Deck the halls?

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Every year, some Ranch residents ask Lakewood Ranch Town Hall officials why they can’t have Christmas decorations like the neighboring Benderson Development lights that make motorists’ eyes pop open along University Parkway.

At annual budget discussions coming before Community Development Districts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 starting next week, board members will begin to discuss with Town Hall officials if they want to up the ante on Christmas decorations throughout the districts, starting in 2015.

“Some people say they want the Ranch to look like Benderson during the holidays,” said Lakewood Ranch Town Hall Executive Director Eva Rey. “So we’re just showing the boards what the investment costs for those types of decorations would cost.”

Turns out, dazzling decorations aren’t cheap.

To address the issue, staff presented the CDD boards with a proposal created by Pompano Beach-based Christmas Designers Inc. CDI included price estimates to increase the quality and number of decorations, which would also increase CDD budgets. CDI currently decorates Benderson’s commercial districts along University Parkway.

For Town Hall alone, new decorations and enhanced lighting options that include lights around palm trees, come with a price tag of $6,019.55 Current decorations cost $4,725 (see sidebars).

Benderson-style decorations would come with an even higher price tag for CDD districts.

For instance, if residents want more than the current garland and bows at monuments and entrances at Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and State Road 70, the price tag for that area climbs from $920 a year to $12,240. That price includes two custom LED signs, garland, a red bow and landscape hedge lighting.
The higher prices also include storage fees that wouldn’t be needed because any new decorations the CDDs decide to purchase would be stored at the new operations center. The cost estimates include one-time upfront costs to purchase decorations. The Ranch currently rents its decorations.

Rey points out the estimates are just figures presented by CDI to help the CDD boards see potential costs involved with enhancing decorations.

“It’s more of a catalyst for discussion for one budget line item of many budget line items that will be discussed in the coming months,” Rey said.

Each CDD district in the Ranch currently has different decorations based on its board’s requests.

Operations staff employees currently put up the decorations each year.

But Lakewood Ranch Director of Operations Ryan Heise said residents and each CDD board have different opinions on what decorations and how many decorations they want each year.

“We get different feedback every year,” Heise said. “Some want more lights and decorations, some want less and some want the space between the lights to be a certain measured length.”

The cost estimates also include brighter LED lights.

Lakewood Ranch Town Hall and the monument signs in front of each community, which currently have garland, wreaths, red bows and some lights, could also become a brighter holiday Christmas affair if the budget increases are approved by the Inter-District Authority Board.

Heise said most of the feedback he gets involves residents wanting more holiday décor, higher quality décor, more lights, enhanced decorations on monument signs and lights not staying lit because they trip during a rainstorm.

“We can do whatever they want, but we just need to know how much Christmas cheer each CDD is willing to pay for,” Heise said.

Top Holiday Decoration Feedback
• More holiday décor
• Higher quality décor
• More lights
• Enhanced monument sign decorations
• Lights staying lit and not tripping during rainstorms.

Benefits of Enhanced Decorations
• Higher quality decorations
• High impact “Wow” factor
• LED lights
• Designed specifically for LWR and décor location
• Own sign enhancers after initial one-time upfront cost
• Decorations stored at new operation facility
• Reusable

Example of costs for Benderson-Style decorations

• Zone 1: Town Hall; • Zone 2: CDD 1 S.R. 70 and LWR Boulevard monuments; • Zone 3: CDD 2 and 5 Legacy Gate House; • Zone 4: CDD 2 and 5 Legacy Boulevard and University Parkway entrance; • Zone 5: CDD 2 Edgewater Gate house and entrance; • Zone 6: CDD 2 Edgewater neighborhood entrances;
• Zone 7: CDD 6 Balmoral gate house