Mike Merrill, Director of the County's Debt Management, touted a new proposal calling it a hybrid. Hillsborough county wetland lovers shudder when they hear the word hybrid and in this case...............totally appropriate. If FCEG's first proposal was a mountain of horse shit then this was a third of a mountain combining private ownership with ELAPP ownership and the water utility retaining part of it.
Attorney Susan Fernandez tried to explain to the panel if the potential sale needed a competitive bidding process. You tell me what she is trying to say with this excerpt and there is a free pile of horse manure in it for you.
IN GENERAL -- IN GENERAL, COUNTY PROPERTY IS DISPOSED OF
THROUGH A COMPETITIVE PROCESS, BUT THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS.
SECTION 125.38 OF THE STATUTES AUTHORIZES THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO SELL PROPERTY THAT IS NOT NEEDED
FOR COUNTY PURPOSES TO ANOTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY OR TO A
NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION IF IT PROMOTES THE COMMUNITY
INTEREST AND WELFARE TO DO SO.
NO COMPETITIVE PROCESS IS REQUIRED.
THE STATUTE ALLOWS THE BOARD TO SELL OR LEASE THE PROPERTY
FOR WHATEVER PRICE THE BOARD MAY DETERMINE, EVEN IF IT'S A
NOMINAL AMOUNT, AND REGARDLESS OF THE ACTUAL VALUE OF THE
PROPERTY.
THERE IS, HOWEVER, A HUGE CAVEAT WITH REGARD TO CONE RANCH.
EVEN THOUGH THE STATUTE AUTHORIZES THAT TYPE OF A SALE AT
WHATEVER PRICE THE BOARD MAY DETERMINE, THE BOND COVENANTS
APPLICABLE TO CONE RANCH HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED.
SO REGARDLESS OF WHETHER CONE RANCH IS SOLD THROUGH A
COMPETITIVE OR A NONCOMPETITIVE PROCESS -- EXCUSE ME -- TO
A FOR-PROFIT OR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION OR TO A
GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY, THE BOND RESOLUTION REQUIRES THAT ANY
DISPOSITION OF CONE RANCH BE FOR FAIR MARKET VALUE.
NOW, BASED ON THE STATUTE AND BEARING IN MIND THE
RESTRICTIONS OF THE BOND COVENANTS, A SALE TO A
CONSERVATION LAND TRUST SUCH AS THAT PROPOSED BY FCEG FOR
FAIR MARKET VALUE COULD BE DONE DIRECTLY AND WITHOUT ANY
KIND OF A COMPETITIVE PROCESS.
YOU COULD DO A COMPETITIVE PROCESS, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS NOT
REQUIRED.
She must be from the Pat Bean school of doublespeak!
The only people who really made perfect sense just happened to be every single member of the general public who uniformly spoke in favor of keeping the land in public hands. Wesley Bailey advised the panel that creating a non for profit trust in order to sell Cone Ranch without a competitive bidding process was a flawed legal theory. George Niemann, our own CL contributor, told the panel that he was skeptical of anything proposed by the Captain of Team Sprawl (Hagan) and urged the panel to actually do something during this meeting even if it took all night causing him to miss dinner. He also explained that citizens trust ELAPP (the county's own land buying program) and urged them to come to a consensus. ( lots of tin ears in the room George but good try)
Grandmother at Large, Marilyn Smith mentioned that the water utility is a part of Hillsborough County and turns to General Vanderploog, Director of the water resources dept, and asked him if he defected? When he indicated that they had not she then proclaimed that he (meaning the water utility) still belonged to the people of Hillsborough County and added "you get your authority from the people of Hillsborough County, let's not forget it!" And although I was sitting in the back it appeared that General Vanderploog quickly nodded yes to Grandmother at Large. Bev Griffiths spoke for the Sierra Club and noted the environmental reasons to keep Cone Ranch including aquifer recharge, the connection to the Green Swamp and the wildlife corridor. Viv Bacca hit a grand slam home run blasting through a lot of the obstacles and slashing the red tape county staff keeps throwing up regarding this land. Among other things she exposed the myth that the staff keeps spinning about the water rights on the property actually being worth something when she revealed that they were purchased for only one dollar! Her impeccable research made the highly paid staff look like fools. I think her whole speech deserves to be read and you can see it here.
Elizabeth Belcher questioned the legality of the bidding process (or lack of one) and why FCEG seemed to get all the time they need while those opposed to this sale are limited? (Great point!) And since the panel still seemed to think that condos could be built on this preserved and publicly owned property I explained to them during public comment that the Cone Ranch is on our Comprehensive Plan as preservation. To change this would require a comprehensive plan amendment (which would have a public hearing at the Planning Commission and the BOCC )and ultimately the BOCC would have to vote to on this and that probably even our worst Commissioners knew that changing a preservation designation was a bad idea. I suggested they have a staff member from the Planning Commission come in and explain this process to them. I also urged them to give the land to ELAPP where it would be safe (from our Commissioners) because I couldn't find any evidence that there has ever been a panel established on how to sell off a piece of ELAPP land once we have acquired it. Pam Clouston continued to hammer them on her list of questions she had submitted even before the first meeting. She still wondered exactly how much FCEG stood to make on the deal and exposed the holes in the so called land trust idea.
Alligator Bob had the final word saying that he was a taxpayer who didn't like to pay twice for something (because the public already owns Cone Ranch). Every citizen made fantastic points making the paid staff and even some of the panelists look off track and ill prepared. And it was very apparent how much of a farce this really is.
Since ELAPP (the county's own land buying program which the voters overwhelmingly approved) just gave the Cone Ranch what sounds like the highest rating ever you would think the panel would take that into serious consideration during this meeting. Sadly, it was only a re-run of past meetings (the panel accomplished absolutely nothing).
At the end when we realized they were not going to get a damn thing done toward resolving this joke of a proposal the people in my row sat mumbling and shaking our heads and then a voice from the row behind me says.........."They have just shuffled the tits off the Queen."
After the meeting I reviewed some of the documents available online thanks to the county's website for the Cone Ranch Panel (or should I say thanks to taxpayers) and I was surprised to see a letter by FCEG (the brokers wanting to get their hands on Cone Ranch) indicating that they had met with the Chair of the Panel, Heidi McCree, along with our highly paid lobbyist Edith Stewart. The letter indicated McCree met with them privately on behalf of the entire advisory panel. I did not remember the panel ever authorizing her to speak privately on their behalf with these brokers during recent meetings nor could I find it in the transcripts. If it doesn't actually violate any rules or protocol it sure looks bad to have the Chair meeting on the panel's behalf without their blessing or knowledge, very bad.
If any Commissioners are reading this..........the longer you let this crap go on the worse you look. This is an easy answer, it isn't speed bump science! Sell, no TRANSFER the land to ELAPP because taxpayers already footed the bill once for it. To do anything else at this point will probably be political suicide. And for those of you who claim to be fiscal conservatives, I asked our highly paid lobbyist associated with the panel to give me a copy of the bill on what the first five meetings have cost. I asked her to include staff time for reports prepared, presented or submitted by the real estate dept, the bean counters, the attorneys, the EPC or anybody else wasting their time on this ridiculous proposal. In addition the costs of broadcasting the meeting, having staff on hand during these very long meetings and even turning on the lights. So, even if you ultimately do the right thing and transfer the land to ELAPP (which is a no-brainer) the taxpayers still get the bill for this sideshow. Once Ms. Stewart provides me with the bottom line on costs I fully expect you to back that amount off any costs associated with the transfer of Cone Ranch and cut ELAPP a check. Now, please get back to work and sue Kevin White for our $500,000 back and investigate Bean's I think I deserve a raise award! Thanks.
