Village Community Development District No. 2 (2026-04-10)

Silence for those who have given their lives for our country, and let's keep in mind those who are currently on the way. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. I guess I should have called the roll to begin with. I'm sorry, Jennifer, but let the record show that all members are in attendance. I'd like to welcome our meeting attendees. Thank you for joining us this morning. We're now ready for audience comments. If anyone would like to speak to the board, please go to the podium, give your name and address, then you'll have three minutes. Okay. Carmen Atkinson. I live at 2108 Salas Place in the Villages, the Santo Domingo. And my husband tore down some bushes, and we noticed some stair-stepping in our stucco home. And so therefore, we knew we would have to paint. And me being the woman that I am, I wanted to paint it a different color. And so I went to the board, the architectural review board. And the colors that I chose are approved, are these, and I'll pass this around. The color that did not get approved was the color of the garage door. And ma'am, if you provide these to the board, we do have to keep them. It's a matter of public record. To whom? To the chair. Okay. There's the color of the house. Ma'am, you have to get on the record and speak so they can pick it up. So what I submitted to the chair is the colors of the base of the house and the trim, and the color of the garage door and the front door, the arches. So what he's looking at is pictures of the surrounding area and my neighborhood of homes that are beautifully... They're just beautiful. It's the same colors that I chose was Citizens Bank, the colors of the hospitals, Spanish Springs Hospital. It's that same terracotta, a trim, and a base tone, a real light, soft green tone. And so I wanted to stay within the boundaries of Santo Domingo area and Spanish Springs area, and that's why I chose these colors. So I'm hoping that I could get an approval today with a letter that you accept those colors so I could move on and get my home repaired and repainted. Thank you. But you said that the colors of the house were approved, but it was the garage, so it's only the garage? It's a garage door. Yeah. I have that form right here as well. And Mr. Chair, if I may, I think if you can have Ms. Shannon Boyd with Community Standards come up, the problem is in a stipulation on the paint palettes that you can't commingle different palettes, or that you can only have two colors. So if we can have Ms. Boyd come up and explain what the rules are, and then we don't issue exceptions or variances for one individual. What you would have to do if you wanted to approve this is approve it, a change to the palettes moving forward for everybody. So if I can have Ms. Boyd come forward and explain what the current rule is, and then you can discuss whether or not you'd like to change it. Certainly. Thank you. I have a question. It's my understanding that District II does not have a paint palette, and that's why we have approvals at ARC for every color. That's correct. Also, I'd like to make a note that Santo Domingo is a Spanish name, and the architecture is Spanish, and Spanish colors tend to be a little bit more bold than other places. And I know when I was on the ARC board, we've approved certain things that probably might not have been looked at if you were in Mallory, but in Santo Domingo, they seem to be fine, and they fit. So, I looked at the colors, and I didn't see any particular objection to the darker color on the garage door. I've seen others like it. So those are my comments. Okay. And let's have Ms. Boyd speak to us about it. Good morning, board. Shannon Boyd, Community Standards. Good morning. So your current ARC manual, it states in there that architectural approval is not required for garage door painting as long as the color is within the hue range of the base and trim colors of the home. So that's currently how your manual reads. That is to prevent residents from, for example, painting a house maybe tan with white trim and then having a purple garage door. So that's why it's within the base and trim hue range. I believe what this resident is Speaking of is going with a totally different color than what's within the hue range of the base and trim color. I'm not familiar with her application or her paint color, so I can't speak on her specific application. Mm-hmm. But what you're saying, though, is that apparently the ARC did not approve the color. If that's my understanding. It went to the ARC board, and they approved the paint color for the house but not the garage door. And I think that's the reason she's here today, is to get some understanding of whether or not that garage door color might be something that she might be able to take back to the ARC and have it re-looked at. Which would probably be my recommendation. Her denial was because it was not within the hue range of the base and trim colors of the home. It was not the specific color. Mm-hmm. And that's why we have, in District 2, the supervisors, there must be approval, and it's her right to come here and talk to us about it. And in order to do that and stay within the Santo Domingo colors, I don't think that anything is in a purple. It's in terracotta, a tan, and a soft, muted green, like almost a sage green. The color palette, I hope you take a look at. It's not a purple. It's going to be a very beautiful accent to our neighborhood, and it represents the community that I live in, the hospital, once again, the banks. It's within this Santo Domingo theme and all that. It's not a bold choice. I heard that today. It's not a bold choice. I think it's going to complement our neighborhood very much in our cul-de-sac. Did you appear at the ARC meeting? I did not. I work at Sammy Jo's, and so I did not. Ma'am, the garage door, is that in contrast with the house painting? Is that- Right now? Oh, the house paint is going to be that terracotta. The trim will be in a beige, and the garage door will be in that green tone that I passed to the board. What color will the house be eventually? Terracotta. So- That got approved and so did the trim because it was in the colors. So again, your rule that applies to everybody within District 2 is that it has to be within the same hue range. So the house and the trim are approved- Yes ... but green is not in the same hue range as terracotta or the trim color. So therefore, I'm asking the board if I could write a letter to where these paint colors would get approved back in Brownwood, and if I could have that letter, I could proceed to get my stucco home repaired, repainted, and move forward on this. If I have your approval. Are you done painting the house yet? No, I haven't started- You need to start ... because I really love these colors, and I really want to stick with it. If it was up to my husband, he'd go, "Carmen, don't fight this." But I really love these colors. I love it. It's all throughout The Villages. So what is the problem if the house is not even painted yet, whether they've approved the colors or not? The issue is not the color of the paint of the house. That's correct. That has been approved. This board can't send a letter to anyone approving anything. You have an ARC committee, architectural review committee, that consists of more than just the District 2 appointee. There's individuals from other districts there as well. And ARC has denied the application, at least as it relates, from what I understand, to the garage door because of the issue with the paint. So as mentioned earlier by Ms. Duckett, if you want to permit this sort of color, then you need to change your ARC manual, but it would be applicable to everybody. Sure. Jim. Good. One second. Mr. Kennedy. All right. Ma'am, I don't want to be rude or anything at all, but I don't think Citizens Bank, the hospital, or anything else has any bearing on your neighborhood itself. And number two is exactly what the attorney said is, the young lady over there came up and told you what the rules are. So we can't just write a letter for you to bring to them to say, "Oh, the supervisors said change it." Because then next month, Mary Alice is going to come up and say, "Write a letter so we can change it again." That's the rule. No, I understand what- Okay. Well, that's the rule, and it seems so cut and dry that your color is not in with the trim. And I understand you like the color, that's why there's so many various colors, but that's your problem right there. Yes, and I would like to have you take a look at the... Maybe you could change your bylaws on that. Would that be possible? So that we- No ... so that the people buying their dream home in The Villages could proceed with, not a purple. Of course, there'd have to be exceptions to the rules. If I was on the board, I would disagree with the purple and whatever in a home, but a bold... Go ahead. Ma'am, I'm going to make a suggestion to you. Yes. Having sat on the ARC board for about eight years, I'm aware of what goes on, and I know that there are certain people on the ARC board that have their own opinions. They differ. It's like lawyers, they always have different opinions on things, too. My suggestion to you would be as follows. I would make a slight modification to your colors, lighting it up a little bit, keeping the same color, but maybe not as dark as you have. Go reapply to the ARC board and see if that passes. That would be my recommendation to you. Okay. Thank you. I think that's the next approach that you should take. All right. Thanks for your time. Thank you for appearing. Uh-huh. Anyone else from the audience who would like to address the board on any particular topic? Anyone else? Okay, we'll move on to new business. We need approval of the March 13th, 2026 minutes. Motion made to approve. Motion by Tom, second by Jim. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, we are set for public hearings. Yes, sir. The first is case number VCDD number two versus... I'm sorry. This is off a little bit. Case number D205-26, Village Community Development District number two versus the estate of Donald R. Bilodeau, 1715 Madero Drive. Okay. A quick overview of the public hearing process. In public hearings, the Board of Supervisors acts as both the judge and jury. In that capacity, the board will consider evidence, make findings of fact, and draw conclusions of law. During the hearing, the board may only receive evidence from the property owner, district staff, and those that will be substantially and directly affected by the outcome of the board's decision. At the conclusion of the hearing, the board will need to determine whether staff presented competent substantial evidence to support a finding of the alleged violation, and if so, the board must enter an order of enforcement against the property owner. If there's anyone here to testify to this case, would you please stand and raise your right hand? If we're going to have witness testimony, you're going to have to provide a witness who will sit in that chair. Yes, thank you. We will open the public hearing and begin with the presentation of the facts from staff. Good morning, board. Shannon Boyd, Community Standards. Today, I have before you case number D2-05-26, Village Community Development District number two versus to the estate of Donald R. Bilodeau, 1715 Madero Drive, Unit 18, Lot 8, violation of the district's rule to bring about deed compliance, and specifically the rule that states, "It shall be the responsibility of the owners to keep their lots neat and clean and the grass cut and edged at all times. The lot owner shall have the obligation to mow and maintain all areas up to the street pavement. If an owner does not adhere to this regulation, then the work may be performed on behalf of the owner, and the cost shall be charged to the owner." As stated in the Village Community Development District number two, external deed restriction standards, maintenance means the exercise of reasonable care to keep buildings, landscaping, lighting, lawns, and other related improvements and fixtures in good condition. The standard for shrubbery must be maintained so it does not extend to soffits and/or rain gutters of the home and must not obstruct the entry to the front door. On February 13th, 2026, a complaint was received regarding shrubs blocking the front door entry. On February 17th, staff verified the violation, and after staff was unable to make contact with the homeowner, a deed restriction reminder was written that same day. The initial and second letters were sent out on February 24th and March 5th, and after following the procedures of compliance of external deed restrictions, a notice of public hearing was sent by regular and certified mail on March 25th. The homeowner passed away in January of 2025. According to the county property records, there does not appear to be a mortgage on the property. Staff has attempted to contact the emergency contacts that were on file. However, both telephone numbers have been disconnected. During a recent inspection of the property on April 8th, it was determined that the property remains out of compliance. Staff's recommendation would be to find the owner in violation of the district's deed compliance rule as cited by the deed compliance staff. The owner has seven days to trim the bushes blocking the walkway to the front entry of the home to bring the property into compliance. If the shrubs are trimmed and the property is brought into compliance within seven days of the order of enforcement, case number D2-05-26 shall be closed. If the shrubs are not trimmed and the property is not brought into compliance within seven days of the order of enforcement, authorize the district to maintain the property, impose $150 per maintenance hour fine, plus a $100 administrative fee to be paid within 10 days of the invoice. If the owner prohibits the district from maintaining the property, then the owner shall be fined an initial amount of $150, an additional $50 per day, until the property is brought into compliance. If the property is not brought into compliance as required herein, staff shall record this order of enforcement claim of lien in the public records of Sumter County, Florida. It is the owner's responsibility to contact the Community Standards Department to request a deed compliance officer revisit the property to confirm compliance. If the fines reach $1,500, the case shall be turned over to district counsel to seek all available remedies, which may include initiating a lawsuit and seeking an injunction against the owner. The owner is responsible for reimbursing the district for all attorney's fees, costs, and expenses associated with or related to this order of enforcement claim of lien. If the property is brought into compliance and all fines are paid, chairman authorizes staff to execute and record a satisfaction and release of lien. Chairman to execute the order of enforcement, and I'm here to answer any questions that you may have. Questions? If the owner has passed away in January of last year, was it? Yes. 2025. Do we know who the owner is? I mean, we've sent out letters. Have they been returned or do we know if there's any party alive that is responsible for the property? We have looked. We were not able to find a probate to look for any type of family members. I even read his obituary, which didn't list any family members, list any children or anything like that. We tried reaching out to the emergency contacts, and both of those numbers have been disconnected. So we don't know. According to the property appraiser's website, he is still the current owner of the property. So letters went out to some address, and were they returned? No, not that I'm aware of, no. Did the... We go through this every time. Evidently, there's no mortgage on the place and the person's deceased, and it's, what, four or five months before anything is done or any complaint is filed. Isn't there something in the village's standards carry that takes care of property in situations like this? Why does that have to come to... Can't they just take care of the property and say, "This is part of maintenance"? You're going to send us a bill for $5,000 to clean that property up when you could do it for a couple hundred dollars. Who are you requiring- The- ... suggesting? The people you work for, the developer or whoever it is. No, this is the proper mechanism to have it maintained, and Community Standards has been very successful in collecting fines that reimburse the board for any expenses that you incurred on maintaining properties. So this is the proper channel to move forward with this, and again, we've been very successful in maintaining the properties to bring it up to the standards and then getting reimbursed through the fine process. The lady said, "Who are you going to collect from?" Well, if you put a lien on the property, sometimes when there's a sale of the home, we collect it. And it also, you have a deed compliance fund that is used to maintain the properties, and any fines that are collected for District 2 go back into that fund to reimburse it. Overall, and we can provide you later with your fund balance on that, but for the most part, the districts have been very successful in maintaining a positive fund balance that allows you to maintain these properties, and then reimburse through fines. I think- I'd like- ... the balance was listed in our materials for this meeting. Your fines. Wasn't it? Yes. So I'd like to make a point, too. The comment that there was apparently no mortgage on this home is of interest to me because in the past we've had issues where there's large mortgages, and by the time these get sold at a foreclosure, there's nothing left to get us paid. This would indicate that whatever we do will most likely get paid. So I'm certainly in favor of trying to maintain this from the perspective of the neighbors because I think ultimately we'll get our money back. The home has been in disrepair for a long time. If you drive Madero each day like I do, it's been a long time. Are there any other questions? Otherwise, this is fairly straightforward, I think. Just in touch, maybe to counsel. At what point does a property become an abandoned property? If there's no lien on this, and we can't find any owners, at what point does it become abandoned? Well, we have, that I'm aware of, no rule or standard or anything that has anything to do with abandoned real estate. The fact that there's no mortgage on this property is exactly as Mr. Suire said. This is the kind of property you want to lien as soon as possible and get it cleaned up because you're almost guaranteed to get your money back whenever property changes hands. The fact that the individual's passed away, it sounds like Community Standards has done everything that I would've done to try and locate somebody to notify. They've done what they had to do. We've prepared all the notices that were required. At this point, we just need to proceed. Clearly, it's out of compliance. Whether it's abandoned or not, again, that's nothing we take into consideration. We look at the property and see whether it's in compliance with the deed restrictions and the rule or not, and if it's not, we enter our orders of enforcement and we let the ownership- Somebody's paying insurance for that property. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. We don't know. Maybe not. Yeah. But that's really not our concern. Right. At this point- It's whether it's a violation or not. Correct. And then act on that. Are we okay with that? Yes. Yeah. So we just need to close the public hearing. Right. And anyone from the interested party who would like to speak? We'd love to meet you if you're here. Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing. Board discussion. Any further discussion about this matter? I don't think there's any discussion needed. I think we should just go ahead and approve the motion. Prepared to make a motion on D20526? That would be my motion, yes. Motion to accept staff's recommendation. Yes. Thank you. That's my motion. A second by Mr. Condon. Any discussion? All in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Opposed? Carried. Thank you. Close the hearing. Yes, sir. We have case number D2-03-26, VCDD number two versus Kenneth and Laura Harding, 1405 Figueroa Street. And with regard to this case, same rules apply. If there's anyone here to testify as to this matter, if you'd please stand and raise your right hand. Ms. Boyd's already been sworn. She's still under oath, so we can proceed with opening the public hearing. So there is no one. No, sir. Yes, Boyd? We'll open the public hearing. Open the public hearing, yes. Good morning, board. Shannon Boyd, Community Standards. Today, I have before you case number D2-03-26, Village Community Development District number two versus Kenneth Harding and Lauren Harding, 1405 Figueroa Street, unit 29, lot 142, violation of the district's rule to bring about deed compliance, specifically the rule that states, "No vehicles incapable of operation shall be stored on any lot, nor shall any junk vehicles or equipment be kept on any lot." As stated in the Village Community Development District number two external deed restriction standards, inoperable vehicles are vehicles that are, one, incapable of operation, two, are not licensed and/or registered, or three, have a flat or missing tires. Vehicles must be capable of operation and proof of such shall be demonstrated to staff upon request. On January 28th, 2026, staff received a complaint regarding vehicles parked in the driveway with expired registrations. Staff confirmed the violations, spoke to the homeowner, and explained the nature of the violations and steps required to achieve compliance in the deed compliance process. A deed restriction reminder was written on February 5th, and the initial and second letters were sent out on February 13th and February 26th. After following the procedures of compliance of external deed restrictions, a notice of public hearing was sent by regular and certified mail on March 6th. The homeowner has maintained communication with staff throughout this process. On February 23rd, the homeowner reported that two of the vehicles had valid registrations and that he was working on obtaining registration for the third vehicle. On March 13th, he informed staff that he expected to have proof of valid registration for the third vehicle prior to the public hearing. However, during our property inspection conducted on April 8th, it was determined that the property remains out of compliance. Staff's recommendation would be to find the owners in violation of the district's deed compliance rule, as cited by the deed compliance staff. Owners have five days to put a valid registration sticker on the vehicle with the expired registration or remove the vehicle from the property to bring the property into compliance. If a valid registration sticker has been put on the vehicle or if the vehicle has been removed from the property within five days of the order of enforcement, case number D2-03-26 shall be closed. If a valid registration sticker is not put on the vehicle or if the vehicle has not been removed from the property and the property is not brought into compliance within five days of the order of enforcement, impose $150 fine to be paid within 10 days of the invoice and impose a $50 daily fine until the property is brought into compliance. If the property is not brought into compliance as required herein, staff shall record this order of enforcement claim of lien in the public records of Sumter County, Florida. If the fines reach $1,500, the case shall be turned over to district counsel to seek all available remedies, which may include initiating a lawsuit and seeking an injunction against the owners. The owners are responsible for reimbursing the district for all attorney's fees, costs, and expenses associated with or related to this order of enforcement claim of lien. If the property is brought into compliance and all fines are paid, chairman authorizes staff to execute and record a satisfaction and release of claim of lien. Chairman to execute the order of enforcement, and I'm here to answer any questions that you may have. Question. First of all, I note that these vehicles are not inexpensive junkers, as you would often see. You got a BMW and so on. But I do have one question. There's pictures I'm looking at right now. It shows a BMW on the left, black, and on the right there, it's a white Ford. But in the pictures I have here, I also have a picture of a black Lincoln, and I don't see the Lincoln in- Correct ... the driveway, so if you could describe to me where that Lincoln is. That one, they put a valid registration. The BMW is the only one that has- The remaining- Oh, so we're only talking about the BMW then? It's the BMW. Yeah. The Lincoln and the other vehicle have valid registrations on them now. Oh, true. Now. Okay. Oh, okay. Yeah. He put valid registrations on two of the vehicles. The one, the BMW, still does not have one. So that's the one vehicle. And that's the one that's been sitting in the driveway for eons or something like that. I'm not sure for how long, but it's been there during our process. Okay. Yeah. Any other questions from... Jim? Yeah. On the 13th of March, he informed the staff he expected to have proof of valid registration from the third vehicle. However, during the property inspection on April 8th, determined the property remained out of compliance. Have staff approached the homeowner and mention to them that you told us they were going to be coming in compliance, you were going to get it, and now you still have it? No. We haven't- No, our last- ... had face-to-face contact? No, our last communication was when the resident said that they were going to notify us when they had the valid registration. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. I'm ready for any reaction from an interested party. Is there anyone who would like to speak to this matter? Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing. Yes, sir. Just for the record, so it's clear on the record, the order of enforcement will only be applicable to the BMW that was seen in the photos. Okay. One thing to say, if I may. The car is parked on the driveway. If that car is in the garage, is it in compliance or not in compliance? Correct. It would be in compliance if they put it in the garage. So, if they just put it in the garage, it'd be okay? Correct. Thank you. Any discussion on this matter? Additional discussion? Hearing none, would someone like to make a motion regarding the staff recommendation? I make a motion that we accept the staff's recommendation. On D20326. Yeah, on that number. Yeah, thank you. Second by Mr. Conti. Any discussion? All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Carried. Thank you. Thank you, board. Old business. Yes, sir. The only item on your old business status update is once we've received communication back from FWC to provide an update on that. If you'll recall, they did come and do their site visit. However, they indicated that there were individuals that they wanted to discuss the site visit with first before making their recommendations, and they would contact staff as soon as they had an opportunity to do that. We have not received information back from FWC. However, we are continuing, as part of your budget process, to do some of those other items that we've discussed, such as including a smaller fence along with the larger one. We will be presenting those dollar amounts to you as part of your budgeting process to determine if you would like to move forward. Questions? Yeah. First of all, I would like to express my thanks to Mike Harris and his group for responding to some information that I had sent to them. You probably know, so there's three people that I refer to as my Friends of Florida Gopher Tortoises that we get together from time to time, and I presented some information to Mike relative to mowing procedures and things like that. And, I received from Mike, I think everybody got a copy of the updated procedures that seem to include most things that we had concerns about. And so I thank you, Mike, for what you've done. I think it's great. I was also going to talk about the fence, but you just mentioned that. That'll be covered and we'll talk about that in our budget meeting, I presume. Yes, sir. And the only other thing I would like to make a comment about is, I think the biggest concern that we have overall with regard to the Harold Schwartz Preserve is that we have about 10 times more gopher tortoises per acre than what we would normally expect to see and what the State of Florida indicates it should be, three to four per acre. We have about 30-some per acre. So, my comment would be that maybe we should have an additional follow-up with the state as to where they are. Because I think that's one matter that probably is the most significant matter of all that needs to be addressed is what we're going to do about that long term. And that is what we are anticipating they will provide guidance on. What they were doing when they came was actually scoping to determine how many of those were actually inhabited versus how many were either empty or had been abandoned, as well as determining the health of them, because even if there are more than what you would anticipate, if the health of the gopher tortoises is as it should be. So those are the things that we're anticipating hearing back on them with based on their scoping. And again, we haven't heard anything back yet, but certainly they were in contact with BDA. BDA was there with them during the evaluation and site visit. So as soon as we hear back something, we will provide the board with their recommendations as well as any recommendations that BDA has as a follow-up to that. Do these things snap like a snapping turtle? Are they dangerous to pick one up? Just out of curiosity, because I saw a big one crossing El Camino the other day, and I said, "Am I going to touch that thing?" Because I grew up with snapping turtles that take your arm off, but anybody know? No. They're not? They're not aggressive? They're not snapping turtles. But be cautious. Unless you have a certificate from the State of Florida authorizing you to pick one up, you're violating the law if you pick one up, so. So you can run it over, but you can't pick it up. I- Okay ... believe you can get them out of a roadway. I'm not positive. Right. And they will bite. Okay. It's a tortoise, but they don't go after you and try to bite you. No. Yeah. I agree with you. I don't want to belabor that point. Notwithstanding, I think we should pick them up and try to place them back. Although it's difficult to place them back in the preserve because there's a fence around it. Right. Yeah. I wouldn't- If you throw it over the fence, it lands upside down- Yeah. ... you're in real trouble. So you do have to have a permit to put a tortoise in the preserve. So I would not put them in the preserve. But certainly, if you see one in the middle of the road, getting it off of the road is- Okay ... probably okay. Carrie. I didn't mean to open up a whole new set of discussion, but- Carrie. Yeah. One of the board members wants to speak first. Oh, okay. There's something in the audience. I see that. Yeah. Carrie. Tom, get out of the way. Can you just- Yeah ... sit down? That's fine. Carrie. Yes, sir. May I have a question? That preserve was constructed to preserve turtles. A certain amount of turtles, correct? It's not necessarily a certain amount, but they're- Tortoises. Tortoise, yes. And other animals. There are other animals that the preserves are designated towards. And we're not allowed over that fence, correct? Correct. Okay. Now, these tortoises proliferated to the point where there's 30-some turtles versus two. What is the district doing to maintain that population of turtles? Forget all these procedures to cut grass and hatch eggs and all that other stuff. What is the district doing to maintain that thing that they set the standards on? Then all of a sudden it becomes a district problem or our problem or a resident problem. That's not our problem. That's a district problem. What is the district doingto maintain those turtles? So the district is not doing anything to maintain a population. The point of a preserve is to give a habitat for the tortoises to be untouched because of the growth going on around them. So the tortoises are put into a preserve, and for the most part, they are left alone and we don't do anything to try to increase or decrease the population. But where did that standard come from, two to 30-some? That's just guidance. You don't have to maintain that or have above or below or right at that. That is some guidance that has been put out that would indicate a healthy preserve. It's kind of double-sided here because in one conversation, we say that there's way too many tortoises, which would indicate that they're doing very well. And again, nature tends to sort itself out. So if you are overpopulating, eventually it's going to slow down, and they will stop overpopulating because they're not going to be healthy tortoises anymore. Again, the point of a preserve is to kind of put them in there and let them be and not mess with them. Yeah. This board has authorized a member, or did authorize a member and some residents to do some research as to whether or not there is an overpopulation or whether or not there are things that we can do to improve the life of the tortoises, which is why we're talking about it. Generally speaking, we do what is required and recommended by our environmentalists, and then we leave them alone and let them live their life in the preserve. There has been people here on different occasions over a period of time that said they were in their backyard and chewed the fence up. They were under the fence. How does the district keep an eye on what's going on at those tortoises? So you budget for that. That is part of the District 2 budget, just like other districts that have preserves. And then District Property Management is responsible for replacing that fence. Do they punch a time clock? How do I know, or how do we know that they're going to take care of this? So it's in your budget right now to replace the fence at the Harold Schwartz Preserve. But this board has asked us to look at doing a smaller fence with it, and that's what we're in the process of. We were working with BDA to make sure that it was one that would be acceptable in the preserve setting. And we will be presenting to you whether or not you want to incorporate that into the fence replacement, because it would certainly be a lot cheaper to do everything at once versus doing the black fence this year and then going back and adding in the smaller one. So it is the responsibility of District Property Management to do that based on the policy direction of this board. So the district does it, but they're billing the District 2 for the repair. Well, you are the district. We are. So you- But you're maintaining it. Yeah. You don't have anything to do with it, but you're billing us for it. Okay. We pay about 60-some thousand a year for mowing and approximately 12,000 a year for Reed Love Dennis & Associates for their professional services as environmental engineers. So we're paying about, I think, close to $75,000 a year. The fact is that we in fact own the tortoises, and I guess the only concern we have, or I have, is that notwithstanding what you said is correct, we have this thing caged in. So typically, tortoises, if they're on their own, can walk around and end up with only two or three per acre, but here we fence them in, so we don't let them out. And so we have an overpopulation, and I guess it's kind of similar to if you have a house and you got one cat or two cats, but if you have a house with 30 cats in it, is that proper? So I think we'd just like to get some conclusion on and deal with it. Yeah. If the environmental people say it's fine, I guess that's fine. But right now, that's what we're trying to find out. Right. The intent of this was just an update as to where we're at. Correct. You sit in the front, where every week we'll give you one minute to... You must want to say something. Every month, I'm sorry. Not every week. Paula Howard, 1501 Escandon Place. I don't have a comment about the tortoises, but I want to add to Tom's thank you to Mike, and it's about his quick response twice now about having the potholes in our roundabout fixed. Thank you. Okay. We're going to move on then to information items. Semiannual deed compliance and ARC statistics. Yes, sir. These are just provided for your information, and if you have questions on any A through D items, staff is available and willing to answer questions. I don't have the numbers right in front of me, but the 17 ARC requests, is that number correct? I'm just thinking from when I looked at this. It seemed like a very small number for six months' worth of District 2. Am I right or wrong on that? No. For ARC applications processed, you had 94. Okay. I'm looking at the 17 number. Okay. I'm wrong here just like at home, so I'm okay with this. Any comments, questions regarding the semiannual statistics? The only comment I would make is that I have reviewed the numbers and the details, and I think theChanges that we made a couple of years ago with regard to the requiring names and addresses of complainants seems to be working fine. We still have proper complaints coming in where they're necessary, and I think we've avoided the issues of anonymous complaints, and I don't see any particular information in the data that I look at that says that we have made an incorrect decision a couple of years ago. That's your opinion. It is my opinion. Yeah. And- That's good. I've seen where we've dropped from... I should have these numbers in front of me, otherwise... But from 122 down to 32? It was 122- Then down to 50 ... then 57, and then as of this year, we're at 37. So we must all be following the rules much better as a result of that. Okay, well, thank you for the report. That's very helpful. Financial statements. Any questions on the financial statements? I have looked at them and find they look fine. Yeah. I have no questions about them. Yes, everything seems to be- Good job ... expenses are down, and revenues are where they should be. Yeah. So, that's what we want. Yeah. Any other comments, questions on the financial statements? Seeing none, I guess we will move to the DPM monthly report. We had a nice report provided for us. Any questions on that? Any comments? Okay. The only question I have, I don't know if it's a question or comment, is just I keep looking at the Alhambra Pond, and I know there's no way to get water in the thing, but I know I had information I sent to Mike in response to somebody who sent me an email about the weeds that are growing. Now that we don't have any water in there, we have a weed problem. Yeah. So I guess that's being taken care of, but surely it'd be nice to get some water in there. One question, maybe Mike knows. Does the drainage from the streets, does that drain into the pond? It does. Okay. Yeah. Storm sewer going there. Public hearing updates. Anything on that topic? Nope, these are just updates to all of your outstanding public hearings. And again, Mr. Briones or Ms. Boyd are happy to answer any questions on any of those cases if you have them. Any questions from anyone regarding that report? Seeing none. Amenity Authority Committee after agenda, Mr. Benson is not here. I am happy to answer any questions. It's a pretty thorough document. There was a lot of discussion on Morse Boulevard and the new study that was received by Sumter County, which had been presented to the AAC. The other item to note specifically for District 2, since you're in this geographical area, is that they did approve the addition of water cannons to both sports pools at Savannah and Hacienda, which are the only two left remaining. Once those are installed, all of the sports pools will have those. And the intent of that is to just lower the temperature of those pools during the hot summer months, especially for those users who are doing things such as water volleyball and more active. But if there are any other questions on the after report or after agenda, I'm happy to answer them. I got a couple questions on the AAC. Yeah. I read something about they were going to change the card readers for entering the gates. Yes. And it was going to cost over a million dollars to do that. I don't remember seeing anything or hearing anything about that till I read about it. Don't the AAC have a responsibility to present that to each district prior to spending that money? It's not over a million dollars. The AAC portion is not even close to that, but they don't because they own the gates, and they are not funded through maintenance assessments, which falls under the purview of the residential districts. They're funded through the amenity fees. It was in several meetings that they had where long-range readers were presented. They received several presentations on it. The intent of the long-range readers is they will be added to the existing gate card readers, and if residents would like to purchase a sticker that you can add to your headlight, you will be able to pull up to the gate, stop, and the gate will open without you having to present a gate card. It is anticipated that the revenue generated from the stickers will offset the cost of the addition of all of those long-range readers. It also updates the technology to today's technology. The readers that we're using are the same readers that we have been using since the inception of the gates here, so 30-ish years. At some point in time, if the AAC and Project-Wide Advisory Committee ever wanted to transition to solely using those long-range readers, it is an encrypted system. So whereas right now you have the duplication and forging of the existing gate cards, this new system, with it being encrypted, would not allow that to happen. That is not something that the AAC or Project-Wide Advisory Committee are interested in right now. It is much more expensive to move in that direction, but this is essentially the first phase. If they were to want to do that over a multi-year project, they could. So this simply is going to allow residents to purchase a sticker, drive up to the gate, have it open without having to roll down your window and present a card. But does the AAC or whoever's spending that money, don't they have an obligation to do a presentation before they okay it or not? Well, they did. Just like you do it here in your meeting, they do it in their meeting. So if- I don't go to their meetings ... Well, and that's your prerogative. But just like- It's easy ... residents can't complain about their maintenance assessments and not understanding you increasing their maintenance assessments if they don't come to this meeting, the same would hold true. If you have an opinion, you would need to go to that meeting and voice it. So it's okay by you. If you're absent, it's okay. No, it's just the proper avenue would be for you to go to their meeting. There has to be some way of getting things done, and at least that's how they do it. Jim. Yeah. A couple things. The figure that Jim gave, it was stated, at least this is what I read also, 1.1 million. They sell the stickers, 1.2 million, so it's a break-even thing. I remember bringing this up to Mr. Batson about that, because where my brother lives, they have the sticker on the headlight. I brought this up a while ago, and then what yous did is you retweaked the system that you have now from when the time I brought it up to him. He thought it was ridiculous when I said that to him. My question, what I really want to know, when you buy a home in The Villages, villa, home, anything. When you buy property, let's put it that way. The white card that we all use now, do we pay for that, or does that come with the house? That comes with the house. You get two gate cards. Right. And yes. Okay. Well, let me give my point. Here's my point. My point is, why can't we give every home one $20 thing? It's going to cost $20. We're going to give it to you for free, and then any one you want after that, you have to pay. So hypothetically, we'll just say instead of making $1.2 million, which was the figures that were given out, we're only going to make $500 million. So now on our return, it's only going to cost us $500,000. So we're going to give everybody one. So like in my case, I have two golf carts and I have two cars. So you give me one for free, that's not covering my vehicles. So if I buy three, which I would, there's $60 you made off Jim Connelly. $13, $24, come out. And this is what I'm trying to say. So why showing a sign of good faith, because you didn't do this the first time, to just give every home owner one $20 one for free? Everybody's got a car and everybody's got a golf cart. So then it's your option. Do you want to go the other route, or do you still want to roll down your window? Why isn't that looked into? I think- I know I'm only asking you because you said you would take questions. Sure. No, absolutely. That certainly would be the prerogative of the AAC. We did present an option to them. So just a little bit of history. Several months ago, we had a joint meeting between AAC and Project Wide, in which we presented to them three different options. One was just the long-range readers. Another one was to transition to the new system, remove the existing readers, and then reissue gate cards, such as what you described, that would all have that long-range capability. That came at a much higher price tag than what just the existing long-range readers did, and both the AAC and Project Wide at that time said they didn't want to do anything. So when the AAC brought it back up and said they wanted to relook at it, we presented those two options again and said, "You can either just add the sticker as an additional option, or we can reissue, it would be cards, but they would be long-range capable." So again, you wouldn't have to roll down your window. You would just pull up there, hold it up, and we would reissue two brand-new ones to every property, and then again, if they wanted to purchase additional, they could. Again, that is substantially more expensive, and both the AAC and Project Wide were not inclined to choose that option. So we can, they can, but neither one of them at this time are interested in doing that. The only thing that they wanted to do was add the reader in with the sticker option if residents wanted to. If I can add just one other thing, if I may? Sure. Go ahead. They find that too expensive, the taking care of the residents. Because I want to state this because I want this out there. But we can build, at a golf course, a garage for contractors. That wasn't too expensive. So we didn't do it. Well, I don't care, but they're still working on it. But I'm saying, I remember they came in here. They said they're building a garage for the contractors, so they can store their equipment and make it easier on them. Contractors, which at the time, as far as I was concerned, that's not my problem about your equipment. If we hire you 8:00 to 5:00, you better be there 8:00 to 5:00. But we can do that for the contract and build that garage. But to take care of the residents who foot the bills here, we can't throw them one, because that's what it said in the article. Exactly as you said, Mrs. Duckett, but they didn't say that you were going to get one. They said you could purchase one, and I'm saying exactly what you just said, but now you said they felt it was too expensive. Well, to me, that's a farce. Thank you for your time, and I'm sorry, too. I don't want you to think I'm attacking you. No, that's okay. I apologize. And just to clarify real quick, if I can, on the cost. So option one was just adding the long-range readers. That was $1.1 million, but it was to be shared between the-AAC- Right ... Sumter Landing, and the developer for the developer-owned courses. The AAC portion of what they're moving forward with is $288,000. Option two, if they were to do the long-range readers and then reissue all of the gate cards to new properties to each homeowner, the total cost would've been 3.3 million with the AAC portion at 868,000. Since we're expressing opinions here only, I will first of all state that I do go to many of the AAC meetings, and I will be actually going to the budget meeting coming up. Keeping in mind that our streets, with the exception of villas, are publicly owned streets, owned by Sumter County, we cannot prohibit anybody from getting into our areas. And they do that because we have a red button there, and you can push the button and you don't need a card at all. I guess my general feeling is that why do we spend money to have a card that all it does is erase a gate, why don't we just have it so you can drive up and have the gate automatically open up for you after it takes a picture of your license plate? You go in, gate closes, you don't have to worry about cards at all. That's my opinion. Just one final- Yeah ... question, if I might pose it to Carrie. Any solution that the AAC would be in favor of, PWAC would also need to agree to the same solution so we wouldn't have different cards- Yeah ... north of 466. That's correct. That's correct, yes, sir. That's correct. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Where are we at here? After- District council report. Yep. District council report. No reports. No reports? Okay. Supervisor comments. Mr. Swyers, you have something on reflective markers. I do. Having driven on the golf cart path in District 5, I found that the fact that they use the, I think they're called reflective pavement markers, RPMs, on the cart paths on Buena Vista. I just found that those things are amazing, especially at night when you can see where you're going. And so I was looking at our cart paths in District 2. The only significant one we really have is the cart path on El Camino Real. And what I'd like to do is to suggest that as supervisors, we, not at this point in trying to approve anything, but I'd like to at least approve the fact that maybe we should at least take a look at the use of these RPMs on our cart paths, by the fact that we could have procurement take a look at the cost. They obviously have done this before, because I'm sure they did it for District 5, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Possibly, maybe Mike Harris has some issues with regard to our cart paths. I don't want to put reflector markers down and find two years later we have to redo the cart paths. So that has to be included into the mix, but I'd like to at least move forward, at least get some information so that we could come back at some point in the near future with some answers. And then at that point, as a board of supervisors, decide whether or not we want to go to reflective markers on our cart paths. So that was- Yeah ... what I'd like to suggest as a motion that we make to at least have them proceed to at least gather some data. Any discussion on that? I like the idea, because I think it's very difficult as you have headlights, especially on our long stretch there along El Camino, that any help for those in our group getting older, some of us aren't, but others are, that would be helpful to have something like that. Any other comments about that? Can I say something real quick? Yeah. Go ahead. Instead of putting them reflectors down there, why can't they fix the bumps on some of them golf cart paths? That- I mean, some of them, you can't even keep your feet on the pedals. That's a totally different issue that we're not talking about now. It's a huge issue. Yeah. Just spend the money to fix the bumps, then put the reflectors. Well, does anybody have any reaction to Tom's? I guess that would be a budget item that we would look at as we get- Yeah ... closer to that again. Yes. We wouldn't need necessarily a motion to gather data. We can certainly work on getting a cost estimate of what it would take to put them on the District 2 paths, and then you can let us know if you would like to put that in your budget for next year. Yeah, that's fine. That's really all I'm asking for is just so that as a group, we say, "Go ahead and do this." We would just need consensus. Okay. This would be the timing for that. Are we in agreement that we should just get that kind of information? Jim? I'd like to make one comment. Okay. If I'm being honest. I can give you a figure, Tom. Oh, okay. On April 24th, when we had the meeting for the cart multi-model path discussion group, they call them RMAs. There's 969 quantity in District 2, 471 a unit price, amount $4,563. If you ask, what the hell's the guy's name? Cliff. Cliff- Weiner ... Weiner, who you're good friends with, he's the one who put issue the report. So the reason I'm bringing it up, I have the thing with the figure on here. Okay. So for the product under $5,000, is that what you said? Well, that's what he put out. Well, I- I don't know if it's changed. This is from 24th. I'd prefer to have this official from procurement and property management, et cetera. Are we okay with just directing staff to get us that number? I think that's a good safety... There's a lot of focus on Morris- It's a safety issue, yeah ... but we should make everything safe. Okay.So we'll add this to old business and then provide an updated cost estimate. Others? Jim, supervisor comments? I- The boss ... I got a couple things. Number one, I went to this recent QA meeting last month, I guess, and I didn't see any council or management there at all, but it was referenced that we got a lot of tortoise enthusiasts in the villages, District 2 anyway, that elaborated on how much knowledge they had and research that they'd done. It really didn't move anybody. The other thing is, the QA meeting is not a QA meeting. It is really a meeting to impart some ideas on some people or attendees that come here. The ACA representative was there, but they didn't have any Q&A answers. They imposed their beliefs on the other people there. That's not a Q&A meeting. I've been to several Q&A meetings that were informative. They were not to express ideas to the people that attended those meetings. I think everybody should have their own ideas, and they should express their opinion. And I believe that meeting is not a QA meeting, and that's one thing. The other thing is, I don't think anybody should hold two positions in any district office, whether it's the AAC and the district or the ARC or whatever it is, should hold a position other than the position that they have because you're going to have outside influence on the other people or the supervisors or whatever is here. I think that's what we need to put a motion on in District 2, we only hold one position, and that's it. Isn't that already the case? I mean, you can't be on the AAC and a district supervisor. That's the case. Yeah. Other comments, Jim? No comment. Ron? No. I would just want to congratulate the staff on the fine job of the annual report. Amen. There's a lot of really good information and helpful to us as supervisors. As people ask us questions, we can appear to be smart. All we have to do is go look at the document and give somebody an answer, but very nicely done. Thank you. Anything else for the good of the order? Mr. Chairman. Thank you. I just-