Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Faced with the choice of proceeding to litigation or receiving $3.3 million in direct and service contributions from NextEra Energy – the parent company of Gulf Power and Florida Power and Light (FPL) – the Jefferson County Commission did the expected on Monday evening, June 22.
By unanimous vote, the commission accepted NextEra's proposal, in the process repealing a recently approved ordinance that sought to regulate transmission lines, and that aimed specifically at the high-voltage line that the utility company plans to install across the county.
As part of deal, the commission got a last-minute concession of sorts in the form of a change to the agreement that will allow local officials to amend the list of community groups that will receive some of the money, with the amended list subject to NextEra approval.
The video-streamed meeting, which was held at the Emergency Operation Center because of its more sophisticated video-streaming capability, had the attending officials and guests largely abiding by the social-distancing requirements.
Representing the commission was Attorney David Collins, who negotiated the settlement agreement on behalf of the county. And on the other side, representing NextEra at the meeting, were R. Wade Litchfield, FPL vice president and general counsel, and Pamela Rauch, FPL vice president of external affairs and economic development.
Collins upfront recommended repeal of the ordinance, saying that the commission had fought the good fight but it was time to fold the tents and partner with NextEra.
At which point, the public was invited to comment, beginning with Merry Ann Frisby.
Frisby, who introduced herself as a children's advocate, expressed support for the agreement. The community, she said, needed an after-school program for at-risk youths. It didn't matter to her what group or groups got the money, so long as the kids got something out of the funding, she said.
She also had no problem with the transmission line providing no direct benefit to Jefferson County residents, as it would provide reliability and resiliency to neighboring counties in the event of storms and other disasters, she said.
Kate Calvin was another citizen who addressed the board. Her concerns, Calvin said, were twofold. She wanted it written into the agreement that NextEra would notify the county within 24 hours of when the power line went live, she said. She also wanted NextEra to notify the county if at any time it decided to increase the voltage on the line.
Litchfield responded that both requests were reasonable and acceptable to his company. And in fact, County Coodinator Parrish Barwick noted that both stipulations were already in the agreement.
Calvin also expressed concern about the line's electromagnetic field (EMT). She wanted to know how many residential parcels the line would impact and if individuals with cardiac implants had been made aware of the potential adverse effects of EMTs.
Matt Valle responded virtually on behalf of NextEra, offering that the total number of Jefferson County parcels impacted by the line were 50, of which half a dozen were residential. And no, he said, the company had not per se individually notified those persons with cardiac implants about the EMTs.
Litchfield, for his part, added that his company abided by the EMT standards, which were set and regulated by both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We are subject to the standards,” he said.
Steve Trent, whose property on the Waukeenah Highway is being directly impacted by the power, decried that NextEra was putting the commission in the untenable position of having to choose between the affected property owners and a windfall for the county and purposely pitting citizen against citizen.
“We're paying the price,” Trent said of the affected property owners, disputing Valle's claim that only six residential properties were being impacted. He could look out his door and see that many properties affected right in his neighborhood, he said.
He reminded the commission that NextEra, via FPL, had contributed to former Governor Rick Scott's election campaign and lobbied the Florida Legislature to have transmission lines exempted from local regulations. Which was the reason that the county found itself in its present situation vis-a-vis the utility company, he said.
Trent also decried that contrary to the fifth amendment, the utility company was able to use eminent domain to claim private property, not for the public good but for its own proft. He accepted reality, he said. But he found it distasteful that NextEra was throwing money around to accomplish its purpose, he said.
“There's a price being paid,” Trent said of the agreement. “It's not free. And we in the path are paying the price.”
Collins told Trent that he didn't disagree with Trent's assessment or philosophy. On the other hand, he said, he had advised the commission that to proceed into litigation would prove fruitless and counterproductive. The risks of litigation, he said, far outweigh any possible benefits, as the odds were stacked against the county. The way to accomplish the kind of change that was needed, Collins said, was for people to get involved, vote and change the system via the ballot box.
“This commission didn't make the decision lightly,” Collins said in the commission's defense. “Don't think this commission didn't take it to the wire.”
Others who spoke in support of the agreement were Sheriff Mac McNeill, who mentioned the state-of-the-art radio communication system his department may get as a result of the agreement, and Erin Merritt and Tom Wheeler – two citizens who believed the county would reap significantly increased property tax revenues.
The commissioners next got into the bolts and nuts parts of the agreement, mainly having to do with the distribution of the NextEra funds and which entities would get what, with Commissioner Betsy Barfield leading the discussion.
First, however, Barfield wanted to know what exactly NextEra had found objectionable about the local ordinance.
Litchfield offered that it was his company's view that state law preempted local regulations of transmission lines and that the very existence of the local ordinance created confusion.
Barfield next focused on the allotted amounts. She wanted to know why the Police Athletic League (PAL) had been slated to receive so much of the funding and other equally deserving community groups had been left out of the equation. She cited as examples the senior citizens center, Teen Center, Main Street, Monticello opera house and humane society.
Many of which organizations, she said, had approached her and questioned why they hadn't even received consideration. She moreover, had a problem with investing so much money to repair the old high school gym for PAL's use, given that the school district owned it. She preferred, she said, to invest money for new building for PAL at the recreation park, rather than repairing the gym.
Why, she wondered, couldn't the commission decide the money's distribution? The designated money, for example, could be distributed as the different community organizations as grants, Barfield suggested.
Litchfield said his company wasn't opposed to the idea.
“I think it's a fair characterization to call this a working list,” he said of the named groups on the original list, adding that his company had no problem with changing the list, so long as it could ensure the money would go to organizations or ends that met its core values.
“We come as a partner that wants to invest in the community,” Rauch added. “If you want to tweak the agreement, that's fine.”
At which point the commission took a 15-minute recess to allow the attorneys to tweak the agreement and formulate new language to reflect the changes discussed, with the possibility of a youth center in Waukeenah being funded.
As things stood at the meeting's conclusion, the commission was expected to come up with a revised list of recipients for the money, subject to NextEra's review and approval. The understanding was also that the pledged amounts represented a value that NextEra would hold and distribute within set timeframes, contingent on construction or operation of the line.
Meanwhile, the grant consultant and pursuit of grants was to begin almost immoderately, as this aspect of the agreement ends within a 90-day window or NextEra's expenditure of $100,000, depending which comes first.