Let's start with the public comments made before the meeting:
- one resident asked about a golf cart or pedestrian overpass to connect Gran Paradiso with the IslandWalk side of US 41 and the new commercial/retail development planned for that side of the highway. This is a new idea that hasn't been discussed before. I can see some merit to it; but the cost would be high too. There was no discussion by the board about this.
- several residents voiced concern over the smoke drifting through our neighborhoods from the land clearing operations now going on. The board's response was that this was a developer issue or something to disucss with the City of North Port or Sarasota County as they are the burn permit authorities for this area. I guess this means it will be something we need to just deal with for the next few years as in when the new Unit 4 clearing is done, the clearing for the new retail/commercial area will start and more smoke will drift over us. The price of progress?
- a resident asked where the future water and wastewater plants might be located, and why the original, circa 2005, location east of River Rd. was abandoned. I know the answer to the later part of this question. The good residents of the Lake Geraldine neighborhood went balistic when the initial plan of development for West Villages was published showing the plants in their back yard on the east side of River Rd. At the time, the number of residents (voters) in West Villages was in the teens, so who do you think the politicians listened to??? Yup, the plan changed to locate the plant somewhere on the west side of River Rd. According to the district engineer, the current thinking about where to locate the plants is now somewhere along the west side or River Rd. and nearer to US 41. He also stated that a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water plant was currently the desired technology for the future water plant.
- Several residents asked about the proposed new Atlanta Braves spring training facility. The board's response was that this was a new proposal and still in negotiations and far from any kind of a done deal. In Saturday's Herald-Tribune an article stated that the Braves where also in active negotiations with the City of West Palm Beach on Florida's east coast. So....we all just need to hold our breath for a little while longer.
The district manager announced that the annual Land Owner's meeting will be held in the Englewood Sports Complex on the fourth Thursday in June (June 23rd) at 11 am. Formal notice will be published and the window for persons to step forward to fill the one board seat vacancy at this meeting runs from 90 days to 30 days before the meeting. Each land owner in the district gets one vote per acre or fraction of an acre owned. Us mere mortals get one vote for each lot that is owned in the district. The master developer owns about 4,000 acres within the district so he gets 4,000 votes. Who do you think will decide who gets to fill this vacancy?
It sounds "unfair"; but it is the law in Florida for Special Taxing Districts like ours. All started back in the 1960's with Walt Disney and the Disney World project. Now there are over 1,500 of these districts statewide. In the early years, they favor the developer as it is the developer who is planning and installing the necessary infrastructure to make their projects a reality. Some would say its only fair that they have the majority say in how that gets done.
The district engineer was authorized to begin planning for the new water and waste water treatment plants. It was stated that such plants would be needed in 3 to 4 years to support the current and planned growth within the district. It should be noted that there is currently money in the bank to pay for this study and to acquire the land on which the plants would be built. BUT, there is no money in the budget to actually design, build, and operate these plants. SO, everyone should be holding on to their wallets as there will most likely be a new bond issue sometime in the future to raise money for these projects!
It took the board all of about 20 minutes and several resolutions to set in motion a $40 million new bond issue for Unit of Development Number 4. As discussed at the last meeting, this Unit represents the 3 new neighborhoods now under construction along the east side of West Villages Parkway between US 41 and River Rd. It will be the new property owners in these neighborhoods that will be obligated to repay this debt. Just like Gran Paradiso residents are responsible for Unit 3 debt, and IslandWalk residents are responsible for Unit 2 debt. Since everyone shares in the Unit 1 (overall general district) debt, we should all see our portion of that debt payment being reduced slightly as there will soon be 900 and something new district residents to share in its repayment.
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