Supervisors slash stormwater costs

HERITAGE HARBOUR — Supervisors on the Heritage Harbour South Community Development District have laid a heavy hand on the district’s preliminary budget for stormwater-management costs.

Based largely on feedback from residents during last month’s budget workshop and on recommendations from the Finance Committee of the Stoneybrook Homeowners Association, supervisors voted 3-1 to slash the proposed budget by about half, reducing proposed expenses from $445,741 to $223,269, by scaling back proposed programs.

The total is down about $35,000 from what the district spent last year on stormwater-management projects.
Supervisor Joseph Jaudon, the lone dissenting vote, said cuts still aren’t deep enough, and he is not confident all the programs being implemented are needed.

“I’m not in total agreement with these numbers,” Jaudon said after the vote. “They haven’t come down enough for me. They haven’t affected the bottom line enough.”

Jaudon proved to be the proposed budget’s most fierce adversary, calling into question nearly every line item, including roughly $7,000 budgeted for aquatic plants and the amount of monies being rendered for management services, among others.

“We need to make sure what we are doing is required and necessary,” he said.

Other board members said the changes were reasonable, and many of the items in the budget, such as aquatic plantings and more regularly scheduled lake-and-wetland maintenance, are necessary for long-term cost savings for the district.

“If we don’t do the (proper) maintenance, we’re never going to drive down the costs,” Board Chairman Lee Bettes said.

As tentatively approved last week, the preliminary budget reduces proposed wetland maintenance events to eight times annually (from 24), reduces mowing between lakes and wetlands to eight events annually (from 24) and divides a chord grass bed restoration project into two years, among other changes.

Supervisors and residents will discuss the budget for landscaping, roads and reserves at budget workshop at 2 p.m., June 16.

Meet Richard Lane
Heritage Harbour South supervisors at their June 2 meeting named Richard Lane as the board’s newest member.

The Michigan native replaces Chuck Faust, who recently resigned from his post as chairman to spend more time with family.

“I want to make sure everything is maintained the way it is supposed to be maintained,” Lane said of his reason for running. “This is an opportunity for me to give back. I think I have a skill set that fits the needs of the board.”

Lane said he had no hesitations diving into the meat of the budget, and recognized residents’ desires to do without “extras” and stick to necessary expenses only, based on discussions at last month’s budget workshop.

“The budget needs to be acceptable to the people in the community, but it also needs to contain sufficient funds to get the work done,” he said.

Now retired, Lane spent 23 years as a superintendent of schools in Michigan, and also has served on economic development council committees and other organizations during the course of his career.

Lane will hold his seat until November 2012, at which time it will come up for re-election.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].