I'll be on 1370 WCOA at 7:00 This Morning Discussing DR Horton Offer for OLF 8

I'll be on the area's most factual, trusted, and highest rated morning drive news program "Real News with Rick Outzen"  this morning at 7:00 AM to discuss the OLF 8 offer in detail...

Rick Outzen, host of the area's best, most connected, most accurate, most insightful, most listened-to and most trusted morning drive news show "Real News with Rick Outzen"--has asked me to come on the show this morning at 7:00 AM to give insight into the latest DR Horton offer for the county's OLF 8 property in Beulah.

My intention is to go through the offer piece by piece with Rick so his listeners will know exactly where we stand with this deal, how we got here, and where we are headed.

Listen live this morning at 7:00 -- or download the podcast which, once posted, I will link here.

Deal for OLF 8: Response from Stirling/Horton Coming Tuesday

Mark Twain once famously stated, toward the end of his life, that "Reports of my passing have been greatly exaggerated."  Ditto for the OLF-8 Sale agreement.....reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated.

There have been rumors.  Speculation has run rampant.

Folks that don't want the OLF-8 deal to go through worry about what will be built.

Still others spread propaganda that the deal is DEAD.

So I worked the phones late last week and called some folks that are in the know.

As the old Mark Twain trope goes,  "Rumors of the deal's passing have been greatly exaggerated" 

Here's the real deal.  Stirling and Horton are both still in the deal, according to what I was told Friday.  Apparently, there was a different, unrelated deal that Horton was working and it consumed time/effort to bring in for a landing.  That deal apparently has been resolved.  And they have now been focusing on re-tooling their response to the latest BCC counter where we also stipulated we are holding back 250 acres for job creation.

According to some--that scared these offerors out of the deal.

Not so, according to those that know.  Nope.  The deal is on, and the BCC should have the latest offer for consideration this coming Tuesday by close of business.

Stay tuned--I will post it the minute I receive it.

OLF 8 Project in District 1 will be a WIN for Escambia County, the Taxpayers, and Beulah!

 

A recent guest editorial and letter to the editor about OLF 8 contained strident opinions presented as facts and half-truths conflated with misstatements.  A letter to the editor in today's PNJ contained the same flawed talking points.  Therefore, I feel obliged to add clarity to this important issue.

The OLF 8 acquisition, master planning, and marketing effort has been a 25-year evolution. 

We’ve recently accepted an all-cash offer for OLF-8, allowing for the construction of restaurants, retail, a town-center, high-wage job areas, and other amenities for all Escambia taxpayers.

The bidder I favored--based upon better initially expressed intentions (Breland)—didn’t show up to the selection meeting held on April 6^th.  They were aware of the meeting and didn’t attend.

DR Horton, by contrast, attended the meeting, presented their plan, and modified their language indicating substantial compliance with the Board’s Master Plan.  They’ll be teaming with Stirling properties for the commercial/light industrial portions of the field, and they upped their offer significantly—to $42 Million Dollars ($7 Million more than Breland’s highest offer).

Also-Horton/Stirling’s plan indicates a piece of the parcel for potential sale to the school board for a Beulah High School if that board wants that. Breland’s rendering had no school site.  Horton/Stirling’s plan also has a town center; the Breland “rendering”has no town center.

Breland’s plan indicates miniscule retail portions, a tiny portion for job creation (light industrial) and the entire balance of the land residential.  Importantly: Breland’s plan didn’t reflect the master plan conformity they assured the board in their initial purchase offer.  

The Horton/Stirling plan remains much more strongly aligned with the agreed upon master plan than does Breland’s—look at initial renderings, side by side, below. Judge for yourself.

DR Horton/Stirling Property OLF 8 Concept
plan (Residential in Green)

Breland OLF8 Concept plan
(Residential in Yellow)

From the beginning of this acquisition process- as the county worked on creating high-paying, high tech jobs on OLF-8-- I forcefully advocated against ANY residential on that field-- a position with which most citizens in Beulah with whom I’ve spoken agree.

Pressure applied on the BCC by some area residents and a few politically connected special interests, however, pushed aside the original plan as solely a regional jobs generator. 

That’s how we got here.

Over the next 60 days, we’ll hammer out an agreement that’ll result in between a $20-$27 million dollar “profit” for the taxpayers— proceeds that will be used county-wide to address legacy deficiencies in infrastructure and fund quality of life enhancements. 

OLF 8 will also generate significant new property tax revenue for the county and the school board; this added revenue allows us to ensure FIRST RESPONDERS are paid competitive wages-assisting us with staffing challenges without raising property tax (millage) rates. 

Therefore, I’d caution readers to always be wary in believing a few voices of discord who want you to believe they represent and speak for everyone.

Remember: these same voices have deftly transitioned and recalibrated their opposition as we’ve responsibly advanced this project. “They’ll never complete this land-swap!” naysayers first howled.  “These commissioners are reckless—they’ll NEVER recoup this investment!” came next.  Now it’s “Commissioners only care about the MONEY.”

It’s very rich how the goal posts move, the attacks change--- but the faces of opposition remain the same.

We’ll never successfully hit the Goldilocks zone for these folks—where the porridge is “just right,” but we’ve tried.  We engaged the community, compromised, and listened.

Now it’s time to act. 

I’m upbeat, positive, and optimistic about the impending OLF8 sale/development.  

With integrity and due consideration, we’ll close this deal to produce a huge win----for everyone!

Dystopian, Fearful, Defeatist, Pessimistic Emails---and My Enthusiastic, Positive, and Realistic Response!

Dystopian, Fearful, Defeatist, Pessimistic, and emotionally-charged emails to me regarding OLF-8's pending development will, in return, receive factual, rational, educated, enthusiastic, and emotionally neutral (Think "Spock-like") responses!  

I've lived the OLF 8 issue since I bought my house right across from the field nearly 20 years ago.  At that time, it was people complaining about the noise of the choppers.  Little did I know then that a nearly decade-long effort was already well underway for the county to acquire that property for jobs from the Navy.....but it was.

Fast forward 11 years to 2015 and I became well aware of the history of the project---and I campaigned in support of a world class, high-tech, clean tech commerce park on OLF-8 to create and provide high-tech, clean-tech, high-paying jobs for the entire region--along with amenities along the 9-Mile Road frontage for nearby residents----as I successfully ran for and won the D1 seat on the BCC.  

Yes--I've lived this issue for a long time now.

Although some will now attempt to re-write history, the facts are the facts:  I supported jobs, and I vehemently DID NOT support any, not one, residential dwelling on that field. NONE.

But then came the upswelling of anger and frustration from neighbors, politically connected companies, and stong special interests----and the original plan went out the window faster than lightning in favor of a watered down footprint for jobs--favoring a much larger mixed use development and some amenities. And yes, some residential on the field was incorporated into this "new direction"--even though very few in Beulah wanted any more residential built there on OLF 8.  Even my most ardent, staunchest political enemies in the area agreed with my assessment that we should NOT be competing with the private sector by sourcing land for homebuilders on OLF 8 because there was too much residential being built in Beulah already and the infrastructure couldn't support more on OLF 8.  

But I was outvoted.  

And then I went through the master planning, swallowed hard, held my nose, gagged and in the spirit of compromise went along with the rest of the board in supporting the master plan as the blueprint going forward for this parcel. It was a hard-fought compromise that left a little something for everyone, a lot of stuff a lot of people didn't want, and very little of what a few people wanted.  Nobody was 100% happy-it was the epitome of a compromise.

That's the fact, Jack.  That's how this happened, and that is how we came to be where we are today, period, end of story.

And now that we have chosen a group with which to partner-----as only one group came to the drop dead meeting yesterday-----I am receiving some emails that are negative.  I am also receiving some that are positive.  The negatives outweigh the positives roughly 2-1.  Here, below, is an example "negative" email and my upbeat, positive, rational, and factual response:

"Jeff,

Please [do] not [use]DR Horton (sic), he is a cheap builder and will add nothing to our area and OLF-8. It would be nice to have decent restaurants. Would be great to have a Post Office,  but as you told me the USPS is closing offices, although there are 2 close together on 29. I go back to MLK and Fairfield by the School District Warehouse to purchase stamps and do mailing. Very inconvenient.

But we say no to DRA Horton(sic), not that it matters. Sounds like a done deal. And traffic will be horrific with more homes and apartments. Oh well, the end of paradise.

Thanks,"

My response:

"Thanks for the email.  I believe we did the best we could-- given the fact that the stronger bidder (Breland) didn’t show up to the selection meeting and given the fact that DR Horton is now teaming with Stirling and upped their offer significantly.  Additionally, to their credit, DR Horton acquiesced to our insistence that they accept a deed restriction limiting their ability to build residential on the light industrial/commercial areas of the parcel.  And they did set aside a 20 acre piece of the parcel for potential sale to the school board for a school if the school board decides they want to pursue that.  And their plan has a town center, Class A medical and office buildings, retail, restaurants, and other amenities for the Beulah community. The half-hearted Breland “rendering” sent to us the night before the meeting that they did not attend indicated a small, miniscule retail parcel on the nine mile frontage, a tiny, miniscule parcel for job creation (commercial, light industrial) on the northeast corner----and the entire balance of the land residential.  It was DOA the minute I saw it, so it was wise they ghosted us and did a no show.

 Remember XXXXX—from the get go I powerfully advocated against ANY residential on that field.  I wanted amenities, retail, restaurants on the frontage and the balance of the land for the creation of high-tech, clean tech jobs (like NFCU in aesthetically pleasing buildings).  But due to the pressure put on my counterparts by local residents, and powerful and politically connected special interests,—that original plan (you know, the reason we spent $18.5 million and 25 years working on this project in the first place—as a regional jobs generator) was thrown out the window.  Over my objections.  That is the true history, well documented, of how we got where we are today. So we did the master plan which I ultimately endorsed and voted to support, in the spirit of compromise.

 With that as the backdrop, we are where we are now with one interested party.  And while the plan is not perfect, I do think this team will work with us.  And over the next 6 months or so we will hammer out an agreement that will result in between a $20-$27 Million dollar “profit” for the taxpayers—which proceeds can be used throughout Beulah, District 1, and the county to address deficiencies in stormwater and traffic infrastructure as well as other quality of life needs.  And remember this, as well:  We have a $155 Million Dollar interchange coming in Beulah which will divert half of the current 9-mile road traffic which all utilizes exit five.  Additionally, Beulah Road—now a state road—will be widened in that plan.  The state is currently constructing significant upgrades on Mobile Hwy from Blue Angel all the way to 9 Mile road through Beulah.  And the Governor’s newly-announced Florida Forward initiative earmarks $162 Million for an ambitious 6-year plan to 6-lane 1-10 through Beulah from the weigh station to Pine Forest road along with a significant re-work of the entire interchange at exit 7.  So infrastructure upgrades and modernization projects are in the works right now and have been in planning since I first took office 6 years ago.

 And the built up field will create jobs and generate significant new ad valorem tax revenue for the county and the school board—which is the real, long horizon plus of this deal.  This added revenue allows us to maintain what we have done this past year:  ensuring our sheriff’s deputies, EMTs, paramedics, firemen, and corrections guards are the highest paid in the region.  All of this without raising the year over year millage (property tax) rates.  Growing the economy allows us to do these great things while keeping the tax burden low.

 So thanks for your email of concern, and please know I am going to do my level best to shepherd this deal toward a finale that produces a huge win for Beulah (where I have lived for 20 years right across from OLF 8), the county, and the region.

 Happy Easter, and have a great weekend."

 

Revised Offer for OLF 8 Just Received: $42 Million with 100 Acres retained by Escambia County for Jobs

The folks from DR Horton were at this morning's meeting.  And they listened to the concerns of the board.

This evening right before the start of our regular meeting, a final, revised LOI was sent to all commissioners--an offer that reflected the morning discussions and addressed these concerns.

This last offer raises the price for the parcel to $42 Million Dollars and sets aside 100 acres for the county to retain, subject to negotiation on the price, for job creation.  The offer also, importantly, recognizes and will substantially comply with the Master Plan for OLF 8 and the offer also accepts the imposition of restrictive covenants on the deed.  These will be necessary to limit additional residential construction in the areas zoned for commercial which could be flipped to residential under the latest Tallahassee law that was just passed (Live Local Act)--which bypasses and preempts our zoning restrictions on such decisions.

Breland did not show up at tonight's meeting, and they did not come to the morning meeting either.

We will be voting on this in the next 15 minutes.......

 

I'll Be on "Real News with Rick Outzen" at 7:05

I'll be on Rick Outzen's morning drive news/talk program this morning at 7:05

 I've been invited once again to appear on the area's premiere, most highly-rated and best morning drive news radio program, "Real News with Rick Outzen" on 1370 WCOA.

I'll be joining Rick later this morning, at 7:05, to discuss the latest updates on OLF 8.  And there will be news to report.

Listen live, or catch the podcast here.

I'll be on "Real News with Rick Outzen" on WCOA Tomorrow Morning Discussing the Latest on OLF8 Offers

I'll be the lead-off guest tomorrow morning on the area's best and highest rated morning drive news program-"Real News with Rick Outzen" on 1370 WCOA

 

I've been invited to be the lead-off guest tomorrow morning on the area's best, most listened-to and most informative/fact-based morning drive news program---"Real News with Rick Outzen" on 1370 WCOA.

The topic of conversation will be OLF-8 and the now multiple cash offers we have now received for this property and the BCC's next steps going forward.

We may even have other offers between this afternoon and tomorrow morning---if we do, we will discuss it.

Listen in live at 7:00 or catch the podcast here.

Deer Run Homeowner's Meeting Tomorrow Night---Residents NOT Happy...

Residents are upset about numerous issues at Deer Run and have requested a meeting to air these issues with me, county staff, and D.R. Horton Representatives....

I've been asked by residents of the Preserve at Deer Run, a D.R. Horton Development in Beulah, to attend a meeting tomorrow night at 7:00 at their subdivision.  I have asked staff to accompany me to this meeting, and I have also invited representatives from D.R. Horton to come as well.

The issues with this subdivision are many, primarily having to do with environmental compliance issues and issues with the retention ponds thus far--- but there is an overall feeling among the residents with whom I have spoken that they are not getting what was promised them when they bought in this subdivision with respect to access.

The biggest issue is the egress and ingress.

"We were promised there would be two entrances and exits for the resident's use" one homeowner told me when I spoke to her.

I have heard this same sentiment from other homeowners as well.

(Full disclosure, the current plan with one entrance/exit plus an emergency access point, the plan that has been submitted and approved by D.R. Horton-- meets the current county code.  We have several large subdivisions in Escambia County with one entrance and exit; Marcus Point has more than 500 homes with one entrance and one exit.  Nature Trail has 659 homes with two entrances on 9-Mile

No Violations at Rock Ridge Subdivision According to Experts.....

"No deposition of clay in the wetlands" according to staff that inspected
the Rock Ridge site this past Wednesday

At approximately 2:14 AM last Wednesday--the county received a complaint regarding the Rock Ridge Subdivision being constructed in Beulah. 

from the complaint:

"I am reporting possible violations of permits issued by Escambia County and other agencies and am attaching photos to show some of the issues that have been ongoing for some time in the development.  (1) There has been serious erosion for a long period of time which silt fences along the street may have helped prevent.  (2) The pond is muddy.  (3) The portion of the development that is a wetland swamp has had silt and mud for a period of time.  Recently, the water level of the swamp became much lower.  I was told by Tim Day a while ago that Rock Ridge did self-report the mud in the swamp.  Has there been any action taken such as a Consent Order regarding these matters?

 I would request a written response via email from Escambia County and each agency that has jurisdiction in this matter explaining what if any violations were found and what the outcome may be.  I plan to remain involved in the process and to follow-up with this matter."

The same day the complaint was received, County Environmental staff made an immediate site inspection.  Here is what was determined by the county based upon that visit:

"I conducted a site visit at the Rock Ridge Subdivision on 7/17/19 as a result of an email received from XX  XXXXXXXXXX. My review was only of the wetland and associated buffer found in the southeast portion of the property. Generally, it appears that the sediment controls around the wetland buffer area were in reasonable shape and continue to function. I did note that it appears that some clay dissolved in water (redwater) did make it through the sediment controls and was deposited in the wetland buffer (see attached slides). It is reasonable to expect that this water also entered the wetland, however I did not observe any deposition either on the soil surface or in remaining areas of standing water."

Yesterday afternoon, an inspector from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection inspected the site and wrote the following:

"I did my site visit today and agree, BMP's were maintained and the site is more than 70% final stabilized as required by the Stormwater Generic Permit. No water was in the  pond and no inlets were clogged with sediment from the site as the pictures submitted by XX XXXXXXX showed.  The pictures submitted were from a past date, but all that has been taken care of and not todays site conditions."

The Army Corps of Engineers will be coming out to inspect the site based upon the complaint, and they have sent the following to county staff:

"The Corps, upon our next availability, will inspect the site to evaluate the allegations in XX  XXXXXXXXX's email dated 17 July 2019.  Thus far, I've not had the availability to conduct a site inspection.  In addition, if violations have occurred, XX XXXXXXXX will not have purview to any resolution until the corrective actions have been completed."

The takeaway for me is simple:  If a complaint is made, our staff and multiple other agencies will go out and check out the accusations.  In this particular instance, the information in the complaint was dated, and did not match up with current conditions at the development based upon inspection by the FDEP, Escambia County, and the engineer of record for the project.  As of now, there is no evidence to substantiate the claims made last week.

Deer Run in Beulah: Wetlands Damage Remediation Plans moving Forward Quickly

County staff and developer DR Horton are working toward a resolution of multiple environmental issues at Phase I of the Preserve at Deer Run in Beulah.

Over the last several days there has been a flurry of activity on Phase 1 of the Preserve at Deer Run subdivision in Beulah.

Several Issues have plagued that development over the last several months, culminating in penalties being assessed by the North West Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD)

(The four holding ponds in phase one were not/are not draining properly--that issue is being worked via a re-design and that work to correct the issues with the ponds is moving forward so far as I have been told)

A consent order between NWFWMD and DR Horton, the builder, is slated to be signed by this Friday.

Meanwhile, county staff and the environmental engineer hired by DR Horton (Wetland Sciences) have been going back and forth via email.

A very detailed draft mitigation strategy document has been put forward by the DR Horton's environmental contractor, and county staff has read it and added additional stipulations that must be met before the county issues Certificates of Occupancy (CO) for five homes that are poised for closing before the month's end.

(County staff are standing firm that the CO's will not be issued until the remediation plan is accepted by all parties and the work to remediate the wetlands and wetland buffer zones begins)

Stipulations that the county is requiring, over and above what has been put forth in the document from DR Horton's environmental engineer, include the following:

• Monitoring for the restoration areas shall be for 5 years, including annual reports, and annual replanting (if needed) to assure 80% survival during each reporting period
• For areas proposed for restoration within the wetland buffer, weed free mulch that is a minimum of a 2” thick, 18” diameter shall be installed around each plant unit to enhance survivability and minimize competition*  
• With the proposed sizes of trees and shrubs offered, trees should be on 12’ centers and shrubs on 6’ centers*
• A alternating planting diagram will need to be submitted and approved to be able to verify counts and appropriate location
• All nursery stock shall be Florida Grade 2 or better and documented as such

* If larger plant stock is proposed, then plant unit spacing and mulch requirements may be reconsidered

Deer Run: County Staff, State Officials, DR Horton Reps and Local Environmental Consultants and Engineers Met Today

A closed-door meeting about the Deer Run Subdivision in Beulah was held at the County's Development Services facility

The Preserve at Deer Run, a subdivision in Beulah, has had some issues.

Earlier this month, after a series of citizen complaints, the builder DR Horton was hit with a hefty fine by the state.

Several retention ponds were not functioning properly and some wetlands and boundary areas had silt and muddy water infiltration.

A consent order had been drafted and delivered to DR Horton by the NW Florida Water Management District--however this document had not been signed as of today.

This afternoon, County staff, state officials, DR Horton reps, local Environmental Consultants, myself and the project engineer all met at the County's One-stop building off of Fairfield Dr.

The meeting was not open to the public, and although Channel 3 had a crew at the site, they were not permitted entry to the closed-door meeting.

The primary issues discussed today were getting this development back on track, getting the four retention ponds in phase one functioning properly, remediating several areas of wetlands and boundaries that had been infiltrated by muddy runoff, and getting the boundary areas of 6 lots remediated so that five families that have already purchased these houses can move in. (The county will not issue the Certificate of Occupancy for these five lots until the remediation is approved and underway.)

The engineer of record for the project stated that he had completed initial plans for fixing the retention ponds, which he described as not functioning properly due to lateral ground water flow at all four pond locations.

An environmental engineer hired by the builder stated he would have the remediation plan for the wetlands infiltration on this project and in this phase prepared as early as tomorrow, Tuesday the 26th of March.  He acknowledged the fact that it would need to be run through DR Horton corporate personnel before it would be sent to the county--and this process would take a few additional days.

The initial 2-week period given by the Northwest Florida Water Management District (from March 5th-19th)for DR Horton to sign the consent order had expired;  upon my asking why, it was disclosed that DR Horton had asked for a brief extension of time to review this consent order.  I asked point blank when it would be signed, and I was told it would be done "By this Friday."

A 9 page consent order has been issued to DR Horton by the NW Florida Water Management District.  It will be finalized by this Friday according to state officials with whom I spoke today..

So we will see what happens next.  According to one staff member that actually lives in this subdivision, the builder has, over the last several weeks, attempted to do a better job of protecting the wetlands.

Deer Run in Beulah: Problems with the Ponds......

Staff of the planning and zoning department identified issues with multiple holding ponds at Deer Run this week....

I received some email traffic late in the week about the situation with a development out in Beulah called "The Preserve at Deer Run."

Two weeks ago, a citizen's complaint drew intense scrutiny on this development that eventually led to  a $24,000.00 fine being levied, along with a very specific order mandating corrective action.

On Thursday of this week, staff from planning and zoning made the decision to NOT issue any more

Certificates of Occupancy (COs) for this development until all deficient issues are addressed---to include multiple issues identified this week with the development's four holding ponds.  from staff:

"All ponds are holding water. There is some erosion on one pond ramp. On another pond there is sediments on the slopes from what appears to run off from home construction."

A different staff member chimed in that "it appears that currently all four ponds are not functioning as designed. I’m attaching Tom’s e-mail to Dana Palermo with WMD. Pond A was in better shape than others at the time of final plat.. all ponds shall be watched throughout 2-year compliance period."

The Builder responded, requesting a meeting.  "I’d like to request a meeting to discuss the current situation at Deer Run. This meeting’s intention is to display DR Horton’s willingness and preparedness to address the county’s concern over issuing additional COs for new homes at Deer Run. Our Remediation plans are currently being formed and the Fl DEP and NWFWMD have both visited the site in recent days to evaluate our BMPs."

Staff will accommodate the builder's request for a site visit with all stakeholders the week of March 22nd--where all the issues with this site will be looked over to include the issues with the ponds and the mud runoff leeching into the wetlands.  I have requested that this meeting be put on my calendar; I will be attending this meeting.