CDD boards approve new transponders

Gate access just got a bit more sophisticated for residents residing in Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club.

At the Sept. 18 community development district meetings, Lakewood Ranch CDDs 2, 5 and 6 approved the Inter-District Authority Board’s implementation of a phased-in, high-tech transponder replacement for residents living behind those gates.

The new transponders are actually stickers that are about the size of a credit card. The stickers, which are similar to Florida Department of Transportation’s SunPass stickers used for drivers who want to prepay for tolls on Florida highways, can be placed on car windshields or bumpers. The transponder testing area that sits in front of Lakewood Ranch Town Hall will ensure that sticker placements have adequate readability when residents access the gates.

The upgrade, Lakewood Ranch officials say, creates a more efficient system.

Lakewood Ranch Town Hall Executive Director Eva Rey said the new transponders will reduce staff time because the old transponders are battery-operated units that required battery replacements and the replacement of parts.

“The new transponders can’t be refurbished or reissued,” Rey said.

The new transponders cost $50 and replacements will also cost $50. Residents will only need to purchase replacements if they get a new vehicle and need a new transponder affixed to a vehicle.

The old transponders do not need to be replaced, though, and residents aren’t required to upgrade to the new stickers until their old transponders no longer work.

The IDA will be in charge of the new transponder inventory.

District 5 Treasurer Alan Silverglat, though, pointed out that the resolution ceded control of the transponder policy to the IDA, as well.

“The IDA could change the policy, and I think we should retain control of the policy on the district level,” Silverglat said.

While Rey pointed out that CDDs 2, 5 and 6 make up the majority of the IDA and the IDA’s purpose is to manage policies, CDD boards 5 and 6 voted to approve the new transponder policy, but eliminate a sentence that says the IDA “has the delegated authority to establish rules for transponder and/or remote distribution, installation and usage as well as related costs.”

“I don’t have trouble with the IDA managing it, but I have trouble with them being able to change it,” Silverglat said.

The CDD 2 board, which approved the transponder policy, including the language that involves the IDA establishing transponder regulations, plans to make the policy align with the one set by the CDD 5 and 6 boards in October.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].