Former Councilman Feller to Municipalities: Wake Up!
by SDM
Former Palmetto Bay Councilman, Dr. Ed Feller authors in the Palmetto Bay News (October 18-31) a compelling argument against the South Dade Green Corridor District. This special taxing district is advertised as offering a financing opportunity to install energy savings devices on commercial and residential properties.
Among the problems according to Dr. Feller’s analysis:
- Legal issues related to the priority of the special taxing district’s lien against the commercial or residential property;
- High interest rate and financing restrictions;
- A troubling bid process that leaves Palmetto Bay virtually no option but to contract with a company called Ygrene Florida – a company with no assets or track record;
- A lack of insurance on the energy savings expected to be realized; and
- The lack of relevant qualifications for the district’s board of directors.
SDM did a little research on Ygrene, a limited liability company, and found that its “Manager” is Lykes Brothers, Inc., which is a large family-owned concern out of Tampa. Lykes and Ygrene share the same CEO: Howell L. Ferguson, a scion of the Lykes family. Lykes touts itself as an environmentally conscious company, but others consider it an environmental despoiler.
In a recent column in News-Press.com (covering Lee and Collier Counties), environmentalist Ellen Peterson excoriates the head of Florida Audubon for supporting Lykes Brothers’ “…conversion of Nicodemus Slough into a shallow holding tank for industrial-strength polluted water from Lake Okeechobee…” and “…placement of dams in Fisheating Creek, formerly the last unimpeded waterway in South Florida.”
SDM prides itself on not stooping to ad hominem arguments, so to be clear: SDM doesn’t know if Lykes Brothers is a “good” or “bad” company with regard to environmental issues. The problem is neither does Palmetto Bay or Cutler Bay.
Our good leaders also don’t know if Ygrene will be backed up by Lykes Brothers. In fact, our leaders don’t seem to understand much about this deal, except that it sounds good and that it’s “green.”
Village leaders take note: the “green” Lykes usually likes is the green found on money, regardless of the true environmental cost. Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay would do well to heed Dr. Feller’s wake-up call.
When are the good people going to return Palmetto Bay to some sense of sanity. The present council minus one or two should be replaced asap.
It’s almost enough to make me want to move to South Miami.Oops I forgot, SM is just a tad worse than the Village of Parks AKA Palmetto Bay.
Thank goodness for the watch dogs of the city,without them who knows what cave the city would be in
The current Palmetto Bay council will not wake up. They are sleepwalking and only listen to sound bites from lobbyists on any issue whether it is green corridor or a charter school. This is a taxing district, not simply another road paving project. Where is their due diligence? You are right in that all they hear is “green” and the mayor is drooling over being a paid member of the board of directors. It is all style over substance and no one on the council is listening to the warning bells and whistles whether is its lack of guarantees and track record on a green corridor taxing district or taking $1.5 million out of reserves for pet projects based upon faulty promises of returns. The fact of the matter is that the Palmetto Bay council is a train wreck that is going to drag many taxpayers down with them.
This is overpriced snake oil sold under a green label. 7%? The question is who is making the profit on this margin. We know who will be getting fleeced.