Mechanical problems with his plane forced Gov. Charlie Crist to scrap plans to come to South Florida, where he was to announce a scaled-down version of the state’s deal with U.S. Sugar Corp.
However, the revised deal was outlined in a press release issued by U.S. Sugar. It indicates that the state will now purchase 181,000 acres from U.S. Sugar, instead of the original 187,000 acres, for $1.34 billion. The original price tag was $1.75 billion. The new deal includes a leaseback of land for $50 an acre until 2016.
U.S. Sugar will not be selling its mill, refinery, citrus processing facilities, railroads, office building and equipment to the state, according to the press release.
“After months of negotiations, it became clear that the best transaction was for the state to buy the land and for U.S. Sugar to keep the assets,” said Robert Coker, U.S. Sugar’s senior vice president of public affairs. "This is a good deal for the state, U.S. Sugar and our shareholders."
The new deal will allow the South Florida Water Management District to purchase all of the land needed to move forward with the restoration of the Everglades, Coker noted. And it can be done at a cost less than originally anticipated. In addition, he said, the company "will be able to continue farming to ensure that jobs are safeguarded for the next seven years."
The deal was revised because "the financial and real estate world has changed" since it was announced in June, according to a fact sheet issued by U.S. Sugar.
"It made more sense financially for both parties to carefully consider terms that would be fair to both sides — for the state to purchase land for environmental restoration and for U.S. Sugar to keep its industrial assets," it stated.
The buyout plan has been evolving during negotiations among the governor’s office, U.S. Sugar, the water management district and the Everglades Coalition of environmental groups.
Everglades Foundation CEO Kirk Fordham applauded the downsizing of the buyout expenses.
“I think it’s the same great deal for the people of Florida at a lower cost," he said. "The goal was not to own the facilities, but to get the land so you can store and move the water to the Everglades."
Matt Schwartz, of the Sierra Club's Broward County group, said he was surprised the state hasn’t tried to include Palm Beach County in the negotiations. The county has recently been moving ahead with land use permissions for rock mining in the sugar-growing areas.
One of the biggest issues in the buyout plan is what will become of U.S. Sugar’s new processing mill in Clewiston, which is in the proposed buyout area.
Gaston Cantens, Florida Crystals vice president for corporate relations, said his company might be interested in purchasing the mill.
“We’re certainly open-minded about this,” he said. “The caveat we’ve always had is how much land will you have to grow sugar cane to put into the Clewiston mill? If you have no sugar cane, what will you do with the mill?”
In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Cantens said Florida Crystals could be interested in owning the mill if there was sugar production around it.
“Would we be interested in the mill? Absolutely,” he said. “But, it would depend on how much land and sugar is available. Our mill in Okeelanta is state of the art. It’s not brand new, but it has been updated and upgraded, and it’s basically computerized. We have no interest in scrapping Okeelanta, where we have a processing plant, distribution center and power plant.”
Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar share the cane fields of Central Florida almost equally. Any plan to buy out U.S. Sugar to create a flow-way for Everglades waterways would have a big impact on Florida Crystals, and could require its cooperation.
Sugar grower Ardis Hammock of Clewiston, who came to hear the governor speak, was disappointed Crist didn't show – and even more disappointed he hasn't visited Clewiston since announcing the sugar buyout plan. She said she might sell out her land for the right money, but she is not happy about the government buyout in general.
"I feel very much in limbo," Hammock said. "A mill can't stay viable for long without land to support it."
Crist, whose plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Sarasota, has rescheduled the press conference for Wednesday morning.
Web Editor Susan R. Miller contributed to this report.
source: south florida business journal
link to the original post:http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/11/10/daily11.html
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