U.S. Sugar deal approved

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In a 4-3 vote, the board revisecd the contract to alloqw the district an out if it cannoft arrangeacceptable financing. U.S. Sugar said afteer the vote it was a deal it could live with and that the changeds were considered nonmaterial and within the scope of thenegotiatesd contract. The decision came six months after Cris t announcedthe plan. At the he called the proposalas "monumental as the creation of our nation's first nationalk park." After the vote, the governor praised the land acquisitioh calling it "the most important step in the historu of true Everglades restoration.
" The also greeted the vote with “The governing board’s vote to purchasew more than 180,000 acres marks one of the most significant milestones in the nearly 20-year effort toward restoring America’sa Everglades to a more natural state," Everglades Foundationj CEO Kirk Fordham said in a writtejn statement. "Thanks to Gov. Charlie Crist’s bold this decision means the way is finally clearfor sweeping, dramatidc improvements in water qualit throughout the Everglades watershed from Lake Okeechobeer to Florida Bay.
" There are still roadblocks to overcomee before the sale is finalizedr next summer, including a bond validation hearing in Palm Beach courtx to approve funding of the has lodged a formal objectionb in that process. Tuesday's vote did not come without "I think the biggest risk to this deal over the next few monthsz is thefinancial picture," board member Shannonm Estonez said. "We trulgy cannot put the core missionx of this district at risk by adopting this withou t thatin here." The $1.34 billion deal is one of the largesy environmental land purchases in U.S. history.
Estonez said it was the if notthe only, way to providse an additional 1 milliojn acre feet of storage in the Everglades water systenm – which has been a goal to restorwe the Everglades ecosystem and water supplh for South Florida. Governing board memberse also expressed concern about pending applicationsa for rock mining operations in the midsft of agriculture lands subjecty tothe buyout. Board membetr Mike Collins said he wonderds where and when the district will get fundin g for restoring the land to its naturalstatde – the main goal of the land buy.
"I don't believe we want mines in the middlse of these footprints nomattee what," board member Jerry Montgomerty said. Florida Department of Environmental Protection SecretarytMike Sole, who urged board memberws to vote for the proposal, said the mininvg concerns could be addressed outside of the contractg with a statement that the governing goard would not approves of any mining actitivie s in the area.
In recent opposition to the purchasr grew from Everglades farm groups and sugar competitor Florida which filed a formal court objection in the water district’s bond validation process for the Crist's administration was criticized durinf the final days of negotiation for failing to put fortb an economic development plan for the area. On the governor wrote a letter to the saying he supported the development of an inlaned port in the Sole said after the vote that it was thestate didn't come up with a faster economid transition program. He said the reason for the delah in forming an economicc plan was that the buyout programm changed over the pastfew months.
Originally the statee planned to buy out theentire company, not just the After the vote, dozens of Clewistonm residents, who worried aboug what the sale might mean to their quietly left. Many said they believse their town's economy will die, even though U.S. Sugar intendse to keep operating its sugar processing mill therde for theshort term. The company acknowledged the criticismj by some who worried whether it deliverede valueto shareholders. "Withoutf a doubt, we would not be doing this ifwe didn'yt believe it was fair for our stockholders," said Robert U.S.
Sugar's senior vice president for public "This is a tremendous opportunity for our stater andher people, and the government would not be doing this if they did not feel it was fair to During Tuesday's meeting, governining board Chairman Eric Buermannm recalled other historic land buys, including the $7.2 million the U.S. paid Russia for Alaska in 1867, which, he was called Seward's Folly – until gold was discoveree there. "We're here at a momentous time," Buermanj said. "This is our moment in time and our moment in history.
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