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U.S. Sugar-Everglades deal kept alive

Miami Herald – March 12, 2010

Gov. Charlie Crist’s Big Sugar land buy survives — for now.

The South Florida Water Management District governing board agreed Thursday to extend the deadline on a $536 million land deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp. — only after getting assurances from its attorneys that there were no loopholes in an ``out’’ clause that could still allow the district to back out of the deal later if it decides it can’t afford it.

The 9-0 vote was a key victory for Crist, who has twice downsized the deal in an effort to keep it alive, and for supporters who consider the massive land purchase critical to providing the Everglades with clean and plentiful water. About two dozen environmentalists and other advocates urged the board to seize a ``singular opportunity’’ to help restore the Everglades.

Sara Fain, co-chair of the Everglades Coalition, which includes 53 of the state’s largest environmental groups, dismissed complaints that the deal would enrich a struggling company and buy poorly placed parcels the district cannot afford to build anything on. U.S. Sugar was the only willing seller in the sprawling farm belt south of Lake Okeechobee, she said.

``You have a mission to restore the Everglades, and this is what you need to do to it,’’ she said. ``A small group of naysayers is saying, `This is not the deal.’ But what’s the other deal? There is no other deal.’‘

But rival growers and the Miccosukee Tribe urged the board to use an expiring deadline in the contract to kill it. They argued that the agency’s own financial advisors and budget managers predict gushers of red ink and major cuts to existing projects and programs — even without adding the $45 million in annual debt payments to finance the land buy.

``Proceeding with this deal is like taking out a loan for a fancy car when you can’t feed and clothe your children,’’ said Barbara Miedema, vice president of the Belle Glade-based Florida Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative, a coalition of small growers.

WEAKER LANGUAGE?

A day earlier, attorneys for Florida Crystals, U.S. Sugar’s biggest competitor, had warned that financial ``out’’ language in an earlier deal had been weakened in the current one, in a way that could force the district to raise taxes to cover costs or expose it to a breach-of-contract lawsuit from U.S. Sugar. The governor and board have pledged not to increase property tax rates to make the purchase.

The board approved a six-month extension after district attorneys downplayed the language tweaks, contending that additional provisions capped the district liability at $5 million if it were to lose a lawsuit. The board intends to study its options for trimming the budget or shuffling funds in coming months.

If the deal survives, it would secure the state 72,500 acres of citrus groves and sugar fields with options to purchase an additional 107,000 acres of farms fields for about $794 million. Plans call for the land to be converted into reservoirs and pollution-treatment marshes, though it is unclear when that would happen or how much that would cost.

The deadline in question was a March 31 expiration date for a court to ``validate’’ the bonds the district intends to use to finance the land buy. Last year, in a lawsuit brought by Florida Crystals and the Miccosukees, a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge signed off on the first phase but rejected a credit line sought by the district to cover the option lands.

The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal on April 7.

POLITICAL COVER

Gaston Cantens, a Florida Sugar vice president, questioned the timing of the new September deadline, saying it would offer Crist convenient political cover if the deal collapses. The governor, who has touted the land buy as a major accomplishment, is trailing in polls for a U.S. Senate seat and faces a tough Republican primary election in August.

Charles Dauray, a board member from Southwest Florida, where polluted water from Lake Okeechobee has repeatedly triggered foul algae blooms, acknowledged the district faced difficult budget decisions. But he said the sugar land offered the best chance to fix pollution problems that plague not only the Everglades but rivers and estuaries on both coasts.

``We can not afford not to proceed with this contract,’’ he said.

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