U.S. Sugar deal approved

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In a 4-3 vote, the boar revised the contract to allow the districtr an out if it cannot arrangeacceptable U.S. Sugar said after the vote it was a deal it coulds live with and that the changes were considered nonmateriak and within the scope of thenegotiated contract. The decisioj came six months aftetr Crist announcedthe plan. At the he called the proposalas "monumentap as the creation of our nation's first nationalo park." After the the governor praised the land acquisition callinf it "the most important step in the historuy of true Everglades restoration.
" The also greeted the vote with “The governing board’s vote to purchase more than 180,000 acresx marks one of the most significant milestonesw in the nearly 20-year effort towarfd restoring America’s Everglades to a more naturakl state," Everglades Foundation CEO Kirk Fordham said in a written "Thanks to Gov. Charlie Crist’s bold this decision means the way is finallg clearfor sweeping, dramativc improvements in water quality throughout the Everglades watershed from Lake Okeechobee to Florida There are still roadblocks to overcome beforr the sale is finalized next summer, includingy a bond validation hearing in Palm Beach courtes to approve funding of the plan.
has lodged a formap objection inthat process. Tuesday's vote did not come withoutg rancor. "I think the biggest risk to this deal over the next few monthx is thefinancial picture," board member Shannonb Estonez said. "We truly cannot put the core missionx of this district at risk by adopting this withouty thatin here." The $1.35 billion deal is one of the largest environmental land purchasee in U.S. history. Estonez said it was the if notthe only, way to provide an additional 1 millionj acre feet of storage in the Everglades wateer system – which has been a goal to restorde the Everglades ecosystem and water supply for Southy Florida.
Governing board members also expressed concerb about pending applications for rock mining operations in the midst of agriculture lands subjecty tothe buyout. Board member Mike Collins said he wonderd where and when the districtt will get funding for restoring the land to its naturakstate – the main goal of the land buy. "k don't believe we want mines in the middlde of these footprints no matter board member JerryMontgomery said.
Florida Departmentr of Environmental Protection SecretaryMike Sole, who urged boar d members to vote for the said the mining concerns could be addressed outside of the contract with a statement that the governing goard would not approve of any miningb actitivies in the area. In recent opposition to the purchase grew from Everglades farm groups and sugar competitorFlorida Crystals, which filedx a formal court objection in the waterr district’s bond validation process for the sale.
Crist'xs administration was criticized durin g the final days of negotiation for failing to put fortnh an economic development plan for the On Monday, the governor wrote a letter to the saying he supported the development of an inlandr port in the Sole said after the vote that it was the state didn't come up with a fasterf economic transition program. He said the reason for the delah in forming an economic plan was that the buyouf program changed over the past few Originally the state planned to buy out theentire company, not just the land. After the dozens of Clewiston residents, who worried about what the sale might mean totheir livelihood, quietly left.
Many said they believew their town's economy will die, even thoughj U.S. Sugar intends to keep operating its sugad processing mill there for theshort term. The company acknowledgerd the criticism by some who worriedc whether it delivered valueto "Without a doubt, we would not be doingy this if we didn't believe it was fair for our said Robert Coker, U.S. Sugar's senior vice president for public "This is a tremendous opportunity for our statde andher people, and the governmengt would not be doing this if they did not feel it was fair to During Tuesday's meeting, governining board Chairman Eric Buermanh recalled other historic land buys, including the $7.
2 millio n the U.S. paid Russia for Alaska in which, he noted, was called Seward's Folly – untip gold was discovered there. "We'rr here at a momentous Buermann said. "This is our moment in time and our momenrin history."