Legislative preview to allow public comment on Tuesday

Legislators will be holding a legislative preview hearing 9-11 a.m. at the Immokalee Community Park in Immokalee. There also will be a second preview hearing 2-5 p.m. at the Collier County Commission Chambers.

"The intent of having two hearings is to allow as many people as possible to attend," said State Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples. "The Immokalee session will primarily deal with issues that impact Immokalee."

Davis said both preview sessions would allow local citizens and groups in the area to express any concerns or wishes they have to their local legislators. Davis is the chairman of the Southwest Florida legislative delegation.

State Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples, said legislators want to hear from anyone who has an idea or thought on the upcoming 2004 legislative session.

"The benefit of this meeting is that we get to hear from a lot of the local people," Goodlette said. "I always welcome this. It's nice to get an update on how everything is going."

A plan to create two independent special districts will be discussed at both hearings. The special districts are being pushed by two of the biggest landowners in Collier County and already have been approved by the commission. They also must be approved by the state Legislature before they can be formed.

Barron Collier Cos. wants a special district to build and maintain community services for Ave Maria University and its companion town, while Collier Enterprises is seeking a special district to control what would be called the Big Cypress Stewardship District for lands west of the proposed Ave Maria special district. Both proposed districts are east of Collier Boulevard and south of the Immokalee area.

"We will be making the same request to the legislative delegation that we made to the County Commission," said Tom Conrecode, vice president of governmental affairs for Collier Enterprises. "They will be asked to approve the special districts."

Ken van Assenderp, attorney for the Barron Collier Cos., said he was planning to give a brief overview of the Ave Maria District at both meetings.

Davis and Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, are expected to sponsor the bills creating the two special districts.

The Big Cypress district is 21,700 acres. The Ave Maria district is about 10,000 acres.

Under the provisions of the bills approved by the County Commission creating the two districts, they will be allowed to construct and maintain roadways, bridges, street lighting, traffic signals, sewer systems and water plants. The districts would be able to provide public safety services, but could not exercise police power.

The special districts would have to follow Collier County's comprehensive plan.

A change in the way the court system is funded also is expected to be discussed on Tuesday. Collier County Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock is planning to speak about Amendment 7 to Article V of the Florida Constitution.

Article V established a four-tiered judicial system. The top two tiers are appellate courts, the Florida Supreme Court and five District Courts of Appeal, which review the decisions of the courts below them. The third and fourth tiers, circuit and county courts, are primarily trial courts.

Revision 7 says in July 2004 the state will start paying for the majority of court services and setting policies regarding these services. Local governments until now have paid the cost for most of the services.

Brock has been a vocal critic of Amendment 7 and alleges it could hurt the local court system.

Because of the large caseload of most circuit and county courts, programs have been instituted that allow some cases to be settled without the direct participation of judges. Those cases can go to mediation, arbitration or into a program such as drug court or teen court.

The problem is the Florida Constitution doesn't require those programs. The state must provide a judiciary, but it doesn't have to pay for programs that allow cases to be settled without judges.

So when the state is in a budget crunch, it can eliminate those programs. That means the local government must pay for the programs, or they will be eliminated

Brock is unhappy with the way the state is planning to pay for the courts and is expected to lobby the local legislative delegation to make changes to the funding plan.

Presentations on the Pace Center for Girls, the Immokalee Water & Sewer District, Lake Trafford Restoration and the Healthy Start Coalition also will be made at the Immokalee hearing.

The Naples hearing will have presentations from the Collier County Commission, the Collier County Supervisor of Elections, the Collier County Sheriff, Florida Gulf Coast University, Naples Community Hospital, the David Lawrence Center, Habitat for Humanity, the Collier County Mosquito Control District, Planned Parenthood, and the Naples Alliance for Children.

Public comment from anyone who wants to speak on other issues will also be allowed at the end of both meetings.