Yesterday was
another monthly meeting of the West Villages Improvement District Supervisory
Board. Just as I strolled in, the meeting was called to order. There were very
few resident public attendees. The board, along with its advisers and
associates, nearly (if not actually) outnumbered those in attendance to observe
the proceedings. All in all, it came across as a rather uneventful but
informative session. Still, there were a couple of discussions and thoughts worth
a mention here. As there is a lot of detail to share, a couple of items will be
saved for a post planned for next week. Also, there seems to be a couple
recurrent themes of concerns that rear up every so often, so some expanded
commentary of my own thoughts will be included in the next post. Here are the
major highlights from the meeting...
Two topics
regarding land and land use rights were brought up, one related to irrigation
and another related to drainage. Matters of well usage for property irrigation
of WVID public property, current contract status, existence of easements, and
ownership of the pvc piping needs to be clarified and then presented for
discussion. In short, the land where the well is located was part of the Lennar
purchase. The water use permit is still under the former owner's company name.
Further investigation is required in order to decide how to move forward to
create a new contract of use with Lennar. Also, Lennar has requested that there
be a property exchange to accommodate a change in which parcel is set aside for
drainage. This request was approved to move forward. That means that it will
progress through further investigation and creation of the paperwork to
determine if the exchange can or will be presented for approval and execution.
There was again
some dialogue about approving landscaping modifications and costs along U.S. 41
adjacent to the WVID neighborhoods. The conversation has changed, though. The
major part of discussion was regarding altering landscaping that is blocking neighborhood
monument signs, particularly Gran Paradiso. Ultimately, it was approved to have
Valley Crest complete the work at their estimated cost of just under $14k. It
was also mentioned, almost in passing, that the consideration of replacing the
sod along the traffic corridor has officially been rejected. There was no
elaboration as to when or why this occurred. Perhaps, it was in a meeting that
I missed; however, I did not see an indication of that in reviews of past
meeting minutes. Ah well, in any event, it was a contentious debate that has
now been settled with a quiet conclusion. As mentioned, the other landscaping
improvements were approved to move forward, and decorative features that will
be constructed by the builders have been given authorization with permit
signatures. A resolution is to be created outlining a process and conditions by
which a designated Board member can sign City of North Port permit applications
for such projects in the regular course of business (as opposed to waiting four
to six weeks for it to happen at a meeting). This will reduce future delays of
these beautification installment structures that do not require district funding.
District finances
were also reviewed and discussed. Charts of historic collections by unit were presented
with explanations. Unit 1 bonds are current since the Mattamy Homes purchase,
and there is nearly $18 million in the construction account for district public
service facilities' construction (fire station, police dept., etc.). The
adequacy of this amount will likely be reviewed in a year, as the estimates of
funds required may be outdated and other local facilities have been constructed
with a relative proximity that may suggest plan revisions. Unit 2 bonds remain
in default due to non-payments of the 167 acre Town Center parcel. Unit 3 bonds
and development are owned by Lennar and, therefore, are current. General fund
accounts total just under $4million. It was said that the WVID is in excellent
financial condition from an operating standpoint.
The next meeting
was scheduled for December 16th.
Happy to answer or find answers for any specific questions you have. Just let me know.
Ali
If you are considering purchasing a home in this community, please let me
assist you. My services and extensive resources are of no cost to you, and in
most instances, I am able to save home buyers some money. I even offer
(*with a couple exclusions) $500 towards closing costs to my clients*. I do not
work for any of the wonderful builders in the West Villages Improvement
District, or any others for that matter. My services and information (including
the resources provided on all of my websites) are wholly independent of these
developers. No other independent professional is more knowledgeable about this
community, and enlisting me to assist with your transaction serves also to fund
these resources to keep them available for you and others on an ongoing basis.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Ali
Aileen “Ali” Johnston, MHA
(currently working on an MBA in Real Estate)
Realtor®, Hoover Realty
Mobile: 941-539-5771
No comments:
Post a Comment