Saturday, November 29, 2014

Gran Paradiso - WVID blog 11/29/2014

WVID blog 11/29/2014...wvidfl.blogspot.com 11/29/2014

Full article below:

Well, I have been putting off my follow-up post that was promised in the blog about the Supervisory Board meeting from the beginning of this month. Don't worry. It is not that there is bad news or anything. If you read my post about the September 23rd meeting, you may recall that a new position was created. I wrote:

-A particular item of interest to point out, though, is that a new position has been created for a part-time monitor of onsite grounds projects and liaison between the supervisory board and the residents. The position title is Operations Manager, and a person with construction and project management background will be sought. Residents will also be able to contact the individual directly regarding issues and concerns.

The position has now been filled, and the gentleman (Mike Smith) hired into the position was introduced at the last meeting. Mr. Smith described his extensive background in construction and project management and stated that he lives minutes away from the West Villages communities, so he will be readily accessible when needed.

Good news, right? "Why delay sharing that," you ask? It was also said at the meeting that Mr. Smith's contact information will eventually be posted on the district's website. I was hoping to include that information for your reference within my post. As of this morning, his contact information is not on the site. Anyway, in probably the worst case scenario, it is likely to be shared at the next meeting in a couple of weeks. I will share it when it is made available.

Speaking of the district website...new state legislation mandates that special districts have a web presence and that certain information be publicly shared through it. Most of the new directives are already met by the West Villages Improvement District, including such requirements as posting both complete financial information and the contact information for each governing body member. And, with the new legislation, means for district accountability and oversight was also established. A link to the Special District Accountability Program is to be shared on each district website. Special districts have until October 2015 to fully comply with all of the new mandates.

It has come up occasionally where individual residents have expressed concerns over the ethics of some arrangements and decisions, two items in particular of which I am aware. The new program will provide a reporting system for such concerns and means to hold them accountable. Let me also speak directly to the couple of concerns that I have heard, though, as well...

The first that came to my attention was that there were some ill at ease with the fact that developer representatives held seats on the Supervisory Board. As this post is already getting lengthy and there is considerably more to come, I will not go into detail on the Statutes (special districts and community development districts - Chapters 189 and 190, I believe) that outline the process whereby elected residents progressively take over the Supervisory Board seats. Do know that it is a process defined in state law, and that process is being followed. The first elected resident seat was opened last spring and filled through a popular vote this past summer. I will only provide here what I see as the logic behind developer appointees filling the seats at the outset. Keep in mind that the developers of these communities do not build houses on public land, they own the lots until they sell them to new residents/landowners. And, it is landowners that get to vote on elected seats. So, if a neighborhood has 1,000 parcels to be built and 300 of them are complete and sold to individual landowners, it is still the developer that owns the majority of parcels in the neighborhood. It would not make sense to hold a vote where 70% of the eligible votes come from one source.

That is my take on it at least.

The second of the two concerns, really just a couple of queries that came up, revolved around costs incurred for community plan changes and why the district would be responsible for such expenses. To provide an example, a question came up as to why the district was responsible for the expenses that arose as a result of a request for changes to the number of lots within one of the communities was approved. The adjustments resulted in special assessment (district tax/CDD) projections and calculations needing to be professionally reconfigured, which incurs a fee for that service. It was asked why the district would pay the fee rather than the developer that requested the change. Essentially, the assessment calculations are a district administrative obligation. It is up to the supervisory board to understand all of the implications of decisions that they make for approvals or denials, and to make decisions with those implications in mind.

Also, regarding costs of building the communities themselves, each of the developers has their own agreement with the district as to what is district responsibility and what is the developer's, or even how responsibility may be shared between the two. Lennar, for instance, agreed to take on most of the financial burden from community infrastructure that would typically be publicly funded, as that unit of the district was in such financial distress when the company purchased the development. Other developers may submit to receive funding of all or a portion of eligible community structure elements, depending on the pre-established arrangement in place.


Hope that all helps to clarify some. I would be happy to answer any specific questions for you. If you'd like more information on anything in particular, just let me know. Also, I would love any feedback on what you would like to see for future blog topics.

Comment or email me at: ali-johnston@live.com.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!
Ali


If you are considering purchasing a home in this community, please let me assist you. My services and extensive resources are of no cost to you, and in most instances, I am able to save home buyers some money.  I even offer (*with a couple exclusions) $500 towards closing costs to my clients*. I do not work for any of the wonderful builders in the West Villages Improvement District, or any others for that matter. My services and information (including the resources provided on all of my websites) are wholly independent of these developers. No other independent professional is more knowledgeable about this community, and enlisting me to assist with your transaction serves also to fund these resources to keep them available for you and others on an ongoing basis.

Please, check out my website, and contact me for more information!
Look forward to hearing from you!
Ali

Aileen “Ali” Johnston, MHA
(currently working on an MBA in Real Estate)
Realtor®, Hoover Realty
Mobile: 941-539-5771

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Gran Paradiso: West Villages Improvement District (WVID) meeting 11/04/2014

WVID blog about Supervisory Board meeting 11/04/2014...wvidfl.blogspot.com 11/05/2014

Full article below:

Yesterday was another monthly meeting of the West Villages Improvement District Supervisory Board. Just as I strolled in, the meeting was called to order. There were very few resident public attendees. The board, along with its advisers and associates, nearly (if not actually) outnumbered those in attendance to observe the proceedings. All in all, it came across as a rather uneventful but informative session. Still, there were a couple of discussions and thoughts worth a mention here. As there is a lot of detail to share, a couple of items will be saved for a post planned for next week. Also, there seems to be a couple recurrent themes of concerns that rear up every so often, so some expanded commentary of my own thoughts will be included in the next post. Here are the major highlights from the meeting...

Two topics regarding land and land use rights were brought up, one related to irrigation and another related to drainage. Matters of well usage for property irrigation of WVID public property, current contract status, existence of easements, and ownership of the pvc piping needs to be clarified and then presented for discussion. In short, the land where the well is located was part of the Lennar purchase. The water use permit is still under the former owner's company name. Further investigation is required in order to decide how to move forward to create a new contract of use with Lennar. Also, Lennar has requested that there be a property exchange to accommodate a change in which parcel is set aside for drainage. This request was approved to move forward. That means that it will progress through further investigation and creation of the paperwork to determine if the exchange can or will be presented for approval and execution.

There was again some dialogue about approving landscaping modifications and costs along U.S. 41 adjacent to the WVID neighborhoods. The conversation has changed, though. The major part of discussion was regarding altering landscaping that is blocking neighborhood monument signs, particularly Gran Paradiso. Ultimately, it was approved to have Valley Crest complete the work at their estimated cost of just under $14k. It was also mentioned, almost in passing, that the consideration of replacing the sod along the traffic corridor has officially been rejected. There was no elaboration as to when or why this occurred. Perhaps, it was in a meeting that I missed; however, I did not see an indication of that in reviews of past meeting minutes. Ah well, in any event, it was a contentious debate that has now been settled with a quiet conclusion. As mentioned, the other landscaping improvements were approved to move forward, and decorative features that will be constructed by the builders have been given authorization with permit signatures. A resolution is to be created outlining a process and conditions by which a designated Board member can sign City of North Port permit applications for such projects in the regular course of business (as opposed to waiting four to six weeks for it to happen at a meeting). This will reduce future delays of these beautification installment structures that do not require district funding.

District finances were also reviewed and discussed. Charts of historic collections by unit were presented with explanations. Unit 1 bonds are current since the Mattamy Homes purchase, and there is nearly $18 million in the construction account for district public service facilities' construction (fire station, police dept., etc.). The adequacy of this amount will likely be reviewed in a year, as the estimates of funds required may be outdated and other local facilities have been constructed with a relative proximity that may suggest plan revisions. Unit 2 bonds remain in default due to non-payments of the 167 acre Town Center parcel. Unit 3 bonds and development are owned by Lennar and, therefore, are current. General fund accounts total just under $4million. It was said that the WVID is in excellent financial condition from an operating standpoint.

The next meeting was scheduled for December 16th.

Happy to answer any specific questions for you!
Just let me know.

Ali


If you are considering purchasing a home in this community, please let me assist you. My services and extensive resources are of no cost to you, and in most instances, I am able to save home buyers some money.  I even offer (*with a couple exclusions) $500 towards closing costs to my clients*. I do not work for any of the wonderful builders in the West Villages Improvement District, or any others for that matter. My services and information (including the resources provided on all of my websites) are wholly independent of these developers. No other independent professional is more knowledgeable about this community, and enlisting me to assist with your transaction serves also to fund these resources to keep them available for you and others on an ongoing basis.

Please, check out my website, and contact me for more information!
Look forward to hearing from you!
Ali

Aileen “Ali” Johnston, MHA
(currently working on an MBA in Real Estate)
Realtor®, Hoover Realty
Mobile: 941-539-5771