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Sept-Oct 2009
eMail FPL:
Donald Kiselewski (He's
taken over for Rod Macon)
Lewis Hay III, FPL CEO
Armando J. Olivera
Links: September 2006 Consulting Agreement for the Feasibility Study Power Lines, the Courts, and Science Electric and Magnetic Field Rule Wellington's Landscape Ordinance Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's web site (actual aerial pic of your home!) FPL's website for the West-East Project--that's us! American Forests Urban Ecosystem Analysis--the tree study. Florida Chapter Sierra Club Energy Information Sources for Citizens Please visit the website for the Trust for Public Land: http://www.tpl.org/ What are
other communities, working with local utilities, doing to better manage
their utility easements?
Coming Soon:
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The Feasibility Study The Village of Wellington has done a fine job making the easements disappear into the backgrounds at all road crossings, but there's still more to be done. Borrowing a page from the Rails to Trails program that's so popular in the rest of the country and consulting with everyone from the Sierra Club and Nature Conservancy to the Florida Greenway people has given us the courage to continue the mission. It's paying off! Jones Edmunds and Associates had been chosen to conduct the feasibility study, the first step in turning the power lines into parks. Here's the link to view that agreement. Unfortunately, the Village Council abruptly terminated that agreement at a meeting in February. Then council agreed to stop pursuing alternatives to prevent the destruction of the remaining pine forests through Wellington.
It's time to roll up our
sleeves... It's time to get all interested parties together and have a workshop. We've met with every Village of Wellington councilperson except for Mr. Priore. To a person we've been told that protecting Wellington's property values and increasing park space is important work and forms the very bedrock our community was founded on. We've rented a helicopter and scoped out alternative paths for transmission lines. In the past year we've spent hours with the people at the county developing maps and producing satellite images that graphically show how little of the forest we're trying to save is actually left. Our cause is a noble one. We've presented our findings at over a dozen meetings held around Wellington--from the library to the Community Center to the Village Council. Just two weeks ago the Parks and Rec Committee heard our plan and wondered why the VOW Council hasn't acted. We wonder too. We've contacted electrical engineers and former FPL engineers that all told us the same thing: Your plan is a sound one that represents a win--win opportunity for VOW and FPL. We've met with property appraisers that all trumpet the same obvious statement: Chop the woods that border the easement and you're hacking away at property values. How much? Perhaps 20% of home value! Every single property holder we've met that lives along the miles of FPL easement that make up over 160 back yards has said the same thing: There has to be an alternative to denuding my yard, destroying the aesthetics of my property, and causing a permanent hit to property values. There's even talk of making our stretch of forest a part of the Florida Trail--linking Okeeheelee Park's trails with the part of the Florida Trail that ends at Lake Okeechobee. What a splendid idea. And all this can be achieved with something as simple as an easement swap? We've met with representatives from FPL explaining our position and asking for help. We asked Don Kiselewski if FPL has a program to aid their neighbors in maintaining easements. We know the power company up in Georgia does. They give thousand dollar grants to their neighbors! FPL has come under fire for their lax attitude toward easement maintenance--we're offering to help. When Royal Palm Beach announced last year the $500,000 federal transportation grant they received to put bike paths on many of their FPL easements we screamed for joy. If Royal Palm can do it, then Wellington can, too! Is it a problem of leadership? Let's pay our leaders what they're worth, and let's get them to earn what we're paying them--that seems to be the attitude of all the communities that surround us. It's time for us to get all the parties to the table and draw some lines on a map. Laurie Cohen had it right a year and a half ago when she said we need, "A workshop." So let's get that workshop together!
Did you see us in the paper?
Reporter Streeter did a great job of fact-checking everything we told her and then reporting it in a fair and balanced manner. As more people get on board and want to be a part of turning our jewel in the rough into a series of trails and scenic vistas it appears we've turned into something of a news story! Carol Porter of the Town Crier was out a couple of days ago for interviews with Tom Partridge, Dennis and Amy Yuzenas, and Debbie Evans. Whenever people walk the trail through the yards that border the easement and discover for themselves the potential of this huge tract of land they, too, question why anyone would want to destroy what's left of the former forest. Tom Partridge put it best when he said, "If this doesn't get done today there will be no tomorrow. To allow this forest to be destroyed would be a failure of government." Don't worry Tom. Wellington Councilwoman Laurie Cohen met with us a couple of months ago and saw for herself the possibilities in better management of this property. It was exciting to stand in the shade of a 10 year-old oak tree on the easement property and hear Laurie voice her vision of Wellington's future. She, like Bob Margolis (see the story below,) have nothing but the best interests of all Wellington residents when they agree that we can't continue to allow miles of valuable property to be used as a dumping ground. Like any good civil servant, she wants a cost-benefits analysis to be performed and workshops initiated that would include all parties that will benefit from reworking the way the easement is currently managed. You go Laurie, you've got our vote!
Village of Wellington to Benefit
Greatly Mr. Margolis, long a friend of parks and recreation here in Wellington, told of a group from Okeeheelee Park that is seeking to make their fine trails and facilities a part of the Florida Trail! It turns out that our easement is part of the perfect solution to their problem. You see, the Florida Trail currently ends at Lake Okeechobee. Guess what's in between the end of the trail and Okeeheelee Park? Yep, the 5.2 miles of easement. Wouldn't it be grand to not only preserve the easement but help all the people in Florida? We have that opportunity. But Bob has been silent as of late. Why? Bob voiced his concerns with the potential hit 160 homes in some of the ritziest neighborhoods in Palm Beach County would suffer were the trees on the easement cleared. He noted that it was a concern shared by all the Council members. Yet the Council won't commit to preserving and upgrading the FPL easement. Why? Bob Margolis, former Council member was a great proponent of managing all the easement properties in a more environmentally and socially responsible way. Or, at least, he told us he was. It's great to have a such a fine person representing us. He's also very impressed with the level of organization and planning that went into our citizens group's development of the plan. We'll be meeting again with Bob in the near future. Perhaps you'd like to come along and give your input. We'll keep everyone up to date on future discussions and meeting with community leaders. The new faces on the council are all for making Wellington safer and more beautiful for a mere pittance. Where's Carmen Priore on this? Would it be overstating the obvious to say he's too busy pushing an antienvironmental stand to ask...
A Plan for the VOW
In examining the plan it turns out that by NOT taking down the green belt (thus preserving the property values of the homeowners along the wooded trail) the Village of Wellington and State of Florida will enjoy higher tax rates paid on each piece of property. Think of it, for once it's good to have higher taxes! While jogging it's not uncommon to run across people on horseback using the trail that is a part of the easement. FPL is onlynow beginning to realize how important it is for the families of Wellington to maintain what has become an extension of lush properties, a sound barrier to SR 80, a habitant for Florida's original inhabitants, the birds and animals, and a multipurpose trail. The residents living along Double Tree in Pinewood especially want to preserve the lush landscaping along the easement sincethe canal clearing project has seriously affected the view from their back porches! Don't say it can't happen here.
This is the latest easement clear cut and power transmission line expansion
project going through a West Boynton neighborhood. A Diamond in the Rough Apparently the VOW and FPL haven't heard about the Promenade in Boynton Beach. It’s a brand new upscale luxury condo development on the Intracoastal. The prices start in the mid-340,000 range. You know what one of the main selling points in their brochure is? It’s a nature trail that borders the development! This so-called trail pales in comparison to what's found right now, right here! They recognize the value of green space and trails... Jupiter's Carlin Park, a series
of trails and jogging paths, is a source of pride and a quality of life
enhancement From Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Jacksonville, Florida community leaders recognize and embrace the idea of multipurpose greenways through their towns. The cost to purchase the land can run into the millions of dollars. Wellington has the opportunity right now to turn 5.2 miles of upland pine forest into a conservation area/greenway for next to nothing. The FPL easement that parallels the northern border of the city is the type of resource other communities would die for. The urban forest that makes up the southern edge of the easement is an ecological treasure that is in danger of extinction. It's loss would be felt for generations. Should FPL be allowed to destroy the remaining urban forest and expand the system of poles and wires it would also wipe out millions of dollars of property value. No one wants 85 foot concrete and steel towers with crackling power lines right outside their bedroom windows. The current state of the easement offers both a visual buffer that hides the power lines from sight and a sound buffer from the increased traffic on Southern Blvd., to say nothing about the habitat for animals and plants that it provides.
One intriguing bit of news concerning the easement is that it has been designated an Equestrian Trail for quite some time. Since the easement has a trail designation already this leads to some interesting possibilities. One of the issues being explored is whether the easements in question can be added to the Florida Greenways system of trails. For those of you unfamiliar with the Greenway Project there is a link provided here. The 5.2 miles of easement provides the last
continuous chunk of An Easement Swap? There are options available if Wellington wishes to retain these valuable forested green spaces. FPL has reacted positively to the possibility of an easement swap, finding new land on which it can build transmission lines in return for vacating the remaining portion of both right-of-ways and which cross approximately 164 properties. If suitable land can be found within the City of Wellington or Acme Improvement District boundaries, the southernmost portion of the east-west right-of-way and the westernmost portion of the north-south right-of-way, on which FPL has not yet built, would become City of Wellington easements. This would require the discovery of land that is both available and acceptable to FPL. Of course, other options to preserve the beauty and value of our community must also be explored. (This was originally published in the Summer of '04.) Please email Debbie Evans with your thoughts. |
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The
Sun-Sentinel sent Angel Streeter out to find out what's going on out here!
She went back and did an excellent job of reporting and summarizing the quest
we've all been pursuing to turn our eye sore of an easement into something that
will benefit the people of Wellington and all South Florida. All the
feedback from the article has been wonderfully positive.
Margolis, VOW Councilperson. The meeting proved to be very enlightening.
It turns out that by studying the easement and publishing the results
a number of different groups have gotten involved in preserving our
sliver of upland pine and deciduous forest. It seems that all it took
to make people aware of the value in maintaining the easement, both
monetarily and ecologically, was the threat to bulldoze!
that is not lost on real estate agents and residents alike. It's a
low cost, low maintenance greenway in the heart of one of the fastest growing
communities in Palm Beach County. We can have that here!
At
a time when other communities are converting the diminishing green areas
of their towns into sources of pride and a way to ensure the security
of their tax base it seems silly to think that Wellington will allow
this valuable resource to slip through our fingers. Look at Wellington's
logo. Those are the very trees we're trying to preserve. At a moment
in history when the creed seems to be mow it down and pave it over we
have a chance for preserving something very special. Once the visual
pollution of giant poles and miles of power lines replace the pines
and cedar trees there is no going back. It's time for the residents
of Wellington to decide what their city will look like for future. What's
it going to be? Trees and trails or power poles and transmission lines?
This election year every candidate is claiming to be pro-environment.
Prove it.
Exploring the possibility of transforming the 
upland forest in Palm Beach County. To needlessly destroy
this green belt through one of the fastest growing urban areas in Florida would
be nothing less than short-sighted folly. The picture at right is what the
easement should look like.