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NOTICE OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENTPURSUANT TO PALM BEACH COUNTY

ORDINANCE NO. 2001-0010 ASSESSED BY PARCEL PALM BEACH RANCHETTES WATER MAIN IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

SPECIAL ASSESSMENT PROGRAM PROJECT NO. WUD 03-195SECTION 19,20, TOWNSHIP 44S, RANGE 42E, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN TO OWNERS OF REAL PROPERTY ABUTTING THE ABOVE REFERENCED IMPROVEMENT PROJECT, that each parcel of land shall be subject to a special assessment so that l00% of the assessable cost of the water main extension improvement project described above shall be paid by special assessments upon all specially benefi ted parcels in the Palm Beach Ranchettes.YOU ARE FURTHER ADVISED that all parcels subject to special assessment shall be assessed by the per parcel method of assessment in the amount of $7,366 per parcel, so as to fairly allocate the cost of said project, and that if said assessment is approved by the Board of County Commissioners, a lien will be placed on all parcels subject to special assessment pending satisfaction of the individual parcel assessment balance. The total assessment for the 251 properties is $1,848,866. The special assessment shall be collected by the Tax Collector of Palm Beach County through the Uniform Assessment Collection Act in the annual property tax bill and shall be collected in twenty equal annual installments of principal plus 6-1/2% interest or may be paid in full without interest within thirty (30) days of notifi cation of fi nal completion of the special assessment project by the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Failure to pay the special assessment will cause a tax certifi cate to be issued against the property, which may result in additional fees and loss of title.ALL INTERESTED PERSONS are advised that the description of each parcel to be specially assessed and the amount to be assessed to each parcel, may be ascertained at the Administration offi ce of the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department located at 8100 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach, Florida 33413, or by contacting the Assessment Coordinator, Bilal A. Mujahid (telephone: 561-493-6126). The amount of said special assessments and the confi rmation of the assessment roll are subject to fi nal approval by the Board of County Commissioners at a Public Hearing to be held beginning at 9:30 A.M., on Tuesday, September 28, 2004, in the Commission Chambers of the Board of County Commissioners, 6th Floor of Governmental Offi ce Center, 301 North Olive Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida, at which time and place any necessary adjustment or equalization of said special assessments will be made in accordance with the law. Property owners have a right to appear and fi le written comments with the Board of County Commissioners prior to or during the Public Hearing.ALL INTERESTED PERSONS are invited to attend said Public Hearing. If any person decides to appeal a decision made by this Commission with respect to any matter considered at the Public Hearing, they will need a record of the proceedings, and that for such purpose, they may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony of evidence upon which the appeal is to be based.Palm Beach County, Florida, Board of County Commissioners

PUBLISH: September 5, 2004

THE PALM BEACH POST • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2004 5B

ANDY NEWMAN/The Associated Press

Industry leader Carnival Cruise Lines brushed off a town’s demand to charge a fee of up $30 to per passenger.

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — A revolt isgrowing in the Caribbeanover increasingly massivecruise ships disgorging thou-sands of passengers whoswamp beach towns, buyperhaps a soda and a fewtrinkets, and reembark a fewhours later.

Mexico’s government isconsidering charging thecountry’s first per-passengercruise tax, while beach townsthat no longer want to serveas a mere backdrop for the$15 billion cruise industry arebeginning to say no to the bigships.

Belize recently becameone of the first nations to tryto limit the number of cruiseship passengers, cappingthem at 8,000 per day after thetiny Caribbean nation was in-vaded by about 13,000 peoplesimultaneously — equivalentto a sudden 5 percent in-crease in the country’s popu-lation.

The movement has sup-port from groups rangingfrom local hotel owners toenvironmentalists who saythe ships leave few benefits intheir wake. Discontent hasbeen fed in part by the explo-sive growth in the number ofcruise passengers, whosenumbers have tripled inMexico in the past decade.

Mexico’s Tourism Secre-tariat submitted a proposalJuly 28 to charge between $5and $10 for each of the morethan 5 million cruise passen-gers who visit Mexico annu-ally.

Other new tax proposalsappear to be making headwayin the rest of the Caribbean,home to almost half of all theworld’s cruise voyages.

The Mexican tax proposalrepresents a victory for Playadel Carmen, a Caribbeanbeach town that last year be-came one of the first ports inthe region to reject a cruiseship dock unless the industrypaid a fee for local develop-ment.

‘‘There have been showsof support from other towns,and this position is becominggeneralized throughout theCaribbean,’’ said Playa del

Carmen spokesman AngelTorres.

During a public commentperiod on Mexico’s newcruise policy in 2003, a tax tobenefit local economies wasone of the main demands ofCaribbean beach towns.

Playa del Carmen’s mayorwanted to impose a head taxof $30 for each passenger whoused the proposed dock tocome ashore at the nearbyresort of Xcaret.

Industry leader CarnivalCruise Lines, a partner in theXcaret dock project, brushedoff the town’s demands.

‘‘It was a ridiculousamount of money,’’ said Car-nival spokesman Tim Gal-lagher, who argues the com-panies already pay a signifi-cant amount in local servicecharges.

However, in Mexico,those port fees go to privateharbor management compa-nies — not local communities.And the stores that line cruisedocks are often owned orleased by the cruise compa-nies themselves.

The industry appearsready to fight any increase, nomatter how small. It pressedBelize for a five-year morato-rium on a proposed $2 in-crease in its $5 passenger tax.Belize had planned to use themoney to protect its coralreefs and jungles.

The Xcaret dock projectwas finally put on hold, inhopes of better times. Butopposition hasn’t waned.

The industry barely man-aged to beat back a 2003 pro-posal in the 32-member Car-ibbean Tourism Organizationto charge a uniform $20 cruisepassenger tax to fund mar-keting for the region. Thatwould be in addition to the$3.50 to $5 local levies charged by many Caribbeanisland nations.

Karen Ford Warner, thedeputy secretary-general ofthe organization, said she be-lieves negotiators will soonreach some sort of compro-mise with the cruise lines,under which the companieswill give the region cash,training, or even promises tohire locally and buy localproducts.

‘‘I think there is a strongfeeling that the cruise lineshave to make a greater con-tribution,’’ Ford Warner said.‘‘The cruise industry realizesand appreciates that theyhave to enter into a true part-

nership.’’But the Mexican Ship Pi-

lots’ Union says cruise linesand the government haveconspired to begin eliminat-ing one of the few locallyhired positions, in which pi-lots guide ships into dock.The government says localpilots are no longer needed atthe Pacific ports of Cabo SanLucas, Huatulco and Zihua-tanejo.

When taxes are proposedat one port, cruise operatorstalk about switching to an-other where costs are lower,something that may haveplayed a part in Mexico’s de-cision to charge less than theCaribbean Tourism Organi-zation’s proposed $20 levy.

Environmentalists havelong been opposed to the gi-ant cruise vessels, sayingthey dump oil and refuse atsea and have been known torun roughshod over coralreefs.

However, some of the op-position to cruise ships alsoinvolves snobbery. Long aluxury destination, some inthe Caribbean don’t want thekind of working-class touristswho often take cruise vaca-tions for as little as $500 perweek.

Some use the dismissiveterm cruceritos — little cruis-ers — to describe the less af-fluent clientele.

‘‘They don’t have thesame purchasing power,’’said Torres, of Playa del Car-men. ‘‘Many come over inthird- or fourth-class, so farbelow decks they never seethe sun.’’

Ana Patricia Morales ofthe Quintana Roo Hotel As-sociation says there are validreasons for locals to dislikecruises.

‘‘A hotel makes a com-mitment to a community,’’she said. ‘‘It buys suppliesthere and hires people there.A cruise ship doesn’t do anyof those things.’’

Carnival’s Gallaghercounters his industryshouldn’t be forced to subsi-dize local hotels. ‘‘I don’tthink taxing one industry ishow you make another onecompetitive,’’ he said.

—

Some Caribbean townsdemand a better dealfrom cruise lines. —

Cruise ship destinations pushfees to boost local economies

Probe into Israeli spyingon U.S. began 2 years ago

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — TheFBI investigation intowhether a major pro-Israellobbying organization wasspying on the United Statesbegan at least two years ago,officials said Friday.

President Bush’s nation-al security adviser, Condo-leeza Rice, and her top dep-uty, Stephen Hadley, wereinformed of the probe intothe American Israel PublicAffairs Committee not longafter Bush took office in2001, according to two ad-ministration officials speak-ing on condition of anonym-ity because of the matter’ssensitivity.

The exact date of the firstbriefing about the long-running counterintelligenceinvestigation was unclearbut was probably at least twoyears ago, the officials said.

The timing suggests thatinvestigators only recentlybegan to focus on LarryFranklin, a Pentagon analystspecializing on Iran andMiddle Eastern affairs in theoffice of policy Undersecre-tary Douglas Feith. That partof the probe concernswhether Franklin passed aclassified draft White Housedirective to two AIPAC offi-cials, who in turn allegedly

provided it to the Israeligovernment.

No one has been chargedin the case, which is expect-ed to go before a federalgrand jury as early as thisweek in Alexandria, Va.Franklin has not respondedto repeated requests forcomment but was said by of-ficials to be cooperating.Both AIPAC and Israel havedenied any wrongdoing.

Another part of the in-vestigation concerns wheth-er Pentagon officials provid-ed information to AhmadChalabi, once a leading Iraqipolitician and prewar De-fense Department favorite,The Washington Post reportedin Friday’s editions. FBI andJustice Department officialssaid they could not confirmthe account.

Disclosure of the broaderinvestigation raises a seriesof new questions about thecase, including whether oth-er AIPAC or Pentagon offi-cials are involved or whetherit reaches into the Israeli

government. One senior of-ficial at the Israeli Embassyin Washington, Naor Gilon,has acknowledged meetingwith Franklin but said he didnothing illegal.

AIPAC and its allies,meanwhile, have begun tomount a public-relationscampaign to limit the politi-cal damage. AIPAC, longconsidered one of the mostinfluential lobbying groupsin Washington, said in astatement issued Thursdaythat its members shouldcontact members of Con-gress ‘‘to continue express-ing your strong support’’ forthe group and for U.S.-Israelirelations.

Larry Nussbaum, presi-dent of AIPAC’s chapter inKansas City, Mo., said in aseparate statement that theinvestigation amounts to‘‘not only an attack on theorganization itself, but onthe Jewish community.AIPAC must prove that at-tacks such as this one willonly make us grow strong-er.’’

—

No one has been charged in the case, which isexpected to go before a federal grand jury as

early as this week in Alexandria, Va. —

Scientists battle Egyptians over pyramid studyThe Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt — A pair ofFrench Egyptologists whosuspect they have found apreviously unknown cham-ber in the Great Pyramidurged Egypt’s antiquitieschief to reconsider lettingthem test their theory bydrilling new holes in the4,600-year-old structure.

Jean Yves Verd’hurt andfellow Frenchman GillesDormion, who has studiedpyramid construction formore than 20 years, are ex-pected to raise their viewsduring the ninth Interna-tional Congress of Egyptol-ogists in Grenoble, France,which starts Monday. Theyalso published a book abouttheir theory this week.

Standing in their way isZahi Hawass, the director ofEgypt’s Supreme Council of

Antiquities, who heatedlyrejected the theories duringa Cairo press conference thisweek.

‘‘There are 300 theoriesconcerning hidden roomsand other things inside thepyramid, but if I let them alltest their theories they willdo untold damage to thepyramid, which was builtwith the blood of Egyptians,’’said Hawass. ‘‘I will not letEgyptian blood be damagedby amateurs.’’

He said earlier requestsfrom the same pair wereturned down in 1999 and2003.

In their book, The Room ofCheops, Dormion andVerd’hurt write that a 1988study of an area below thequeen’s burial chamber inthe pyramid found what ap-peared to be an 111⁄2-foot

‘‘structure,’’ according to theFrench magazine Scienceand Future.

‘‘The study of this part ofthe pyramid was always ne-glected because there hadbeen a grill to block access,’’they wrote.

Verd’hurt laughed offHawass’ ‘‘amateur’’ tag, cit-ing previous close relation-ships with Egyptian antiqui-ties officials and work that heand Dormion had conductedin 1998 on the Medium pyr-amid south of Cairo, whichdates back 4,500 years.

The work at Medium,according to Verd’hurt, ledto the discovery of tworooms and two passages thathad been previously ‘‘undi-sturbed and unknown.’’They want to do similar workat the Great Pyramid, builtby Khufu, known as Cheops.