a response

It is my belief that the potential for pollution, paying high mitigation fees, zoning and generally doing DUE DILIGENCE before making a major move such as annexation SHOULD be of interest to ALL people who are concerned about the welfare of MS. All of those issues are relevent to the annexation issue and should be explored in detail before making ANY decision. I have met at least one real estate person in town who do NOT care if we annex polluted property, pay mitigation fees that are sky-high and unreasonable, or have ANY control over the zoning- they believe that annexation will put a LOT of money in their pockets and THATS all those individuals care about. They told me so, in those words. That is a narrow, self-centered approach to annexation that disregards the best interests of the rest of the residents that live here. I am concerned that perhaps the police have not thought this process thru completely and looked at ALL sides of all the issues before they have taken this stand. Dr. Mel P. Johnson

Big IFs

Dotson ALSO went on the record last night as being in favor of annexation IF IF IF, and ONLY IF, the issues of mitigation fees, possible pollution, zoning, the annexed owners, and the FEC properties can be resolved in a way that is favorable to the City of Miami Springs. There was supposed to be a pollution report from a guy at DERM- that hasnt happened. Unless the County signs a contract which agrees to clean up any possible polluted areas at THEIR expense, annexation wont work, as some cleanups can cost a million and more. Why would we want to annex polluted properties and expose ourselves to that liability? Mitigation fees of $336,000 a year forever is just unacceptable. Lawsuits are entirely possible when the owners of those commercial properties become aware that their tax rates are going up two points overnight. It would be sheer senseless stupidity to annex properties where we do NOT have control over the zoning, as we would NOT be able to control the quantity or quality of the businesses there. Dotson made that point a long time ago. So there are a LOT of issues to be resolved BEFORE annexation can be considered a viable prospect for Miami Springs! IF, after those issues have been discussed and debated thoroughly, and it is determined that annexation is a good thing for us, then we should vote.