Revised Sugar Buyout Leaves Businesses Less Anxious

People in Western Palm Beach County should sleep a little sounder after Governor Charlie Crist on Wednesday announced a revised deal for buying U. S. Sugar Corporation land.

The governor revealed details of the new plan in Miami, with U. S. Sugar executives at his side. The state still gets all it ever wanted in the buyout-- the land, 180,000 acres. The South Florida Water Management District plans to convert at least half of that property to water storage and treatment marshes and reservoirs, for the benefit of the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, and the St. Lucie River estuary in Stuart.

But under the new arrangement, U. S. Sugar gets to keep its sugar mill, citrus plant and other installations. The company commits to keeping its 1700 employees on board at least seven years, while leasing land back from the state for growing sugar cane. After the seven years, U. S. Sugar has several options for its sugar mill: processing foreign sugar cane, converting to another use such as producing "green" energy, or selling the facilities.

"Most of the people around here rely on the sugar mills," said Fathi Hamitou, owner of Blue Diamond Beauty Supply in a Belle Glade shopping plaza. "If they don't have no jobs, they're not going to have any money."

Hamitou says many of his customers have already moved away from the Glades in recent years. Of the plans to use the U. S. Sugar land for environmental restoration, Hamitou says, "It's a great idea, but in the meantime they need to find a better solution for the people around here, so they keep them here. Because if it keeps going this way, within what, maybe ten years, we won't have no Belle Glade."

Hamitou says he's pleased to hear of the revised buyout plan. He hopes the U. S. Sugar jobs will stay around longer than seven years.

Down the shopping plaza, Robert Cisneros, an employee at an electronics store, says many of his customers work for U. S. Sugar. "I've got a lot of customers who've worked 20 years, 10 years, they started their career there," stated Cisneros. Keeping the company open longer will hopefully help business, he said.

While the revised buyout is scaled back, the price tag is still hefty-- now $1.3 billion, versus $1.7 billion.  The Water Management District board, whose members are appointed by the governor, must approve the agreement.