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Lawmaker won't try for Scripps deadline

A state senator says he's satisfied that Palm Beach County is working hard to find the institute a site.

By JONI JAMES
Published January 14, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - The Palm Beach County Commission, struggling to break ground on a biotech campus for Scripps Florida, on Thursday dodged interference from state lawmakers.

Days after suggesting lawmakers impose a deadline for the commission to break ground on a permanent Scripps facility or risk losing the state's backing, a Senate committee chairman said he wouldn't push his recommendation during the upcoming legislative session.

Sen. Mike Fasano said testimony from Palm Beach County Commissioner Karen Marcus and other state officials had convinced him that local officials were diligently trying to find a Palm Beach County home for Scripps, even if the original site, known as Mecca Farms, was abandoned. The rural, 2,000-acre site faces numerous environmental and legal challenges.

"I'm not sure before we began asking questions aggressively if those alternative sites were being pursued," said Fasano, R-New Port Richey. "Now I do believe they are."

Marshall Criser, who oversees the state's investment in Scripps Florida, and Sen. Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach, told the Senate economic development budget committee Thursday that there was no need for legislative action at this time. Fasano chairs the committee.

Palm Beach County landed the biotech giant with the help of Gov. Jeb Bush, who aggressively recruited Scripps Research Institute to expand to Florida and persuaded the Legislature in October 2003 to pledge $310-million to help offset costs in the first seven years.

Under the original December 2003 contract between the County Commission and Scripps Research Institute, the county would begin building a permanent research campus for Scripps this month at Mecca Farms.

A subsequent amendment pushed that date to April because of last year's hurricanes. The contract also allows for additional delays because of legal action, Marcus said.

Palm Beach County commissioners angered Fasano and some state officials last month when they voted to delay spending more money on the Mecca Farms site until all legal challenges were dealt with. Fasano said such a resolution "just invites lawsuits that can stall the projects for years."

Commissioners never intended to halt construction in lieu of any lawsuit, Marcus said. The commission didn't want to waste taxpayers' money by beginning construction if a judge would rule the project must be halted or torn down, she said.

Marcus pledged that the county was aggressively investigating three other sites. Each alternative would cost at least twice as much as the rural Mecca Farms site, which Palm Beach County bought in haste in December 2003 for $60.5-million to seal the deal with Scripps. But each of the alternative sites has roads and other infrastructure. And they carry a commitment from Nat Reed, founder of the environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida, that they are acceptable, Marcus said.

"I'm very comfortable any site we offer, Scripps will accept," she said.

Palm Beach County has spent $102-million on the Scripps project. The state has spent $21-million of the $310-million that the Legislature committed.

Joni James can be reached at 850 224-7263 or jjames@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 14, 2005, 00:30:19]