Heritage Harbour adopts budget

HERITAGE HARBOUR — Supervisors on the Heritage Harbour South Community Development District received little public comment as they signed off on the district’s 2013-2014 fiscal year budget — the first developed by a completely resident-run CDD board.

The new $413,000 operating-and-maintenance budget keeps assessments the same as last year for Heritage Harbour residents in Stoneybrook and Lighthouse Cove.

Including debt-service assessments, residents will pay between $489.25 and $1,64.54 annually, depending on the size of their respective lot. The Stoneybrook Golf Club will be assessed $35,363.90.

District Manager Greg Cox said the most dramatic savings in the budget will stem from changes in district management, because property-management company Rizzetta & Co., for which Cox works, has assumed management of all the district’s assets. Morris-Riley Development Management previously oversaw the district’s stormwater system.

“It’s going to end up with an overall savings,” Cox said.

However, legal costs associated with a lawsuit between the CCD and the Stoneybrook Golf Club and Lighthouse Cove Homeowners Association exceeded projected budget numbers for the item by more than $40,000 in fiscal year 2012-13.

As of July 31, the district was about $74,000 over budget for fiscal year 2012-13 because of legal fees associated with the lawsuit concerning assessments for stormwater maintenance, Cox said. However, Cox said he did not expect the district to have to dip into its emergency fund to cover the costs. Instead, budget savings found throughout the year would offset legal fee overages.

“I think you’ve taken some large expenses and you’ve contained them somewhat,” Cox said. “It’s under control, but it hurt.”

Supervisors moved $134,580 from two line items under the stormwater-control category and one miscellaneous line item into the miscellaneous contingency category.

Supervisor Michelle Patterson said the dollars moved did not have a specific purpose attached to them and supervisors moved them to help provide better accuracy in budgeting in future years.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

CDD raises concerns over asset management
Heritage Harbour South Community Development District supervisors continue to discuss whether to resume control over district assets the Stoneybrook Homeowners Association manages. Now, however, they are focusing on defining expectations.

At the board’s Aug. 15 meeting, district attorney Andy Cohen raised concerns about Stoneybrook’s contract with security provider Envera, which remotely controls access through the community’s gates, as well as the fact the HOA is not following an agreement with the CDD on how it contracts with vendors.

“I don’t object to having the HOA manage (the asset),” Cohen said. “My issue here is the contract; some of the provisions are pretty burdensome.”

Supervisors directed Cohen and District Manager Greg Cox to meet with Tony Burdett, a representative of Heritage Harbour’s developer, Lennar, to discuss the issues.

In other business:

• Supervisors voted 3-2, with Lee Bettes and Richard Lane dissenting, to set future board meetings for 6 p.m. the third Thursday of the month, starting in October.
• Supervisors voted unanimously to hire Rick Schappacher, of Schappacher Engineering, as the district’s new engineer. Schappacher has been providing engineering services to the district on an interim basis.
• Supervisors asked district counsel and the district manager to meet with a representative of the Stoneybrook Golf Club about an existing agreement that allows the golf club to permit divers into CDD-owned lakes, on occasion, to collect golf balls. Revenues are shared with the CDD.
The district also will research options for the district to assume that function.
• Supervisors discussed the further erosion of lake banks at golf course holes 10 and 17, despite the installation of riprap there. Schappacher said the original repair was not done correctly.
• Supervisors noted time is allotted at each meeting for representatives of the Stoneybrook and Lighthouse Cove homeowners associations and for the Stoneybrook Golf Club, as per stimulated in a settlement agreement. Representatives of those organizations have not spoken at or attended the last several meetings, and supervisors said they wished for more participation.
• The next board meeting is set for 5 p.m. Sept. 15. A location has not yet been set.