Business coalition supports U.S. Sugar purchase

A new group of South Florida businesses has been formed to support the state buyout of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for Everglades restoration.

The group, called the River of Grass Coalition, formally launched Friday afternoon with a press teleconference.

The coalition is urging the South Florida Water Management District to approve the purchase, despite the high price and deep recession.

Their belief: Water quality is a valuable commodity, and investing in it is a bargain.

“We are directly affected in the tourism industry by any rate increases in water, and any problems with water quality,” said Brian Scheinblum, CEO of Cambean Hospitality in Miami Beach.

Gov. Charlie Crist has called on the water district to buy 72,500 acres of U.S. Sugar property for about $530 million. The purpose of the land purchase is to allow better flow and treatment of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades and to South Florida in general. Without that flow, growing water shortage problems in dry years could cripple South Florida’s growth, coalition members said Friday.

“This is approximately a $600 million purchase,” said coalition member Andy Hill, an investment adviser from Naples. “However, when you start working with the numbers, it’s really a reasonable capital expenditure any of us would make under similar circumstances.”

Hill said the Everglades, its water supply and related tourism activities support about $5 billion in economic activity a year.

The governor’s office has said the buyout increases the availability of water storage, significantly reducing the potential for harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and estuaries when lake levels are high, while delivering cleaner water to the Everglades during dry times and greater water storage to protect the natural system during wet years.

The water management district’s governing board narrowly approved a larger purchase in December, but concerns about the deteriorating economy forced the governor to call for a smaller deal. The board still has to approve the smaller version.

Crist had come under fire by small towns near Clewiston-based U.S. Sugar because the original deal could have eliminated many jobs in a short time. Others criticized the first deal as too much, too soon.

More than 80 businesses or business groups around Southeast and Southwest Florida were listed as members of the new coalition, including Keyes Co. Realtors, Islamorada Chamber of Commerce, Everglades Day Safari, Florida Billfish Foundation and the Pathman Lewis law firm.

The nonprofit Everglades Foundation, a longtime supporter of Everglades restoration, helped coordinate the group’s formation.

source:bizjournals