Board Meeting, June 8, 2017 (and 2 previous meetings)

Once again I've been tardy in posting to this blog. There have now been 3 board meetings since my last post including today's. Most of the discussion and decisions made in those 3 meetings have been related to the future Atlanta Braves spring training stadium. Suffice to say that things are moving along very quickly with attention being paid to hiring of attorneys, engineers, bond consultants, and other specialty staff for moving forward with and overseeing construction of the stadium. All parties (county, city, district, and Braves) have pretty much agreed to terms and conditions for the project. County, city, and district funding is firmed up and the only funding piece still missing is $20 million from the Florida spring training retention fund. The application for this final grant money is just about complete and will be submitted to the State very shortly. All parties are confident that this funding will be available and awarded for this project.

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.

Board Meeting, March 9th, 2017

The WVID Board of Supervisors voted to accept the Braves Term Sheet and have signed a letter of intent to move forward with the project. They follow the City of North Port and Board of County Commissioners in doing so. This completes the local governments support for moving forward and the attendant funding sources from these governments. The last big hurdle will be in the State Legislature. There has been talk for many months now about doing away with the $20 million state grant for sports field developments. Everyone is now holding their breath to see what happens to the application for this money as the last piece of the funding puzzle for the Braves new spring training complex.

In response to public questions, the Board confirmed that the approximately 80 acres for the stadium complex would be donated by the master developer at no expense to tax payers. This means a $8 million plus donation for the value of that land. Thank you very much developers!!! Another question about the source of approximately $7 million in planned expenses for road and infrastructure improvements in and around the planned complex resulted in a less clear identification of that source of funds. The final answer was that the board isn't sure yet how that would be funded. Could be Unit 1 funds, or the new Unit 5 funds (see below), or more donated funding by the master developer or some combination of these.

The board approved the solicitation of an "At Risk" Project manager for the proposed complex. The intent is to get this entity in place as early as possible in the project so that they may actively participate in the the planning and permitting as well as to oversee the construction.

The board also began the process of creating a new Unit of Development for the sports complex project. It will be Unit 5.

Everything associated with this project will be on a super fast track as the current plan is for the Braves to take possession January 2019 for the spring training season. That is just 21 short months from now for a project that is still in an early design and permitting stage. For those who have any experience at all in projects of this size and complexity, you should be impressed by such a very, very aggressive schedule to be achieved.

When I was a project manager I'd always say (in private, never to a client) that a project has three major components: COST, SCHEDULE, and QUALITY........which two do you want? To achieve the January 2019 date I am fearfully that either COST or QUALITY may be compromised. The Braves I am sure will insist on QUALITY (rightfully so). I wonder what last minute COST burden the taxpayers may be asked to endure?

March 9th District Meeting Should Be Interesting

 I received the notification email yesterday from the District Manager's office confirming the next meeting of the WVID Board of Supervisors for 11 am on Thursday, March 9th in North Port City Hall. The agenda items for this meeting include discussions of the "soft gate" gated community entrance procedures, and the "Trim Sheet" for the proposed Atlanta Braves spring training facility. This same "Trim Sheet" must be reviewed and approved by Sarasota County, City of North Port, and WVID before the project can move forward. The full agenda and meeting book for this meeting can be found at http://westvillagesid.org/documents/.

It looks like IslandWalk will be the only "hard gated" community in West Villages for many years to come. Gran Paradiso and the three new Mattamy Homes subdivisions being created now are all to be "soft gated" communities. A hard gated community has roads and gate house features that where built with developer money and not using public debt financing. Soft gated communities on the other hand have roads and gate house features that were constructed using public debt money. Therefore, the gated entry and main roads in soft gated communities must be open to the public so anyone can enter these communities without restriction.

Next week is also early voting for the North Port City Commissioner Seat 4 Special Primary Election with the actual election held on March 14th. Those of us living within the West Villages and who are registered voters should have received their sample ballots by now.

I would like to take this opportunity to endorse Jill Luke for this election and recommend her to you as the next City Commissioner for District 4. Jill is a small business owner in North Port and for the 6 years that I've known her, she has been actively involved in city civic affairs and with the Chamber of Commerce. These special primaries are usually poorly attended by voters and in many cases just a few votes can swing an election one way or the other. Hence my endorsement and request that you take the time to get out and vote in this election. I believe Jill will be a strong supporter of the West Villages and a stabilizing influence on the City Commission.