Tara Preserve CDD moves forward on filling nuisance pond

Community nuisance, Pond 46, is inching closer to termination.

After several residents and board members speaking up at the Oct. 27 meeting to express their displeasure at a stagnant, non-functioning drainage pond, the board directed district engineer Rick Schappacher to start investigating the possibility of having the pond filled in.

Schappacher reported at today’s meeting that the district must have a lake survey and ground water elevation reading completed before either Manatee County or the Southwest Florida Water Management District will allow the permitting process to move forward.

The board approved spending $2,000 to get the two items done and launch the process of achieving a permit.

“It’s an eyesore,” said newly-appointed supervisor David Woodhouse. “It gets very smelly when it’s stagnant.”

Once the CDD gets approval to address the pond, SWFWMD outlines five possible routes the board can take, including filling the pond in, deepening the pond or converting it to remain a dry retention pond used just for catching occasional overflow.

The expenditure, and looming costs of eventually getting the pond filled in, brought up discussion on budgetary constraints.

“We need to look at a five-year program,” said supervisor Joe Mojica.

Joe Dyer, the treasurer, said that the expenses the board was incurring from the relocation and replacement of the pool equipment — for which the board allocated $78,000 to move the equipment outside and place it under a Vak Pak — were setting the CDD back on its budget and the capital projects it hoped to accomplish.

“I’m not saying we’re in trouble, but I think we need to move slowly,” he said.