves special
11 recognition
from our point of view is J. D.
12
Alexander. This has been a very interesting process
13 for us.
It's a little out of the ordinary. And
14 more than once
we would find ourselves in Senator
15 Alexander's
office for moral support and wise
16 counsel, and he
has served us extremely well, and we
17 thank him
publicly for his support.
18
Paul Senft is the County --
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: You better say something nice
20 about
Representative Troutman too, just in case --
21
(Laughter.)
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: He has actually come to more of
23 the meetings, I
think, and shown his support, to his
24 credit.
How about that?
25
(Laughter.)
.
37
1
MR. STRUHS: The Governor scratched your back.
2
With friends like you, Governor, he doesn't
3 need my
support.
4
Paul Senft is the County Commissioner who came
5 up from Polk
County to speak to you this morning.
6 So if Mr. Senft
would come forward, and Mike
7 Easterling, the
mayor of Winter Haven, and Howard
8 Beckert, who is
the president of the Chamber of
9 Commerce.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Commissioner.
11
MR. SENFT: Gentlemen, Paul Senft,
12 Commissioner,
District 4, Polk County. It's my
13 pleasure to be
here and to tell you that our County
14 Commission has
wholeheartedly supported this
15
arrangement. We approve of the deal, and we're
16 comfortable
with the business plan that has been
17
presented. We've done the research on the zoning,
18 and it
certainly is applicable and fits in. We're
19 satisfied that
the roller coasters and things that
20 might be of
concern in the neighborhood are going to
21 be close to the
road.
22
And there's no denying we need the economic
23 impact in Polk
County of 300 jobs at the Gardens
24 rippling out
into the community, and restaurants and
25 hotels, to
maybe 500 jobs the first year. And those
.
38
1 500 families
need health insurance, which they'll be
2 provided.
They need work, and we need that economic
3 impact.
Spending $130 a day, the first year
4 attendance,
around a million people even before the
5 40 million of
capital improvements are in place,
6 this will ripple
through, about $130 million of
7 economic impact
into Polk County, and we need that.
8
We do have discussions ongoing with the
9 Citizens Trust
to help operate it in the event
10 things did not
work out so the historic botanical
11 gardens would
be preserved.
12
And in doing my own due diligence, when we went
13 up to see Mr.
Buescher's park in Valdosta and spent
14 the night in
Madison, Florida, and talked to some
15 sheriff's
deputies and people there who are
16 intimately
familiar, because Madison, Florida, is a
17 neighbor of his
operation in Valdosta. It's only
18 about 30
minutes, 35 minutes away. And they had
19 nothing but
praise for the Gardens, and the safety
20 of leaving
children there all day and coming and
21 picking them up
at night, that it's a fun family
22 place and
something that we would welcome into Polk
23 County.
24
I'll be available for any questions, and we
25 appreciate your
favorable consideration.
.
39
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Commissioner.
2
MR. SENFT: Thank you.
3
MR. EASTERLING: Good morning, Governor Bush
4 and members of
the Cabinet. Before I get started --
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Can you say who you are before
6 you get
started?
7
MR. EASTERLING: I'm Mike Easterling, mayor of
8 the City of
Winter Haven.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Mayor.
10
MR. EASTERLING: Before I get started, I would
11 like to
recognize my traveling companions, the
12 distinguished
City Commissioner Nathaniel Birdsong,
13 and my PIO
officer, Derrick Featcher. They were my
14 traveling
companions last night as we came up.
15
As the mayor of Winter Haven, I know firsthand
16 the economic
and historical significance of Cypress
17 Gardens.
After all, our community has been home to
18 the theme park
for the past 67 years. And now,
19 after months of
uncertainty, we approach this
20 historic day
with the hope that a new vision for
21 Cypress Gardens
will mean the dawn of a new day of
22 prosperity and
preservation of the legacy created by
23 Dick and Julie
Pope. What an adventure that must
24 have been for
two young people starting out, to
25 build a legacy,
to build an icon for the State of
.
40
1 Florida, to
build the first attraction in this
2 state. And
we're grateful for the speed and
3 determination
that you as state officials have shown
4 in pursuing the
Gardens' preservation.
5
Our community embraces and applauds the vision
6 outlined by Mr.
Kent Buescher. He has met with city
7 officials,
county officials, state representatives,
8 residents, and
the business community.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Have you met Eva? If you could
10 close up, I
would appreciate it.
11
MR. EASTERLING: In wrapping up, I would like
12 to say that
more than 50 million people have visited
13 Cypress Gardens
since it opened on January 2, 1936,
14 and we're ready
for the next 50 million. The
15 citizens of
Polk County and the people throughout
16 Florida
strongly support the preservation of the
17 icon of Florida
tourism. So on behalf of the 26,000
18 people of
Winter Haven and the 500,000 people of
19 Polk County, we
would like for you to give special
20 consideration
for this project that will forever
21 protect a
Florida landmark, and ask that you welcome
22 Kent Buescher
to our business community.
23
Thank you.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Mayor. Thanks for
25 coming up.
.
41
1
MR. BECKERT: Good morning, Governor Bush and
2 Cabinet
members. I am Howard Beckert. I am the
3 president of the
Greater Winter Haven Chamber of
4 Commerce.
5
Our Chamber took steps to encourage the
6 preservation of
Cypress Gardens within hours of the
7 announcement of
its closing. We are one of several
8 organizations
that publish your e-mail address.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
10
(Laughter.)
11
CFO GALLAGHER: It worked.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: I really appreciate it.
13
MR. EASTERLING: In the weeks following the
14 Gardens'
closing, the Chamber received more than
15 5,000 pieces of
correspondence, both written and
16 electronic,
advocating the preservation of this
17 landmark.
Our Chamber has invested untold hours in
18 search of a
solution that would save both the park
19 and put people
back to work. Tourism is an
20 important local
economic engine, and Cypress Gardens
21 made it so.
22
On behalf of the Winter Haven business
23 community, we
are thrilled with Kent Buescher's plan
24 to revitalize
Cypress Gardens. I have met with
25 Mr. Buescher
several times, including a recent
.
42
1 community
meeting where he presented his preliminary
2 plans to over
300 residents. He received two
3 standing
ovations. Chamber representatives have
4 been to Wild
Adventures theme park. We have met
5 with elected
officials and the local business
6 community.
Mr. Buescher, we believe, represents
7 family values,
honesty, and integrity. Our business
8 community stands
ready to help him be successful.
9
I have for you today a letter from 10 past
10 presidents of
the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce
11 endorsing the
conservation easement and
12 Mr. Buescher's
plans.
13
We are truly grateful our local and state
14 elected
officials, as well as your respective staff
15 members, have
moved so expeditiously with the best
16 interests of
Cypress Gardens a priority. This will
17 make a win-win
situation for the State of Florida,
18 Polk County,
the City of Winter Haven, and many
19 former
employees.
20
Thank you.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, sir. You hit it
22 right on two
minutes.
23
MS. DALEY: Good morning, Governor and Cabinet
24 members.
My name is Nancy Daley. I am the vice
25 mayor of Lake
Alford, but I'm here representing the
.
43
1 employees of
Cypress Gardens. I worked there for 25
2 years. I
was a skier for 22 years and worked my way
3 through
management. I was the operations supervisor
4 on the day that
it closed. My husband also worked
5 there for 30
years, and my daughter had a summer job
6 there, so we had
a lot invested in the park.
7
Basically, I want to thank you for letting it
8 get this far and
that we have the opportunity today
9 to present the
case for the conservation easement,
10 because I think
it's the very best way that this
11 could be
preserved in perpetuity, and no matter what
12 happens from
here on, that the conservation easement
13 will be in
place and we can know that this
14 historical icon
would remain intact.
15
I know that you've gotten a lot of e-mails, and
16 I have, and we
realize that there's different views
17 about how the
Gardens should persevere. But out of
18 all the
e-mails, I'm sure 99 percent of them all
19 agreed that
preservation was the key, to keep it
20 going and not
let it be a shopping mall or a power
21 plant, so I
think that the conservation easement
22 vote today is
important.
23
But I also traveled to Valdosta, and I saw the
24 theme park
there, and the comparisons to Cypress
25 Gardens were
really incredible. The concerts and
.
44
1 the animals and
the shows, the ice show, there were
2 so many things
that were similar, and the way
3 Cypress Gardens
would have become if it had a chance
4 to grow the way
it was growing. And in the days of
5 great economics,
we had fireworks every night and
6 night events and
shows, and I think that that could
7 continue and be
economically viable and employ a lot
8 of people.
9
I want to thank my former employees that came
10 to support us
today, a lot of my friends in the
11 back. It
was really a long trip to come up, and I
12 really
appreciate their support. And I want to
13 thank you, and
I hope that we have a positive
14 outcome.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much for
16 coming.
17
MR. BUESCHER: Governor Bush, members of the
18 Cabinet,
supporters of Cypress Gardens, it's an
19 honor and a
privilege to be here today. My name is
20 Kent Buescher,
and I'm the president of Wild
21 Adventures
theme park in Valdosta and majority
22 owner, also the
owner of Adventure Radio Group,
23 president of
U.S. Press, and the CEO and majority
24 owner of a new
corporation that has been founded to
25 purchase
Cypress Gardens.
.
45
1
In April, sadly, what seemed like the last
2 chapter to
Cypress Gardens' storied history was
3 written.
But today we have the opportunity, with
4 your support, to
revitalize Cypress Gardens and
5 reopen the book
and write a brand new chapter that
6 will branch into
the future.
7
Before I make my comments, I would like to
8 thank a few
folks who made the opportunity possible.
9 And I know I'm
going to leave somebody out.
10
First of all, Greg Chelius and the Trust for
11 Public
Land. There's no way, if TPL had not stepped
12 forward early
in the process, that we would have had
13 the time that
we do today to reach this agreement.
14
The local Polk County government officials,
15 the County
Commissioners, the Winter Haven mayor,
16 and the City
Commission, the Polk County manager and
17 his staff, the
Winter Haven city manager and staff,
18 Bob Gernert and
the Winter Haven Chamber of
19 Commerce, Rick
Dantzler and the Chamber Task Force,
20 all the folks
at the DEP, from David, Bob, Eva, Rob
21 -- I know
Sandra Stockwell worked so hard on this
22 easement -- and
just the entire staff who have been
23 supportive from
the very early days. When I
24 couldn't get an
appointment early on, they helped me
25 do that, and I
am appreciative for all of their
.
46
1 efforts.
The former employees of Cypress Gardens
2 who have been so
supportive, all those involved in
3 the grass roots
effort, the residents of Polk County
4 and Winter Haven
who have welcomed me so many
5 times.
Dick Pope, Jr., my new friend who sent his
6 airplane up even
to pick me up to make sure I could
7 make a meeting
when our schedule was tight. They
8 have all made me
feel like a member of their family.
9 I would also
like to thank my family, our 500 plus
10 employees and
staff members of Wild Adventures.
11
And finally, I would like to thank Burma Davis
12 Posey and the
Friends of Cypress Gardens who helped
13 get this effort
going. While it's true today that
14 we may have
differences of opinion about how we go
15 forward, we all
want the same thing, and that is to
16 see Cypress
Gardens saved, preserved, and reopened.
17
I'm not going to bore you with the details of
18 our plans to
make Cypress Gardens relevant once
19 again to
today's families, but I will make the
20 following
promise and pledge: We will be a good
21 steward to
Cypress Gardens and its legacy. We will
22 preserve the
essence of what Cypress Gardens means
23 to all those
with fond memories. We will honor the
24 legacy of
Cypress Gardens founders, Dick and Julie
25 Pope.
.
47
1
We will totally restore and revitalize the
2 park. To
that end, we will spend $36 million in new
3 improvements and
attractions in the first 18 months
4 of our ownership
alone, and we commit to spend 3 to
5 $5 million
annually thereafter to invest in a new
6 Cypress
Gardens. We intend to bring families,
7 young families
back to Cypress Gardens, and we
8 intend to
restore all those jobs that were lost when
9 Cypress Gardens
closed.
10
We pledge to honor the contract with Espan
11 Tanburg and
Southern Breeze Cruises, and we will
12 work with him
to make sure that he can continue to
13 operate during
the renovations.
14
And finally, we pledge and promise to be a good
15 neighbor and a
good corporate citizen to all those
16 in the State of
Florida.
17
I thank you for your support and look forward
18 to beginning a
brand new venture.
19
(Applause.)
20
MR. BUESCHER: I'm deeply humbled by all the
21 support.
And every time I've been down there,
22 that's what
I've received, and I've got to tell you,
23 I've got a lot
of folks standing behind me.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: There are a lot of people that
25 are -- you
know, that want this to succeed for
.
48
1 economic
development purposes, but I think for our
2 heritage, and
the cultural resource here is
3 something that's
significant. And Greg's right,
4 only in Florida
would this be a cultural resource,
5 perhaps, but
that's what distinguishes us. And, you
6 know, we live in
paradise, and everybody else
7 doesn't, so I
don't feel bad about that at all.
8
But I do have a question for you which --
9
MR. BUESCHER: Sure.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: -- relates to the financing of
11 this.
It's a fairly unusual move for the Trust for
12 Public Land to
extend itself -- I mean, I don't know
13 how much money
they have, but normally they are an
14 intermediary
where a contract is assigned, and they
15 don't take $7
million of risk, and I was curious to
16 know why they
had to.
17
MR. BUESCHER: Well, it's real simple. Our
18 primary lender
is GE Capital, and they've pledged to
19 support us in
this project. We also have two
20 private equity
firms that have pledged to support us
21 as well and
have issued written commitment letters
22 to TPL with a
takeout on June the 23rd.
23
The problem is, there's so many things that
24 have to be done
to make this deal work, and we have
25 less than 30
days for them to do their due diligence
.
49
1 and all of those
things to verify that --
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: This may answer my question.
3 The Trust for
Public Land has a takeout letter.
4
MR. BUESCHER: Yes, they do.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: You should have mentioned that,
6 Greg.
7
MR. CHELIUS: I know, and I --
8
(Laughter.)
9
MR. BUESCHER: They do have a takeout letter.
10 And
substantially, I'm the one at risk to be able to
11 make this
happen, so I'm committed.
12
CFO GALLAGHER: Now, I just want you to know,
13 these wonderful
people out here that are applauding
14 you, if you
don't close that deal with that 35
15 million,
they'll be right out here, and it will be
16 the other way
around.
17
MR. BUESCHER: I know exactly where I'll be.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: I just want to forewarn you.
19
Let me ask you, you mentioned the Southern
20 Breeze, that,
one, you will carry out the existing
21 contract with
them.
22
MR. BUESCHER: Yes.
23
CFO GALLAGHER: And number two, you will let
24 them operate
while you're improving the park; is
25 that
correct?
.
50
1
MR. BUESCHER: That's correct. And that will
2 take some
dancing, and I'm aware of that, but I will
3 work with Espan
to make sure that we can provide a
4 safe route to
his facility within the park, and
5 we'll make sure
we find a way to do that.
6
CFO GALLAGHER: Okay. Because him sitting --
7
MR. BUESCHER: Oh, I understand that if he were
8 forced to close
for the three or four months it's
9 going to take
for us to get this job done, it would
10 be detrimental
to him, and we would never do that.
11
CFO GALLAGHER: And he has pretty much been
12 closed for
quite a while now, so --
13
MR. BUESCHER: I understand that.
14
CFO GALLAGHER: Okay.
15
MR. BUESCHER: We hope to get him back in
16 business
quickly.
17
CFO GALLAGHER: Great.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any other questions?
19
Thank you, sir.
20
MR. BUESCHER: Thank you very much.
21
MR. TANBURG: Good morning. My name is Espan
22 Tanburg.
I am the owner of the Southern Breeze
23 dinner cruise
ship. It is a honor to address you
24 fine gentlemen
this morning.
25
Basically, we have a dinner cruise ship, and
.
51
1 needless to say,
I am very supportive to get Cypress
2 Gardens reopened
for my own benefit, of course, but
3 for the
community as well. Originally I am from
4 Norway, and Polk
County was known by Cypress Gardens
5 overseas, always
has been, and it has a very, very
6 important place
in history, and I'm glad you guys
7 are recognizing
that.
8
I am glad to hear Mr. Buescher's willingness to
9 work with
us. That has been a great concern to us,
10 what our future
entails. My background -- by the
11 way, this is
the Southern Breeze, by the way. I
12 know it's no
Queen Mary, but it is the Queen Mary of
13 Polk
County. And my background is actually in the
14 cruise
industry, which has done a tremendous job to
15 promote Florida
as well.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: The Queen Mary II would violate
17 the height
restrictions in Polk County. Since it's
18 23 stories
tall, I'm not sure that it would be
19 appropriate
either.
20
MR. TANBURG: You're probably correct. But my
21 background is
in the cruise industry, and that has
22 been a
tremendous industry for Florida as well.
23
My concern, of course, they're held to a very
24 high standard
here, having to place bonds and really
25 take care of
the Florida businesses when they come
.
52
1 in here, meaning
they can't leave town leaving
2 bills, not
paying their due share. They can't
3 collect the
passengers' money without placing bonds.
4 The government,
both on the federal and state side,
5 have been very
adamant about that. But yet they
6 have brought
millions of people into this economy,
7 which is
great.
8
And my concern, obviously, as a big investor in
9 Cypress Gardens,
is our future. And many issues
10 were touched
upon today, with your consumer
11 protection
program and everything else, and growing
12 rates of
bankruptcy --
13
MS. ARMSTRONG: You need to wrap up.
14
MR. TANBURG: I'm sorry. I'm wrapping up.
15 Quickly, you
know, when all this public money is
16 handed over, I
hope that anyone hurt by Cypress
17 Gardens will be
recognized and that this money won't
18 disappear in a
quick fashion, which will leave a lot
19 of people
hanging. We have honored passes. We have
20 honored gift
certificates sold by Cypress Gardens on
21 our boat and
never been paid for it, and many other
22 problems, and I
hope that can work itself out. I am
23 enthused by
what I heard from Mr. Buescher today.
24
I thank you for your time this morning.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you for being here.
.
53
1
CFO GALLAGHER: Governor and fellow members,
2 just to tell you
how interested he was to come up
3 here, he made
sure his wife had their baby boy
4 yesterday so
that he could be here today.
5
Congratulations.
6
(Applause.)
7
MS. ARMSTRONG: Okay. Now we're going to
8 switch to those
that have some concerns with this
9 plan.
David Siegel, Burma Posey, and Ed Houston are
10 the first three
up.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning, David.
12
MR. SIEGEL: Good morning.
13
It's very symbolic that this is going to be
14 Florida
Heritage Month, because that's what we're
15 trying to
do. We're trying to save, what I heard,
16 the heart and
soul of Florida's heritage here.
17
This distinguished Cabinet voted a few months
18 ago to save all
of Cypress Gardens. Well, you're
19 not saving all
of Cypress Gardens. First of all,
20 you're not
saving the Cypress Gardens that we all
21 know and
love. You're not saving all of it either.
22 You're not
saving the point that was illegally
23 cleared.
You're not saving the whole frontage along
24 Cypress Gardens
Boulevard, which is going to become
25 fast food
restaurants and gift shops. And if you
.
54
1 can imagine,
coming here this morning, I tried to
2 envision what
the Capitol would look like if it was
3 surrounded by
McDonald's and Wendy's and gift shops
4 and businesses
of that nature. So you're only
5 saving part of
what you said you were going to save,
6 not all of
Cypress Gardens.
7
The State is paying $11 million for Cypress
8 Gardens.
You could pay a few more millions of
9 dollars, and the
State could own Cypress Gardens
10 forever and
take it out of private ownership. You
11 could use the
money from those unclaimed treasures
12 that you're
talking about. I heard numbers of $75
13 million.
For another 8 or $9 million, the State
14 could own
Cypress Gardens, and then the State could
15 decide what
happens to it.
16
You know, I heard Fairfield Gardens. Can you
17 imagine
Fairfield Gardens in Miami with roller
18 coasters and a
carnival? That's what Cypress
19 Gardens is
going to be. It's going to be a
20 carnival,
roller coasters, ferris wheels, a lot of
21 noise,
fireworks. I would hate to be a resident
22 living within a
mile of the Cypress Gardens area.
23
You all heard my plans. I don't need to go
24 into those any
further. I wanted to take Cypress
25 Gardens
--
.
55
1
MS. ARMSTRONG: You need to wrap up.
2
MR. SIEGEL: Okay. Whooo.
3
I heard Cypress Gardens described as another
4 amusement
park. If that's the way people feel about
5 Cypress Gardens,
I feel sorry for them. It's a lot
6 more than
that. It is our culture.
7
One final thought. I have five small children
8 under
seven. I really feel bad that they'll never
9 see the Cypress
Gardens that my family and I
10 enjoyed.
11
Thank you.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, David.
13
(Applause.)
14
MS. ARMSTRONG: Burma. And can we have Ed
15 Houston come on
up? If we can get you up here, it
16 will speed
things along a little bit. We have a lot
17 of people that
want to speak. So Ed Houston and
18 Sylvia
Hitchcock Carson, if you'll come on up,
19 please.
You can come on up. And we'll have you
20 sit, but if
you'll be close to the podium, it saves
21 that walking
time for us. That would be great.
22 Thanks.
23
MS. POSEY: Governor Bush, Treasurer
24 Gallagher,
Commissioner Bronson, and Attorney
25 General Crist,
good morning. My name is Burma Davis
.
56
1 Posey. I'm
the founder and president of the Friends
2 of Cypress
Gardens. And seeing those goodies on the
3 table, I think
that one of your future destinations
4 for auctioning
those should be at Cypress Gardens,
5 and it should be
a fundraiser.
6
We were incorporated to assist the State in
7 saving the very
cradle of Florida tourism. People
8 care so
passionately about Cypress Gardens that our
9 1,200 members
now include people from 117 cities in
10 Florida, all 50
states, as well as Australia,
11 Brazil, Burma,
Canada, Egypt, England, Germany,
12 Holland, Italy,
Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales,
13 and
Switzerland. Our state could not create
14 something that
would bring so much positive public
15 relations such
as has been created by the beauty and
16 the peaceful
serenity of Cypress Gardens for almost
17 seven
decades.
18
We greatly appreciate all the hard work that
19 you've
contributed to this very difficult decision.
20 Almost every
person in this room is here for the
21 same
reason. We all want to see Cypress Gardens
22 saved.
Where we differ is how that should be
23
accomplished. We've been working for nine long
24 months in this
effort. The majority of our members
25 are throughout
the nation, including some former
.
57
1 employees, and
the majority of our members are
2 passionately
opposed to adding roller coasters to
3 Cypress
Gardens.
4
Some of our members are former employees, and
5 lately they've
been filled with a fear that their
6 only option is
to allow Mr. Buescher to buy the park
7 and put in
roller coasters. This horrendous fear
8 tactic has
frightened the people who have been out
9 of work for nine
long months, and for some of the
10 state
officials, it has also frightened them as
11 well.
These wonderful employees have been hurting,
12 and they're
desperate. Many have called me, and
13 they really
don't care who gets the park -- they
14 just want to
get their jobs back. We understand
15 their position,
and we respect their position.
16
My comments today are a composite of the views
17 expressed by
the majority in our organization.
18
Today you're being asked to contribute $11
19 million to a
plan that will destroy the essence of
20 what made
Cypress Gardens special in the first
21 place, and it
will turn it into yet another thrill
22 ride amusement
park. The loud noise from the roller
23 coasters, and
especially the loud noise from the
24 screams of the
people riding the roller coasters
25 would destroy
the very integrity and the serenity
.
58
1 that made the
Gardens what they've been for seven
2 decades.
Gone would be the peace and tranquility
3 which she became
famous for. In would be loud
4 colors, noise,
and a 18-minute nightly show that
5 could include
lights, sounds, and fireworks, all
6 this in the
middle of an old established
7 neighborhood of
shocked, unsuspecting homeowners.
8
We believe this buyer is willing to carry the
9 burden of
maintaining the 30 acres of the famous
10 original
gardens, the ski show, and the belles
11 simply so he
can have a thrill ride park in Florida,
12 with the bonus
of having a famous name to draw
13 people in.
14
There are hundreds of amusement parks all over
15 the
country. I would challenge you to name 10 that
16 are under 150
acres. Yet everywhere I go and ask,
17 people have
heard of, if they haven't personally
18 visited,
Cypress Gardens, and it's because it's
19
different. It's old Florida. And once it's gone,
20 it's gone
forever. It's the historical heritage
21 that our
Secretary of State, Glenda Hood, was
22 talking
about.
23
The Friends of Cypress Gardens have worked
24 night and day
for nine months to save this park.
25 And, Governor
Bush, we didn't work this hard to have
.
59
1 it desecrated
with loud thrill ride noises and turn
2 it into another
ordinary amusement park. To us,
3 this would be
desecrating this environmental spot,
4 just as much, if
not more, than a development
5 itself.
6
Mr. Buescher will be getting $11 million from
7 the State,
$2-1/2 from the County, and a $7 million
8 loan from the
Florida Trust. We think that it's
9 interesting that
he's having to get this loan from
10 the Trust
instead of securing his own financing, and
11 we're concerned
that if he's having difficulty
12 getting
financing for $7 million, how in the world
13 does he expect
to get the 35 million that he has
14 promised to put
into the park the first year? And
15 all of this is
being promised and done before the
16 contract
signing. That's a pretty good deal when
17 someone is
putting up 13-1/2 million and you're not
18 having to put
in anything.
19
It has been widely reported that Cypress
20 Gardens closed
because of numbers resulting from
21 9/11. We
don't believe this entire story. The
22 owner-developer
saw this sacred treasure as a gold
23 mine for
lakefront and commercial real estate.
24
MS. ARMSTRONG: Your time is up.
25
MS. POSEY: Okay. I wanted to show the
.
60
1 picture.
Okay. Nothing speaks louder than
2 pictures, so I
would like to with the overhead show
3 you some
pictures.
4
This is Cypress Gardens. This is the spring
5 flower festival
she's known for. Millions of people
6 have come in for
the spring flower festival.
7
This is the fall festival, the same thing.
8 Millions come in
in the fall.
9
In this picture, we have an international
10 wildlife
sculpture exhibit, and we have an Italian
11 fountain.
12
These are the belles, the famous belles that
13 Cypress Gardens
has become known for.
14
And, of course, these are the world champion
15 skiers, the
best skiers in the world.
16
On the other hand, this is Wild Adventures.
17 This is Wild
Adventures, the roller coasters, the
18 rides, rides,
rides. This -- you can turn it around
19 sideways.
This is their dockside game room.
20 Everything from
there was concrete. From the time
21 you walked in,
it was concreted throughout the park,
22 right up to the
metal buildings and the wood
23
buildings. That has nothing to do with grass and
24 gardens and
waterfalls. These are some of their
25 buildings,
classy, flashy yellow buildings. This is
.
61
1 a
restaurant. Metal is metal. This is a rest
2 room. This
is the rest room itself being held up by
3 2-by-2
sticks. This is another restaurant. This is
4 the silo that's
their main sign, Wild Adventures.
5 This is their
lake with dark inky water that has
6 been polluted by
their fireworks, and the dead
7 trees.
This is their midway. This is the entrance
8 to the
zoo. You walk between the ice machine and a
9 wagon.
They have a lot of signs, a lot of things.
10
When we look at these, and we heard the young
11 lady say
Cypress Gardens reminded her of Wild
12 Adventures, we
thought, "What part reminded her?"
13 Cypress Gardens
and this have nothing to do with it.
14
In closing, when we were here in August,
15 Governor Bush,
you said some very nice things about
16 my mother, who
is 81 years old. Everyone loves and
17 greatly admires
your mother as well. We want to
18 join, and we
want to make this a Smithsonian of the
19 South, and we
want to make it the greatest field
20 trip
destination. The collection of Gone with the
21 Wind is worth
$66 million. That cost three times as
22 much as the
park itself, and we want to make this a
23 depository of
great collections. So if Barbara Bush
24 were here
today, how do you think she would vote?
25 Would Mrs. Bush
vote for supporting an establishment
.
62
1 of something
that's going to enrich and educate
2 millions of
children in the future, or would she
3 vote to make
this just another roller coaster park?
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: I'm ready to throw the penalty
5 flag up.
6
MS. POSEY: Governor Bush, we would like to
7 join you making
this one of the great educational
8 projects, and so
our request to you is that in
9 addition to
giving the $14-1/2 million that you're
10 allowed to give
from Florida Forever, we ask that
11 you get the
remainder of the cost of the park from
12 the education
budget and have the State of Florida
13 buy this entire
project so that Cypress Gardens can
14 be a state park
and be owned by all of the citizens
15 of
Florida. We have a man who would run it, so we
16 want you to buy
the entire park, and that's our
17 request.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Burma.
19
MS. POSEY: Thank you.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you for being here.
21
(Applause.)
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
23
MR. HOUSTON: Okay. My name is Ed Houston. I
24 live on Lake
Summit. I'm about three houses up from
25 the boat dock,
if anybody knows that area. I've
.
63
1 been there for
25 years, and like all old people, I
2 have a fondness
for my lake and my home. I love it,
3 and my only
reason for being here is to protect it.
4
I would like to talk a little bit about
5 pollution.
I've got a picture up there of a boat
6 trip through the
canal by the city people on May --
7 I think it was
May 10th. And guess who led this
8 thing? It
was my buddy back here who I'm sure is
9 staring at me
and glaring at me, Mayor Mike
10 Easterling, and
my buddy Rick Dantzler. And I'm
11 serious about
that. Mike is a member of my church,
12 and he's
usually collecting the offering. And I sit
13 on the opposite
side of the church from him because
14 I'm afraid he's
going to hit me over the head with a
15 hymn book when
he comes by.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: He wouldn't do that.
17
MR. HOUSTON: You know, I think he's a great
18 guy. I've
heard his message probably a dozen times
19 this summer,
this year while we've been up to it.
20 He does a very
good job of making his case. Rick is
21 a tremendous
organizer, and I have high respect for
22 both of
them.
23
Okay. I want to talk about how we have
24 pollution in
the lakes. I've got another picture
25 here of this
group.
.
64
1
MS. ARMSTRONG: I'll do it for you. You need
2 to keep
talking. You're running out of time.
3
MR. HOUSTON: Okay. This little presentation
4 was in The
Ledger, and I want to read from it.
5
"'People must remember and understand how
6 important the
lakes are to us,' said Mayor Mike
7
Easterling. 'It's not just for recreation's sake,
8 but it's for our
future.'"
9
And over here when these people that looked at
10 the potential
damage in their lakes, one of them
11 said, "Hey,
we've got to spend a lot of money to fix
12 this up."
And this picture here -- I'll put it back
13 here -- is a
picture of what the environmentalist
14 did in that
trip. He took a piece of Lucite tubing
15 two inches in
diameter about eight feet long, and he
16 drove it down
into the bottom of the lake, and he
17 came up with
samples of sludge in those lakes from
18 six feet to 12
feet in depth, showing the damage
19 that has been
done in the lake in the middle of the
20 city. And
the situation that exists is that the
21 city lakes are
totally contaminated up to the border
22 of our blessed
lakes, Lake Eloise and Lake Summit.
23 And our concern
is what are we going to do to stop
24 that or slow it
down in our lakes up here.
25
And I would like to list some reasons why I
.
65
1 think that what
we're planning to do is going to
2 accelerate the
pollution that exists now and in the
3 future.
The new rides that are being put in are on
4 the top of a
hill right across from my home. And
5 those rides
being up there will cause the
6 contamination
that causes the pollution of the lakes
7 and the sludge
that builds up.
8
MS. ARMSTRONG: You're out time.
9
MR. HOUSTON: Okay.
10
MS. ARMSTRONG: You're out of time.
11
MR. HOUSTON: Okay.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: You think you could wrap it up?
13
MS. ARMSTRONG: Thank you very much.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: No, go ahead and wrap it up.
15 You can just
summarize your thoughts. No reason to
16 finish without
finishing a sentence here.
17
MS. ARMSTRONG: Summarize with one sentence.
18 Okay?
19
MR. HOUSTON: Okay. I've got about six cases
20 here.
I'll try to make --
21
(Laughter.)
22
MR. HOUSTON: The new water park, we --
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: If you could just summarize
24 your --
25
MR. HOUSTON: -- have a map that shows that
.
66
1 right across
from my lake that Kent is going to
2 build a water
park across there. There's going to
3 be a chute to
drive all this pollution right down
4 into the
lake. That's just one case. I've got
5 about -- I've
got about six more in there.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: By the way, I think that's a
7 point to bring
up, and I assume that all of the
8 modifications to
the park will have to go through
9 the development
process, and this has kind of the
10 flavor of a
local City Commission meeting where
11 probably -- and
County Commission meeting where
12 probably you'll
have your chance to express those
13 opinions, and
the County will be obligated to make
14 sure that this
development doesn't degrade the water
15 quality.
That's really not our business here.
16 You'll have
your shot, though, I promise you.
17
Just make sure you don't get hit by the Bible
18 before
then.
19
(Laughter.)
20
MS. ARMSTRONG: Okay. We have --
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you for coming, sir.
22
MS. ARMSTRONG: Sylvia Hitchcock Carson is
23 next, and then
if Leslie Sakhaee will -- Sakhaee --
24 I'm messing up
your name. I'm so sorry. I did that
25 the last time
you were here too. If you'll come on
.
67
1 up, Leslie, and
Patti Mills.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
3
MS. CARSON: Good morning, Governor Bush.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Nice to see you again.
5
MS. CARSON: Good to see you too.
6
Well, for those of you that may not know me, I
7 have lived in
Florida for -- let's see. I moved
8 from
Massachusetts when I was three years old. I
9 grew up in
Miami. And I explained to the Cabinet
10 before that I
lived there when the banyan trees were
11 lining U.S. 1,
when we had pine trees and coconut
12 trees, and how
all these things are now diminished
13 for
progress.
14
I lived in Winter Haven for eight years. I'm a
15 model. I
was Miss Universe of 1967 and represented
16 the United
States as Miss U.S.A also, and Miss
17 Alabama.
I'm a person that -- I'm an artist, and I
18 appreciate
nature. I appreciate the fact that Julie
19 and Dick Pope
did what they did to preserve the
20 heart of
Florida. The commercials I did there I was
21 always so proud
of. And I can't help but think of
22 the weddings,
receptions, and all sorts of beautiful
23 events that
went on there and memories of many, many
24 people.
But now, if we have roller coasters, I
25 can't even
imagine having a wedding or anything
.
68
1 there. I
can't imagine sitting there and trying to
2 go through a
ceremony and hearing the roller
3 coasters.
4
I spent two days up in Valdosta, and
5 unfortunately, I
was unable to edit my video. But I
6 was told at one
of the meetings which I took my
7 grandchild to
that Wild Adventures sits in the
8 middle of a
residential area similar to Winter
9 Haven.
There's no way. I saw a peacock in one
10 yard.
There's cabbage fields. It's a farmland
11 area.
From Valdosta, I have plat here from the
12 appraiser's
office that shows an aerial view. There
13 are very few
homes. It's mainly all agricultural.
14
And then the ironic thing of it all is when he
15 said nobody
ever complained. I drove up, and no
16 offense, but
the first thing I saw was a cemetery,
17 and I thought,
"Those people, yes, they're not going
18 to hear it," in
all respect to them. But that's
19 about all that
was there.
20
MS. ARMSTRONG: You need to wrap it up.
21
MS. CARSON: But today I come to you to say
22 that this could
be a source for education, just like
23 -- we could
talk about and educate our kids and have
24 a place there
as an ambassador of getting knowledge
25 to our children
today.
.
69
1
And I feel Cypress Gardens, and I feel Dick
2 Pope also, he
never -- roller coasters -- and I will
3 stop with
this. To me, roller coasters have been
4 alive.
I've been there ever since Dick Pope was
5 there. He
was a great giant of marketing industry.
6 If he thought
roller coasters was the answer for it,
7 then I think he
would have had it.
8
And in all my travels, I can't imagine going to
9 Niagara Falls
and finding a roller coaster. I don't
10 think it would
be needed. And just like in Winter
11 Haven at
Cypress Gardens, I think we need to keep
12 the serenity
and tranquility that Dick Pope and
13 Julie Pope
hoped to preserve.
14
Thank you.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much for being
16 here.
17
(Applause.)
18
GOVERNOR BUSH:
19
MS. SAKHAEE: Good morning. My name is Leslie
20 Sakhaee.
I'm a 34-year resident of Polk County,
21 Florida.
I'm also a former employee of Cypress
22 Gardens.
I too want my job back, but not at the
23 compromise of
the natural part of Cypress Gardens.
24 I would like to
see it preserved as a natural
25
habitat.
.
70
1
I would like to say that I have always been
2 raised with the
mind-set of getting at least three
3 legitimate bids
before making a large purchase. I
4 consider $11
million a very significant purchase.
5 Unfortunately,
the TPL has only been able to provide
6 you with one
offer today.
7
I understand that when a position with the
8 state or county
government becomes available, the
9 position is
posted for all to apply. If the
10 screened
applicant does not meet the requirements
11 for the
position, the position is simply reposted
12 until the
appropriate individual with the proper
13 credentials is
found.
14
We are all here today to personally witness
15 your critical
decision regarding the future of this
16 beloved theme
park. I simply stand before you with
17 one
question: Would any of you sitting in your
18 position today
honestly make an $11 million purchase
19 using
taxpayers' money without getting at least
20 three
legitimate bids to base a sound decision?
21
Please, Governor Bush, use your power to stop
22 Maxwell's
threats of bulldozing. Repost the
23 position.
Personally, I do not think that giving 11
24 million plus
tax dollars to build a roller coaster
25 on a sinkhole
is a sound judgment call.
.
71
1
Thank you.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you for being here.
3
(Applause.)
4
MS. MILLS: Good morning, Governor Bush. I'm
5 Patti
Mills. I'm a Florida tile artist. We built
6 -- my sons and I
built the Italian water garden,
7 and that's how I
initially got involved in it.
8
I see this -- I see Cypress Gardens as our
9 heritage, as our
history. We have someone here from
10 Florida that
will invest money in Cypress Gardens.
11 I don't know a
whole lot about financing, but when I
12 go -- I would
like to buy it, and if you'll loan me
13 7 million, I
would be happy to do that.
14
I see money being moved around, but I also see
15 the State of
Florida being able to come in, delay
16 this process,
and actually purchase this property,
17 then put in
someone knowledgeable that has the funds
18 to run it.
19
You surround yourself with very intelligent
20 men. I
met David Siegel three months ago, and I
21 could see that
he is truly interested in Florida and
22 reclaiming
this. He's just another Dick Pope. He's
23 another Walt
Disney. His heart is here. He has
24 been
here. He is not interested in developing this
25 property as
condos or timeshares, and he has already
.
72
1 promised us
that. Mr. Kessler is also interested.
2 These men know
Florida.
3
So I'm just pleading with you to make the
4 decision --
either make the decision later or -- I'm
5 not standing up
here in a suit. I'm up here in this
6 silly red
T-shirt, but my heart is from Florida. So
7 I thank you, and
I know you'll do the will of God.
8
Thank you.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you for being here.
10
(Applause.)
11
MS. KIEKHAEFER: Good morning.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
13
MS. KIEKHAEFER: Governor Bush and Cabinet, I'm
14 Anita
Kiekhaefer. My father brought in Mercury
15 outboard motors
manufacturing in Florida. As you
16 know, we had a
part in Cypress Gardens from the time
17 that Dick Pope,
Sr. was there and he brought in the
18 engines and we
were part of the show. I was the
19 youngest
employee of Cypress Gardens in 1952.
20
I live on Lake Eloise closest to Cypress
21 Gardens and
right next to Swan Point. I'm in the
22 epicenter of
all this that's developing today.
23
I know that you are going to make a great
24 decision and
will make history regarding the new
25 owners of the
Gardens affecting most of us and all
.
73
1 of Winter
Haven.
2
I've lived on the lakes around Cypress Gardens
3 at least 57
years. We were always a part of the
4 scene and the
icon, and we are quite familiar with
5 the
environmental as well as the tourism that came,
6 and so much of
it is a great memory for us. We
7 couldn't be more
privileged to be in the area.
8
We certainly know that this is going to be a
9 great day, and
we know that this is all that we
10 stand for,
because we want to preserve the icon that
11 we want all to
preserve.
12
However, as a taxpayer and a resident of Winter
13 Haven, I would
just like to see a little more
14 emphasis on the
conservation easement applied to the
15 Gardens.
I know that, Governor Bush, you have
16 started the
Florida spring initiative, and I'm very
17 thrilled at
your program. However, I would like to
18 see this being
applied even to the local level, and
19 I would like to
see especially that we would have
20 the opportunity
to take part and cooperate with each
21 one of you to
make this a viable thing.
22
I would like to know -- because I have lived at
23 the Gardens, I
have experienced excessive noise and
24
pollution. However, I would not want to make this
25 to be a
negative point, because I don't think --
.
74
1 that comes with
any show, and it comes with any
2
attraction. But I would like to just point out the
3 excesses, and
anything that could be corrected,
4 which I know can
be done. We've had noise
5 pollution.
6
MS. ARMSTRONG: You need to wrap up, please.
7
MS. KIEKHAEFER: All right. I just wanted to
8 say that I want
to be sure that we are addressing
9 these
problems. I live in the environment next to
10 Swan Point,
which was completely torn down. I have
11 personally
photographed and documented 100 pictures
12 of the progress
and the chemical contamination that
13 has taken place
by the owner of the Gardens. And I
14 would just like
to say that if we do anything at
15 all, make any
decision, we would like to take this
16 into
consideration and have a complete environmental
17 study, phase 1
and 2, to be made of every part of
18 the park that's
going to be vitally affected,
19 particularly
the horticultural section.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: If you could wrap it up, ma'am.
21
MS. KIEKHAEFER: Therefore, I would like to
22 make a decision
to really sit down and consider that
23 until we have a
full environmental impact statement.
24 Thank you.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much.
.
75
1
(Applause.)
2
MS. McCARTY: My name is Jana McCarty. I live
3 within 500 feet
of Cypress Gardens.
4
I want to see the 30 acres preserved. I want
5 to see the 130
easement in conservation preserved.
6
I do have concerns about the impact of a Wild
7 Adventures type
theme park, with its noise from
8 concerts, roller
coasters, and a water park, on the
9 peace and quiet
and the property values of the
10 nearby
homes. I am concerned that the County does
11 not appear to
be putting safeguards in place to
12 protect the
neighbors through the planning and
13 permitting
processes. This is evidenced by
14 Administrative
Determination AD-0401, which you can
15 see on-line at
PolkCounty.net. I am concerned about
16 traffic
congestion and parking shortages under the
17 current plan,
with 10 acres of land removed from the
18 Gardens
purchase and used for shopping centers.
19
I am for jobs for the local economy. I do not
20 want the
Gardens to be made into residential
21 development by
Mr. Maxwell. I ask that you
22 entertain Mr.
Kessler's offer to buy and
23 Mr. Siegel's
offer to lease from the State if the
24 State buys, if
there's any way that you can
25 encourage Mr.
Maxwell to continue negotiations or by
.
76
1 buying the
entire park yourselves.
2
I encourage all involved in this process to
3 refrain from
sending belligerent e-mails and making
4 belligerent
comments about each other. We're all
5 concerned about
Cypress Gardens.
6
Thank you.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much.
8
(Applause.)
9
MR. POSEY: Good morning.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
11
MR. POSEY: I'm Jim Posey. As Burma mentioned,
12 we are here to
represent the Friends of Cypress
13 Gardens.
And as Burma mentioned, there are members
14 of Cypress
Gardens who are former employees who do
15 support the
roller coasters. We acknowledge that,
16 because they
want their jobs back. But you need to
17 know that the
majority of the Friends of Cypress
18 Gardens do not
support roller coasters and thrill
19 rides, because
it's not in keeping with the
20 historical, the
environmental, and most of all, the
21 tranquil
preservation of the Gardens. We're all for
22
preservation. Adding roller coasters and thrill
23 rides is not
preserving that environment.
24
This is one of the most special places in the
25 world to
people, because it's old Florida at its
.
77
1 best. You
will not find this peaceful environment
2 in many other
places in the entire world. The
3 Friends of
Cypress Gardens feel that roller coasters
4 and thrill rides
only yards from the famous gazebo,
5 one of the most
photographed spots in the world, and
6 only yards from
the famous banyan tree, will destroy
7 the essence of
the Gardens and will eventually
8 destroy
them.
9
We realize that you have an important decision
10 to make, so we
request that you carefully consider
11 the
environmental impact, to have an environmental
12 impact
statement done by any buyer that might be
13 considered, and
to also consider very carefully the
14 financial
capability of any buyer.
15
We were told by former employees from the
16 beginning
almost nine months ago that there were
17 possible
serious spills of diesel fuel and kerosene
18 and fertilizer
and pesticide contamination in the
19 nursery
area. I don't know if this has been
20
addressed. It may be a county issue. It may be a
21 state
issue. But there has been no environmental
22 impact
statement done. And what of the issue of
23 building over
the top of a sinkhole?
24
We trust that your possible $11 million
25 investment for
the people of Florida be provided
.
78
1 with the
assurance that our state has properly
2 covered all the
bases with any buyer.
3
MS. ARMSTRONG: Your time is up.
4
MR. POSEY: We request that you continue to
5 pursue any other
option that you might have, as
6 Burma mentioned,
maybe taking funds from other
7 sources.
The State would have complete control of
8 Cypress Gardens
and keep the peaceful, serene
9 environment
that's there. It's not about being
10 against a
particular buyer or developer. It's about
11 preserving a
Florida and a world treasure.
12
Thank you.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much.
14
(Applause.)
15
MS. ARMSTRONG: Okay. Our final two speakers
16 are Mr. Rick
Dantzler and Dick Pope, Jr.
17
MR. DANTZLER: Thank you, Eva.
18
Governor and members of the Cabinet, thank you
19 very much for
the chance to be here today. For the
20 record, my name
is Rick Dantzler, and it has been my
21 privilege to
serve as the chairman of the Greater
22 Winter Haven
Chamber of Commerce Task Force on the
23 Future of
Cypress Gardens.
24
This day has been a long time coming, but we're
25 finally
here. I can tell you that I believe that
.
79
1 Kent Buescher is
the right person in the right place
2 at the right
time. The more I get to know him, the
3 more I like
him. He has been a tremendous corporate
4 citizen in the
Valdosta community. He has talked
5 about some of
the things that he would be willing to
6 do in our
community. I think that in two years,
7 everyone, even
those who now have concerns, will
8 recognize that
this was one of the great days in the
9 history of our
county if we're able to pull this
10 off.
11
And I must tell you, I have had lengthy
12 conversations
with Mr. Buescher about his plans. As
13 was mentioned
by one of the speakers previously, he
14 came to Winter
Haven. We had a public hearing. He
15 spoke for
around an hour and a half to two hours on
16 his plan.
There were nearly 300 people in
17
attendance. Everything that Cypress Gardens has
18 been will
continue, and more. We'll have daily ski
19 shows like we
have always had. The Southern belles
20 will be there
as they always have been. The
21 beautiful
botanical gardens that have been there
22 from the very
beginning, they will be there. The
23 pool that's
shaped in the State of Florida, the
24 gazebo,
everything that we think of when we think of
25 the Gardens is
going to remain.
.
80
1
There has been a zoo at Cypress Gardens for
2 probably --- I
don't know, 15 or 20 years. He's
3 going to keep a
zoo, but he's going to change it a
4 little
bit. Instead of having exotics, he's going
5 to have it
indigenous to Florida. The animal
6 species and the
reptile species will be specific to
7 our state, which
I think opens up all sorts of
8 educational
opportunities.
9
So everything that Cypress Gardens has been,
10 its very
essence will remain.
11
Now, a very small part of the park is going to
12 have some
rides. But for those people who don't
13 want to go to
the rides, you don't even have to go
14 by the rides to
enjoy the rest of the park. There
15 will be a very
clear fork in the road where you can
16 go to the right
if you want to go to this very small
17 number of rides
and very small acreage where they
18 will be.
The rides will be behind a four-story
19 hotel.
They will be right alongside a commercial
20 development
right alongside Cypress Gardens
21 Boulevard, a
four-lane road.
22
I'm not going to tell you that the rides are
23 totally
silent. I was at Valdosta about two weeks
24 ago, and I went
through his park. I even rode the
25 largest ride
that's going to be at Cypress Gardens.
.
81
1 And he has much
larger rides at Wild Adventures, but
2 that's not
what's going to be at Cypress Gardens. I
3 don't like
riding rides, and I can't tell you that I
4 really enjoyed
riding the swamp thing. But I can
5 tell you that if
you back up 50 or 75 feet, I'm not
6 going to tell
you that you can't hear it, but you
7 can't hear it
much.
8
And there has been an allusion to -- it has
9 been alluded
that there will be screaming people.
10 Well, they're
having fun, and they might make some
11 noise.
But there has been noise at Cypress Gardens
12 before.
There has been fireworks at Cypress Gardens
13 before.
There have been concerts there before.
14
And I know Kent Buescher. He is willing to
15 mitigate those
very legitimate concerns to whatever
16 extent he
can.
17
So I really believe that this is our last
18 opportunity to
save Cypress Gardens. And let me
19 tell you what I
mean by that. I have been feeling
20 for some time
that if this didn't work, the current
21 owners were
going to get on with their development
22 plans.
They shared that with me verbally on several
23
occasions. They even put it in writing last week.
24 And they are
here today to confirm that if that's
25 what you need
to hear. But I think this is our last
.
82
1 chance to save
Cypress Gardens, or it's going to
2 turn into a very
aggressive residential and
3 commercial
development. So I think that's where we
4 are.
5
You look like you're getting ready to ask a
6 question.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: No. I was wondering why that
8 red light hadn't
come on.
9
(Laughter.)
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: What's going on? Oh, he has
11 five
minutes. I'm sorry. I thought everybody was
12 speaking two
minutes.
13
MR. DANTZLER: That is fair enough, Governor,
14 and --
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: I didn't know what the rules
16 were.
Excuse me.
17
MR. DANTZLER: No, I understand.
18
And with that, I'm going to have the privilege
19 of introducing
my father-in-law, Dick Pope, Jr., who
20 is going to
offer a few comments. But I can tell
21 you that his
dad has the saying, "If it's not fun,
22 to heck with
it."
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: That's a good way to live.
24
MR. DANTZLER: Kent Buescher is going to make
25 it fun again at
Cypress Gardens. He is absolutely
.
83
1 convinced, and I
agree with him, that unless we make
2 it relevant for
young families, there's not going to
3 be a Cypress
Gardens to save.
4
So with that, let me introduce a former Marine,
5 the 1950 world
water ski champion, someone who was
6 the national
water ski champion on three occasions,
7 someone who was
president of Cypress Gardens for 25
8 years, chairman
of the board eight. He ran it for
9 the 13 years
under public ownership. Dick Pope,
10 Jr., and I
think he wanted to share a few words with
11 you.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
13
(Applause.)
14
MR. POPE: Governor Bush and the Cabinet, it's
15 really been
something in the last nine months to go
16 through.
17
Cypress Gardens went through the Second World
18 War. We
were the only ones that kept it open. And
19 this is a far
cry from that.
20
But anyway, I want to really thank the people.
21 I know they've
been thanked today several times, but
22 it has been
great to see the Trust for Public Land,
23 the Department
and Division of State Lands, Polk
24 County, the
City of Winter Haven, the Winter Haven
25 Chamber of
Commerce, and all the other people who
.
84
1 have really been
with the Gardens for many, many
2 years. And
the way we have treated them in the past
3 has been a great
thing. I've been away from Cypress
4 Gardens since
1985, and there have been a lot of
5 changes go
through there.
6
But I believe that our man, that we can't --
7 that Kent
Buescher, he's got an awful lot of get up
8 and go. He
reminds me of my father. And I've heard
9 other things,
that certain other people reminded
10 them of my
father. Well, I can't believe that, but
11 I can't believe
a lot of other things. But believe
12 me, this guy,
I've seen him in action, and I believe
13 he is the man
that can save Cypress Gardens and make
14 it even bigger
and better than it has been in the
15 past.
16
I think my two minutes are up. Thank you.
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank, sir.
18
(Applause.)
19
MR. STRUHS: That concludes all the public
20 comments on
this item.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: I appreciate all the people
22 that came and
spoke.
23
Now, we have in front of us a request for
24 approval of a
perpetual conservation easement, a
25 monitor
designation, and a management policy
.
85
1 statement
confirmation; is that correct?
2
MR. STRUHS: That is correct.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a motion?
4
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
6
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second.
8 Any
discussion?
9
Commissioner.
10
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Governor, thank you.
11
You know, this has been one of the toughest
12 decisions to
try to make, and I know my staff, I've
13 had them asking
questions and trying to get hold of
14 people.
15
As being a part of the legislative process, as
16 many of the
legislators that are here right now were
17 on putting up
Florida Forever, and all of the work
18 we've done on
this, it is a little bit outside of
19 the box from
where we normally go, but I'll tell
20 you, the
question in my mind is, do we want to keep
21 the icon, do we
want to keep something that has been
22 pretty much
almost as much of Florida as our oldest
23 city, St.
Augustine, as far as bringing tourists to
24 Florida, and
that is to the botanical garden. The
25 botanical
garden is and has been in the past -- it
.
86
1 needs a lot of
work right now. It can be brought
2 back, but can it
be preserved to the point that it
3 is one of the
top botanical gardens not only in the
4 State of
Florida, but in the world? And it makes me
5 think this is
almost one of these "damned if you do,
6 damned if you
don't decisions" that we make
7 sometimes.
We don't make a whole lot of them, but
8 sometimes we do.
9
Is putting up $11 million to save the botanical
10 gardens and do
what we can to save the waters edge,
11 the lake, and
all the things we're going to have to
12 do to protect
the water body, while we have other
13 development
around it that typically we would not
14 invest money in
or put a conservation easement on.
15 The one thing
that makes me feel a little better
16 about this is,
there will be a conservation easement
17 to the point to
where no one will be able to do
18 anything with
this property, assuming this business
19 deal goes
through, other than coming back to this
20 Board of
Trustees before anything is done with this
21 property
because of this easement that we're going
22 to put on
it. I think the Trust for Public Land has
23 stuck their
neck out on this to help out in the
24
preservation.
25
It is not an easy decision for me to make
.
87
1
personally. And I'm not going to speak for any one
2 of the three up
here, but for the public, I'll tell
3 you it has been
a tough decision for me to try to
4 come up with to
put a commercial venture business as
5 part of this
overall plan. But after hearing the
6 testimony today
and seeing all the facts and
7 figures, I come
back to the point of, is the Gardens
8 itself worth
saving, whether we have this project
9 beside it or
not, and I think the Gardens are worth
10 saving.
The millions of dollars and time by the
11 Pope family and
many any others that helped them to
12 put this garden
together has made it one of the top
13 in the
world. I think we have the chance to do that
14 again, and we
still have a chance to bring people in
15 that want to
see only the Gardens and the water ski
16 shows and some
of the things that have been
17 typically
Florida.
18
So I would hope with us stepping out like this,
19 assuming that
we all would vote on this in the
20 affirmative,
that stepping outside the box is going
21 to be a
positive thing and not a negative thing. I
22 just hope that
one day I can take my grandkids,
23 assuming I have
some one day, to see the Gardens and
24 to take them
into what is now the Cypress Gardens of
25 the future by
us making this move.
.
88
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: General Crist.
2
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Thank you, Governor.
3
I can remember going to Cypress Gardens when I
4 was a kid, and
more recently too. And I don't know
5 Mr. Buescher,
but I do know some of the people who
6 have spoken on
his behalf, and that holds a lot of
7 sway with
me. I know Senators Dockery and Alexander
8 and
Representative Troutman, and I know Espan
9 Tanburg to be a
fine businessman, and I served with
10 Senator
Dantzler.
11
You know, some numbers have been talked about
12 here today, and
a figure of $35 million. I'm not
13 sure where they
come from, but I am giving great
14 confidence to
Mr. Pope and to the others who have
15 spoken on
behalf of his plan and his vision. And
16 because of
that, and because of the importance
17 Cypress Gardens
has for Florida, I'm going to
18 support this
motion. That's why I seconded it.
19 It's a little
bit of a leap of faith, but sometimes
20 you have to do
that.
21
So thank you, Governor, for the time to speak.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, General.
23
Any other discussion? There's a motion and a
24 second.
All in favor say aye.
25
(Simultaneous affirmative responses.)
.
89
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: All opposed?
2
The motion passes.
3
(Applause.)
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you all for coming.
5 Thanks for
coming.
6
(Applause.)
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Item 3.
8
If I could have everybody's attention, we're
9 not finished
with our agenda, so if you all could
10 either sit down
or move out, I would appreciate it.
11
(Pause.)
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
13
MR. STRUHS: Item number 3 is an option
14 agreement to
acquire .653 acres for the benefit of
15 the Florida
Board of Education.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Secretary, excuse me, but we
17 lost our --
they'll be back in a second.
18
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir.
19
(Pause.)
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
21
MR. STRUHS: Item 3 is an option agreement to
22 acquire .653
acres for the benefit of Florida
23 International
University and the Florida Board of
24
Education. It is an opportunity to expand an
25 existing museum
collection. The property will be
.
90
1 paid for with
funds from the Lottery and matched by
2 an estate
gift. The property --
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: If you could shut those doors.
4 Thank you.
5
MR. STRUHS: The property will be owned by the
6 Board, and it
will be managed by Florida
7 International
University. We recommend approval.
8
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
9
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Any
11
discussion? Did you understand the motion?
12 Everybody heard
it? You heard it? Very good.
13
There's a motion and a second. Without
14 objection, the
item passes.
15
MR. STRUHS: Item 4 is consideration of two
16 option
agreements to acquire 1.3 acres for the
17 benefit of the
Florida Board of Education and
18 Florida State
University from the Athena House
19 Corporation and
Delta Colony Housing. I'll point
20 out that this
acquisition for FSU is consistent with
21 that
university's Master Plan.
22
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 4.
23
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
25 objection, the
item passes.
.
91
1
MR. STRUHS: We're asking that Item 5 be
2 withdrawn.
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion to withdraw 5.
4
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second
6 to withdraw Item
5. Without objection, the item is
7 withdrawn.
8
MR. STRUHS: Thank you. Item 6 is the
9 disposition of a
number of Murphy Act parcels.
10 These parcels
were noticed to surrounding property
11 owners, to
local governments, to other state
12 agencies.
There were no other offers, and we
13 propose the
sale of these parcels to Mr. Carrol
14 Franklin.
15
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 6.
16
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. Without
18 objection, the
item passes.
19
MR. STRUHS: Item number 7 is modification of a
20 25-year
sovereignty submerged land lease for an
21 existing
city-owned commercial marina. Deborah
22 Getzoff, who
runs DEP's operations out of Tampa, is
23 here to speak
to the item, and I believe she is
24 right behind
me.
25
MS. GETZOFF: Good morning, Governor and
.
92
1 members of the
Cabinet. The item before you is for
2 the expansion of
this commercial marina. The
3 applicant
proposes to add 82 additional slips net
4 within the
footprint of the existing lease area.
5 The applicant is
in compliance at this time with the
6 exception of one
item I'll discuss in a moment. The
7 manatee
conditions have been addressed, and we have
8 a letter of no
objection in the file from the
9 Conservation
Commission.
10
So at this point, the only aspect of this item
11 that bears
discussion is the fact that when the
12 staff went out
to perform its inspection for the
13 permitting and
review of this item, we discovered
14 the existence
of two non-water dependent uses within
15 the marina
facility. One of these facilities is an
16 office on a
floating barge that is used as an
17 adjunct to a
charter fishing operation. And the
18 other one,
which is referred to as Structure 2, is a
19 small
prefabricated building that sits on the end of
20 a floating dock
for a boat and equipment rental
21 operation.
22
These facilities have been in this marina basin
23 for an extended
period of time. Structure Number 2
24 has existed at
the facility apparently since at
25 least 1978, and
Structure Number 1, which is the
.
93
1 larger facility
on the floating vessel for the
2 charter fishing
operation, has been in the marina
3 basin in one
location or another for approximately
4 20 years.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: How long -- when was the lease
6 last
renewed?
7
MS. GETZOFF: It was last amended in 1999. And
8 from what we can
see, there were two inspections in
9 the late 1990s,
one in '97 and one in 1999. And at
10 that time, the
staff did not note the presence of
11 these
structures.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: How could they not have noted
13 it?
14
MS. GETZOFF: I can't speak to that, Governor.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: I mean, they're standing out.
16
MS. GETZOFF: They're large structures, and I
17 can't speak to
that.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: So we've approved this. In
19 1999, this
lease was approved with these -- whatever
20 you would call
them.
21
CFO GALLAGHER: Facilities.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Non-water dependent structures.
23
MS. GETZOFF: Non-water dependent uses were in
24 the marina
facility at that time.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. And when was the lease
.
94
1 prior to
that?
2
MS. GETZOFF: There were some lease amendments
3 in 1980s.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Same question then?
5
MS. GETZOFF: Same situation then.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
7
MS. GETZOFF: The marina facility is divided
8 into two
basins. There's a south basin and a north
9 basin. The
south basin was originally
10
grandfathered. Although these structures were not
11 in the basin at
the time of the grandfathering
12 cutoff in 1970,
the structures were both originally
13 in the
grandfathered basin. And the best I can
14 assume is that
the staff believed they were
15 grandfathered
structures because they were in that
16 grandfathered
portion of the basin for an extended
17 period of
time.
18
After the 1999 lease amendment, which allowed
19 new
construction of dock slips in the north basin,
20 Structure
Number 1, which is the large structure,
21 the one that's
on the floating barge -- it's
22 approximately
-- I think it's about -- what is it?
23 Twelve by 24 is
the dimensions of that one. It was
24 moved. It
was moved from the south basin to the
25 north basin, to
the newly constructed docks in 1999.
.
95
1 And at that
time, when we came back in this past
2 year to do the
review for this amendment is when the
3 structures were
first noted.
4
I do have some pictures of the structures if
5 you care to look
at them.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: I think we've got
them.
7
MS. GETZOFF: Okay. Structure Number 1 is the
8 larger of the
two. It's -- there you go. It's the
9 one that exists
on the floating barge. As you can
10 see from the
lower left hand, it's permanently
11 attached to the
dock.
12
On the next sheet, Structure Number 2, is the
13 interior.
It's an office. There are computers,
14 telephone
lines, utilities, desks. There are some
15 bait
refrigerators.
16
Structure Number 2 is the smaller of the two
17 for the boat
rental facility. It's in the old south
18 basin, and it
appears to have been in the same
19 location since
at least 1978, on the end of the
20 dock. And
that one again houses telephone and bait
21 refrigeration
and adjunct equipment rental issues.
22
Both of these uses -- there is a rule that's
23 noted in the
agenda item, it's Rule 18-21.004, that
24 allows the
Governor and Cabinet under certain
25 circumstances
to allow non-water dependent uses for
.
96
1 exceptions to
the general rules. And both of these
2 uses are uses
that we typically see in the uplands.
3 There are many,
many charter fishing operations and
4 equipment rental
operations throughout the state at
5 commercial
marinas that we normally see in the
6 uplands.
And indeed, in the south basin today,
7 there is a
recreational boat that goes out, carries
8 passengers,
called LaBarge, that has its facility in
9 the uplands in
the south basin adjacent to the
10 seawall, where
they have a hut where they take
11 tickets and
have the passengers come through. This
12 is normally
what we do see.
13
In this case, these facilities have been there
14 for an extended
period of time. We've looked at the
15 exception in
the rule, in .004, and the staff finds
16 that it cannot
recommend that this fits squarely
17 within that
exception, because the exception starts
18 out by
requiring that it be a public project and
19 that the
exception be in the public interest. Even
20 though the
lessee here is the City of Sarasota, the
21 City of
Sarasota has a separate agreement with Jack
22 Graham, Inc. to
operate the marina and the
23 restaurant and
the upland facilities. So it's being
24 operated as a
private commercial marina for profit,
25 and these uses
further are being operated by other
.
97
1 private
enterprises for business and profit.
2
So we don't find as a staff recommendation
3 that it fits
within the public project and public
4 purpose aspect
of the exception in the rule.
5 However, we do
recognize that these have been there
6 for an extended
period of time, and there may be
7 some concern
about equities, given the longstanding
8 period of time
this business has operated.
9
Another major staff concern has to do with
10 precedent,
particularly in the case of Structure
11 Number 1, which
is sitting on a vessel and is taking
12 up a slip
space. The marina industry, as you may
13 know, is
advocating expansion of marina facilities
14 throughout the
state with more space for vessels,
15 and the staff
has a concern that allowing this type
16 of use at a
slip location, which could serve as a
17 precedent for
other facilities, would tend to
18 mitigate
against that type of situation where we
19 have more slips
allowed for vessels in new marina
20 facilities.
21
So the staff concern here is primarily
22
precedent. We're concerned that unless this is very
23 specifically
distinguished from any other situation,
24 it would stand
as a precedent for non-water
25 dependent uses
that we do see in the uplands in
.
98
1 other
facilities. And we do take active enforcement
2 action when
these are identified. I can tell you
3 that in the past
couple of years, we've been
4 extremely active
in eliminating non-water dependent
5 uses in our
district at other facilities where they
6 have been
identified. So leaving these in place
7 without some
special consideration would be contrary
8 to the past
actions of the Department.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: General Crist.
10
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Thank you. Just a
11 couple of quick
questions. And Secretary, maybe it
12 would be better
if you -- whoever wants to answer
13 them.
14
Is there any sort of harm or eminent danger
15 that these
pose?
16
MS. GETZOFF: No, we have not identified any
17 specific harm
or danger, no public safety issues,
18 and no
identified environmental issues based on the
19 location of
these facilities.
20
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Thank you.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Commissioner Bronson.
22
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I have a couple of
23 questions as
well, Governor. And one of them is
24 going to be if
there has been any violation of water
25 quality or any
of the things you would be looking
.
99
1 for, and I think
you just answered that question.
2
And quite frankly, I've got to tell you that
3 the situation
that's going on with Mr. Lewis also
4 concerns me,
that all of a sudden we have found
5 somebody that
has been operating for 20, 30, 40
6 years, and now
we're going to make some assertions.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Who's Mr. Lewis?
8
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: He's the gentleman that
9 is the shrimper,
the commercial shrimper, I believe,
10 down in South
Florida that has been operating for
11 two or three
generations down there, and 40 years
12 off of a dock,
that I understand that now DEP is
13 going to ask
for $50,000 in back -- in arrearages,
14 plus currently
leasing the submerged lands from here
15 forward.
16
MS. GETZOFF: Commissioner, if I might, we're
17 not asking for
50. We've asked him for $5,000,
18 which would be
the lease fees and arrears from 1991.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Does that have anything to do
20 with this, or
is this just another example of the
21 same thing?
22
MS. GETZOFF: It's a different example.
23
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: It's an example of the
24 same thing,
Governor. It's not -- this one is not
25 --
.
100
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: When you say South Florida, are
2 you talking like
Tallahassee South Florida? That
3 means any place
near -- Crystal River southward?
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: It's actually in --
5
MS. GETZOFF: It's in Cortez Village.
6
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: -- Bradenton, I believe.
7
MS. GETZOFF: Yes. It's on Anna Maria Island
8 in Manatee
County. And actually --
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Commissioner, I'm from South
10 Florida.
That's like you start normally around Boca
11 Raton and go
south.
12
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Oh, okay.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: You got me confused.
14
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I'll have to be a little
15 more precise
next time, but I --
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: You got me
confused.
17
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: The issue here is, it
18 concerns me
that after all this time that you have
19 some facilities
that evidently have been good
20 corporate
businesses. These two facilities, my
21 understanding
is, actually have a service that both
22 the hotels that
are there and the City must deem
23 being very
positive to them. I'm assuming they're
24 paying taxes
both to the State and to the local
25 government for
the business that they operate. The
.
101
1 hotels, as you
know, when people come from out of
2 state, even in
state that want to go fishing in that
3 area, they're
going to lease out businesses.
4
And I'm concerned about what we're doing here.
5 If they're good
corporate citizens, they're paying
6 their due and
not polluting, so forth and so on, why
7 are we going to
do away with these businesses that
8 have been good
stewards?
9
I would make the motion that if we accept this
10 submerged
lease, that we leave them.
11
CFO GALLAGHER: If I may.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Treasurer.
13
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I'll yield to Treasurer
14 Gallagher.
15
CFO GALLAGHER: Governor and fellow Cabinet
16 members, I see
this as a very unique situation. And
17 given the fact
that these non-water dependent uses
18 have existed at
the marina since the 1970s with no
19 objection from
the Board or its staff to this point,
20 and given that
these uses seem incidental to the
21 adjacent water
dependent uses, I move approval of
22 staff's
recommendation, with one amendment, that
23 Structures 1
and 2 identified in our agenda be
24 permitted as if
grandfathered, to remain subject to
25 enhanced -- be
permitted as if grandfathered, to
.
102
1 remain subject
to enhanced lease fees for non-water
2 dependent
structures allowed pursuant to Rule
3 18-21.011.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a second.
6 Any other
discussion?
7
Without objection, Treasurer Gallagher's
8 motion
passes.
9
MS. GETZOFF: Thank you.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you all very much.
11
I had one other question just --
12
CFO GALLAGHER: There's Item 8.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: I know, but I have one other
14 question
related to this, and it --
15
MR. STRUHS: On this item. Yes, sir.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: -- relates to the manatee
17 protection
plans. I didn't ask it. I want to make
18 sure that what
I was told yesterday is true, that
19 there is work
in progress to get approval for a
20 county manatee
protection plan.
21
MS. GETZOFF: Yes, sir.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: The irony is that this -- it
23 may not have
been this marina, but a marina in
24 Sarasota
started us off on the journey of getting
25 manatee
protection plans approved in the counties,
.
103
1 and I just
wanted to make sure Sarasota, which was
2 the first to get
my tirade about four years ago, now
3 is taking it
seriously.
4
MS. GETZOFF: Actually, at that time, they had
5 only passed one
part of the protection plan, which
6 was the
siting. They have now passed the second
7 part, which is
the speed zones, and it's pending.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: And it's up here. It's
9 somewhere up
here now.
10
MS. GETZOFF: It's pending approval with the
11 Conservation
Commission, sir.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: That's what I thought. Okay.
13 Thank you.
14
Item 8.
15
MR. STRUHS: Thank you. This is the last
16 item.
This item is simply to advise the Board that
17 the Department
is proceeding with the scheduling of
18 three public
meetings, one in Pensacola, one in West
19 Palm Beach, and
another in Tampa, to begin the
20 process of
reviewing our rules as it relates to
21 ownership
oriented facilities and fee structures.
22 This is
something that we've talked about at
23 previous
meetings. We are now beginning the public
24 process to
develop that rule. And if you would just
25 accept the
item, we would be satisfied.
.
104
1
CFO GALLAGHER: Move acceptance.
2
ATTORNEY GENERAL CRIST: Second.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
4
MR. STRUHS: Thank you very much.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: The item passes. Thank you
6 very much.
7
(Proceedings concluded at 11:39 a.m.)
8
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.
105
1
2
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
3
4 STATE OF FLORIDA)
5 COUNTY OF LEON )
6
7 I,
MARY ALLEN NEEL, do hereby certify that the
8 foregoing proceedings were taken before
me at the time
9 and place therein designated; that my
shorthand notes
10 were thereafter transcribed under my
supervision; and
11 that the foregoing pages numbered 1
through 104 are a
12 true and correct transcription of my
stenographic notes.
13 I
FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a relative,
14 employee, attorney or counsel of any of
the parties,
15 or relative or employee of such
attorney or counsel,
16 or financially interested in the
action.
17
DATED THIS 5th day of February, 2004.
18
19
20
21
___________________________
MARY ALLEN NEEL,
RPR
22
2894-A Remington Green
Lane
Tallahassee, Florida
32308
23
(850)
878-2221
24
25
.
Cabinet
Affairs
