District 1 launches search for new contractor

Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 1 supervisors will seek an interim contractor for landscaping services as the district deals with a lawsuit surrounding its request for proposal process.

Following the advice of their attorney, supervisors on Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 1 today voted unanimously to reject existing bids for landscaping services and to restart a search for a new landscape contractor.

The district’s current provider, Garden Leaders, has filed a lawsuit alleging Lakewood Ranch CDDs 1, 4 and 5 and the Inter-District Authority Board violated the state’s open meetings laws in its process of selecting a new landscape contractor.

District 1 Attorney Jeff Russell said, after analyzing the lawsuit, he does not believe the district violated Sunshine requirements when staff members independently evaluated requests for proposals from vendors to form a recommendation for supervisors.

“I don’t think there was a Sunshine violation, but it is a reasonably close call on the issue,” Russell said, adding he believes it would be in the district’s best interest to reject all bids and start over.

Doing so, he said, would reduce potential legal expenses and expedite and simplify the process moving forward.

Lakewood Ranch Town Hall’s Director of Operations Ryan Heise said he is working on securing an interim contractor for services, and plans to present the recommendation to the board at its September meeting.