Last week we had the East side Town Hall. This week we get to hear from the West side. It is blatantly obvious that we are in for a fight, as our county commission is determined to force impact fees down our throats. Mind you, there has been nothing done with the fees they collected previously. Our county government continues to hide behind the preamble that they need to raise these fees to cover expenses. It is a bit hypocritical though to tear down those who live out of the area and drive our roads yet tax only those willing to move to our community to pay for the roads. If there was ever a time to stand up and be heard, it is now. If you don't know, I hope you have someone stepping up to help with your fees going forward, as it is going to get down right expensive to buy that new hammer or stop for a burger due to these fees.
Our ENewsBrief list continues to grow. Unlike the print copy of the magazine, there are no caps on distribution. If you know someone who would like to receive this, please send me their email and we will add them to the list.
The July issue of Building Edge and the Summer issue of Commercial Building Edge have both closed and are now in production. June is in the mail and started arriving Friday. August's issue, featuring Adams Homes is now open for sales.
We are pleased to announce that we have recently joined the AGC of Greater Florida. In our attempts to continue to bring to you the best of our industry and be the true advocate for construction in North Central Florida, we felt this partnership would help us bring more information to our members. For more information, please click on the AGC logo at the bottom right of the brief.
If you would like to stop in and see our new home, we are in Northwest Gainesville in the Metro Corp Center, on the corners of NW 39th Ave and NW 43rd St. Actual street address is 4110 NW 37th Pl, Suite C. Gainesville, FL 32606. The phone number for the Gainesville office is (352) 372-5854. The phone number for Ocala is (352) 368-1707.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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www.BuildingEdgeMagazine.com
Our June 2007 is now available online and the hard copy has just arrived in the mail. The Cover Feature is Jim & Pal Bennett with Bennett Construction Services in Ocala. We will have an Edge Spotlight this month on Via Bertolini. Our National feature is on Doors: Interior, Exterior, Patio and Overhead/Garage Doors. This is also our Parade of Homes Wrap Up issue.
Our July issue features a cover story on Kara Sutton & Sutton Family Homes. Our National Feature is on Baths: Fixtures, faucets, home spas, hardware, tile and countertops. This issue is now in production and was our largest July issue ever.
Sales are now open on our August issue. The cover story is on Ocala's Adams Homes. The National feature is Curb Appeal: Entry doors, brick and siding, roofing, lighting, landscaping, paving. This issue closes on Tuesday, June 25th. For more information, please contact us at (352) 372-3958 in Gainesville, or (352) 368-1707 in Ocala.
Coming up, in the September issue is Glaeser Development. Coming up in October is Tommy Waters Custom Homes.
Sales have closed on the Summer 2007 issue of Commercial Building Edge. The cover feature is on Gray Construction Services. The National Feature is on Green Building.
Sales for the new Home Magazine are open. Home: Living in the Heart of Florida, a new magazine from Advantage Publishing is open for sales. Taking the experience we have gained from Building Edge and Commercial Building Edge, we are very excited about this new endeavor which will showcase the best of living in our community. Home: Living in the Heart of Florida will be a general circulation publication available to everyone in the community. The early feedback is beyond anything we could have expected. The website is currently under development. With a distribution of over 30,000 copies, this will be the largest magazine in North Central Florida. For more information, please contact us at (352) 372-5854.
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Worries About Service Cuts Dominate Eastside Meeting
Warnings about the fate of some local government programs should Tallahassee mandate property tax cuts dominated a "town hall" meeting Gainesville and Alachua County officials held in east Gainesville last week. But residents raised their own concerns about the services officials have said are under consideration for cuts and which include police, fire and medical services.
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Marion Officials Say No to Paying for Study on Water Sources
Marion County Commissioners say they are not ready to help pay for a proposed alternate water sources plan they believe will allow pumping the Ocklawaha River to pipe water to other areas of the state.
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Area Counties Cooperate to Draw Businesses
A group of 14 rural North Central Florida counties has joined forces to try to lure building components and distribution businesses to six tentatively selected locations. The coalition is one of three Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern designated by the state for help with economic development in areas that individually don't typically have the resources of metropolitan areas.
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Belleview Commission OKs Land-use Change for Development
The land-use change for 219 acres off of Baseline Road being developed as a residential community by Kirk Boone got a 3-1 nod last week from the Belleview City Commission. Commissioner Ken Nadeau was not at the meeting. The bulk of the property will change from the existing low-density residential in Marion County to low-density residential in the city, with five acres changing from low-density residential in the county to commercial in the city.
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Ocala City Council Approves Retail Designation for Dayco
The City Council on Wednesday changed the land-use designation of Dayco Products LLC's property at 3100 S.E. Maricamp Road from medium industrial to retail services. The council also reached a compromise with developer Dolphin Enterprises and approved a change for the Poinciana Heights neighborhood during the first round of large-scale land-use change hearings.
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Pollution Plan for Springs Debated
The Marion County Commission continues to debate staff's proposal to reduce pollution going into the area's springs. A discussion last week between commissioners and staff focused on two specific pieces of the long discussed proposal to change the county's land development code. Both would apply to new development in the county's primary and secondary springs protection zones, areas of high recharge to Silver Springs and Rainbow Springs.
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MCBA Calendar of Events
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BANCF Calendar of Events
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Tax Plan Includes Savings of $32B
With a special session on property taxes just days away, House and Senate leaders on Friday revealed a $32 billion tax-cutting plan, calling it the largest tax break in Florida history and promising a 44 percent reduction for homeowners. The proposal would hit local government budgets through a property tax rollback, but not as hard as some had projected. Half of the savings are built on a constitutional amendment for a new homestead exemption that must win voter approval and would cut school funding unless lawmakers replace the lost revenue, which they have promised to do.
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County Debates Impact Fees
Lake County decided this year to update a number of impact fees. They have been scrutinized in all communities for some time. Those opposed to the fees usually include homebuilding interests from mortgage lenders to Habitat for Humanity. On the other side sits a number of governmental officials who say that an increasing tax base alone does not cover the massive costs of expanding services to meet the county's growing needs. The county commission met last week to determine road construction impact fees. Another, about schools, will be brought before the board later this summer.
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Cities and Counties Fight Tax Reform
Florida's cities and counties are urgently trying to alarm the public about property tax cuts. The Florida Association of Counties and the Florida League of Cities have both developed public relations campaigns to garner public support for their opposition to Governor Charlie Crist's call for property tax cuts. Local governments fear massive reductions in revenue typically generated by property taxes. The Property Tax Reform Special Session starts Tuesday.
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FHBA Takes a Stand Against Hometown Democracy
The Florida Home Builders Association has taken a stand against Hometown Democracy with a column written by Paul M. Thompson, senior vice president. He believes that Hometown Democracy will bring devastation to the Florida home building and development industry. Hometown Democracy is a proposed constitutional amendment that would put land use and comprehensive plan changes to a vote of the citizenry. Thompson said that everyone against state growth and people who already own their own homes will be able to rush to the polls to stop all future development. Currently, polls indicate that this will pass because of reasons such as that most Floridians blame traffic congestion, for example, on growth. Growth in peoples' minds does not pay for itself.
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Impact Fee Vote Delayed as Builders Ask for Time
A controversial vote on the first of several proposed increases in impact fees won't happen until at least August. The Lake County Commission voted last week to delay action on transportation impact fees for 60 days at the request of the Lake County Home Builders Association, which asked for the time to review and challenge the study supporting the fee increases.
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Court Could Hear Impact Dispute
When a new school opens, who pays for the traffic jam up the road? The Hillsborough County Commission and School Board appear headed to court for answers. The dispute, which both sides call friendly, centers on the millions of dollars needed to install sidewalks, traffic signals, turn lanes and other improvements around new campuses.
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Icahn Begins New Talks to Buy Florida Builder
Billionaire investor activist Carl Icahn is making another attempt to buy Florida luxury home builder WCI Communities, the company said Wednesday. One of Icahn's affiliates entered into the bidding process just six weeks after WCI shareholders rejected his unsolicited $22 per share offer, which had an implied purchase price of about $921 million. The company has since put itself up for auction. WCI told shareholders it is seeking offers or alternatives that would give shareholders more value than Icahn's offer. WCI spokesman Steve Zenker said an Icahn affiliate signed a confidentiality agreement to enter the sales process as a bidder. The move gives the affiliate access to the WCI books to conduct what is known as a due diligence review.
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Florida Welcomes Eight New Insurers
Eight new property insurers have entered the Florida market since Jan. 1, a hopeful sign for Florida's troubled insurance marketplace, regulators say. None of the companies, however, are major residential insurers that would significantly address the numbers of policies that major insurers scaling back in the Florida marketplace haven't renewed.
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Ag Land Likely to Become Premium
Citrus and agriculture have a bullish future in the state, but it's likely to become more concentrated in Southwest Florida because agricultural land in other regions, particularly Central Florida, is disappearing at faster rates. That's one of the conclusions from "Ag Business in SW Florida: Present and Future," a study done by Stuart Van Auken and Howard Finch, professors at the Lutgert College of Business at Florida Gulf Coast University.
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NAHB Awards Excellence in 50+ Housing
The National Association of Home Builders honored the most outstanding work in the 50+ housing industry during the 2007 Best of 50+ Housing Awards ceremony held in conjunction with the Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium 2007 in Denver. The NAHB 50+ Housing Council promotes excellence in the seniors housing industry for the past 15 years. A 12-member panel of architects, builders, designers, marketing professionals and universal design specialists judged the projects on innovative architecture, interior design, merchandising, marketing and how effectively they responded to the housing demands on the burgeoning 50+ market.
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Market-Driven Programs Lead to More Certified Green Homes
A new survey of local home building associations revealed that more than 97,000 homes have been built and certified by voluntary, builder-supported green building programs around the country since the mid-1990s. This is a 50 percent increase from the last survey of green homes conducted in 2004. This indicates that market-driven programs, not mandates, are the best way to encourage the growth of green building. The home building industry is leading the effort to make homes more energy- and resource-efficient.
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National Homeownership Month Sparks a Call for Reform
June is National Homeownership Month, which the National Association of Home Builders is participating in by pushing for viable alternatives to the subprime market by urging reform for the Federal Housing Administration's single-family mortgage insurance programs. This reform would mean greater flexibility in responding to the needs of borrowers, enabling more working families to become homeowners. National Homeownership Month is the perfect opportunity to highlight areas that need change, which can result in thousands more Americans realizing the dream of homeownership.
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Landscaping Adds Value to Homes
By spending $500 to $3,000 on plants and materials and a few hours of time, you can achieve a well-landscaped look without shelling out for professional help. Landscaping also adds more value than almost any other home renovation. High-quality landscaping can actually add 5-11% to its price. Short-term projects include edging beds, nourishing grass and scattering color throughout the yard. Long-term improvements include cutting back overgrown plants, adding foliage, placing plants throughout the property to create depth and fencing.
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AGCGF Successful in Passing Two Bills
The House passed two bills that the AGC held an interest in, the Jessica Lunsford Act Glitch Bill, and an owner-controlled insurance program (OCIP) bill. Passage of these bills is a result of years of hard work by AGC of Greater Florida, the Florida AGC Council, and the construction industry.
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Cemex buys Rinker, is Now Global Leader
Cemex of Mexico became the world's largest supplier of building materials on Thursday after it won a majority stake in Australia's Rinker Group, overcoming concerns of potential market dominance in some U.S. markets. Cemex announced it had won acceptance of its $14.25 billion takeover bid from shareholders representing 50.34 percent of Rinker stock.
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Non Residential Construction Continues to Edge Up in April
The U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau May 31 reported that private nonresidential construction spending grew steadily in April, rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $336 billion, 1.5 percent above the revised March rate of $331 billion and more than 15 percent above the April 2006 rate $290 billion.
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AGC of Greater Florida Calendar of Events
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| Current Issues |
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Residential June 2007
Commercial Spring 2007
HOME: Living in the Heart of Florida
Coming Soon
Fall 2007
For more information,
Please contact
Scott Costello |
If you are interested in joining the BANCF and taking advantage of these great opportunities,
Please visit
www.bancf.com |
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