The construction manager has assured everyone that with a September, 2017 project start date the stadium can and will be completed by January 2019 in time for the spring training season to begin. Stadium design is being done by an architect selected by the Braves. WVID will be the responsible entity for managing and disbursing project funds during construction, and for overseeing day-to-day lease management to the Braves for the next 30 years. Upon completion, the stadium property will be dedicated to Sarasota County.
After today's meeting, Marty Black told me that the master developer has decided to fund the cost of construction for a 2 (expandable to 4) million gallon per day wastewater treatment plant. About 14 acres of land behind the radio tower at US 41 and River Rd. were purchase by the disctric earlier this year to the plant location. Thank you Mattamy Homes and partners for this most welcome decision! The preliminary design for the plant is being reviewed by the state. Final design should not take long and with no public funding being involved, the selection of a contractor to build the plant should happen very quickly. There is no urgent need for the plant; but, with the rapid pace of development, having a plant sooner rather than later is desirable. At present, all wastewater from WVID is being pumped by buried pipe along US 41 to the North Port City treatment plant. The capacity of this force main was never intended to support all of West Villages and we are slowing approaching this lines design capacity.
Also at today's meeting the budget for next fiscal year (Oct 1, 2017 to Sep 30, 2018) was approved by the board. There will be little change in WVID assessments to property owners from last years tax amounts. Again, good news for us tax payers. One question I had was concerning expenses for the new infrastructure planned for 2018; some related to the Braves stadium and other items related to the development of Village D (the 640 acre planned mixed use retail, commercial, residential development along the south side of US 41 from IslandWalk down to West Villages Parkway). The district engineer assured everyone that the remaining $8.1 million in available construction bond funds would be adequate for the tasks. Mr. Black stated that the distinct will be refinancing the Unit One bond fund sometime this summer which is expected to result in an additional $3.5 to 4 million of funds for Unit One capital improvements (can you say "cash out refi"). Planned infrastructure projects for 2017-2018 include:
- signalizing the US 41 and West Villages Parkway intersection
- realignment and some new roadway construction at the stadium intersection
- irrigation water line from Sarasota National to Gran Paradiso
- new 2-lane road (Paredo St.) from US 41 to West Villages Pky in Village D
- intersection improvements for US 41 and the new Paredo St.
- land acquisition and construction of a police/fire/EMS substation in the district (to INCLUDE purchase of police car, fire truck, ambulance, and related equipment)
- purchase and dedication to North Port or a 15 acre park parcel
Residents from Gran Paradiso have asked at two of these last three meetings for the board to reconsider its decision to NOT pursue an investigation of the cost and feasibility of constructing a pedestrian overpass to provide residents from Villages A and C with access to the proposed Village D shopping area on the south side of US 41. With the decision to site the Braves new stadium also on the south side of US 41, they feel that such an overpass is essential to provide safe, non-vehicular access to these amenities. There was no comment from the board on this request.
A question was asked about the 167 acres at the northwest corner of US 41 and West Villages Parkway regarding back taxes and district assessments being unpaid. This land is "left over" from the initial master developer's (Fourth Quarter Properties) failed ownership of the West Villages. Because of the unpaid tax burden, this land was excluded from Mattamy Homes' purchase of the West Villages. The board and board counsel stated that forcing a sale of the land for back taxes and assessments would not be an economical venture for the district costing it many dollars in legal fees with little hope of seeing any money. In an after meeting conversation I had with district counsel I was told that the district is not a true "taxing authority" and that it does not have the authority to force such a sale. A request would have to come from the Unit 2 bond holders to authorize the district to begin foreclosure proceedings on behalf of the bond holders. I believe that a taxing authority such as the city or county does have the right to move forward with seizing the property for non-payment of taxes after a 7 year period of non payment. If that is the case, then such an escheatment action could be initiated next year on or after October 1st. I intend to pursue this matter with the Sarasota County Tax Collectors office to find out what actions may be possible.
