CDD meetings miss mark

EAST COUNTY — As the Jan. 16 Heritage Harbour South Community Development District meeting came to a close, community supervisors shook their heads in disapproval at the night’s events, or lack thereof.

“From an observer’s standpoint, they expect that we’re going to go over what’s on the agenda,” said Michelle Patterson, CDD vice chairwoman. “We should be getting our work done, whatever it takes.”

The supervisors struggled to get through the night’s agenda within their two-hour time limit last week, and they only covered one of six new business items after spending the bulk of their time discussing check approvals and staff reports — normally deemed less-important items.

In response to audience members’ and supervisors’ complaints about the lengthy duration of meetings, and to establish organization within the group, supervisors adopted a rules of procedure and meeting procedure document in December. The new procedures dictate that if supervisors decide they need more time than the allotted two hours, the board must pass a motion to extend the meeting in 30-minute increments.

After running out of time at last week’s meeting, CDD Chairwoman Joyce Sandy found herself mulling over options of how to make the board more efficient.

Sandy does not believe conducting longer meetings is the answer. She said an open-to-the-public workshop might be something to integrate.

“If we have a workshop prior to the meeting, where the public has a choice to come, then we can talk about how to handle invoices and financial matters there,” Sandy said. “The public appreciates that because it can be kind of boring to them; they want to get to the meat of the meeting.”

The next CDD meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, at the Stoneybrook Golf Club.

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected]