No Vote, No Deal — Yet: Commission Holds Line on RYAM Bioethanol Plant

Public speakers (From left) Richard Deem, Mark Cutshaw and Frank Hileman.

After more than two hours of legal counseling, public comment, and commissioner debate, the Fernandina Beach City Commission chose not to commit to a final response Tuesday night to a $6.6 million Bert J. Harris, Jr. Private Property Rights Act claim by Rayonier Performance Fibers, LLC (RYAM), instead opting to seek further information before its statutory deadline in November.

The city's legal counsel made it clear that no matter what direction the Commission takes, the city must respond — and soon.

“We have to, the city commission shall make a written settlement offer to effectuate one of those 11 items,” said City Attorney Teresa Prince. “That ‘shall’ — I underlined in that ‘shall.’ It’s not underlined in the statute, so I took the initiative to provide that emphasis.”

The Commission’s legal team, including outside attorneys Sam Zeskind and Susan Trevarthen, walked commissioners through the requirements of the Bert Harris Act and the paradox it presents.

“Even if the city were to prevail in the two cases that are already currently pending,” said Zeskind, referencing RYAM’s separate state and federal lawsuits, “the city would still need to respond to and defend against this Bert Harris claim.”

“This statute requires us to sit here as we are doing in good faith discussing all these options… even if we’re right about the [other] lawsuit,” said Trevarthen.

The Commission was presented with 11 statutory options for response, with Option 11 being “no changes to the action of the governmental entity.”

Commissioner Joyce Tuten moved to select Option 11 immediately:

“I’d make a motion that we vote for Option 11 and make no changes to the action of the city,” she stated in upholding the city's denial of RYAM's proposal to build a $53 million bioethanol production plan at its Gum Street Complex. The city denied the project because is it prohibited in the city's Land Development Code.

She added, “Our facility sits in the heavy industrial, the I-2 land zoning… the code says such use does not include chemical manufacturing. And our comprehensive plan in the industrial zoning says chemical manufacturing shall be prohibited.”

But others urged caution.

“We have to open discussions,” said Vice Mayor Ayscue. “There has to be some form of getting us all in the room and talking. I am not willing to just shut the door and stick my head in the sand and say this is going to go away. I’m not talking about settlements at all right now. We’re way early in the process.”

Commissioner Genece Minshew pushed for detailed risk analysis and a list of safety and enforcement demands if talks moved forward.

“I do not believe that [the project] serves the city in any valuable way,” she said. “The issues are health and safety of our community. I've got another list of items that I think need to be worked through and identified, even as we continue to deny the claim, because I think we have to have a better basis for denying it, other than just it's against our code”

Minshew read a lengthy list of requirements for consideration, including:

• “Provide additional air quality monitors and analysis across the city and the county… paying for the monitoring and analysis.”

• “Ethanol should not be transported by tanker truck, but by rail.”

• “Reduce the amount of ethanol to be created by at least 25%.”

• “Create… evacuation plans based on incident and create an easily understandable communications plan for the community.”

• “Pay to grow the city fire department into a fully operational hazmat-certified department.”

She concluded, “We’re a long way away from settling this Bert Harris as well as the other lawsuits.”

Public opposition dominated with 21 speakers during public comment, with many demanding the city reject any negotiation.

"It's time to stand up. Don't settle this (Bert Harris) lawsuit. Fight until the end. Some cases are worth fighting for and this is one of them, otherwise (kiss everything) goodbye and welcome to a whole bunch of other lawsuits," said Richard Deem.

Frankl Hileman, president of NEF, said: “We think Option 11 is the option this Commission should go with… this is not an acceptable use on the island. Period. End of story. End of discussion.”

Dr. Lisa White, a cancer researcher, warned of the facility’s danger:

“When there is an explosion… it is going to decimate the island, possibly the bridge to get off the island.”

Julia Ferreira of the Sierra Club called it a matter of public safety: “Ethanol is flammable… the citizens of Fernandina Beach are inordinately burdened… not RYAM. Five above-ground tanks holding 10,000 gallons of processed ethanol stored on mill property is bad and 25,000 gallons of ethanol being transported down Gum Street over the bridge and through Yulee every day is bad.”

Others, like Richard Doster, called for empathy and dialogue.

“How do we care for and nurture that relationship?” he asked. “They’ve (RYAM) been here for a very long time… they love living here as much as any of us.”

From the business side, Mark Cutshaw, chair of the Nassau County Economic Development Board, made a brief plea for an agreement between the city and RYAM.

“Certainty and clarity is what we need in this. Settlement now is the way to go. We would encourage you to enter into settlement negotiations — get this thing behind us,” he said.

Ultimately, the motion for Option 11 - to move forward with its original denial - was withdrawn, and the Commission agreed to gather more information and revisit the issue.

“You would continue this (a decision) to a date certain,” said Prince. “I would recommend October 21st just so we can get an update… then November 4th would be your last meeting.”

“You will have to make this decision,” she added. “It’s either going to be Option 11, or we end up in a settlement. Those are your options.”

The City Commission will revisit the issue on October 21, possibly extending into November. Under the agreement with RYAM, the city must finalize its response by November 10, 2025, unless RYAM grants an extension for the deadline.