09/18/2007 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) to the Governor and Cabinet. In answer to Vice Chair Bowden's inquiry about the time frame for the appeal, Commissioner O'Bryan responded that it would depend upon whether the official date was the date of the public hearing, or the date when SJRWMD issues the order. Dr. Cox stated that it would be either September 11, 2007, the date of the hearing, or the date that is in the final order, and from that time, the clock runs for 20 days. He noted that Audubon of Florida and the Pelican Island Audubon Societies are working together with legal counsel, for which they are paying. Dr. Cox believed that the Audobon Societies have grounds for claiming that SJRWMD's determination was defective. He added that the Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission (the Governor and the Cabinet) would be evaluating their appeal based on that determination. Commissioner Davis discussed briefly an independent study dated September 11, 2007, which had been done by the Orlando firm, Foley and Lardner LLP, to address the issue of the Sand Lakes Tract conservation lands. Dr. Baker wanted the Board to direct the in-house legal staff to develop, in a timely manner, a petition to appeal the SJRWMD decision. He noted that appealing the decision would be consistent with the Board's earlier Resolution that these lands should not be taken out of conservation. He believed that the County has really good standing, as this land had been on the County's land acquisition list for a long time. The County had intended to co-own the property with SJRWMD, but as he recollected, the SJRWMD had said that the price was so low, that County involvement was unnecessary. September 18, 2007 52