The Maureen B. Gauzza Library meeting room quickly met its 65-person capacity, leaving a line of residents out the door. Most were in attendance to oppose the CDD’s proposed trail project, which was still in the discussion phase. During the Aug. 19 meeting, the board planned to vote on an agreement with VHB Architects that would allow them to put together a more concrete plan on location, materials and probable cost. Following outcry from the 50-plus attendees, the board voted to pause that vote and gather more resident feedback. After the Aug. 19 meeting, a coalition of residents created a petition and distributed fliers throughout the community with the headline, “Say No to the $18 Million Boardwalk Through our Conservation Areas.” The flyer also included maps that represented an initial effort by District Engineer Rober Dvorak to see if it would be possible to connect all of the communities in Westchase with a community-wide trail system.
Organizers called on CDD supervisors to “stop this destructive plan. Protect Westchase’s conservation areas and preserve the character of our community.” The petition garnered over 950 signatures.
When the Sept. 9 meeting was called to order, Supervisor Chris Barrett thanked the residents for attending and then made a motion to kill the trail project and suspend any further discussion. Barrett said that what had been most disheartening was watching people online and in other arenas “misrepresent the board’s actions, defame the character of board members and staff, even accusing them of being corrupt and on the take and insisting none of us can be trusted because we snuck things through.
“The last month had been a never-ending stream of accusation, innuendo and criticism without a whole lot of basis in fact because five of your neighbors who genuinely love this neighborhood suggested a nature trail and took the initial, if imperfect, steps to see what that might cost,” he said. “My motion isn’t motivated so much about stopping the trail as it is about stopping the ridiculous nonsense that has sown distrust and damaged the community I love.”
Following a second, supervisors Reggie Gillis and Greg Chesney shared their thoughts. Chesney took the floor to apologize for his part in the miscommunication of the financing of the project. “Imagine if we would have come to you and said we are going to spend $60,000 to do a design study for a trail system. Some would have complained, but it was the $18 million that is what got people’s attention. That was my fault,” he said.
Chairman Matt Lewis reiterated to those in attendance that there had not been votes on the funding of the bond, project approval or a design contract. The votes taken at the Aug. 5 meeting were preliminary steps required before a deciding vote on bond funding could be taken. “We had no malintent or any shadiness,” he said. Lewis said most of the emails he’d received had been respectful. “But the amount of misinformation and accusations out there is flabbergasting,” he said.
The board then voted unanimously to kill the trail project and the crowd, both in the room and hallway, cheered.
Audience comments were pushed to allow a presentation from a vendor. For the sake of continuity, this coverage will jump ahead to include audience response to the trail conversation.
Shires Resident Marlon Santos said he had regularly attended meetings for the past two years and sympathized with the board regarding accusations of corruption, adding that he had heard some of the accusations and they simply were not true.
Veronica DeGuenther of Harbor Links said she was motivated to attend the meeting because of the promise made by the original builders that nothing would be built on the wetlands behind her home. She also noted concerns for security – the very reason she had purchased in a gated community.
Jeff Perkins of Brentford said he appreciated the board’s explanation and said a lot of the miscommunication could have been avoided if the project had been more formally presented. He cited several mentions in the WOW, but said the trail map wasn’t made readily available, which made the steps being taken seem more aggressive than they were. He added that Brentford appeared to be an entrance point to the trail and residents also had concerns about ongoing construction.
A resident from Hartwell Bridge Drive said she was relatively new to the community, and she came to the meeting to get the facts. She pointed to the scores of people who had shown up at this meeting and encouraged the board to use those people in the future. “Obviously, a lot of people care about the community – use them to help get the word out.”
Shires VM Barry Anderson, who is a regular at CDD meetings, echoed a similar sentiment. He noted that, while he admired the way neighbors had rallied together, the opposition was to a concept. “The question was posed by the board: Is there a way to link all of these neighborhoods? It was a complete concept. I was there. I know. And it escalated,” he said. “I applaud everyone who got on board – there’s been some fantastic work done.” He encouraged those in attendance to take the energy and emotion involved in saying ‘no’ to work with this board and the WCA board. “There were tremendous ideas…let’s take those ideas and figure out a way to bring them forward because we all want this to be a great community that protects our families, the values of our homes and makes us proud of the community we live.”
Field Manager’s Report
In the Field Manager’s report, David Sylvanowicz introduced Angel with Securitas and Mark from Techwave to discuss proposed changes to the software used at the Green’s guard house. Angel noted that Westchase is the only community still using the current system, Dwelling Live. She added that Techwave is user-friendly for the younger and older crowd, takes up less room on the phone and generates a QR code residents can send to guests to be scanned in at the guard house. She added that the software is adaptable to keep people safe longer. Sylvanowicz stated that the current security fees across all residents are $22,637/month. Implementation of Techwave would increase that by $204/month across all residents. Angel also noted Securitas guard pay would increase to $18/hour since they would be undergoing training on a new software.
Greens VM Steve Splaine asked if there would be a period when both Dwelling Live and Techwave software would be active to help with the transition. Mark with Techwave said yes, 6-8 weeks is standard and there would be an assigned project manager. Splaine also brought up concerns with getting the 500-plus homes to migrate and Angel said they would assist with the data transfer.
Finally, Splaine asked about resident education on the new software and Angel said there would be training materials readily available. Lewis asked Splaine for his thoughts, and he said he didn’t really see they had a choice since the other software was outdated. The board voted 5-0 to approve the switch to Techwave.
A discussion then ensued regarding the potential for staff to buy out a portion of their vacation time. Sylvanowicz noted that the two long-time field staff members rarely used their time off and they had asked about a potential buyout. Following a discussion, the board voted unanimously to allow a one-week buyout with no change to the current policy that states PTO does not rollover.
Turning to concerns of recurring grass clippings in Pond 79, Sylvanowicz said he had called in both district engineering and A&B Aquatics to assess the health of the affected ponds. The engineer jetted the ponds and said the function of the ponds is intact and that Mother Nature will take its course with the clippings. Sylvanowicz noted he and the board had addressed the concerns with district landscaper Red Tree.
A&B Aquatics put together a proposal for $1,400 to clean out the clippings. Sylvanowicz said he was asking for guidance from the board. Lewis said he didn’t see the need to clean out the pond if it’s functioning properly. Barrett agreed and raised concerns that it would set a very expensive precedent.
Sylvanowicz turned to community entrance signs, noting that the board had already approved the cost of entrance signs, but he was requesting an additional $6,684 to install and backlight the letters on the signs at the intersection of Sheldon and Linebaugh, where electricity is already in place. Barrett asked if they voted to backlight it and residents hated it, could they be turned off. Vega said he could provide photos from other communities with backlit letters. Office Manager Sherida Cook noted that most complaints about the signs at Countryway and Linebaugh were about lack of lighting. The board voted 5-0 to approve the proposal.
Discussion turned to Pond 120 in West Park Village, which is on private property in between two residences. District Engineer Robert Dvorak informed the board that over the last handful of years, the homeowners had modified the area to the point that the pond is probably at 25% capacity of what it should be.
Dvorak explained that the pond is on private property but the area it sits on is covered by the CDD’s drainage easement, and the CDD is responsible for maintaining the sump on the SWFMD permit. Dvorak said the homeowners have hardscaped, added patios, batting cages, etc… and they’ve added wooden seawalls to fill in the sump area, so it has gotten smaller over the years. He added that the problem is that there is a 54” pipe that runs through the sump and the silt has accumulated to a degree that it is inhibiting drainage. “That entire system is at risk of having a problem during a storm event,” Dvorak said, adding that he has a proposal to get silt out, but the wooden seawalls and other homeowner additions would likely collapse. “It’s a complicated matter with District Counsel working on the issue of encroachment and then how we move forward and deal with that to be able to maintain the drainage system so we have the right level of service,” he said. “It’s not an acceptable condition, but I also don’t want to go in and demolish someone’s private improvements.”
Lewis noted that this could also affect the CDD’s certification with SWFMD, which is due in October. Barrett asked if it would help to have staff ask the HOA if modification requests were submitted. McCormick agreed that would be a good step and Dvorak said the first step is to survey the area to get a better picture of the encroachment.
The board voted to authorize McCormick to work with Dvorak and the CDD to send letters out once the survey is complete.
Lewis asked about cost. Dvorak said just getting the silt out is $86,000. Barrett asked Dvorak to get at least two more proposals.
Engineer’s Report
Moving on to his own report, Dvorak began with a Pond 125 update, stating he found a 10-foot access easement between Stonebridge and Sturbridge. He said he was going to look at that area as a possible way to connect to the drainage system on Montague to help drain excess water away from the berm. This would be an alternate solution, since the CDD was unable to create an easement in Sturbridge due to opposition from two homeowners.
Greens resident Jani Stone stood up and questioned why the board had spent $27,000 on the berm and now they were looking at this option after the fact. Both Barrett and Lewis asked her not to interrupt, and Barrett then explained again that the board built the berm to prevent flooding in Sturbridge and warned homeowners that ponding would occur without the easement. “We asked residents how they chose to proceed, and they chose this option,” he said.
Brad Dil of Sturbridge said he didn’t remember anyone saying there would be pooling on the inside of the berm. Barrett said that was detailed in the meetings when the two homeowners declined the easement, adding that the drainage was always intended for potential pooling. He said it was good news that Dvorak was looking into that new easement option.
Lewis pointed out that they are still looking at the southwest corner of Pond 125 to create a long-term plan for flood mitigation.