Tara Preserve CDD chairman warns landscaping company to shape up

The Tara Preserve Community Development District board is giving contractor West Bay Landscaping about a month to show improvement in the community before it starts looking for a new vendor.

Chairman John Schmidt told the landscaping company representative at the March 22 regular board meeting that he’d gotten a lot of complaints from residents about the state of the landscaping around the residents.

Many residents also appeared at a community workshop Jan. 19 to protest the lack finesse of landscaping in recent months.

Schmidt said he had walked around the community himself, and was not happy with the state of things since the landscaper took over in March 2014.

“I came across a many number of locations that you yourself said, wait a month and it will look great,” he said. “We gave you six months, and I am not happy at all.”

The board hired on West Bay in 2014. The previous vendor, Florida Landscape Pros., had been with the CDD for 10 years. However the CDD wanted to investigate cost-effective alternatives and West Bay’s bid came in at $140,060 for its first year, which was $30,000 less than the other contract.

However, the board has received complaints about the landscaping almost since West Bay started its contract.

Before recommending to the board that the CDD should start putting out bids for a new contract when this one is up, Schmidt said he would give West Bay another chance. This week, he will take the landscaper on a walking tour of the areas that have been neglected.

“And then I’ll give you 30 days,” he said.