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May 7, 1993ADMINISTRATIVE AND GOVERNMENTAL LAW ENVIRONMENTAL AND LANO USE LAW VIA HAND DELIVERY John D. Cassels, Jr. Okeechobee County Attorney 400 N.W. Second Street P.O. Box 968 Okeechobee, Florida 34973 Dear John: MICHAEL WM. MORELL ATTORNEY AT LAW 310 WEST COLLEGE AVENUE TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301 (904) 425 8300 (904) 425-8301 FACSIMILE May 7, 1993 ALSO ADMITTED IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Re: Public records request regarding franchising process and the ordinance adopted by Okeechobee County on August 29, 1993 which purports to grant a water and wastewater franchise to the Okeechobee Beach Water Association, Inc. This is a public records request pursuant to Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. In addition to filing the original of this public records request with you, I am also filing a copy of the request with Gloria J. Ford, Clerk of the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners, and Christopher W. Chinault, Okeechobee County Administrator. I assume that you, the Clerk of the Board and the County Administrator are the custodians of the records who will be preparing Okeechobee County's response to this request. If my assumption is incorrect, please immediately inform me by telephone who are the custodians of the public records requested and immediately provide a copy of this letter to those persons. For the purposes of this request, please consider any request for "public records" to be a request for all public records as defined in Section 119.011(1), Florida Statutes. On April 29, 1993, the Board of County Commissioners of Okeechobee County "Commission" or "County adopted an ordinance granting a franchise to the Okeechobee Beach Water Association "Association" or "OBWA). Section 2.01 of the ordinance purports to grant a right, privilege or franchise to the Association for the purposes of operating a water and sewer system and supplying water, sewer service or reuse water to persons and corporations "within and beyond" the limits of a service area defined and described in Appendix B attached to the ordinance. Section 1.03 of the ordinance includes the following: John D. Cassels, Jr., Okeechobee County Attorney Public Records Request of May 7, 1993 Page Two ...It is hereby ascertained, determined and declared that: (J) The Association is...owned and operated solely by its members for their benefit and was created in 1964 with the acquiescence of the City of Okeechobee and the County to provide water service to the Service Area. (K) The Association has, since 1965, entered into a series of long term agreements with the City of Okeechobee wherein the City of Okeechobee recognized and defined the Association's service area... (L) As early as June of 1991...the Association notified the City that it would develop its own treatment facilities... (M) The Association has diligently proceeded to...seek and obtain necessary approvals from the County, the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation and the South Florida Water Management District. (N) The provision of central sewer service to a parcel of property by the same utility that provides central water service promotes water conservation, efficiency of service and is the most cost effective alternative to provide wastewater services to the Service Area. (0) The Association has indicated to the County that it is willing to seek transition agreements with the operators of existing package water and sewer treatment plants and on -site disposal facilities within the Service Area, develop a plan in conjunction with the County to provide a central sewer system to all water customers served by the Association and, under certain circumstances, implement such plan. I wish to obtain copies of any public records relating to Okeechobee County's water and wastewater franchising process, the decision of the County to enter into a water and wastewater franchise agreement with OBWA and the authorization, development, consideration, revision and adoption of the April 29, 1993 franchise ordinance. Specifically, I wish to obtain copies of the following public records: I. The records and minutes of all meetings of the Commission at which the Commission authorized or delegated to its staff, administrators, attorneys, consultants, or advisory committees the responsibility: John D. Cassels, Jr., Okeechobee County Attorney Public Records Request of May 7, 1993 Page Three A. to develop specifications for a water and wastewater franchise; B. to request or solicit proposals in response to franchise specifications; C. to evaluate proposals submitted in response to the water and wastewater franchise specifications; D. to negotiate the terms of or the award of a water and wastewater franchise to OBWA or other potential franchisees; or E. to make recommendations to the Commission to enter into a franchise agreement with either OBWA or other potential franchisees. II. The records and minutes of any meetings held by the Commission since June of 1991 at which the subject of water and wastewater franchises were discussed. III. The records and minutes of all meetings conducted by the County's staff, administrators, attorneys, consultants, or advisory committees at which: A. water and wastewater franchise specifications were developed, B. proposals in response to the franchise specifications were requested or solicited, C. proposals submitted in response to the franchise specifications were evaluated, D. negotiations were conducted with representatives of OBWA, other entities submitting proposals or other potential franchisees concerning the terms or award of a water and wastewater franchise, and E. recommendations were made to the Commission to enter into a water and wastewater franchise agreement with either OBWA, other entities submitting proposals or other potential franchisees. IV. Copies of all preliminary drafts of the franchise ordinance that were developed, considered or revised by the Commission or the County's staff, administrators, attorneys, consultants, or advisory committees prior to the final ordinance adopted by the Commission on April 29, 1993. John D. Cassels, Jr., Okeechobee County Attorney Public Records Request of May 7, 1993 Page Four V. All County correspondence related to the water and wastewater franchising process, the decision of the County to enter into a water and wastewater franchise agreement with OBWA, and the water and wastewater franchise ordinance adopted by the County on April 29, 1993. This correspondence would include, but not be limited to, correspondence between the following persons: current or former Okeechobee County Commissioners; attorney's currently or formerly employed by Okeechobee County including Okeechobee County Attorney John D. Cassels, Jr.; engineers and consultants currently or formerly employed by Okeechobee County including Gene Shriner and Dale Malita; current or former employees of Okeechobee County including Christopher W. Chenault, David Rivera, Bill Royce and Dale Malita; current or former directors, officers, employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys of OBWA including Jack Coker, L.C. Fortner, Roger L. Robinet and Burton Connors; current or former board members, employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys for the Central Florida Regional Planning Council; current or former board members, employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys for the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA); current or former board members, employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys for the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation; current or former board members, employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys for the South Florida Water Management District including Frank "Sonny" Williamson, Kim Love and Thomas Colios; current or former commission members, officers, employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys for the Florida Public Service Commission; current or former Glades County Commissioners; current or former employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys for Glades County; and current or former directors, officers, members, employees, agents, engineers, consultants or attorneys for the Buckhead Ridge Development in Glades County or the Buckhead Ridge Property Owners Association. VI. The public records upon which the Board of County Commissioners based the recitals contained in Section 1.03 of the franchise ordinance, including but not limited to those records which formed the basis of the specific recitals contained in Paragraphs (J), (K), (L), (M), (N) and (0) of the ordinance wherein the County has stated or implied that it has "ascertained or determined" the following facts: John D. Cassels, Jr., Okeechobee County Attorney Public Records Request of May 7, 1993 Page Five A. that OBWA is owned and operated solely by its members for their benefit; B. that OBWA was created with the acquiescence of the City of Okeechobee and Okeechobee County to provide water service to the Service Area; C. that OBWA was created with the acquiescence of the City of Okeechobee and Okeechobee County to provide wastewater service to the Service Area; D. that OBWA has entered into a series of agreements with the City of Okeechobee wherein the City recognized and defined OBWA's water service area; E. that OBWA has entered into a series of agreements with the City of Okeechobee wherein the City recognized and defined OBWA's wastewater service area; F. that OBWA notified the City as early as June of 1991 that the Association would develop its own water and wastewater treatment facilities; G. that OBWA has sought and obtained necessary approvals from the County, the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation and the South Florida Water Management District to provide water and wastewater services. H. that the provision of central sewer service to a parcel of property by the same utility that provides central water service promotes water conservation, efficiency of service and is the most cost effective alternative to provide wastewater services to the Service Area. I. that OBWA has indicated to the County that it is willing to seek transition agreements with the operators of existing package water and sewer treatment plants and on -site disposal facilities within the Service Area, develop a plan in conjunction with the County to provide a central sewer system to all water customers served by OBWA and, under certain circumstances, implement such plan. John D. Cassels, Jr., Okeechobee County Attorney Public Records Request of May 7, 1993 Page Six VII. All records which show that OBWA has sought necessary approvals from Okeechobee County to provide water and wastewater service in the unincorporated area of Okeechobee County. This would include, but not be limited to, any OBWA applications for development permits or development approvals from the County. For purposes of paragraphs VII, VIII and IX of this public records request, the terms "development order" and "development permit" shall have the meanings of those terms as they are defined in Sections 163.3164(6) and (7), Florida Statutes, respectively. VIII. All records which show that OBWA has obtained necessary approvals from Okeechobee County to provide water and wastewater services in Okeechobee County. This would include, but not be limited to, any development permits or development approvals issued by the County to OBWA. IX. Copies of all development orders which Okeechobee County has issued concerning any OBWA request for development permit or development approval. This would include any development orders concerning OBWA's use of land in Okeechobee County to provide water and wastewater services in Okeechobee County. X. All records which show that the provision of central sewer service to a parcel of property by the same utility that provides central water service promotes water conservation, efficiency of service and is the most cost effective alternative to provide wastewater services to the Service Area. XI. All records which show or indicate the certain circumstances under which the OBWA will implement, or will not implement, the plan that the Association has indicated that it will develop in conjunction with the County to provide a central sewer system to all water customers served by the Association. XII. All records which show or indicate whether and when OBWA filed the required acceptance with the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners as provided for in Section 4.06 of the ordinance. 4 John D. Cassels, Jr., Okeechobee County Attorney Public Records Request of May 7, 1993 Page Seven The County is required to provide a prompt response to this request. In Tribune Co. v. Cannella, 458 So. 2nd 1075 (Fla. 1984), the Florida Supreme Court states that the only delay permitted is a "limited reasonable time allowed to the custodian to retrieve the record and delete those portions of the record the custodian asserts are exempt." Id. at 1079. The court there disapproved a delay of 48 hours in providing public records. Therefore, please call my office when the documents requested are ready to be picked up, and at that time, notify me of the charges, if any, for this request. If I do not hear from Okeechobee County on this matter on or before 5:00 p.m. on May 12, 1993, I will assume that the County does not have any records related to this request. Thank you for your attention to this matter. XIII. All records of any agreement between Okeechobee County and OBWA. This would include but not be limited to any records of verbal or written agreements between the County and OBWA concerning the operation of a water and sewer system and supplying water, sewer service or reuse water within the County which are not included as part of the franchise ordinance or the franchise agreement between the County and OBWA referred to in the ordinance. Sincerely, a witid (0ffi ditina Michael Wm. Morell Fla. Bar No. 0570280 cc: Gloria J. Ford, Clerk to the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners (by hand delivery) ;Christopher W. Chinault, Okeechobee County Administrator (by hand delivery) John R. Cook, City Attorney (by hand delivery) BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, FL 9311''] -7 s1; l l 37 ORIGINAL OF Tni4 uu M NT FILED 19 159 GLORIA J. FORD_ ooEoouNlRRO WI MAY 0 7 1993 cm[iwg MAY -T 3