As Miami-Dade County remains caught between feuding parties in a battle for an essential PortMiami fuel farm, multiple high-level county leaders have stepped down in the midst of the crisis.
The county is in negotiations to purchase a fuel depot property located on the wealthy enclave of Fisher Island, which was bought last year by a Chicago-based developer that planned to turn it into luxury condos. Without that fuel depot, PortMiami doesn't have a way to fuel the multibillion dollar cruise and cargo industry that helps drive the county's economy.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced on Thursday that Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Morales and PortMiami Director Hydi Webb have retired after a combined 35 years of service.
"I am deeply grateful to Jimmy Morales and Hydi Webb for their extraordinary service to Miami-Dade County and our residents,” said Mayor Levine Cava in a written statement. “Their leadership, integrity, and dedication have helped make our county stronger."
This announcement came a day after Morales reportedly submitted his resignation letter to the county, citing a "difference of opinion" with regard to the county's proposed deal with the current owner of the fuel depot property.
The details of the proposed deal are not public, though recent reports from insiders say the county will pay $200 million up front for the facility, with an additional $200 million paid over 20 years.
This comes amid multiple ongoing lawsuits aimed at stopping the deal filed by the Fisher Island Community Association (FICA), the master association for the island home to wealthy Miami residents.
The fuel depot
PortMiami is one of the only major ports in the world without an on-site facility to fuel its cargo and cruise ships. Instead, for the past century, the port has been serviced by a nearby fuel farm on Fisher Island previously owned by a company called TransMontaigne. The fuel depot was built when the island was still undeveloped, but as the decades passed, luxury condos went up and the island became known as a home for the ultra-affluent. Residential buildings now abut the 9.6 acres home to green fuel tanks.
Last October, however, TransMontaigne sold the fuel depot property to Chicago-based developer HRP Group for $180 million, the latter announcing its intention to tear down the depot and build luxury condos.
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News of the pending sale sent Miami-Dade commissioners into tumult, as one of the main economic drivers for the county could soon be without a fuel source. The commission held a special meeting in September to find a solution, noting that the crisis arose as county was caught flat-footed despite knowledge of the pending sale well in advance.
“There's a certain tipping point where it costs too much and ships go someplace else. I felt like at the last meeting we were playing with fire. This meeting we're playing with hell,” county commissioner Oliver Gilbert said at a commission meeting held in October.
County leaders knew for years that the Fisher Island facility was a liability and the port would need to seek alternatives.
In 2013, then-Commission Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa directed the county administration to study the feasibility of building an on-site fuel farm at PortMiami. The administration found then, as it finds now, that building a new facility would be too costly and did not make sense logistically.
In a recent report prepared by Levine Cava's administration late last year, county employees found there's not enough available land at the port to support a fuel depot, and finding a spot that wouldn't interfere with cruise and cargo operations would be too costly.
"There is no parcel of non-contractually obligated land with a contiguous 6-10 acres at PortMiami," the administration wrote. "Further, reclaiming that acreage would create substantial adverse impacts on PortMiami’s transportation network and create the need for new infrastructure to accommodate the transfer of fuel throughout PortMiami, the costs of which would likely exceed the anticipated acquisition costs of the Fuel Facility Property."
Commissioners directed Mayor Levine Cava to negotiate with HRP to purchase the property at market value via eminent domain. Then came the lawsuits.
Fisher Island
In January, FICA sued Miami-Dade County in federal court aiming to stop the eminent domain proceedings to take the property on Fisher Island. The association argues the property is not necessary for a public good, but a private good, because it serves the private cruise industry. It also argues the county has not properly considered alternative sites for a fuel depot.
" We're not saying we don't want fuel for the port. That's not our position in any way, shape, or form. Our position is that that facility needs to be relocated to the port, you know, where they control it," said Jim Ferraro, chairman of the FICA board, in an interview with WLRN.
More recently, the association sued HRP Group for breach of contract, citing the deal the developer has allegedly reached with the county behind closed doors. Ferraro claims insiders disclosed the $400 million deal, a figure he says is too inflated considering HRP now doesn't have the ability to build a luxury condo on the property.
To build the condos, HRP needed to negotiate with FICA for easements to access the property with construction equipment. HRP would also receive $10 million worth of Fisher Island Club memberships for its prospective residents, all in exchange for four acres of land to be deeded to the association.
However, since HRP has allegedly reached a deal to sell the land to the county, they cannot give the promised four acres to FICA, so the association claims their contract is null and void.
"They're trying to cut us out even though they promised us four acres," Ferraro said.
Ferraro claims the existing fuel facility is antiquated and an environmental disaster waiting to happen. He said Fisher Island is willing to entertain the possibility of the facility staying there if it is upgraded and modernized to current standards.
Levine Cava's office declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, or on the details of the proposed deal.
