Incorporation committee receives feasibility analysis

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The group researching whether Lakewood Ranch should become its own city has the final draft of its feasibility study and plans to present those results to Lakewood Ranch residents next month.

“We are finding incorporation would be feasible and sustainable,” said Keith Davey, president of the Lakewood Ranch Civic Action Forum and member of the Incorporation Study Committee. “That’s what we’re going to present to the people. The final results are pretty much what the preliminary report showed.”

The study committee received the final version of the feasibility report from its contractor, Orlando-based Fishkind and Associates, April 20 and has since been reviewing the document to see if any supplemental information needs to be added before for presenting it to the public.

The Incorporation Study Committee will not be making a presentation on the study’s findings this month as originally anticipated but is working with Henry Fishkind to secure a date in May when he can present his findings to the public.

Davey said the Incorporation Study Committee now will meet with its advisory groups to present the study to them before making it available to the public through its Web site prior to the meeting with Fishkind.
The committee, Davey said, is hoping residents will take a look at the analysis before making any decision — for or against — the idea of incorporation.

“We’re asking for people to read the report and make their own decisions,” Davey said.

The Civic Action Forum first began discussing the idea of incorporation in June of 2007. More than a year later, after raising about $30,000 to fund a formal study on the issue, the organization hired Fishkind and Associates to complete an independent analysis of the idea, and the study committee began developing a proposed charter.

Fishkind and Associates completed the initial financial analysis and recommendations last June, at which time the study committee began reviewing documents. Since then, it has asked Fishkind for more information and clarifications. With a preliminary final draft in hand in January, the study committee announced they believed incorporation is feasible and sustainable based on the results of Fishkind’s analysis and their research. It met with community development district supervisors and homeowner association representatives to reveal preliminary findings Jan. 28.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].