Food, Picnics and a Little Bragging

There is much to share with you in September’s WOW. Our annual Dining Special brings you an interesting twist on eating. Vineyards resident Tara Payor offers readers the best places for picnics – and a host of Westchase residents also chime in with their suggestions. As part of our coverage, we also offer the results from our 12th annual Dining Survey. Did your favorites win? Be sure to eat it all up on pages 4 and 100.

This past month represented the end of the budget processes for both the Westchase Community Association (WCA) and Community Development Districts (CDDs). The CDDs budget was finalized and we print your assessments on page 104. The WCA’s budget workshop occurred on Aug. 28, just after deadline. Please check out WOW Online at www.westchasewow.com for our coverage of that meeting and your expected dues.

The districts’ budget process prompted WOW staff to reflect a bit on Westchase history.

In November 2004 WOW earned the wrath of some supervisors then on the Community Development Districts (CDDs) by running an article that was highly critical of the in-house landscaping program at the time. Overseen by Severn Trent, that in-house program produced significant homeowner dissatisfaction with the community’s appearance – and a $500,000 bill to replace sod that staff appeared to have inadvertently killed. Studying Tampa Palms’ use of a private landscape company whose payment was tied to a monthly grade administered by an independent horticultural specialist, WOW argued that if the CDDs adopted Tampa Palms’ approach Westchase could save between $250,000-$500,000 per year while dramatically improving the appearance of its commons areas.  Subsequently, the CDDs’ supervisors voted to do just that.

The result? In just the past year, the CDDs rebid the landscaping contract for the second time. Vila and Son’s winning bid cut $250,000 on top of the savings made when the districts terminated the in-house program in 2005 and offered the contract to TruGreen LandCare. Among other things, the resulting savings have allowed the districts to spend nearly $200,000 to purchase a new irrigation system and undertake expensive pond erosion repairs this year – all without assessment increases for homeowners.

WOW credits the CCDs supervisors – and especially CDD staff Doug Mays and Sonny Whyte – for the dramatic improvement in the community’s appearance and the cost savings arising out of the new way they have done business over the last five years. The magazine, however, does take pride in the fact that the community’s current appearance – as well as the districts’ subsequent landscaping contracts and falling assessments over the past four years – have shown that WOW’s 2004 story was right on the money.

Please be sure to tell our advertisers you saw their ads in WOW.