On Aug. 6, in addition to their general meeting, the Westchase CDD held a Public Hearing to adopt the budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
Before opening the public hearing to adopt the 2025 budget, District Manager Andrew Mendenhall confirmed he had received a handful of e-mails and calls from residents, with most questions pertaining to the increase in paving costs. Residents seemed satisfied with his explanation that the increase is due to the anticipation of work that will be needed some 5 to 9 years from now. Chairman Matt Lewis then opened the public hearing for audience comments.
A Greencrest resident questioned the $8,000 for collection costs and the $240,000 for security services for The Greens. Supervisor Greg Chesney explained that the community uses the county tax assessor, and they charge 2% of overall assessments collected, so the charge is out of the board’s hands. He went on to say that the security costs cover security staff for the gate. Supervisor Christ Barrett went on to say that when the board had looked at cutting security costs, many Greens residents had complained. Chesney reminded the audience that Barrett had previously written an article on security in the community and had found The Greens to have the lowest rate of crime.
Stonebridge HOA president Matt Rice called into the meeting, asking that the board shift the cost of tree removal from the individual resident into the Stonebridge general fund. The motion was approved with the understanding that residents still need to go through the usual approval process for tree removal first.
Before closing the hearing, Chesney wanted to address a complaint he had seen on Facebook, stating that the 8% assessment increase was due to more than inflation. Chesney reassured residents that the board did not make increases “willy nilly” and that between 2012 and 2025, assessments had only increased by an average of 2.85%. Barrett went further by explaining that many of our major contracts are multiyear agreements and cover three years of inflation.
On that note, the motions to adopt the Fiscal Year 2025 budget and the levying of assessments were both approved 5-0.
The meeting continued with audience comments on other matters. Two residents from the Shires shared their ongoing concern for the sidewalks in their community. After a number of unreturned messages with the County, the residents understood that the CDD was looking into taking on a bigger role with sidewalk repairs. Lewis explained that District Engineer Robert Dvorak had recently presented estimated construction costs but there was not yet any timeline for this project. Supervisor Jim Wimsatt assured the residents that should the CDD take responsibility for the sidewalks, The Shires would be part of Phase 1. The residents urged the board to go forward with the plans and thanked them for their consideration.
A Gretna Green resident asked the board’s permission for a pool contractor to access his property via a CDD owned easement. District Attorney Erin McCormick requested that he send her a copy of the plans; she will then draw up an agreement. Lewis reminded the resident that some pool contractors store equipment on the CDD easements but they should use it for access only. The responsibility for this and for the area to be returned to its original state lies with the homeowner.
During his brief Engineer’s report, Dvorak reminded the board that there was no point in doing a more detailed assessment for the sidewalks unless they intended to do the work soon. Lewis confirmed it was definitely the board’s intent to move forward but more discussion was needed. Dvorak ended the report by agreeing to work out an estimate of costs for the detailed assessment.
Following on from last month’s meeting, Field Manager David Sylvanowicz provided the board with three new proposals for improvements to the nature trail at Baybridge Park. At the supervisors’ request, the new proposals covered work to return the trail to its original purpose as a dog walking and running path, replacing all the timbers and excavating the dirt. The proposals ranged from $25k to $30k. Barrett made a motion to approve the JNR bid of $30,000 stating, “We have to maintain those assets we have.” Barrett’s motion passed 5-0.
Having attended the previous night’s Government Affairs Committee meeting concerning recently installed No Parking signage in West Park Village, Office Manager Sonny Whyte suggested the board table any imminent purchase of decorative posts while the county reassesses sign placement. Barrett was concerned over the recent tension regarding WPV signage, suggesting that there must be better communication between the GAC, voting members and the CDD.
The meeting ended with the consideration of the Landscape Bids submitted during the RFP process. During the meeting, supervisors completed their scoring matrices, which were then counted and verified by the District Manager. It was a very close evaluation but after a few questions directed to the co-owners of RedTree Landscape Systems, they came out as the board’s preferred vendor. The board voted 5-0 to rank RedTree number one, with the intention to award them the landscaping contract. Landscape Maintenance Professionals, Inc. (LMP) ranked second and Davey Tree ranked third.
The next step will be for Mendenhall to negotiate the final contract with RedTree and determine a start date.
