Representing:
DIVISION OF BOND
FINANCE
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
BOARD
FINANCIAL SERVICES
COMMISSION
DEPARTMENT OF
REVENUE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
INTERNAL
IMPROVEMENT
TRUST FUND
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, November
25, 2003, commencing at approximately 9:00 a.m.
Reported by:
MARY ALLEN
NEEL
Registered Professional Reporter
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS,
INC.
2894-A REMINGTON GREEN
LANE
TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA
32308
(850)878-2221
.
2
APPEARANCES:
Representing the Florida Cabinet:
JEB
BUSH
Governor
CHARLES H.
BRONSON
Commissioner of Agriculture
CHARLIE
CRIST
Attorney General
TOM
GALLAGHER
Chief Financial Officer
* * *
.
3
I N D E X
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
(Presented by Ben J. Watkins III)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
5
2
Approved
5
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
BOARD
(Presented by Martin Young)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
6
2
Approved
11
FINANCIAL SERVICES
COMMISSION
(Presented by Steve Parton)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
13
2
Approved
15
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
(Presented by James Zingale)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
16
2
Approved
23
3
Approved
23
4
Approved
26
.
4
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
INTERNAL
IMPROVEMENT TRUST
FUND
(Presented by David Struhs)
ITEM
ACTION
PAGE
1
Approved
27
2
Approved
29
3
Approved
30
4
Approved as
amended
57
5
Approved
68
CERTIFICATE OF
REPORTER
69
.
5
1
P R O C E E D I N G S
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Division of Bond Finance.
3
MR. WATKINS: Item number 1 is the minutes
4 from the
November 12th meeting.
5
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
6
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
8 Without
objection, the item passes.
9
MR. WATKINS: And the final item, number 2,
10 is the
report of award on the competitive sale
11 of
$200,925,000 in Turnpike revenue bonds for
12
widenings, interchanges, adding SunPass lanes,
13 and the
Turnpike's contribution to the Western
14 Beltway,
Part C, which is part of the interstate
15 system
around the Orlando area. The bonds were
16 sold to
the low bidder at a true interest cost
17 of 4.65
percent.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
19
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
21 Without
objection, the motion passes.
22
MR. WATKINS: Thank you, sir.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
24
25
.
6
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Financial Management
2
Information Board.
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
4
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
6 Without
objection, Item 1 passes.
7
MR. YOUNG: Item 2 is the Enterprise
8 Resource
Planning Integration Task Force
9
recommendations. We have Don Northam, the staff
10 director,
here to go through the
11
recommendations.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
13
MR. NORTHAM: Good morning.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning. The ERP.
15
MR. NORTHAM: The inelegantly named ERP
16
Integration Task Force was established by the
17 FMIS
Coordinating Council --
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: I love it.
19
MR. NORTHAM: -- on August 14th in
20
accordance with statute. In its first 100 days,
21 the Task
Force met four times, during which it
22 adopted a
charter, approved a work schedule and
23 other
functional matters, crafted and adopted a
24 vision
statement, and submitted its first set of
25
recommendations to the FMIB, which I'll be
.
7
1 presenting
shortly.
2
This slide shows the Task Force and FMIB
3
membership. The top row contains the six voting
4 members,
and the bottom row shows the four ex
5 officio
members of the Task Force. The Task
6 Force was
created by adding the two people shown
7 in the
dotted line box to the FMIS Coordinating
8
Council. One of the items I'll be presenting
9 today on
behalf of the Task Force is a
10
recommendation to modify the membership of both
11 the FMIB
and the Task Force.
12
The primary mission of the Task Force is to
13 support
the FMIB in facilitating the successful
14 and
efficient integration of the central
15
administrative and financial management
16
information systems. Among the duties the Task
17 Force is
required to perform by statute is the
18
production of six reports or deliverables. The
19 first set
of these is shown here. These
20
information reports will be prepared and
21 routinely
updated by the Task Force staff and
22 published
on the Web so that all interested
23
stakeholders can review them.
24
Deliverable 1 is a list of policies,
25
processes, and procedures that have to be
.
8
1 changed in
order to permit or promote the
2
integration of the seven ERP subsystems that are
3 within the
purview of the Task Force.
4
Deliverable 2 is a consolidated list of
5 technical
and functional requirements, which
6 will be
gathered from the members of the project
7 management
teams for these seven systems.
8
And finally, Deliverable 3 contains
9
integration plans and time lines produced using
10 input
from Task Force members.
11
The three remaining deliverables contain
12
recommendations and status reports. When the
13 Task
Force determines that an enterprise
14
integration issue will or is likely to warrant
15 executive
level action, it will present it to
16 the FMIB
using Deliverable 4. And I'll be
17
submitting one of these deliverables to you in a
18 few
moments.
19
Recommendations that are adopted by the
20 FMIB
become the subject of Deliverable 5, a
21 report
submitted once each quarter to report to
22 the FMIB
the status of all recommendations that
23 it has
adopted. The report is then forwarded to
24 the
Executive Office of the Governor and the
25 House and
Senate Appropriation Committees.
.
9
1
And finally, once each year on January
2 15th, the
Task Force will submit an annual
3 report and
evaluation of integration activities,
4 along with
any recommended changes to the
5 statute to
be considered in the legislative
6
session.
7
The Task Force has a staff, of which I am a
8
member. Assisting me are Ms. Lori Nolen and
9 Scott
Ward. We are all state employees assigned
10 to the
Department of Financial Services.
11
In the left-hand side of this picture -- in
12 the left-
and right-hand sides of this picture,
13 you can
see the seven Enterprise Resource
14 Planning
subsystems that fall within the scope
15 of the
Task Force. This work group has already
16 been
meeting for about a month, and it consists
17 of
business experts, and in some cases,
18
technologists, representing the re-engineering
19 and
outsourcing projects that are currently
20
underway. The group also is supported by
21
representatives from the State Technology Office
22 in the
area of enterprise architecture and
23 technical
options.
24
This work group forms the core of what
25 we're
calling an Integration Center of
.
10
1
Competence. These members meet with the Task
2 Force
staff and each other to raise and resolve
3 issues
concerning the integration of these
4
systems. Many issues are resolved on the spot
5 by
participants. Other issues, particularly
6 those
requiring a change in policy or process,
7 are
escalated to the Task Force for resolution.
8 And, as I
described, the Task Force may in turn
9 escalate
issues to the FMIB.
10
Finally, the Integration Center of
11
Competence is also supported by key stakeholders
12 shown
here that have knowledge and insight
13 relevant
to the success of Task Force endeavors.
14
Subject to your questions, that concludes
15 my brief
on the Task Force.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any questions?
17
Can you give us a time line on these
18 projects,
how we're doing?
19
MR. NORTHAM: Well, we're studying that
20 right
now, Governor, and we should have --
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: You're studying the time
22
line?
23
MR. NORTHAM: Yes, sir.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: When will you have the time
25
line?
.
11
1
MR. NORTHAM: We're going to have that
2 ready for
you when we come back on the 16th of
3
December.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
5
CFO GALLAGHER: We expect the ERP system --
6 what the
real deal is, in what part of 2005 it
7 will be
finished, I think.
8
MR. NORTHAM: Yes, sir.
9
CFO GALLAGHER: At least that part of it.
10 And our
goal is to have it finished before the
11 end of
2005, and I think we're pretty well on
12
target. It's just a matter of what month.
13
MR. NORTHAM: Yes, sir.
14
CFO GALLAGHER: Because it took us a little
15 longer
than we thought to get the contracts
16 finally
signed.
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any other questions,
18
comments?
19
CFO GALLAGHER: I'm move it.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
21
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
23 Without
objection, the item passes.
24
Thank you.
25
Commissioner Bronson, shouldn't
.
12
1
Commissioner Bronson be on this thing?
2
CFO GALLAGHER: He is. That's one of the
3
recommendations. It adds him to it.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Thank you.
5
MR. NORTHAM: Sure.
6
CFO GALLAGHER: He doesn't know it, but we
7 added him
to it.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: He's not even listening.
9
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Yes, I think I heard
10 it.
Thank you.
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
13
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Financial Services
2
Commission.
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Office of Insurance
5
Regulation.
6
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
8 Without
objection, Item 1 is approved.
9
Item 2.
10
MR. PARTON: Good morning. Kevin is home
11 ill this
morning and sends his regret. My name
12 is Steve
Parton. I'm the General Counsel for
13 the
office.
14
Item 2 is approval of the recommended
15 vendor
and seeking authority to contract with
16 that
vendor for a peer review of the licensed
17 rating
organization for the State of Florida.
18
CFO GALLAGHER: Governor, I'll move this,
19 and I
would like us to to name Andrew Sabolic as
20 the
contract manager. It's very important that
21 all
contracts in state government have a
22 contract
manager, and this is no different than
23 any of
the others, and Andrew Sabolic I believe
24 would be
the best person to handle that. Do you
25 all have
a -- do you agree with that?
.
14
1
MR. PARTON: Yes, sir. I know of no legal
2 reason why
you can't do that.
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Good.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: All right.
5
GENERAL CRIST: Is this the low bidder?
6
CFO GALLAGHER: Not necessarily.
7
MR. PARTON: No, it is not. It is the high
8 scorer in
this. The low bidder, if I remember
9 correctly,
was Pinacle Actuarial Services. This
10 is not
the low bidder, no, sir. The low bidding
11 was 20
points out of the possible 110 on which
12 we rated
these responses.
13
GENERAL CRIST: Can you explain why you
14 recommend
this one?
15
MR. PARTON: Yes, sir. It's based on,
16 again, a
combination of those factors which we
17 took into
account. We assigned 30 points for
18 each one
of the areas we looked at. We looked
19 at the
vendor's qualifications, the professional
20
personnel, and the work plan and soundness of
21 the
approach. Those carried 30 points for each
22 one of
those categories. The price only carried
23 20.
And hence, the evaluation was based upon
24 the
technical skills, if you will, and the plan
25 and
approach that was being presented to us with
.
15
1 regards to
this peer review.
2
GENERAL CRIST: Thank you.
3
CFO GALLAGHER: You're comfortable that
4 this is
the best bid, considering cost and
5 technical
points?
6
MR. PARTON: Yes, sir, we are.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: I'll move the item.
8
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
10 Without
objection, the item passes.
11
MR. PARTON: Thank you.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much.
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
16
1
Department of Revenue. Dr. Z.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
3
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
5 Without
objection, Item 1 passes.
6
DR. ZINGALE: With your permission, a quick
7 little
briefing on amnesty.
8
CFO GALLAGHER: We always like to hear how
9 much money
we're bringing in.
10
DR. ZINGALE: We had a very intense four
11 months
with amnesty. During that period of
12 time, we
had two press conferences, four press
13 releases,
five campaigns that direct mailed 1.4
14 million
information bulletins directly to
15
taxpayers, 100,000 hits from our database
16 matches,
and 300,000 billings mailed during that
17 period of
time.
18
We created a Website. Much of what was
19 done in
the amnesty program was done
20
electronically, with information being passed
21 back and
forth between the taxpayer gaining
22
information and actually paying. The last two
23 days of
the amnesty period saw $80 million make
24 it in the
door, and then even more on the
25 following
Monday because of the postmark.
.
17
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: So we budgeted 60, or 80?
2 We had
budgeted 80, but you --
3
DR. ZINGALE: No, a quick two numbers. One
4 is the net
number, and the other is the gross
5
number. The gross number came in at right now
6 182
million, and we're still counting. And
7 there will
be more amnesty money in the gross
8 number
that will come in between now and the end
9 of the
fiscal year. As you register somebody,
10 we're
still going to get, you know, eight more
11 months'
worth of money coming in.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Talk to me about net.
13
DR. ZINGALE: The net number was 75.5.
14 When the
Estimating Conference met, we convinced
15 them that
was a good number. It will probably
16 be larger
than that, but we won't know until the
17 end of
the fiscal year for sure what that's
18 going to
be like.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: How much larger?
20
DR. ZINGALE: I'm not going to say.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Oh, come on.
22
CFO GALLAGHER: The Governor is spending it
23 100,000
at a time, so each million is like 10
24 big
points for him.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: I've got a budget to do.
.
18
1
DR. ZINGALE: The Estimating Conference
2 looked at
all the data and said 75.5 is what you
3 get to
spend.
4
If we could move beyond that -- it's going
5 to be
really hard to say, but 75.5 I think
6 exceeded
people's expectation.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: I hope there's a good
8 article on
your efforts here, because right
9 before the
amnesty deadline ended, there was
10 some
discussion about how the amount was going
11 to be
significantly lower yet, if you recall,
12 and
you've been completely vindicated. I'm sure
13 there
will be an able journalist interested in
14 solid
policy that will write about this. There
15 are a
handful out there.
16
DR. ZINGALE: It does show you that the
17 private
sector --
18
CFO GALLAGHER: I see one of them right
19
now.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Gary.
21
CFO GALLAGHER: He hasn't even picked up
22 his
pen.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: No, but he's here. He's
24 the only
one here.
25
DR. ZINGALE: It does show you --
.
19
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: He's writing.
2
GENERAL CRIST: Let the record reflect.
3
DR. ZINGALE: It does show you that the
4 private
sector has a high value of the time
5 value of
money. They waited until the very last
6 minute to
get it in, which is good business
7
practice.
8
If we could move on to the agenda, the
9 second
--
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: It makes you wonder how
11 much
taxes aren't collected, though.
12
DR. ZINGALE: Pardon?
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: On the flip side, it makes
14 you
wonder who isn't paying taxes.
15
DR. ZINGALE: Well, Phase 2, which we
16 didn't
talk about, but wouldn't mind seeing that
17 reported
also, Phase 2 started the following
18 Monday,
which is the follow-up on all of those
19 outbound
contacts didn't come in with a payment.
20 And it
will take us about 14 months to work
21 through
all those outstanding billings that are
22 out
there.
23
Moving to Item Number 2 --
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: General?
25
GENERAL CRIST: May I ask a question?
.
20
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Absolutely.
2
GENERAL CRIST: What did you say the gross
3 amount
was?
4
DR. ZINGALE: The gross rate today is 182
5 million,
and we're still counting.
6
GENERAL CRIST: Okay. And the net?
7
DR. ZINGALE: And the net is 75.5.
8
GENERAL CRIST: And it doesn't cost that
9 much to
collect it, does it? I mean, that's not
10 the
disparity between the two numbers?
11
DR. ZINGALE: We were given 600,000 to put
12 this
out. Two pieces of it, one was to make
13 major
enhancements to our Website, which will be
14
permanent. You've got an interest rate
15
calculator on there. There's a lot of features
16 we were
able to build into our Website with that
17
money. Most of it, though, was postage, you
18
know.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: What's the difference
20 between
gross and net? That's what his question
21
is.
22
DR. ZINGALE: Okay. Gross is, here is
23 someone
that was under audit, and the law
24 provided
for newly discovered tax liability and
25 anyone
that had an existing tax liability to
.
21
1 come
in. So some audits came in and got a
2
break. They paid their full tax, they paid most
3 of their
interest, and they got a break on their
4
penalty. They would have come in during this
5 period of
time a little later. They came in
6
earlier. We can't double count that. That's
7 the
difference between the gross and the net.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: It's the penalties and the
9 interest
and the --
10
DR. ZINGALE: If you owed a liability and
11 you were
under audit, as an example, then we
12 likely
would have gotten some of that money in
13 later in
the year. Because they came into
14 amnesty,
they came in early. It gave them a
15
break. It gave us the money earlier. We can't
16 double
count that.
17
GENERAL CRIST: Do you double count the
18
net? Is that what you're saying?
19
DR. ZINGALE: Yes, in the net there will be
20 some
double counting, money that we would have
21 gotten in
anyway without the amnesty, but it
22 came in
early. It's an unusual feature of the
23
law.
24
GENERAL CRIST: It's very clear. Thank
25
you.
.
22
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: It helped us in our budget.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: So that's why they don't
3 want to
you spend it, because it's double
4 counted.
5
DR. ZINGALE: The 182 is double, yes.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: I'm not going to get it, I
7
know.
8
DR. ZINGALE: Item number 2 --
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: It's really more than 75
10 million,
or he would -- you know, he's just not
11 telling
us.
12
DR. ZINGALE: Okay. No, we're hopeful.
13
Item number 2 starts our rules. A quick
14 reminder
of rules. Every rule that we bring in
15 front of
you goes through a workshop period
16 where we
throw concepts out. We come back to
17 the
Cabinet for a 10-day review notice. If we
18 don't
hear an objection, we go forward with the
19 formal
review process. The formal review has a
20 number of
public hearings, and that ends with us
21 bringing
a rule up in front of you.
22
Item number 2 incorporates '03 legislation
23 dealing
with homes for the aged and
24
communications services tax, the extent of that
25
exemption. This incorporates those rules.
.
23
1 Request
approval of Item 2.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
4
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
6 Without
objection, the item passes.
7
DR. ZINGALE: Item 3 are rules that have
8 some
clarification in the ad valorem tax area
9 and also
incorporates a number of legislative
10
changes. They primarily deal with information
11 exchange
between the property appraiser and the
12
Department of Revenue on forms and attempt to
13 take some
of the exemptions and clarify them by
14 splitting
them out so the taxpayer knows what
15 they're
eligible for.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
17
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
19 Without
objection, the item passes.
20
DR. ZINGALE: Item number 4 is our
21
legislative concepts. I'm going to highlight
22 quickly
about seven of them.
23
The first deals with child support
24
enforcement. Last year's legislative concepts
25 that we
brought in front of you this year didn't
.
24
1 pass the
Legislature. It got hung up, got close
2 at the
end, so a number of them have been here
3 before,
the going to a voluntary witness for
4 paternity
in hospital instead of a notary, a big
5 benefit to
the program; allowing us to outsource
6 service of
process instead of always having to
7 use the
sheriff; the full pass-through concept,
8 the
concept that child support ought to be for
9 the kids
and not for government to offset
10
welfare. The insurance claim data exchange,
11 allowing
us to match delinquent child support
12 cases
against insurance claims, is another
13
concept.
14
Two new ones in the child support area.
15 One, we
have pretty much gone through the
16 existing
suspensions of occupations and
17 licenses,
and this concept goes and gets the
18 rest of
them. A lot of the insurance agents are
19 in
here. A lot of the banking agents are in
20
here.
21
The last one in child support, when a child
22
emancipates and turns 18, current law says
23 benefits
would cease. This allows the benefits
24 to
continue to be extended until the arrearages
25 are paid
off, past debts.
.
25
1
In the administrative service areas, I
2 think
we're one of only one or two agencies that
3 have
Department of Revenue employees throughout
4 the
country. In terms of eligibility for
5
disability, we had a disabled employee last year
6 and found
out that the law required him to come
7 back into
Florida and get certified by two
8 Florida
physicians. This would allow the
9 Department
of Revenue to use out-of-state
10
physicians.
11
In the general tax area, we have the
12 piggyback
that comes back every year. And we
13 have some
clarifications of sales tax evasion
14 fraud
definitions.
15
In the property tax area, we have --
16 because
of the Save Our Home exemptions and the
17 sticker
shock that occurs when a new homeowner
18 buys an
existing homesteaded property and finds
19 out that
the property tax values increase
20
substantially when you've bought a Save Our Home
21 property,
this concept provides that the seller
22 shall
disclose the increase in tax that's going
23 to occur
when it shifts from sheltered property
24 to not
sheltered property.
25
Request -- are there any questions on the
.
26
1
legislative concepts?
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any discussion?
3
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on 4.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
6 Without
objection, your concepts pass.
7
DR. ZINGALE: Thank you very much.
8
CFO GALLAGHER: If you were to be in the
9
Legislature, you would be a winner.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Normally he does pretty
11 good in
the Legislature.
12
Happy Thanksgiving, Jim.
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
27
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Board of Trustees.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Motion on the minutes.
3
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 1, there's a motion
6 and a
second. Without objection, it passes.
7
Item 2.
8
MR. STRUHS: Good morning. We're
9
recommending approval of this item, subject to
10 special
lease conditions and payment of $14,251.
11 What I
would like to do, if I could, is use the
12 video
here and give you an overview of what this
13 looks
like.
14
This is the proposed expansion of an
15 existing
commercial marina. This item allows
16 for the
utilization of that sovereign submerged
17
land.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Can you -- are you sick?
19
MR. STRUHS: No, I'm fine. Is that better?
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes. You sound like you
21 have a
cold.
22
MR. STRUHS: Well, I'm a little bit
23 stuffed
up.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Speak up.
25
MR. STRUHS: But I feel good.
.
28
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Great.
2
CFO GALLAGHER: Dr. Jeb was going to write
3 you a
prescription here if you needed it.
4
MR. STRUHS: This would be -- this item
5 would
allow the applicant to use the sovereign
6 submerged
land to expand this existing
7 commercial
marina.
8
There are no problems with the U.S. Fish
9 and
Wildlife Service. The end of the extended
10 dock does
not extend into the navigation
11 channel,
and it is short of the hump in the
12 bridge
where boat traffic goes.
13
The reason I wanted to draw your attention
14 to the
diagram is --
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: This is the Classic Marina
16 we
discussed --
17
CFO GALLAGHER: We did the other two
18
before.
19
MR. STRUHS: You'll remember that earlier
20 this
year, you approved an expanded sovereign
21 submerged
land lease for I believe these two
22 piers
here. At that time, they agreed
23
voluntarily as part of their lease expansion
24 that they
would not come back to the Board of
25 Trustees
for any additional expansions, and I
.
29
1 just want
to make clear that that is part of
2 their
lease. This is a different applicant on
3 the other
side of the bridge.
4
CFO GALLAGHER: I'll move Item 2.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
6
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
7
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion and a
9
second. Any discussion? Without objection, the
10 item
passes.
11
MR. STRUHS: Item 3, recommend approval,
12 subject
to special lease conditions and payment
13 of
$19,450. This is an existing commercial
14 marina in
Carrabelle on the Carrabelle River.
15 It is a
marina that just this summer was
16
designated a clean marina under the DEP Clean
17 Marina
Program. We recommend approval of the
18
item. It is an innovative approach, in that the
19 privately
held upland that would allow for the
20 expansion
is actually on an island, so it would
21 have to
be bridged. But we've reviewed the
22 plan, and
there's nothing in the rules that
23 would
prevent it.
24
GENERAL CRIST: Motion on the item.
25
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
.
30
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there anybody that -- no
2 opposition
on this from the community?
3 Everybody
is --
4
MR. STRUHS: Everybody is very pleased with
5
this.
6
GOVERNOR BUSH: Wow. Okay. There's a
7 motion and
a second. Any discussion? Without
8 objection,
the item passes.
9
MR. STRUHS: Thank you.
10
Item 4, if I could draw your attention to
11 the
agenda item, I'm going to make an amendment,
12 if I
might. The way this was written up, it had
13 indicated
that we will offset the purchase price
14 of the
subject property with the proceeds from
15 the sale
of Timber Island. What I would like to
16 do, for
the record, is to replace "will" with
17
"may." What that does for us, and for you,
18
obviously, it just keeps all of our options
19
open. That would still be our intent, but I
20 think
it's best if we can keep that option open
21 for all
the affected parties.
22
This is a very important acquisition, and
23 we're
delighted that today the Chairman of the
24 Franklin
County Commission, Cheryl Sanders, is
25 here to
speak to the item,
.
31
1
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: A question,
2
Governor.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, Commissioner.
4
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Does this foresee
5 any
potential problem with the Timber Island
6 situation,
or are you just -- this leaves
7 another
option to make a swap agreement with
8 St. Joe,
or what's the --
9
MR. STRUHS: In the unlikely event that the
10 Timber
Island sale would not be completed, if it
11 doesn't
go to closing, this project is something
12 that we
would recommend to the Board for your
13 approval
in any event. It really is an item
14 that
merits a stand-alone status, and we would
15 like to
make that clear.
16
Is Chairman Sanders here?
17
MS. SANDERS: I don't want to speak on
18 Timber
Island. I --
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: No, we're not speaking on
20 Timber
Island.
21
MR. STRUHS: No, this is Crooked River.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: That was last week.
23
MS. SANDERS: I came to town (inaudible),
24 and I
want to speak.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: Great to have you back.
.
32
1
MS. SANDERS: Hello, Governor and members
2 of the
Cabinet. How are we doing today?
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Where have you been?
4 You've
been gone for --
5
MS. SANDERS: You been missing me,
6
Governor?
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: I've missed you.
8
MS. SANDERS: I'm telling you. Well, I
9 come to
your house this morning and brought you
10
something.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: Uh-oh.
12
MS. SANDERS: No, I was just going to say,
13 two years
ago you all approved the plan leases
14 in the
Alligator Harbor. You remember that?
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: I do.
16
MS. SANDERS: I brought you some fruits of
17 the
bounty there from the waters of Franklin
18
County.
19
I came today to talk on the Crooked River
20 tract
that you all are going to be hopefully
21
purchasing today, and the Franklin County Board
22 of County
Commissioners in their session on
23 October
23rd wrote a resolution in support of
24 this and
to put emphasis on the traditional uses
25 of the
land. I'm hoping this will go through.
.
33
1 It's kind
of like one of these things that
2 St. Joe
Company is making true on their promise
3 to the
people of Franklin County as far as
4 saving the
corridors and the traditional hunting
5 lands and
the water accesses and stuff. So I
6 would very
much support and need your support
7 to approve
this.
8
And also, at the same time, the people are
9 excited
about it going back into public use. It
10 has been
in leases for the past six years, and
11 the
people around Franklin County are excited
12 that it's
going back to public use as far as
13 public
hunting lands for all people.
14
So anyway, I would just say that I'm in
15 favor of
this. The Franklin County Board of
16 County
Commissioners is in favor of this. And
17 when you
get a chance, come on down to Franklin
18 County
and visit us. We are now -- as of this
19 sale, we
will be 80 percent owned by the State
20 of
Florida.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Are you happy about that?
22
MS. SANDERS: Am I happy about it? I love
23 it my --
let me finish. I love it on areas like
24 today
that you're considering, because you've
25 got 15 to
20 miles of Crooked River that has no
.
34
1
development on it whatsoever. It does not need
2 any
development, so I'm happy about that.
3
Happy about the tax base?
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: Exactly. That's my
5
question.
6
MS. SANDERS: You know, that's -- what can
7 we
say? We had a 39 percent taxable value this
8 year,
taxable land value. The coast is building
9 and
growing fast.
10
CFO GALLAGHER: Yes, they're building it up
11 all
right.
12
MS. SANDERS: But we still -- you know,
13 we're
still a small county. We still have
14
needs. And so to the biggest private -- public
15 owners of
the Franklin County land, I would say
16 help us
out.
17
But this is a good thing. I'm in favor of
18 Crooked
River being sold. And like I said, at
19 that
time, I hope it becomes public land.
20
CFO GALLAGHER: I'll make a motion on 4.
21
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I need -- Governor,
22 I would
like to make a motion, an amendment to
23 the
motion on 4, and that would be that I move
24 that we
approve the item, provided that the
25 State
acknowledge and maintain the benefits of
.
35
1 the
private lease between the hunt club members
2 and St.
Joe for the remainder of this 2004
3 regular
hunting season.
4
The State must be clear that it will not
5 accept or
continue the lease itself, merely that
6 we will
provide these leaseholders with an
7
opportunity to complete this year's hunting
8 season,
and these individuals would have to
9 abide by
their obligations under the current
10 lease and
applicable state law.
11
To accomplish this, the Fish and Wildlife
12
Conservation Commission and the Division of
13 Forestry
would have full access to the property
14
immediately after closing.
15
In addition, the hunt club currently holds
16 a $1
million liability insurance policy with
17 St. Joe
Company. This policy could be
18
transferred to the State to resolve any issues
19 of
liability.
20
Finally, the State would require that these
21
individuals clear their private property off of
22 this
leased property within 10 days of the end
23 of the
2003-2004 regular season.
24
Now, I say that only because -- and I heard
25 what the
Commissioner said. So the Commissioner
.
36
1 will know,
this land will not be up for public
2 access
lease for hunting until next year, not
3 this year,
but next year. It could not be
4 completed
in time for the public to get on this
5 property
to hunt this year. These leaseholders'
6 lease will
run out at the end of this hunting
7 season,
and that property will probably be open
8 for public
hunting next year. It gives them a
9 chance --
since they have not even had an
10
opportunity to hunt this year on this property
11 that they
have leased, it will give them the
12 rest of
this hunting season --
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: When does that end?
14
March?
15
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I think March 1st.
16
MS. SANDERS: February.
17
CFO GALLAGHER: It will take that long to
18 get it
closed.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: That's what I was going to
20
say.
21
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Yes. So it's really
22 not going
to affect much. It gives them a
23 chance to
finish their season, they're out, and
24 when the
new management starts, it will be open
25 for the
public as soon as all of the closing
.
37
1
happens. And I believe Forestry will be the
2 manager,
based on the fact that this will become
3 part of
Tates Hell State Reserve, and then we
4 will try
to put together some type of program
5 for the
public in the next year.
6
CFO GALLAGHER: I'll second it.
7
MS. SANDERS: Governor --
8
GOVERNOR BUSH: Hang on a second. Hang on.
9 Hang
on. There's a motion.
10
CFO GALLAGHER: And I second the
11
amendment.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: There's an amended motion
13 and a
second.
14
Secretary Struhs, how long does it take to
15 get a
property like this closed?
16
MR. STRUHS: Our goal is to have it closed
17 by
December 10.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Wow. Pretty efficient.
19
GENERAL CRIST: Giddy-up.
20
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Chairman.
21
MR. STRUHS: I'm sorry, Governor, but there
22 is one
other speaker who wanted to speak to the
23 item
before you cast a final vote.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, sure.
25
MR. STRUHS: Don Ashley is here as well.
.
38
1
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
2
MR. STRUHS: Commissioner.
3
MS. SANDERS: But the Commissioner has got
4 the floor
right now.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: No, you don't have the
6
floor.
7
MS. SANDERS: The Governor has already
8 recognized
me. This is a heated subject with
9 me,
because, Commissioner Bronson, I understand
10 where
you're coming from, but let me tell you, I
11 was one
of the lessees of a lease from St. Joe
12 Paper --
from St. Joe Paper Company at that
13 time,
year before last, had the lease since
14 1990, me
and my husband and my bother-in-law.
15 They
called me on a Thursday to move my stuff
16 off by
Saturday. I had to be off of there.
17 They
refunded me my money, and they told me,
18 "We're
glad you leased out the land, but this is
19 public
land."
20
Now, where I live on Womack Creek, as you
21 all call
it, there was a big fight about that
22 four or
five years, six years ago. The same
23 thing
happened there. The lease came -- I mean
24 the State
came in and bought it. Within that
25 period of
time, between the time that the land
.
39
1 was bought
and a management plan could come into
2 effect, it
followed the laws of the State of
3 Florida,
all general regulations, FWC. We have
4 quite a
few officers down there that can patrol
5 the
woods.
6
So to do this, you know, to me, this is
7 something
that is between St. Joe Company and
8 the
leaseholders. The State really doesn't need
9 to have
anything to do with it, I mean, because
10 the
contract with St. Joe, if you'll get a copy
11 of their
contract, says at any time, St. Joe can
12 call it
null and void.
13
So this is what I'm saying. You know, be
14 kind to
the people down there. You know, you're
15 not
talking but just a few months, but it means
16 a
lot. You're talking about maybe a month, a
17 little
over a month of hunting, but it means a
18 lot to
these people down here. They haven't
19 been able
to hunt this land for five or six
20
years. And so that's the reason why I'm saying
21
--
22
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Commissioner --
23 Governor,
if I can.
24
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, sure.
25
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: To answer your
.
40
1 question,
I'll say basically what I said awhile
2 ago.
There will be no -- even if the lessees
3 were off
as of 10 days after the sale of this,
4 this land
will not be available for hunting this
5 year at
all to the public. They cannot create a
6 business
and a management agreement in time for
7 it to be
hunted by the public at all this year.
8 It's going
to be at least next hunting season
9 before
that can take place.
10
So the public is not going to really lose
11 out here
on this agreement, because it can't be
12 open to
the public until all of these agreements
13 and
management plans have been in effect or put
14 in so DEP
can approve them and so forth. So
15 it's
really not going to be open to the public
16 this year
at all.
17
And as you remember, when your situation
18 came up
and we were the managers of some of the
19 property
you're talking about, we worked out an
20 agreement
with those who had already been there
21 through
our management agreement, and I believe
22 that your
family and others have the same lease,
23 the same
area that they've always hunted. Even
24 after we
took over the management of the
25 property,
we worked out that agreement.
.
41
1
MS. SANDERS: There's no leases on Tates
2 Hell,
Commissioner Bronson.
3
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: No, no. Listen to
4 what I'm
saying now. We know that there's
5 people who
are hunting there who are hunting in
6 the same
places they have traditionally hunted
7 all their
life. We made sure that we worked
8 that
agreement out. I think it's a three-year
9 situation,
and then it will be opened up for
10 first
come, first served. We did that. We did
11 that
especially for those families who
12
traditionally have been there so that there
13 wouldn't
be a major problem in there. So I'm
14 trying to
be fair with everybody here.
15
MS. SANDERS: I know.
16
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I want this land
17 sale to
go through, which we're not stopping
18
that. It gives them an opportunity to finish
19 this
year, and then as of April or -- March or
20 April,
whatever that is, then they clear out,
21 and it
will become once again -- the management
22 plan will
open it up to the public at some
23 point,
but it certainly won't be this hunting
24
season.
25
MS. SANDERS: But, Commissioner Bronson, I
.
42
1 differ to
agree with you, because I have no
2
lease. I have no hunting lease. I have no
3 hunting
lease whatsoever. But I'm not going to
4 stand here
and argue, but what I'm trying to
5 tell you
is, on Womack Creek, it was opened up
6 for a
six-month period or a three-month period
7 of time
where general hunting rules of the State
8 of Florida
were, you know, adhered to. That's
9 the way it
was on Womack Creek. It was
10
13,560-something acres that was opened up like
11
that.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: You've got a new sheriff
13 in town
who has got a different management style
14
perhaps. I mean --
15
MS. SANDERS: I know. I know. But I would
16 hope that
the Cabinet would not get into
17
interference with the policy that St. Joe has
18 about
their hunting leases. To me, that's
19 something
that the hunting lessees and St. Joe
20 need to
work out, not you, the Cabinet.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Madam
22
Chairwoman.
23
Do we have another speaker?
24
MR. STRUHS: We do have George Wilson here
25 from the
St. Joe Company, and he can speak
.
43
1
specifically to the hunting leases.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. And you also had
3 another
speaker; right?
4
MR. STRUHS: Yes, sir. We also have Don
5 Ashley
here from the Franklin County Wildlife
6
Federation.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
8
MR. STRUHS: But I will introduce George
9
first.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Sure.
11
MR. WILSON: Good morning, Governor and
12
Cabinet. Thank you for the opportunity to
13
speak. I'm George Wilson with the St. Joe
14
Company.
15
I just wanted to put into the record that
16 even
though we have no dog in the hunt of what
17 you do
after you buy it --
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: So to speak.
19
MR. WILSON: Yes, sir. I've always wanted
20 to use
that.
21
GOVERNOR BUSH: You were waiting. You were
22 waiting
to use that, huh?
23
MR. WILSON: Yes, sir.
24
What we have done under our obligation
25 under the
contract to sell to the State is
.
44
1 terminate
all leases. We have terminated this
2
lease. They have adjacent properties that they
3 hunt on
also under the lease, but we have sent
4 them their
termination notice. They were aware
5 that this
property was under sale to the State.
6 The State
began a survey three years ago on this
7 property,
so it should not be a surprise to
8 anybody
hunting here.
9
And I just want to tell you that I'm not
10 sure how
we extend something unless we un -- we
11 re-enter
into a contract. But we have sent them
12 their
notice. We have sent them a check for the
13 unused
portion of the year.
14
CFO GALLAGHER: We can't extend it then.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: That creates a little bit
16 of a
problem, doesn't it?
17
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Well, maybe. I
18 don't
know, of the people that I talked to, that
19 anyone
has received a check. And I believe the
20 contract
says that at the time of the sale of
21 the
property, that within 10 days they must
22 clear
their personal belongings out of the area.
23 I believe
that's in the contract.
24
But until the official sale of this
25 property,
it's not a done contract in any way,
.
45
1 shape, or
form. So technically, it is not a
2 finished
contract as of yet. And I'm not a
3 lawyer,
but it tells me that until the sale
4 actually
takes place by the Trustees, that
5 contract
is still in effect.
6
And if the Board were to decide to allow
7 them to
finish this season so that there's no
8 hard
feelings of hunters out there who feel like
9 they
didn't even get a chance to start the
10 season
because they were blocked out on the sale
11 -- and as
a matter of fact, I can tell you I've
12 heard
from a few of them, and they didn't even
13 know
about this exchange between Pine Island and
14 this
property as affecting their hunting lease
15 until
they read it in the paper last week.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, let's ask the -- the
17 lease has
already expired. You've given them
18
notice. Is it effective on the closing date or
19 the --
20
MR. WILSON: Yes, sir. The first item in
21 the
four-page contract, which I've given copies
22 to your
staff, is that they've signed a contract
23
recognizing that upon the sale of any part or
24 all of
the property that they're leasing, that
25 we can
give a 10-day notice. We have served --
.
46
1 we have
given them the notice that the property
2 is for
sale, so that they would be obliged -- we
3 are
already cleaning the property up. We've
4 told them
to please get their personal effects
5 off the
property. All of the things that we
6 normally
do on a sale to the State, as we've
7 done on
100,000 other acres, we are going
8 through
the regular process on a state sale.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: But the lease isn't
10 expired,
has not expired?
11
MR. WILSON: It's not expired, but we have
12 issued a
-- we've sent them the letter of
13
termination, which is what they recognized when
14 they
signed the contract with us. So we have
15 sent them
a notice of termination.
16
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: But, now, Governor,
17 if I
could follow through, I want to be fair on
18 this
thing. These individuals paid in July, I
19
understand, for this year's hunting agreement.
20
MR. WILSON: Yes, sir.
21
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: They paid their
22 lease
fees this July. Of course, the hunting
23 season
really don't start until this weekend
24 anyway,
so they haven't had a chance to really
25 hunt at
all this year. It was a three-year
.
47
1 lease
agreement which St. Joe approves each
2 single
year, depending on what happens during
3 the year
as for the next year's agreement. So
4 they've
paid for this year.
5
This sale, based on my motion, does not
6 stop the
sale of this property to the State
7 should we
decide to accept this motion. It does
8 not delay,
does not do anything to the sale of
9 this
property. It will go through as of the
10 agreement
made here by the Board today if we
11 decide to
go through with this sale. So it
12 doesn't
affect St. Joe at all.
13
As a matter of fact, their contractual
14 agreement
on the insurance to the State will be
15 in
effect, because St. Joe under this agreement
16 will
transfer that million-dollar policy to the
17
State. Okay? So the State is not held in any
18 way
accountable. They will have their
19
insurance.
20
They will follow all rules as under the
21 contract
now with St. Joe, and at the end of the
22 season,
they have a 10-day notice, and they have
23 to get
everything off the property. So I don't
24 see that
it affects St. Joe if we buy the
25 property
today, whether this agreement is in
.
48
1 effect or
not.
2
Now, were you told that if this amendment
3 passes
that the sale of the property won't take
4
place? I mean, are you under that assumption?
5
MR. WILSON: Not anymore, no, sir.
6
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Okay. I just want
7 to make
sure that you are not confused about how
8 this is
going to work. So if you were told that
9 if this
amendment goes through, your property
10 cannot be
bought by the State, because the four
11 people
sitting here are going to make that
12 decision.
13
MR. WILSON: Yes, sir. And I'm sure with
14 all of
our lawyers, we can figure out how to --
15
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I just wanted to
16 make sure
you understood that.
17
MR. WILSON: I'm sure we can figure out how
18 to assign
a contract that we have terminated.
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: You haven't terminated it.
20 It's
subject -- you know, it's --
21
CFO GALLAGHER: You've sent a notice.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: You've given them notice
23 that it
will be terminated. It's not terminated
24 until --
25
MR. WILSON: Yes, sir.
.
49
1
GENERAL CRIST: You said it's only
2 terminated
upon -- over here -- upon sale.
3
MR. WILSON: Your contract with us to
4 purchase
the property requires us to terminate
5 all
leases.
6
GENERAL CRIST: Unless we do something --
7
CFO GALLAGHER: Well, that contract didn't
8
change.
9
MR. WILSON: Unless you amend it. Unless
10 you amend
it by your action today, which it
11 looks
like you're doing.
12
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Absolutely. That's
13 exactly
what I was trying to say.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: We have one other speaker.
15
MR. WILSON: Thank you.
16
(Material placed on overhead.)
17
CFO GALLAGHER: I think that's upside-down.
18 You had
it the right place. It was just
19
upside-down.
20
There you go. That brown bear was swimming
21
upside-down.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: That's cool.
23
MR. ASHLEY: Governor and members of the
24 Cabinet,
I'm Don Ashley. I'm actually speaking
25 for the
Florida Wildlife Federation, but I live
.
50
1 in
Franklin County on St. James Island.
2
And I want to encourage the purchase of
3 Crooked
River for the same reason that our
4 County
Commissioner, Cheryl Sanders, indicated.
5 Crooked
River is a very important area.
6
I wanted to show you a picture of one of
7 the
seaside bears that I spoke to you about at
8 the last
meeting. This bear -- this photograph
9 was taken
by a fisherman from East Point. That
10 bear is a
half mile into East Bay, swimming
11 across
the Apalachicola Bay to the marshes to
12 the
north, and he or she, whichever, still had a
13 half a
mile to go.
14
I think the point that I would like to try
15 to make
about St. James Island, it is one of the
16 most
unique places in Florida. It's one of the
17 few
remaining areas where we have enough land
18 and
enough wilderness to support black bears,
19 and at
the same time, it's obviously prime
20
development habitat. So it's going to be this
21
continuing Florida choice of what to develop,
22 where to
develop it, at what density, and can we
23 protect
both.
24
From our side, we would like to encourage
25 you to
purchase this. It gives us the bookend
.
51
1 to the
rest.
2
And I promise you this: As a private
3 sector and
community initiative, we will try to
4 help as a
community connect Tates Hell and Bald
5 Point
State Park through conservation easements,
6 through
working with St. Joe for their buffer
7 areas and
greenways. In other words, the State
8 has done
its part to get us most of the way
9
there. Now it's up to private sector and
10 community
initiative to try to go ahead and
11 balance
this development with conservation.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Where is St. James Island?
13
MR. ASHLEY: It's directly south of
14
Sopchoppy. You go down 319, you cross the
15 bridge,
and St. James Island is bordered on the
16 east --
or actually that's the north, by
17
Ochlockonee Bay, Carrabelle to the west. And
18 it's only
60,000 acres for the entire island,
19 and St.
Joe owns 50,000 of it.
20
So you can see the challenge we have in
21 front of
us is to try to balance all of these
22 issues
that Florida has had to balance
23
statewide. We're going to work hard at it.
24 We're
deeply involved in this process.
25
And I would like to invite the Governor and
.
52
1 Cabinet to
come down sometime. It's only an
2 hour south
of Tallahassee. What other state
3 capital
can you go to wilderness black bear
4 habitat
within an hour? It's just a very unique
5 area, and
we hope you'll come visit with us.
6
And as our Commissioner said, we need a
7 little bit
of help in Franklin County. I went
8 to an
economic development meeting yesterday in
9
Apalachicola. They ranked seafood industry
10
assistance as their number one goal in Franklin
11
County. And so it's really important that we
12 work with
these rural counties to look at
13 economic
development as well as conservation.
14
So thank you for listening, and we hope to
15 see you
sometime in Franklin County.
16
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. I'm going to
17 propose
to the Legislature a rural county
18 program
that changes the funding priorities
19 towards
the smaller rural areas. Franklin
20 County
looks like it's going to be growing so
21 much it
may not be qualified. Eventually it
22 won't
be. Now it clearly is.
23
But we do have to change, I think, our
24
strategies for the areas. Because of our
25 property
tax, the millage rate issues and
.
53
1 homestead
exemption, a lot of these counties
2 have a
really difficult time being able -- and
3 the
infrastructure costs, which are higher per
4 job for
industry to come in. So we're going to
5 try to do
our best.
6
MR. ASHLEY: Thank you, Governor. Dave
7 McLain
with ABARK is not here today, but Dave
8 has
indicated he would really like to work
9 together
with me during this session to come and
10 just try
to explain some of these issues. So
11 thank you
very much.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: How would you like to be a
13 fisherman
in the bay and all of a sudden you see
14 a bear
coming right by you?
15
MR. ASHLEY: It's a unique place.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: You better learn how to row
17 fast,
I'll tell you that.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, he's fishing too.
19
CFO GALLAGHER: David, before we vote on
20 this, I
just want to make sure it's clear that
21 we have a
million-dollar policy that is made out
22 to St.
Joe gets assigned or another policy is
23 put in
place for the leasehold. Okay?
24
MR. STRUHS: Yes.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: Also, we'll make clear that
.
54
1 we're not
talking about -- correct me if I'm
2
wrong. Your amendment, Commissioner Bronson, it
3 says the
State must be clear that it will not
4 accept or
continue the lease itself. So we're
5 not --
6
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: After this season,
7 after this
official season, there is no more
8 lease with
these leaseholders.
9
GOVERNOR BUSH: So the lease will --
10
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: It will be null and
11
void.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: You have to extend the
13 lease?
14
CFO GALLAGHER: No.
15
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: No.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: This is the first year of
17 it for a
three-year lease, and what he's saying
18 is,
there's no more two years.
19
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Right. Once this
20 season is
over, that lease that was originally
21 signed
with St. Joe is over with, and they have
22 10 days
to get all their stuff off.
23
GOVERNOR BUSH: You're going to have to
24 assign
the lease. You're going to have to do
25
something. What are you going to do? What are
.
55
1 you
proposing that we do?
2
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: That the State
3 accepts
this one year till April --
4
GOVERNOR BUSH: I know that. I'm talking
5 about
legally, to make sure that we give the
6
instructions correctly to the staff. You're
7 proposing
that we be assigned the leasehold
8 interest
from St. Joe.
9
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Till April.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: And that that lease will be
11 -- in
advance, we'll give them notice that the
12 lease
will be terminated at the end of hunting
13 season,
whenever that is.
14
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Correct.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: Which is February or March,
16 not next
fall.
17
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Right. Correct.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: You got it?
19
CFO GALLAGHER: They can either take it as
20 an
assignment, or they can sign a new one. They
21 can do
whatever they need to do to have the same
22 one-year
lease agreement that they have right
23 now.
24
MR. STRUHS: We have a very clear
25
understanding of precisely what it is you're
.
56
1 trying to
accomplish.
2
GOVERNOR BUSH: The last thing we need to
3 do is mess
up the sale.
4
MR. STRUHS: Right. And I think it's going
5 to require
a little bit of work on our end, with
6 your
staff's assistance, to come up with exactly
7 the
language to craft this, but I'm confident we
8 can do
it.
9
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Absolutely.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: And if these guys have
11 gotten
their checks refunded --
12
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I don't believe so.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: We might as well get that
14 check
back too.
15
CFO GALLAGHER: Oh, yeah. They've got to
16 still
pay.
17
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: If there have been
18 any
received checks, they need to give it back
19 to St.
Joe, because I don't know of a single one
20 that has
received it yet, so -- then those
21 checks
need to go back to St. Joe.
22
CFO GALLAGHER: And then come back to the
23
State.
24
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Right.
25
GOVERNOR BUSH: All right. There's an
.
57
1 amended
motion and a second. Any other
2
discussion?
3
Without objection, the item passes.
4
MR. STRUHS: Thank you very much.
5
CFO GALLAGHER: Now, that was on --
6
MR. STRUHS: Our final item is --
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: No, we did both. We
8 amended
the -- he amended the motion.
9
CFO GALLAGHER: But we never voted on the
10
amendment.
11
GOVERNOR BUSH: No, he just amended the
12
motion.
13
CFO GALLAHAGER: Okay. And that was
14
seconded.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes. You seconded it.
16
CFO GALLAGHER: I did?
17
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
18
MR. STRUHS: Our final item is --
19
GOVERNOR BUSH: Got the old juices flowing,
20
Commissioner Bronson, on that hunting lease
21 thing,
man.
22
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Just trying to be
23 fair,
Governor.
24
CFO GALLAGHER: You know, we can't handle
25 all that
fairness.
.
58
1
COMMISSIONER BRONSON: This serious. It's
2 hunting
season.
3
MR. STRUHS: Our final item is a little bit
4 unusual,
and we're fortunate to have Janet
5 Llewellyn
here, who is going to offer you a very
6 brief
refresher on the Lake Belt Plan. The law
7 -- Janet,
if you want to go ahead and set up
8 your
map.
9
The existing statute to implement the Lake
10 Belt law
has been in place for four years now.
11 This
particular land exchange has been under
12
consideration since about the first of this
13
year. All the various parties have been
14 involved
in it. We believe this item is in fact
15
consistent with the Lake Belt Plan and statute.
16 It does
enjoy the support of the South Florida
17 Water
Management District.
18
Yesterday your Cabinet Aides in working
19 with the
County and the company in this case,
20 Florida
Rock, did amend and come up with an
21
alternative agreement, so we need to make sure
22 that you
are aware of what that agreement is.
23 But I
think from what I understand this morning,
24 all the
parties are prepared to move forward
25 with that
agreement.
.
59
1
But to begin with, if I could invite Janet
2 to take a
couple of minutes and just review the
3 big
picture of what the Lake Belt Plan is all
4 about.
5
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
6
MS. LLEWELLYN: Good morning.
7
CFO GALLAGHER: Let me get us in place.
8 I'll move
5 so that we can --
9
MR. STRUHS: Thank you, sir.
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
11
GENERAL CRIST: Second.
12
CFO GALLAGHER: Go ahead.
13
MS. LLEWELLYN: The area we're going to be
14 talking
about today is the Miami-Dade County
15 Lake Belt
Area. We're in western Dade County,
16 and it's
generally this colored area on the map
17
here. We're located between the Everglades on
18 the west
-- this is Conservation Area 3B -- and
19 urbanized
Dade County on the east. So this is a
20 slice of
land right in the middle.
21
It has been historically used for limerock
22 mining
since the 1950s. The mining companies
23 acquired
a lot of reserves in this area in the
24 '60s and
the '70s. The blue, dark blue on this
25 map
indicates existing limerock mine pits. The
.
60
1 light blue
is the other miner ownership in that
2 part of
the Lake Belt.
3
Other major features of the area to know
4 about, the
largest urban wellfield for
5 Miami-Dade
County, public supply wellfield, is
6 located in
the Lake Belt, and these are the
7 wellheads
right here running north to south.
8 Another
major feature in the area is known as
9 the
Pennsuco wetlands, this green area here.
10
In 1992, the Legislature established the
11
Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Committee, and the
12 purpose
of the committee was to look at this
13 area and
try to develop a plan that best
14 balanced
these somewhat competing uses. The
15 plan was
to accomplish several things, try to
16 maximize
limerock extraction from this area, to
17 protect
the wellfield, and to protect the
18
environment. The committee worked for numerous
19 years,
and finally in 2000, the Legislature
20 accepted
the plan.
21
One of the fundamental principles of the
22 plan was
to try to get the Pennsuco wetlands
23 into
public ownership, restore it -- and it's a
24 part of
Everglades restoration -- to try to get
25 the
parcels in the middle of the area owned by
.
61
1 the State
that weren't being used for anything
2 into
limerock mining ownership so rock could be
3 extracted
there, all of this in compliance with
4 the Dade
County wellfield protection ordinances.
5 And let me
speak just briefly to those.
6
The area generally here that you see in the
7 lighter
color represents what's known as the
8 60-day
travel time. There are two different
9 zones of
protection around the wellfield. One
10 is the
30-day travel time, which is closer in,
11 and no
mining is allowed there by the County.
12 In the
60-day travel time, mining is allowed,
13 but only
down to 40 feet. And currently, by
14
ordinance, mining is potentially allowable
15 outside
that 60-day travel time.
16
One other piece of background I'll give
17 you, and
that is the exchange that we're going
18 to be
talking about today. So you can see where
19 it fits
in on the big map, it's located right
20 here and
up here, so just keep that in mind.
21
MR. STRUHS: Janet, I think if you could
22 just walk
them through this map as well.
23
MS. LLEWELLYN: Okay.
24
MR. STRUHS: This next map will -- that's
25 the broad
background of the lake plan. What
.
62
1 Janet will
now do is focus in specifically to
2 the
parcels affected by this proposed agenda
3 item.
4
MS. LLEWELLYN: You can go ahead and zoom
5 in on
that, if you can.
6
As part of the Lake Belt Plan, it was
7 identified
that there are three mining companies
8 that owned
major amounts of acreage in the
9 Pennsuco
that we would like to bring into public
10
ownership, and those are Rinker, Tarmac, and
11 Florida
Rock.
12
Early on in the Lake Belt Plan, the
13
state-owned parcels in the middle were looked
14 at, and
it was noticed that they sort of nicely
15 lined up
with where each of those three
16
companies' processing facilities were, and
17 cement
plants. So the concept as part of the
18 Lake Belt
Plan was to do some kind of exchange
19 or swap
so the public could get the land in the
20 Pennsuco
and the miners would get the scattered
21 state
land parcels in the middle.
22
The exchange we have before you today,
23 Florida
Rock owns the parcels in yellow.
24
GENERAL CRIST: Can you pull that up so we
25 can see
the whole item? There you go. Thank
.
63
1 you.
Try it again.
2
MS. LLEWELLYN: This is the parcel that
3 Florida
Rock currently retains ownership in the
4
Pennsuco. These yellow parcels here are
5 currently
owned by Florida Rock. Some of them
6 are within
the 30-day travel time to the
7 wellfield,
and a few of them, a few of this area
8 right here
is within the 60-day travel time.
9 The land
exchange -- and I'll leave the
10 valuation
to the staff that will come up after
11 me -- is
to exchange these Florida Rock parcels
12 for the
state-owned land here in Section 15 and
13 Section
9.
14
This gives public ownership over the high
15 quality
wetlands in the Pennsuco. It puts into
16 public
ownership the land within the 60-day
17 protected
travel time of the wellfield and moves
18 the rock
mining ownership further out away from
19 the
wellfield.
20
MR. STRUHS: Before I open it up to
21 questions
with Janet, the one thing I do want to
22 emphasize
is that the future permitting of
23
additional rock mining in this area is in fact
24 governed
by Miami-Dade County, so they continue
25 to have
the authority to determine whether or
.
64
1 not these
areas in fact are mined in the future
2 or
not.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Tell me what the difference
4 is between
the development rights for mining
5 between
the yellow properties to the east and
6 the greens
in the agreement we're proposing --
7 that
you're proposing to be swapped.
8
MR. STRUHS: Within the -- if you can
9 imagine,
to the east of the 30-day line, there
10 is no
mining. Mining is prohibited. In the
11 zone
between the 60-day and 30-day line, the
12 section
between those two red lines, you can
13 mine if
you get a permit, but it's limited to 40
14 feet in
depth.
15
GOVERNOR BUSH: They don't have permits
16 right
now?
17
MR. STRUHS: I'm sorry, sir.
18
GOVERNOR BUSH: None of these properties
19 are
permitted for mining?
20
MR. STRUHS: Some them are. No?
21
MS. LLEWELLYN: I don't believe so. The
22 yellow
Florida Rock parcel isn't.
23
MR. STRUHS: No, none of them are. None of
24 them are.
25
CFO GALLAGHER: You can't do mining in that
.
65
1
area.
2
MR. STRUHS: None of them are. But it
3 would be
allowed under the county ordinance to
4 40
feet. Then to the west of the 60-day line,
5 that's
where mining would be allowed. But
6 again,
it's all subject to permitting.
7
GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
8
CFO GALLAGHER: Let me -- on the motion
9 that I
made, that was including the agreement in
10 principle
between Miami-Dade County and Florida
11 Rock
regarding the Section 15 land exchange that
12 was made
November 24th. I want to make sure
13 that's
included in my motion.
14
GOVERNOR BUSH: I hope we're going to hear
15 about
that.
16
MR. STRUHS: Yes. What I would like to do,
17 because
we were not party to the negotiation of
18 that
agreement last night, I don't really want
19 to speak
to it myself, but what I would invite
20 you to do
is to hear directly from the company
21 and from
Miami-Dade County.
22
CFO GALLAGHER: I just wanted to make sure
23 that the
motion we pass includes the agreement
24 we're
about to hear about.
25
MR. STRUHS: Right. So with that, we have
.
66
1 Mr. McCabe
and Mr. Brant from Miami-Dade. I
2 believe
he's here, isn't he?
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
4
MR. BRANT: Good morning, Governor and
5 members of
the Cabinet. My name is Bill Brant.
6 I'm the
director of Miami-Dade County's water
7 and sewer
department. We are the owners and
8 operators
of the entire water and wastewater
9 system for
about 2 million people in Miami-Dade
10 County,
and that includes the Northwest
11 Wellfield
that Mr. Struhs, Secretary Struhs has
12 just
identified for you. We, of course, are a
13 partner
in this effort that Janet has identified
14 for you
and the whole Lake Belt proceedings.
15
I am pleased to tell you today that, as
16 Secretary
Struhs mentioned, late last night we
17 were able
to come to an agreement with Florida
18 Rock, an
agreement in principle as to how to go
19 forward
with this property. We are satisfied
20 with that
agreement and very pleased to announce
21 that to
you.
22
And I would like to make special thanks to
23 your
staff, who stayed long hours with us
24 yesterday
and helped facilitate this agreement.
25 It was
struck between the County and Florida
.
67
1 Rock late
yesterday evening.
2
On future land dealings in this area around
3 our
Northwest Wellfield, I think it's very clear
4 we are
very concerned about what happens to the
5 properties
surrounding our wellfield. We do
6 want to
partner with the State. I discussed
7 this with
Secretary Struhs's staff, and they
8 have
absolutely committed to me to work with us
9 on future
activities surrounding our Lake Belt.
10
So thank you very much, and happy
11
Thanksgiving.
12
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
13
MR. McCABE: Governor and Cabinet members,
14 I too
would like to thank the staff for their
15 hard work
in helping us come together. We're
16 delighted
to be able to help in the Everglades
17
restoration program by making this land
18 available
through the exchange, and we certainly
19 pledge
our cooperation to Miami-Dade County to
20 work to
make sure and protect the wellfields.
21
Thank you very much.
22
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. Are there any
23 other
people who would like to speak?
24
MR. STRUHS: No, there are not.
25
If you have any questions as to valuation,
.
68
1 we do have
staff here to address that.
2 Otherwise,
we recommend the item for approval.
3
GOVERNOR BUSH: Any other discussion?
4 There's a
motion, which includes the inclusion
5 of the
agreement in principle between Miami-Dade
6 County and
Florida Rock as part and parcel to
7 that
resolution, and a second. All in favor say
8
aye.
9
(Simultaneous affirmative responses.)
10
GOVERNOR BUSH: All opposed?
11
Very good.
12
MR. STRUHS: Thank you.
13
GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
14
(Proceedings concluded at 10:15 a.m.)
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
69
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
68 are a
12 true and correct transcription of my
stenographic
13 notes.
14 I FURTHER
CERTIFY that I am not a relative,
15 employee, attorney or counsel of any of the
parties,
16 or relative or employee of such attorney or
counsel,
17 or financially interested in the
action.
18 DATED
THIS 4th day of December, 2003.
19
20
21
22
___________________________
MARY ALLEN NEEL,
RPR
23
2894-A Remington Green
Lane
Tallahassee, Florida
32308
24
(850)
878-2221
25
.
Cabinet
Affairs
