CDDs approve tentative budgets

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Residents in three of four Lakewood Ranch Community Development Districts will see little change in their respective district assessments for Fiscal Year 2011-12 according to preliminary budgets approved last week.

Town Hall’s Interim Executive Director Steve Zielinski said the budgets were “prudent” and would meet the needs of each district.

In CDD 1, which includes the Summerfield and Riverwalk communities, the overall budget decreased by less than 1%. Resident assessments may vary by about $10 from last year, based on irrigation costs.

“There’s no real issues,” CDD 1 Chairman June Stroup said. “It’s just ongoing upkeep and in some places replacing (things). For the most part, we’re just taking care of the community.”

Special projects, which account for $54,000 of the $1.57 million budget, include repairs to some neighborhood monument signs, among other items, Stroup said.

In CDD 2, the overall budget is down by 5.4% at $2.3 million with total assessments averaging a 1.8% reduction. Supervisors said the budget reduction was possible, in part, because of a landscape contingency fund from the previous year. The district had saved money by changing from Mainscapes to Garden Leaders and also did not use $30,000 it had set aside in case landscaping costs increased.

“It’s a very sound budget considering the amount allotted for special projects,” Zielinski said, noting the district will replace some street palms as part of the planned expenses.

In CDD 4, whose boundaries include the Greenbrook community, residents will see no change in assessments, and therefore will not receive mailed notices, which also will save the CDD about $2,000 in mailing costs.

CDD 4’s $1.6 million budget is down 4.6%. Special projects included in next year’s budget include the addition of a camera at the Greenbrook Adventure Park’s picnic pavilion, repairs to district berms and more lake maintenance.

“We were committed to no increase in the budget,” CDD 4 Chairman Mike Griffin said. “It’s important to understand it’s a balancing act. Our residents expect a level of service and quality that is high.”

Only CDD 5’s overall budget will increase by 1.3% from last year with an overall assessment increase of 8.5%. The increase brings the total budget to $1.85 million.

Supervisors noted the increase is due to litigation surrounding the district’s storm drain inlets. Supervisors have allocated $100,000 toward continued attorneys fees, which they hope to recoup if the district wins its lawsuit.

The district also will see an increase in landscaping costs, as bids for services have come back higher than in previous years.

Supervisors on all CDD boards will adopt their proposed budgets formally in the fall.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

IN OTHER BUSINESS
CDD 1
• Supervisors directed staff to contact four Summerfield Bluffs property owners, who have been identified as having significant erosion issues along the Braden River, to determine if homeowners are interested in having repairs to the riverbank made at their own cost.

The district engineer estimated costs of identifying solutions to issues at up to $8,000. Repairs to all four properties would cost about $500,000.

CDD 2
• Staff will continue to explore options for installing speed tables or speed cushions outside the Legacy Gatehouse as a means to deter speeding, improve safety and reduce costs associated with gatehouse repairs.

• Contractor Woodruff & Sons this month will begin work to repair three storm drain inlets in the community at a cost of about $50,000.

• Supervisors agreed to join CDD 6, which is developer controlled, and CDD 5 in hiring an off-duty sheriff’s office deputy to conduct patrols for three total hours per week within the districts. Cost is $133 per district per month. The deputy primarily will look for traffic violations.

“We’re trying to get people to slow down,” Supervisor Pete Bokach said.

CDD 4
• Allegiance Security will complete its contract June 24, after which time Diamond Mason Evans will assume unarmed roving patrolling duties.

• Supervisor Alan Roth said the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office continues to encourage residents to lock their vehicles to reduce incidents of vehicle burglary in the area.

CDD 5
• Staff will continue to explore whether or not to improve crosswalks, and options for doing so, on Arnold Palmer Green at Players Drive and at Kingsmill Court. Estimates for work to complete both projects came back around $10,000.

• Staff will continue to explore options for installing speed tables or speed cushions outside the Legacy Gatehouse as a means to deter speeding, improve safety and reduce costs associated with gatehouse repairs.