(11:00 AM Time Certain) Confidential - Project Merlin Economic Incentive Agreement (To Be Distributed)
What the county recorded
Staff recommendation
Approve
DispositionApproved
Approved the item per Staff’s recommendation.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Jan 26, 2021
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Jan 26, 2021
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
This case, across meetings
OEG-21-1026 in full →OEG-21-1026 was taken up 2 times between Jan 12, 2021 and Jan 26, 2021 — this is appearance 2.
- Jan 12, 2021BoardR76▶No disposition in the minutes
- Jan 26, 2021BoardR41▶Approvedthis item
What was said
Machine transcription of 16m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 90% of 77 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Mr. Miles, my notes say that at this time we could go forward with maybe thirty-nine if it wouldn't take too long before eleven or
actually sir um everyone's here for R forty one if you want to jump to that.
Everybody is here, so let's go ahead and start R forty one and
okay.
Mr. Angles. Good morning.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Board Members. My name is David Engel. I'm the Office of Economic Growth Manager. I'm here today to present the economic incentive agreement between Pasco County and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. This is the third part of a process that the board established back in 2019. When they granted M P U D approval for the property, it it was part of the uh sixty nine hundred acre Lyn Angeline pr uh
project. And then in the uh fall of twenty nineteen the Board granted a economic development agreement with Lyn Angeline. to provide the off site infrastructure for this project. This is the third step. It's an economic incentive agreement. And uh be uh here today representing uh the Moffat Cancer Center is David Delaparte. He's the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Moffitt. Chip Fletcher, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, John Ray,
the site consultant, and John has his own firm, John Ray Consulting. And representing the Pasco Economic Development Council is uh Bill Cronin, President and CEO, Tom Ryan, uh Director of Business Development, Lauren Masselli, the Director of Marketing and Communications, and Mike Bishop, he is in charge of stakeholder relations. And at that, I'd like to turn it over to Mr. Cronin, who will give you an overview of the project and highlight the incentives.
Thank you. Pun.
Thank you, David. Happy Tuesday, everyone. It is a great day in Pasco, and you know I'll never get tired of saying that. So this is a a very important project, and a lot of people overuse words like game changer and things like that, but in this case, this project truly is a game changer, and words cannot fully express the magnitude of this project or the potential of this project. Uh the overall Large project is estimated to
create at least 14,000 jobs, indirect and direct jobs, for our community. And the amount of work that went just into this first phase of the project uh was outstanding. And before we get into details, I just want to uh give a shout out to uh the County Attorney's Office and David Goldstein as well as uh David Engel and his team and of course the County Administrator Dan uh Dan Biles in the work to put together uh this agreement. This is a
multi-year, multi-phase project, and it's so large that We can't treat it like we would most competitive projects. It's not as simple as saying a company is going to come and create X number of jobs and X number of capital investment because this project spans many, many years, and we would never want to put a cap on the amount of growth that this project is going to continue to see in the future, especially in an industry like cancer treatment. in immunotherapy.
Uh as such, we worked with Moffat Cancer Center to determine what their actual needs would be for this project. We wanted to make sure that whatever we were prescribing to make this project a success, it was something that they actually could use and need. And we were pleasantly surprised that what they needed was the help with infrastructure getting to the site to get this kicked off. Uh what was really nice about the infrastructure that they had in
mind is that we at the at the county had a vision planned for a road uh that dissected that part of the property that looked very similar to what they needed to get their project kick started. So We we actually worked with the county staff with engineering utilities and with their engineer, Kimley Horn, to identify which parts of that could be justified as a public road that was in line and could easily be justified
by the county to offer as an economic development incentive. uh to streamline the construction process and the phasing. Uh we've also talked about Moffitt actually doing the construction and the permitting of that road, which is gonna help us uh as far as our projects that we've got going on in the area, but also making sure that they coordinate well with the building of their own building. God bless you. So the total cost of the infrastructure to get to the site to get a kick
started for that first phase is just over $25 million, and that is for both the public segments of the road and the private segments of the road. uh in order to receive this economic development incentive, Moffitt has agreed to build a minimum of 128,000 square feet within the first five years of this first phase of their project. The hundred and twenty-eight thousand square feet can be used for corporate business park uses. and the clock will start When the county
has met the following uh condition precedents, and that includes the completion of Suncoast Parkway interchange at Ridge Road Extension, which will extend to the site entrance, the completion of Ridge Road extension segment to Sun Lake Boulevard, and the completion of the first two lanes of Sun Lake Boulevard heading south from State Road fifty two to the site. And lastly, the creation and execution of a fund disbursement agreement with the county staff. Uh
as part of the incentive package, the county will also provide a designated liaison that will work with them through each of the steps and a rapid response team and expedited uh permitting for the project. I'm gonna stop there and introduce uh the the counsel the general counsel for Moffitt, Mr. David Delaparte, and ask if he could say a few words about the magnitude and the importance of this project for Moffat Cancer Center.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Bill. And uh thank you, Mr. Chairman and Commissioners. Um on this day of recognizing your staff, I'd like to start by complimenting Your uh management team. uh uh Bill and Dan, uh your legal team. Uh and um and all the staff and the E D C and and in the your development group, uh this is a This is a big deal. It's a complicated uh transaction and um It's been uh a number of years in the making. Uh
but your uh your your management team and your staff have taken great care to I think do it right and uh and also to be uh uh to do it in a way that uh uh uh will result results in true partnership and that's really what we're talking about today is is having the county as a partner in something that uh will be transformational for the region and for the state. It's uh certainly important from an economic uh impact standpoint. but uh it's um it's even more important to the citizens
of the state and to citizens of this community. It is uh cancer's a terrible thing and we're in the midst of an of a terrible pandemic, but Cancer uh kills twice as many people in this country as the pandemic has uh here. And um and of course many, many of our friends and family suffer from the disease. And our role in uh in uh cancer uh is to be an innovator, to be uh a research engine, to uh a uh
a a place of discovery. And uh we have been constrained, frankly, in that. role uh uh given the um the the uh uh campus constraints that we have uh and have had. Now we we've had a tremendous uh growth and success uh uh primarily in Hillsborough County, uh but this will give us an opportunity to further accelerate the discovery. and um this campus will be a destination, uh life sciences destination for the world. Uh
is our intention. And and uh my CEO, uh Dr. Patrick Who, my uh my boss, uh and my board chair would have been here but we we also have a board meeting today and I don't know how they're getting along without without me and Chip at that board meeting but I'm sure they'll do fine. This is um a momentous day a historic day and and we're uh very um uh happy and thankful for the opportunity to partner with the county. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman Mariano.
Mr. Chairman
Mariano.
Okay. So yes, it definitely is a an exciting day as you mentioned. And to have an institution of this magnitude coming here to Pasco County, as in Moffitt, you know, Cancer Center, is is uh gonna be transformational for Pasco County and the state and the region, just as you previously mentioned. Um each and every one of us has been touched by somebody that's um either gone through cancer or is going through cancer Cancer now. Um and so you know, yes, there's the economic benefits that our citizens of Pasco County will have
because of this facility being here and this whole campus, as I should say. But at the same time, the work that you're gonna be doing right here in Pasco County is gonna save lives not just in Pasco, state of Florida, but all over the world. So I we're excited, we're super excited to have you here in Pasco County, but just knowing again all the great work. that you'll be doing here. is amazing and I'm I'm ecstatic. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the partnership.
We're happy to be partners.
Ms. Starkey.
And and I'm also so excited that um you are choosing Pasco County for your expansion. And when we learned of this, um A couple of years ago. Uh it was it was uh hard to keep it quiet, but we did. And um Uh gosh, I like so many people in this room, you know, I've had family members who have traveled to Moffitt for their treatment and all have been successful th thankful thankfully. But Um You know, this this is so great for
your organization. It's great for our county, but this is magnificent for the Tampa Bay area and Florida as well. So I'm just so excited. that we're we're starting down this path and um I'm very glad you have an ombudsman or someone special to help you. I know all of us are here to help you be as successful as possible. And um I do wanna talk to the engineer about the trails and that road. So um We'll have that conversation. But great location. Uh great county. I
hope you'll find us just a wonderful partner and look forward to uh you opening your door soon. Well thank Ms. Bayonet Point.
Um this will not only be an economic asset for our community, but it's gonna create jobs and it's gonna save lives. So I'm really excited. I've had friends that had to travel out of state. So bringing Moffitt, you guys are gonna be bringing the best of the best here right to Pasco County and I'm very excited. In return, it's gonna provide a better quality of life for our residents and residents all around the country. This is gonna create an economic and a humanitarian boom. It's gonna be felt across the nation and Pasco County is gonna be the epicenter. So I'm very excited
and thank you for choosing Pasco.
Mr. Mariano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And uh you know, David, Bill, your team's phenomenal. Uh and Mr. Ray, we we are, as you know, very delighted to have you in Pasco County. I'll tell you on a personal level, uh I recently had a f extended family member. have an issue with cancer getting treatments up north and down here. And I want to say your expertise uh was phenomenal uh in in diagnosing what she really had compared to what she had for a diagnosis up north and changed the course of her treatment and she's in great shape at this point.
So uh the expertise that you guys are showing, the leadership, uh it will be a worldwide benefit. Uh and I want you to know that as far as the county You know, we we picked medical industry as a uh one of our top priorities for a target industry, so we're focused on that. Uh transportation is also very important to us. This commission's time Strung out for a long time with the Army Corps of Engineers. We hung in there strong and finally got the approval done. And even when just last week we found out they didn't want to fund the entire road, actually last month, but we found out last week it still wasn't resolved. You had three County Commissioners in a meeting. Actually all
f all the commissions pounding away at F D O T to get this thing funded through the Turnpike Authority and I'm gonna say the next day we had it done. So with what you're gonna bring to the table, I want you to know you get a partnership here that we're gonna help you thrive as well. So thank you for picking Pasco. Thank you.
Yeah. It's it's hard to tell you how great this is for us because this is what makes us a Premier County. uh work in partnerships like this. And this is probably one of the largest that we've we've worked on. But there's a lot of many others that fit in the puzzle. that we all work together and and we become that premier county that we want to be. So We certainly uh look forward to you being there. I Have asked Bill and M if you needed uh from the board, I write a letter to the legislators,
uh Speaker of the House and also the Senate President. I'd be more than happy to write one in support of this. So Thank you very much. We support you all the way and we're here to help you.
Well we'll work very hard to make you proud of
this
project.
Well you make us proud. You come here with great credentials. So thank you.
Uh one last thing. Um staff recommends approval of this agenda item. Move to
approve.
Second.
Second.
I got a motion and a second to approve. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed, like, sign. Motion passed five oh. Thank you very much. All right.
Are we gonna do a photo?
Yes, we do have another. Rendering if you could sign if
you
want to.
Step
it
up. Oh you
got uh
okay. I did just have test negative for the third time,
so
I could come down there.
It will sign it.
Oh okay, okay. Yeah.
Come all right. I wanna see the rendering when we're
Yeah, we probably we should put it up here and everybody can sign it after they're done.
Is the podium in the way more? Is the podium in the way?
Stay on that chair. Yeah, there
you go.
She's
tall enough, yeah.
Yeah.
I think that. But What's that? Yeah. All right, here we go. Just a couple of photos.
Excellent, thank you. Thank you.
One more. Yeah, where's my Derek to take a photo? Not in here. All right. Guys in the front slide?
Can we s we want to see that and we want to sign it?
Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you for all you do. Thank you, David.
Thank you.