Panera Bread Homestead, has been open for a few weeks, what is your opinion? Let your fellow readers know by your comments.
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Monday, 19 November 2012
The below link contains the files for the application, including letters, graphics and impact analysis.
http://www.miamidade.gov/business/track/zoning_show.asp?proc_num=Z2012000090
9,219 acre project, water reuse for the two approved reactors to be discussed.
http://www.eco-voice.org/node/13321
FPL intends to use some 90 million gallons a day of treated wastewater from Miami-Dade County as the primary source of cooling water for its controversial $12 billion to $18 billion expansion project at the sprawling plant, which sits along south Biscayne Bay a few miles from the park headquarters.
But the utility also wants to drill a series of “radial wells’’ — named because they include up to a dozen shafts radiating out 900 feet from a central well, a design evoking bicycle spokes — that would be capable of drawing up to 125 million gallons a day of water through the porous limestone beneath the bay.
A report by the South Florida Water Management District noted “some concerns” the wells could potentially turn already too-salty coastal waters saltier, compromise Everglades restoration projects to restore fresh water flows to the bay and worsen salt-water intrusion that has already marched inland in South Miami-Dade and threatened drinking water supplies.
But the district’s analysis, based on computer modeling supplied by FPL, also recommended approval of the wells – under the condition that the utility operate them no more than the “equivalent of 60 days” over a 12-month period and monitor impacts on sea grass. The proposal faces several more hurdles before final state approval.
Mark Lewis, superintendent of Biscayne National Park, urged the district’s governing board to postpone the vote, saying the district had not consulted with park scientists as it had in past studies of Turkey Point’s impacts on surrounding shallow waters, which are thick with sea grass beds and mangroves that serve as nurseries for an array of marine life.
According to FPL’s computer modeling, 97 percent of the water collected by the wells would be salty bay water but Lewis called that work “suspect,” saying the geologic zone where sea water meets the Biscayne Aquifer, source of much of Miami-Dade’s drinking water, is not well understood. FPL and water managers, for instance, are still working to assess the role Turkey Point’s existing cooling canal system has played in pushing salty water inland.
“We’re betting the bank that the modeling works when all of our scientists say the modeling isn’t designed for this and isn’t really good in this region,” Lewis said.
Environmentalists echoed Lewis, saying the complicated report on a well system untested in South Florida’s porous limestone geology had been available for only a week. They also called a proposed monitoring plan toothless because it included no specific measures for FPL to scale back the wells or pursue another back-up source, such as the deep Floridan aquifer, if the wells prove more damaging than modeling predicts.
“The question is who is on the hook to deal with the impacts,” said Kahlil Kettering, a Biscayne Bay analyst for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Laura Reynolds, executive director of the Tropical Audubon Society, questioned whether the wells were intended solely as a back-up, saying the 60-day language would potentially allow continuous low-level operation in a bay starved for freshwater.
Peter Robbins, a spokesman for FPL, said the wells were “absolutely a back-up system’’ and the utility preferred to treated wastewater over salt water but needed the short-term back-up because of potential uncertainties over the quality or quantity of wastewater. He downplayed potential impacts to the Biscayne
Aquifer, saying the modeling was “tremendously conservative’’ and based on a scenario using wells as a full-time supply rather than the 60-day limit FPL has agreed to..
Juan Portuondo, a Miami businessman who serves on the governing board, said both FPL and the county had vested interests in making treated sewage work. Under state law, Miami-Dade has to find a way to reuse some 117 million gallons a day of sewage by 2025 that it now pumps up out to the Atlantic, he said. “It’s the best solution for both.’’
Board members briefly discussed postponing the vote but unanimously approved it after hearing the agency faced a Monday deadline for filing recommendations to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Other agencies, including Miami-Dade County, which also has questioned the wells, will file similar recommendations. An administrative judge is expected to issue a recommendation sometime next year. Final approval will go to Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet.
FPL hopes to secure its license from federal regulators for the two new reactors by June 2014. If the utility goes ahead with the project, the new reactors would be scheduled to go online in 2022 and 2023.
| MD Holdings II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LATTERNER, MICHAEL 13 S.W. 7TH STREET MIAMI FL 33130 US | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ROSEN, WAYNE 277 GALEON COURT CORAL GABLES FL 33143 US |
South Florida Business Journal by Brian Bandell, Senior Reporter
Date: Monday, November 12, 2012U.S. Century Bank’s merger agreement specifies two large land loans that could have a “material adverse effect” on the bank large enough to impact its pending acquisition by C1 Bank.
Avoiding severe losses on those loans in Homestead and rural St. Lucie County – two of the markets hardest hit by the real estate downturn – aren’t the only obstacles for U.S. Century Bank to completing this merger, but they illustrate the lending strategy that landed the bank in the “undercapitalized” condition it’s in today.
Both loans were already on the bank’s books in August 2009 when U.S. Department of the Treasury deemed the bank worthy of the largest Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) investment of any Florida bank.
U.S. Century Bank and St. Petersburg-based C1 Bank asked Treasury to give them a 90 percent discount to redeem the $50.2 million in TARP funds from taxpayers. Treasury rejected that offer and the banks countered by offering another $1.3 million to bring the TARP discount to 87 percent. It’s not clear whether Treasury will accept the new offer.
Yet, if U.S. Century Bank fails, taxpayer would see no return on their TARP investment. Loan charge offs, especially from volatile land loans, could hurt the bank’s prospects for surviving to close the deal and salvaging something for taxpayers and its shareholders.
The “material adverse event” section of U.S. Century Bank’s merger agreement and proxy statement, both obtained by the Business Journal from confidential sources describe how the bank could suffer a serious blow if it was required to take another $15 million in loan loss reserves. Only two borrowers are mentioned by name: Indian Sunburst Associates and MD Holdings II.
The larger loan is to MD Holdings II on 76.2 acres of farmland at 11760 S.W. 248th Street in Homestead.
The borrower, managed by Michael Latterner, obtained a $43.5 million mortgage from U.S. Century Bank in 2007, although the loan was modified at $25.6 million in January 2011. While there is no foreclosure action on file for that property, the housing market in Homestead has been slower to return than in urban parts of the county.
The site obtained approval in 2009 for 581 market-rate housing units and 83 workforce housing units.
South Florida Business Journal
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 1:10pm ESTBechtel Power Corp. has warned the state of Florida of 277 possible layoffs at Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point Nuclear Plant in Florida City.
The Frederick, Md.-based company filed a Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification notice with the state on Tuesday.
The Bechtel employees have been working on contracts with FPL to expand two nuclear units at the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant. One of the units is completed.
The projects have employed about 5,000 workers over the past several years.
FPL spokesman Peter Robbins said the remaining work is on schedule and due to be completed in spring of 2013.
All work by Bechtel is expected to be completed by May 26, according to the WARN.
“Construction project work by its very nature has a defined completion date," Bechtel Manager of Operations Brian Reilly said in a statement. "As a project nears completion, the skill sets of specific people are no longer required. We provide our people with assistance with this transition and, quite often, we are able to find positions for people on other Bechtel projects.”
The 277 employees are to be laid off between Jan. 6 and May 26. The workers include 77 field engineers, 49 superintendents, 44 design engineers and 22 welding field engineers.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2012/11/14/bechtel-power-corp-warns-of-277.html
Saturday, 17 November 2012
A case against Homestead brought by former Deputy City Manager Johanna Faddis was dismissed after a judge decided Faddis lied under oath.
By Christina Veiga
cveiga@MiamiHerald.com
Former Homestead Deputy City Manager Johanna Faddis lied in a lawsuit against the city, and for that her case was thrown out, according to a judge’s order.
Faddis had sued the city for releasing text messages sent to her by her then-boss, former City Manager Mike Shehadeh. Though the messages seemed romantic, with Shehadeh telling Faddis he couldn’t get the married woman off his mind, both denied ever being in a relationship.
In her suit, Faddis claimed the city acted negligently, invaded her privacy, intentionally inflicted emotional distress and defamed her by releasing the messages, which were sent and received on city-issued cell phones.
As the suit moved forward, Faddis’ attorney, Kelsay Patterson, then claimed the messages should have been exempt from Florida’s public records law because they were sexually harassing. Former City Manager Sergio Purriños signed an affidavit that Faddis had reported to him that she had been sexually harassed, but that she had promised not to pursue the matter as long as the city kept it quiet.
That would have triggered an exemption to Florida’s public records laws, Faddis’ attorney argued.
But, in a previous lawsuit, brought by Shehadeh against the city for wrongful termination, Faddis had testified that he had never sexually harassed her. For that reason, in part, the city settled Shehadeh’s case for $250,000.
“Plain and simple, Faddis lied under oath multiple times. It is also clear that her testimony changed in order to suit her strategic needs in this litigation,” Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jorge E. Cueto wrote in his dismissal of the case.
The city can now ask to recoup its costs for fighting the case, and the City Council could direct its legal team to try to recover attorney’s fees as well, said Joseph Serota, a lawyer for the city.
Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Faddis had sued the city for releasing text messages sent to her by her then-boss, former City Manager Mike Shehadeh. Though the messages seemed romantic, with Shehadeh telling Faddis he couldn’t get the married woman off his mind, both denied ever being in a relationship.
In her suit, Faddis claimed the city acted negligently, invaded her privacy, intentionally inflicted emotional distress and defamed her by releasing the messages, which were sent and received on city-issued cell phones.
As the suit moved forward, Faddis’ attorney, Kelsay Patterson, then claimed the messages should have been exempt from Florida’s public records law because they were sexually harassing. Former City Manager Sergio Purriños signed an affidavit that Faddis had reported to him that she had been sexually harassed, but that she had promised not to pursue the matter as long as the city kept it quiet.
That would have triggered an exemption to Florida’s public records laws, Faddis’ attorney argued.
But, in a previous lawsuit, brought by Shehadeh against the city for wrongful termination, Faddis had testified that he had never sexually harassed her. For that reason, in part, the city settled Shehadeh’s case for $250,000.
“Plain and simple, Faddis lied under oath multiple times. It is also clear that her testimony changed in order to suit her strategic needs in this litigation,” Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jorge E. Cueto wrote in his dismissal of the case.
The city can now ask to recoup its costs for fighting the case, and the City Council could direct its legal team to try to recover attorney’s fees as well, said Joseph Serota, a lawyer for the city.
Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/16/3100909/judge-dismisses-ex-homestead-administrators.html#storylink=cpy
Friday, 16 November 2012
Dr. Jeanne Jacobs, Wayne Rosen, Frank May, Father McReanor and Jose Fuentes at the State of the City
By Christina Veiga
cveiga@MiamiHerald.com
Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman’s wife bought a used Mercedes-Benz from a local developer with political ties, but the developer says he sold the car for what it appraised for at a local CarMax.
With only 42,000 miles on it, the 2004 model S430 was worth between $13,600 and $22,000, according to a guidebook that insurance agencies use to determine car values.
State records show the Batemans paid $13,000 for their Benz.
The seller of the gold-colored luxury car, according to state records, was the company Shores Development.
Wayne Rosen, one of the developers behind the sprawling Keys Gate community in Homestead, is the president of the company, according to state records.
The developer, who donated at least $3,000 to the mayor’s last campaign through several of his companies, said the sale was conducted above-board. Rosen said he took the car to a local CarMax to have it appraised when the mayor’s wife said she was interested in buying the vehicle, which Rosen said sat in a garage unused.
A representative at CarMax near International Mall confirmed by telephone that the dealership valued the Mercedes at $13,000.
A CARFAX report showed the mileage at the time of sale. The report also noted that no deficiencies — such as a car accident or flood damage, which would make the car worth less — had been reported to the service. CARFAX is a for-profit company that tracks vehicle history information using a car’s identification number. Rosen said the car had a battery problem, and wouldn’t always start.
“There’s nothing inappropriate, and anybody that would have paid me the appraised value could have bought that car. That's why I went to CarMax to see what that value would be, and they paid that value,” Rosen said.
Bateman refused to comment on the substance of the transaction.
“It just blows me away how it gets turned around. I prefer not to comment,” he said.
It’s against Florida ethics laws for an elected official to “directly or indirectly” accept a gift worth more than $100 from a lobbyist, political committee or committee of continuous existence.
A lobbyist is defined in the law as “anyone who, for compensation, seeks...to influence governmental decision-making.” Rosen registered as a lobbyist for one of his companies in February 2012, about a month after the car was sold.
It’s also illegal, according to Florida ethics laws, for an elected official to be given a “preferential rate or terms” on a transaction, such as for a hotel stay.
Officials can receive gifts from non-lobbyists, but they have to be reported if the gift is worth more than $100. Records show that Bateman has not submitted any gift reports to the city, county or state since the Mercedes was bought.
Joe Centorino, head of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and the Public Trust, would not comment specifically in regards to Bateman, but explained the county’s rules about gifts.
“When you become a public official, then the rules change with regard to a lot of things,” he said.
Centorino added: “If it’s a discount that’s available generally to the public — for instance, you go to the store and there’s a sale — that’s not a gift...But if it’s a particular discount given to that individual, period, and it’s not available to other people, then it falls into the definition of a gift.”
Bateman has voted on issues involving Rosen’s companies after Donna Bateman bought his car in January 2012, according to state and city records.
As mayor, Steve Bateman voted to extend the date of a contract that allows Rosen’s company, Shores Development, access to fill dirt that the city owned and that Shores Development paid $3.6 million for in 2004. Bateman also voted to extend a site plan approval for a charter school tied to Rosen, and to change the allowed uses on land that Rosen owns.
Law professor and ethics observer Bob Jarvis, of Nova Southeastern University, said elected officials should avoid transactions like the one that landed Rosen’s Benz in the Bateman’s driveway, if only because they can create an appearance of something fishy.
“It’s just very, very hard to believe that there isn’t something nefarious going on here,” he said. “The mayor should have said, ‘Don’t buy it because it puts me into a very untenable situation.’ It makes it appear that you can buy favor with the mayor’s relatives.”
With only 42,000 miles on it, the 2004 model S430 was worth between $13,600 and $22,000, according to a guidebook that insurance agencies use to determine car values.
State records show the Batemans paid $13,000 for their Benz.
The seller of the gold-colored luxury car, according to state records, was the company Shores Development.
Wayne Rosen, one of the developers behind the sprawling Keys Gate community in Homestead, is the president of the company, according to state records.
The developer, who donated at least $3,000 to the mayor’s last campaign through several of his companies, said the sale was conducted above-board. Rosen said he took the car to a local CarMax to have it appraised when the mayor’s wife said she was interested in buying the vehicle, which Rosen said sat in a garage unused.
A representative at CarMax near International Mall confirmed by telephone that the dealership valued the Mercedes at $13,000.
A CARFAX report showed the mileage at the time of sale. The report also noted that no deficiencies — such as a car accident or flood damage, which would make the car worth less — had been reported to the service. CARFAX is a for-profit company that tracks vehicle history information using a car’s identification number. Rosen said the car had a battery problem, and wouldn’t always start.
“There’s nothing inappropriate, and anybody that would have paid me the appraised value could have bought that car. That's why I went to CarMax to see what that value would be, and they paid that value,” Rosen said.
Bateman refused to comment on the substance of the transaction.
“It just blows me away how it gets turned around. I prefer not to comment,” he said.
It’s against Florida ethics laws for an elected official to “directly or indirectly” accept a gift worth more than $100 from a lobbyist, political committee or committee of continuous existence.
A lobbyist is defined in the law as “anyone who, for compensation, seeks...to influence governmental decision-making.” Rosen registered as a lobbyist for one of his companies in February 2012, about a month after the car was sold.
It’s also illegal, according to Florida ethics laws, for an elected official to be given a “preferential rate or terms” on a transaction, such as for a hotel stay.
Officials can receive gifts from non-lobbyists, but they have to be reported if the gift is worth more than $100. Records show that Bateman has not submitted any gift reports to the city, county or state since the Mercedes was bought.
Joe Centorino, head of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and the Public Trust, would not comment specifically in regards to Bateman, but explained the county’s rules about gifts.
“When you become a public official, then the rules change with regard to a lot of things,” he said.
Centorino added: “If it’s a discount that’s available generally to the public — for instance, you go to the store and there’s a sale — that’s not a gift...But if it’s a particular discount given to that individual, period, and it’s not available to other people, then it falls into the definition of a gift.”
Bateman has voted on issues involving Rosen’s companies after Donna Bateman bought his car in January 2012, according to state and city records.
As mayor, Steve Bateman voted to extend the date of a contract that allows Rosen’s company, Shores Development, access to fill dirt that the city owned and that Shores Development paid $3.6 million for in 2004. Bateman also voted to extend a site plan approval for a charter school tied to Rosen, and to change the allowed uses on land that Rosen owns.
Law professor and ethics observer Bob Jarvis, of Nova Southeastern University, said elected officials should avoid transactions like the one that landed Rosen’s Benz in the Bateman’s driveway, if only because they can create an appearance of something fishy.
“It’s just very, very hard to believe that there isn’t something nefarious going on here,” he said. “The mayor should have said, ‘Don’t buy it because it puts me into a very untenable situation.’ It makes it appear that you can buy favor with the mayor’s relatives.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/16/3100785/homestead-mayors-wife-bought-developers.html#storylink=cpy
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 11TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MIAMI DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NO. 11-27981CA 30
JOHANNA FADDIS,
v.
THE CITY OF HOMESTEAD, JUDY WALDMAN,
ELVIS MALDONADO, STEPHEN SHELLEY,
JIMMIE L. WILLIAMS, III, WENDY LOBOS,
JOHN BURGESS & PATRICK FRANKLIN, D/B/A,
FRANKLIN INVESTIGATIONS, INC.,
Defendants.
/
FINAL JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANTS
STRIKING THE PLEADINGS OF PLAINTIFF
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1.“On the spectrum of sanctionable conduct, perjury is perhaps the most egregious. Indeed, few crimes… strike more viciously against the integrity of our system of justice than the crime of perjury.” See Empire World Towers, LLC v. CDR Créances, S.A.S., 89 So.3d 1034, 1038 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012).
2. In this case, Faddis’ clear change in testimony could not be reasonably explained, even by her. Plain and simple, Faddis lied under oath multiple times. It is also clear that her testimony changed in order to suit her strategic needs in this litigation.
3. A court is warranted in striking the pleadings of a party who engages in perjury when that perjury permeates the proceeding and concerns a person’s claim. Babe Elias Builders Inc. v. Pernick, 765 So. 2d 119, 120-121 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000). In this case, Faddis’ perjury, with regard to whether or not she was sexually harassed, permeates this proceeding and is directly related to one, if not, the principle claim being made by Faddis.
4. Under the unique, undisputed and egregious facts of this case, the Court finds that the most severe sanctions are warranted. The Court is well aware that justice is ordinarily served by letting a jury decide issues of a case. However, where a party ignores her sacred oath to tell the truth and changes her testimony to suit her changing legal position, and moreover, acknowledges in deposition a willingness to do so, she forfeits her right to use these proceedings to seek relief from the Court. Such conduct and unabashed attitude strike at the very core of judicial proceedings and undermine the Court’s and jury’s long-established truth-seeking function.
Accordingly, this Court hereby enters this Final Judgment Striking the Pleadings of Faddis, who shall take nothing from this action. Final Judgment is entered for the Defendants, who shall go hence without day. The Court reserves jurisdiction for the award of costs and other including attorneys’ fees against Faddis and Patterson as the Court may do using its inherent authority.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami-Dade County, Florida, on 11/14/12.
_______________________________
JORGE E. CUETO
| CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE |
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