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VILLAGE NO 14 CDD (LAKE COUNTY) · LOCALDecisions and attributed speech publishedPartial coverage

Village Community Development District No. 14 (2026-05-07)

Thursday, May 7, 2026 · Government meeting record

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Village Community Development District No. 14 (2026-05-07)

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Closed captionsWhat was said at the meeting, transcribed Nov 7, 2026. Speech is not a decision.
  • Some speaker identities remain unresolved.

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. Now I'll observe a moment of silence. Thank you. It's at this time of the agenda, we accept audience comments. So if there's any audience who would like to make any comments, please come to the podium, state your name and your address, and we'd love to hear from you. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Thomas Hendershot. I live at 879 Morley Avenue, and I have a question. I know it was addressed in the last meeting for minutes that Ms. Carrie Duckett was going to provide an update on the construction that's going on at 470 and Magason. I bought my home in October and had no knowledge of this. I live approximately 200 feet from this construction, and my concern is they took all the trees down. Where 470 goes south, it loops eastbound, so we get the headlights into our back of our houses and lanai's master bedroom, living room area for about five seconds before they continue southbound. Not to mention the noise because all of those live oaks that they took down. I understand it's private property. I don't know if there was an environmental impact survey done on this or not. My concern, it's extra noisy now. We got all of this traffic and the lights. I was wondering, I'd probably too much to ask to extend the wall down, but maybe if they could plant bamboo or something along the fence line just to block out the lights from the traffic at night, especially with the trucks because they sit higher. So that was my question. I mean, right now it's continuous construction. They've been moving dirt for at least a month now. I don't know. I've heard that there's a couple of warehouses going up, and another concern is that are they going to ring these warehouses with security lights, the high wattage, so we're going to see that all night long. It's going to come right over that. Because there's nothing to block it out now, so it's another concern. So, Mr. Chair, I did go back, and at the last meeting, I indicated we would determine if the district had any involvement or information on any of the projects or construction that was going on. Unfortunately, we don't. That is not something that the district has been provided with any information. So unfortunately, we did provide all of the concerns that were brought in the last meeting to the developer, but we don't have purview. I'm not aware of anything that's happening down there other than what we read in the paper, just like everybody else. I believe also the property he's talking about is not even Village's property. You live in Daphne? Right. I understand that. Yeah. That property's not Village's owned either. Okay. I don't know. One of the local residents actually talked to the builder, and they provided him plans for two warehouses, which I saw on Facebook. I don't know if that's going to happen or not, but I was hoping that... You can't get them to give you what they're going to build there or not? I don't understand that. So they would've had to get permits for everything, but that would be through the county. Right. So you could certainly reach out to Lake County, and it's all public record, so they would have to provide you with any information they had. But that's not something that the district has any... They don't submit plans to us. They don't- Right. So I don't know how... This is strange how the government here operates. I've never seen anything like this, so I don't understand. It's not The Villages. It's not the district. Who do I have to see to find out information- The county ... the county. Well, so this- Then if I find out that, what would you do with it? Nothing or what? No. Unfortunately, the purview that this board has is over the infrastructure within District 14. So they have responsibility for all of the stormwater infrastructure, the entry walls, the fences- Right ... the landscaping. That is the purview that this board has. Eventually, they will have purview over deed compliance and architectural review as well. Lake County has purview, or the city of Leesburg, depending on what area you're looking at, for all of the general government services. So building, permitting, zoning, law enforcement, all of that falls under either the city of Leesburg or it falls under Lake County. So this board, just like where you came from, governments don't duplicate services, so they're not going to provide the same services that you are being provided to from Lake County. The only money from you as a resident of District 14 that goes to this board is your District 14 annual maintenance assessment and your bond assessment. Right. So your bond assessment goes to pay off the bond, and then the maintenance assessment goes to pay the maintenance of the infrastructure. So inside that wooden fence line... Well, by the way, they broke that fence, so I guess they're going to fix that with their excavators because they're digging right up to the fence line. SoWho would be able to plant something there to just mitigate the lights? Would that be the village? Who would do it? Typically, it would be the property owners would have to do it on theirs. This board is not allowed to expend maintenance assessment funds. So we would just have to collect money and plant it ourselves. Is that what you're saying? No, it would have to be on your private property. If this board would like, we can look at the fence and determine if there is a district buffer or something in which we would be able to, if you directed us to. I can tell you historically, that's not something that the districts have taken on. There are a lot of districts that have had situations like this where it's fairly new residents and construction continues. We also have residents that are in, for example, District 9, and then all of a sudden Trailwinds goes up, and they've lived in their home for 15 years. The district cannot expend maintenance assessments from all residents of District 14 to benefit a small amount of residents. So although you may be able to, there may be a District 14 tract that you can plant plants on. Generally speaking, it would be our guidance to not do it because of that, and you also would be setting a precedence, and any resident that came after and wanted you to add additional plantings, you would have to treat them the same. But it is up to this board if you would like staff to continue doing research or how you would like us to proceed. Can I make a suggestion? So I would start with the city of Leesburg. It's on a county road, so Ms. Duckett's probably right that it's Lake County. But in the plans, things like plantings and where the lights are going, all those kind of things have to be part of their plans. Right? So see what they're going to do, and you might be satisfied by what they're going to do eventually. Right? But I would start with the city of Leesburg just because of the proximity of the city of Leesburg. Right? Start with them, and then you have to go to Tavares and go to Lake County. Right? But their plans are supposed to have landscaping and all. Just like when you do an ARC application- Right ... they have to go through a similar process. So you might see that they've already planned for that stuff. Supposedly, they were going to plant some magnolias. It's probably about this tall along the edge there. And they may after the construction. Right. But they're also bound by, like we can't build X number of feet from our property line. They'll have similar restrictions. So if they're excavating all the way to the fence line, that doesn't mean they're building all the way to the fence line. Maybe they're putting in grass or whatever they're doing. I don't know. Right? But I would start with Leesburg just because they're closer. So basically, nothing's going to get done. Well, it's not our property, so even if- I'm talking about inside the fence line, we could put bamboo or something. That's village's property, right? Most of inside the fence line is- But where does the fence line- ... an individual's property, an individual homeowner. I'm looking out on preserve. Mm-hmm. So talking about that area, there's no houses behind me except for maybe a quarter mile away on the other side of the pond. So it might be worth us looking at after they're completely done because we wouldn't want to make- Right ... any kind of expenditure after they've done theirs. We're talking maybe a couple hundred feet of just plantings because there's a big tree line behind the pond. It's just that in between the end of the cul-de-sac and the tree line where the pond is. They took out all of these live oaks. And as Ms. Duckett indicated, you could always do something on your property. Yeah. Unfortunately, my property goes back two feet, and then there's the preserve. Preserve. So I can't do really anything for four feet. It's not very much. Anyhow, thank you. Thank you. Any other audience comments? Seeing none, we'll move on in the agenda. Law enforcement update. Good morning. All right, so my name is Lieutenant Shannon Walsh of Leesburg Police Department. I have the quarterly stats from January 1st to April 30th of this year. So for calls for service for District D14, as I lovingly refer to it as, is 381 calls for service. Out of that, we've had three crashes. We've had 32 traffic stops. We've had one burglary, however, it was deemed a criminal mischief. It was a broken window at the 6000 block of Cherry Creek. We've had 124 secure checks, and seven suspicious incident reports have been made. We also received an influx of driving concerns, specifically on Magasin, so we did a traffic study. The traffic study on eastbound was 14,134 vehicles, in which the average speed was 29 miles an hour. And as we understand, it's 30 mile an hour road. 0.66 travelers were going over 40. On westbound, we measured 16,511 vehicles, of which the average speed was 30. Between people going over 40 miles an hour was 2.43%. We'll be doing another one in the next couple of weeks just to make sure our facts and figures are the same. Questions? Yeah, I have a question. So when you're coming south on Magasin, you're alerted really far away that you're going 40, let's say. I've heard from other people. And so by the time you get to the unit, you're going 28, 29 miles an hour, right? So where are you measuring that infraction from, so to speak? So we actually have two suitcases. You don't actually see them. They're attached to different pieces of property in the villages. Sorry. Mm-hmm. We hook them up, if you will. It's a suitcase. Mm-hmm. And when you drive past them, it's not like a flashing sign or anything. Mm-hmm. Nobody knows they're there. Okay. Does it measure the golf carts that are traveling on Magasin as well? Because they go below. It measures anything that is in its line of sight. Yeah. So if they are a smaller vehicle, it could be missed. Yeah, so- And that's something else that we can consider and have it lowered for the golf carts. Okay. Speaking about that, if a golf cart is in front of you and you're going faster- Mm-hmm ... it measures the golf cart speed because that's blocking the view of the car? Yes. It is just a laser. Yeah. So it's going to hit the first one- Yeah, so- ... and register it vehicle one, and the next vehicle two. Right. Thank you. Thank you so much. New business, approval of the March 12th minutes. Any questions or comments? Yeah, I have a correction. Mm-hmm. Rick Losey's name is misspelled in the minutes. His last name is L-O-S-E-Y. And so I would just like to make that correction. Noted. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? No. Seek a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Thank you. 26-27 budget review. Yes, sir. This item will be presented by Ms. Brandi Cook, our budget director. Good morning. Brandi Cook, budget. I'm here today to present the fiscal year 26-27 budget for your review as prepared by staff. First, I'd like to review the revenue comparison of 26-27 recommendation from staff, as opposed to 25-26 amended budget. You'll see that we did include a 5% increase to the maintenance assessment rates as discussed last fiscal year, which will be a $99,792 increase to your assessment revenue. There's also a decrease of approximately 31% or $13,000 for your investment income based on what we're seeing in the market, as well as your fund balance. The contribution from developer is slightly up to $15,144, which is for your deed compliance services line item in your budget, for a total operating revenue increase of $88,550 or 4%. We also are continuing to add to your working capital balance this year. It'll be $99,890 for a total revenue to offset your appropriations of $2,039,686 or 10% increase from prior fiscal year. Next is to look at the appropriations for 26-27. Your EMAC fees are approximately 50% of your overall budget. Your repair and maintenance services are approximately 34% of your overall budget, and your professional services are approximately 13% of your overall budget, with utility services and personnel and other miscellaneous operations making up the remainder. To look at what those 26-27 recommended budget items are compared to your 25-26 amended budget, you'll see that we have a slight increase for personnel and other miscellaneous operating of $173. There's an increase to your professional services of $29,479. Your utility services does have a decrease of $8,404, which is mostly due to the electricity usage that we've seen in your district, and it does include a slight increase of 3% for projected increases in that area. Your repair and maintenance is an increase of $68,563, and then your Eastport project-wide fees or your EMAC fees are an increase of $127,221 for total appropriations this fiscal year of $2,039,686 or 10% increase, which equals $186,063 for your budget. Looking at what some of those other budget variances are compared to the 25-26, we did have an increase in the management fees based on the cost allocation which is 8% of your overall budget operations. So that's $23,571 this year. Your building structure maintenance is an increase of $18,000 due to one-time villa lighting projects that are included in 26-27. So we did list which villas will be receiving those lighting projects this fiscal year. We also have landscape maintenance non-recurring. So these are your plant replacements and tree trimming. So we did have an increased count of plant replacements projects for 26-27 for a total of $26,500. And then your Eastport project-wide fees or your EMAC fees are the increase of $127,221, which is based on the cost allocation, and there were also additional areas turned over for maintenance into the Eastport project-wide fund for district to maintain. Looking at the Eastport project-wide allocation for your district, the total allocation this fiscal year is $1,009,501. It's an annual increase of $127,221 or 14.4%, and the District 14 assessable acreage is 639.75 acres, which is 25.34% of the overall project-wide fund allocation.As new districts continue to come online or new phases of districts, then your percentage may go down, but we'll see an offset of additional operating expenditures to maintain their infrastructure. So we won't see a relative decrease to your allocation, only to the percentage that you're responsible for. Looking at the five-year budget estimate for your revenue, you'll see that we do have the 5% increases in the maintenance assessments, as was discussed last fiscal year. We also have your investment income set at a fairly flat level each of those five fiscal years, and your contributions from developer, again, are to pay for those deed compliance services. In fiscal year 30-31, it's anticipated that you would start the process to move to having the deed compliance under you. So that fiscal year, depending on when that takes effect, would be modified and those funds would no longer be received to cover those costs. Total operating revenue in 26-27 is $2,139,576. Once we reach out to fiscal year 30-31, following that series of 5% increases, your total operating revenue would be $2,591,197. In the current fiscal year, we are adding to working capital of $99,890. But as you can see, from fiscal years 27-28 to 30-31, we would be utilizing working capital if we maintain at that 5% increase each of those fiscal years. In looking at what the actual appropriations are for each of those five budgeted fiscal years, 26-27, as we've already reviewed, has all of the items reaching the 2,039,686. You will see on that last line for your EMAC fees that in 27-28, there is an increase of $500,000, and that is due to the contribution of working capital from the Eastport project-wide fees to offset what you're contributing. There is currently no anticipated additional contributions from that fund unless we see any additional appropriations that weren't expended in the fiscal year, then we would continue to see if there's any ability to provide those back to your district, as you're the ones who will maintain any reserves for those. But at this point, we don't have those in there, so you are receiving a $500,000 contribution again this year from that fund balance, and that is not programmed in for the out years. So again, looking at the 5% for each fiscal year, you'll see that in the current fiscal year, we have projected that you'll end the year at approximately $900,000. In 26-27, again, that would go up to just under a million dollars. However, by using working capital for the next four fiscal years, if we maintained at 5% and had no other adjustments to the appropriations that are in that five-year projection, your fund balance would be just under $70,000. And you'll see from this small chart at the bottom of the left, that three to four months of working capital is what the district needs in order to sustain those fund balance in lieu of when you receive your tax collector fees. So as you know, all of the maintenance assessments are through the non ad valorem process. Those payments are made from the residents in November and December, typically, and we would receive those typically between three and four months following the start of a fiscal year. So that fund balance is meant to sustain the district while we're waiting for that new revenue to come in. At this point, staff is comfortable with leaving the 26-27 maintenance assessment at the 5% increase. However, if those out years do maintain at that level, then we would probably come back with something a little bit higher than 5%, as by the time you reach 28-29, you are below that three-month minimum. Looking at that from a chart perspective, you'll see that in the current fiscal year, we do have your expenditures, which is the light blue line, which is below your revenue. So you are meeting your operating expenditures, and you're able to add to your fund balance. However, as we go out for those next few fiscal years, we do draw down to that $70,000 of your fund balance based on the 5% for each fiscal year. For information, each 1% that's assessed to the residents would bring in approximately $20,000 of additional revenue to the district. There would be about $400 of additional tax collector fees, and there's a $5,000 flat fee expense, regardless of which percent you determine would be appropriate, and that is to pay for the legal advertisement, legal services, and then, of course, the letters that are mailed out to each of the residents. So at this time, I would invite the board to have a conversation and provide maintenance assessment direction for what you would like to see in your June proposed budget. And I'd like to remind the board that whatever rate you set in your June proposed budget is the maximum rate that you can set for your final budget. You can come down from the rate that you set in June, but you cannot go any higher. And Mr. Chair, we did provide you with some information last year when we were looking at the maintenance assessment increases. As District 14 is continuing to evolve and grow and mature, it is necessary, and it's pretty common for the districts to have to have these maintenance assessment increases. And I asked Mrs. Cook to put together a slide, and I'm going to ask the clerk to put it up on the screen. That'll show you that even with the 5% increase, District 14 is right in line with the other districts in this area. So if you look up at the screen, for the average lot sizes, districts 12 through 15, we've provided the information for, and District 14 is not... I mean, if you look at the first column, District 14 is less than two of the districts, and on the right-hand side, although District 13 is higher, or even with one of them, it is not significantly higherSo I know that sometimes your residents are saying, "Why do you keep increasing our fees? District 14, it's more expensive." It's really not when you look at it in comparison. It's just now you're starting to build those, just like every other district has previously done. Is 13 lower because it's larger, there are more homes, or is that not really the reason? You see it's like 708 versus 773, right? Is that because there's more homes in District 13? So sometimes we do see lower rates in districts that are larger in size. They have more villas sometimes, so they'll have additional maintenance assessments that can help offset. There's various reasons why. Sometimes they have their assessments set higher in the beginning so that they can maintain that higher fund balance a little bit longer out. District 13 has gone through a few increases, so they're not necessarily in line either. Why are we planning for our investment to be flat? If anything, we would expect that it's actually going to deteriorate as your fund balance goes down. So we're not recommending that you plan that. We're showing you that if you don't change what plan we have previously provided to you, that's what will happen. So certainly that's not what we want to happen. That's not what we would recommend, and as Ms. Cook said, you can stick with the 5% this year, but based on projections, you're not going to be able to continue to do 5% increases. So you have a couple different options, and we can present those to you in June. You can direct us to do 5% this year and then up it to 8% to see what that looks like in the out years. You can direct us to do 8% in June, knowing that you can still come down to five if that's what you choose to do, and then see what it looks like with all 8% increases. If you give us a couple different scenarios, or you can ask Ms. Cook to put her recommendation, and we can come up with a couple different scenarios for you. We're just showing you that if we don't change the plan, this is what it will look like. I like the idea of getting us a couple of different ones. I'm kind of disappointed, honestly, that the 5% doesn't hold up, because it was pretty exciting last year when we said, "Okay, we're going to do this increase, but then we're going to be 5% going out," and then that's not panning out. Yeah. So that's kind of disappointing. So I would like to see a couple of different proposals, but both of them with this year being only 5%. Understood. I would agree with that. Okay. Any other questions or comments for Brandy? Okay. With that, we will make sure to bring back your maintenance assessments then at your June meeting with a 5% increase at this point. And then those would be what we bring back for your public hearing. Again, you are only setting the current year. We will make sure to have some options, though, for you to start reviewing the out years with some increased assessment rates. Okay. So the last thing in the presentation is actually the bond fund. And you'll see, based on the amortization schedule from the deposits, which are paid for by each of the residents, and the expenditures for the principal and interest expenses, that those are very well-funded. So with that, we will come back at your June 11th regular meeting, where we'll bring back the 5% maintenance assessment increase for your proposed budget for fiscal year '26-'27. And if there's any other questions, I'm here. Otherwise, that's everything. Okay. Thank you, Brandy. Thank you. Old business. Yes, sir. The first item on old business was for staff to meet with a resident who had expressed some concerns about weeds near their residence. District property management did meet with the resident and was making corrections after they met out in the location. The last two items on non-District 14 items, the first one was to request a clear definition of exterior lighting in the ARC manual. We did reach out to the developer. And in fact, all of the residential districts have also directed staff to make some changes to their ARC manual as it pertains to lighting. And you should be able to see the new manual on your District 14 page now that has more definitions or information on that exterior lighting. Thank you very much. You're welcome. And then number two, we've already discussed, which was the concerns about 470 and Megason. And unfortunately, we don't have a report, but that item is complete as well. Thank you. The information only items. These are just for the board's information, and I'm happy to answer any questions if you have them. District manager reports. Yes, sir. Just one report, and I would like to introduce Mr... Thomas Major. I'm sorry. He's worked for us for a long time and reports directly to me. I don't know what just happened. Mr. Thomas Major, who is our Director of Customer Service and Utility Billing. He has some exciting information about a new communication outreach that him and his communications team have been working on. Mr. Major. Good morning. Thomas Major, customer service, and thank you for the opportunity to present today. What I'm here to share is a significant step forward in how we communicate with our residents, the launch of our SailThru e-notification platform. I'd like to start with a quick overview of what this platform does. At its core, SailThru allows us to centralize communication across all district departments into one system. This creates consistency, improves coordination, and ensures residents receive clear and timely information.One of the key benefits is targeted outreach. We can send messages to specific groups by district, service area, or impacted residents rather than sending broad, one-size-fits-all communication. It also supports both scheduled and real-time notifications, such as boil water notices, while giving us engagement data so we can continuously improve how we communicate. To make sure this was implemented effectively, we followed a structured rollout approach. We approached implementation in phases, starting with defining requirements and building workflows, then moving into data preparation, testing, and staff training. From there, we will conduct a limited rollout to monitor performance, address any early issues, and refine the system before full implementation. This phased approach ensures stability and long-term success. With the system in place, our focus shifts to what we can achieve with it. Our objectives are straightforward. First, improve clarity and consistency so residents can easily understand and act on information. Second, shift to more proactive communication, making sure residents are informed ahead of time rather than after the fact. And third, establish a modern, scalable communication framework that supports long-term growth. To support this, we've also introduced a more structured communication cadence. We've created a predictable rhythm for communication. Residents will receive a What's Happening update on Mondays focused on events and community activity. On Thursdays, the District Bulletin will provide more targeted operational updates. In addition, quarterly publications will highlight key departments such as district property management, public safety, community watch, and golf operations. This consistency helps set expectations and builds trust with the residents. Beyond delivery, this platform also gives us valuable insight into performance. Sailthru provides visibility into engagements such as open rates, click-through rates, and audience trends over time. It also ensures consistent communication across all districts and improves coordination during routine updates and emergency situations. From a governance perspective, this allows us to provide standardized reporting to leadership and boards, supporting transparency and informed decision-making. And ultimately, this leads to long-term value for the organization. This platform strengthens trust by delivering clear and consistent communication. It supports scalable growth as the district continues to evolve, and it provides the data needed to guide strategic decisions. In short, this is about building a more efficient, transparent, and trusted communication system for the future. Thank you for your time, and I'm happy to answer any questions. So I don't know if this is your department or not, right? So we recently received bills in District 14, and they discussed water restrictions, and we're not under water restrictions in District 14, which is- We are. Oh. Right. Yeah. So, we're getting notifications that don't apply to us, and is this going to resolve some of that? Because we're in a different water district than just about everybody else. Absolutely. So one of the best things about Sailthru is that, like I said, we can target specific audiences, right? So right now, again, it's with the current e-notification system, it's a one-size-fits-all, excuse me, one broad message to everyone. Mm-hmm. The best part about this is that it's going to go exactly who we want it to go to and who needs to see that information. Okay. Look, I'm all for conservation. I tell people, "We're not under water restrictions, but you should conserve." Mm-hmm. But we're being told different things by different parts of the district, and that's concerning to the residents, and then they get their bill, and we're told again that we're under water restrictions. So just wanted to point that out. Is that your utility and amenity bill? Yeah. So that is a struggle because unfortunately, the utility bills, the message that we put on there, and Thomas, correct me if I'm wrong, it's based on the utility. So utilities aren't per district, so it did apply to many people in that utility, but thank you for bringing that to our attention because- Yeah ... we probably should. We actually have explored trying to target specific districts with the utility bill and the message that we have on there. Mm-hmm. It's been extremely hard. But I believe, in the very near future, we're actually going to be able to do that. We'll have the ability to pinpoint specific districts with our bill message. And I did alert the utility department. I hadn't gotten a response back. But now, this system could, if that were to happen and I were to alert you, you could send out this thing saying, "Hey, we sent you this, and you're not under..." You could correct things like that through this messaging system? Yeah, ultimately, we could. Like I said, we do have the capability of targeting specific audiences with Sailthru, so that's something that we're going to definitely explore in the future. Okay. And we have to opt into this, right? Unless we're already opted into the existing system. Right. So currently, right now, every single resident who is subscribed to our current e-notification system will automatically be opted into it. We are definitely advertising it in our weekly bulletin- In the paper ... our What's Happening on the website, and I believe we've already had two articles inside "The Village of-" "The Daily Sun" had a big article. "Daily Sun" article. Yeah. And we're going to continue to campaign to get as many residents signed up for this as possible. And one of the really cool things about Sailthru is not only are we going to be able to target specific audiences, residents will actually be able to pick exactly what they want in their e-notification as well. Good. So this replaces the regular weekly bulletin and all the notifications? Or- So it's not going to replace the weekly bulletin. Although we will have a new updated look on the weekly bulletin we're working on currently. Uh-huh. What we'll do is it will replace the current e-notification system that is- Okay, e-notification ... out there right now. Yes. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Councilors? No reports. Supervisors, questions, comments? I have one. We're talking about the phase three water. On our main page under, I forget if it's News or What's Happening, it lists the phase three, and it does list districts 11 and 14 that we are under that phase three on our main page. I just saw it this week. Thomas Major, customer service. I'll look into that once I leave here, and we'll address that with the communications team, and I'll get with Mr. Brown. Yeah, we will confirm, because some of the areas, although, for example, Marion County falls under the Southwest Florida Water Management District, they do fall under the same when it comes to water shortages because they are part of the same development as the rest of them. Mm-hmm. So let us confirm. We'll follow up with an email to the board, and if it is incorrect, then as Mr. Major stated, we'll get it corrected. Okay, thank you. And I do have one other question. There was a question from one of our residents, I think it was two meetings ago, and it was concerning artificial turf as a replacement for sod. Have we decided anything on that? Legislation has come out, but it is pending on advice and guidance from DEA, and they have not released that yet. Once they release that, then it could potentially impact whether or not we are able to enforce the restriction on artificial turf. So we are monitoring that, and as soon as the DEA puts out information, we'll update the boards. All right. Thank you very much. And I have one question. I don't know if CPM is here, but DPM is, so I'll ask this question of you, Chris. Homestead was recently repaved, and the dog park had been closed for about a month while it was resodded, right? And then two weeks later, not even two weeks later, they closed the entire parking lot, and I think it would've behooved the residents if DPA, DPM, and TPM had coordinated that. So while the dog park was closed, they could have paved that parking lot. So ultimately, you didn't really have good access to the dog park for almost a month and a half. Well, over a month, let's say. Right? And so I just wanted to point that out that I don't know what the coordinate... I know there's different contractors and different schedules, but between the lining and the paving, the dog park area is closed about a week to the parking area. So I just wanted to express residents' concern about that. Mr. Rizot can pass that on to commercial property management. Okay, thanks. Any additional questions, comments? Seeing none, I entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second? I second. Meeting adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.

Village Community Development District No. 14 — 2026-05-07. Agenda: District 14 May 7, 2026 Agenda; District 14 May 7, 2026 Agenda Packet. Minutes: District 14 May 7, 2026 Minutes. Video: https://cpmedia.azureedge.net/thevillagesfl/6ac3a521-0c30-4c28-b1fa-6e3fe36b17cd.mp4.

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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. Now I'll observe a moment of silence. Thank you. It's at this time of the agenda, we accept audience comments. So if there's any audience who would like to make any comments, please come to the podium, state your name and your address, and we'd love to hear from you. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Thomas Hendershot. I live at 879 Morley Avenue, and I have a question. I know it was addressed in the last meeting for minutes that Ms. Carrie Duckett was going to provide an update on the construction that's going on at 470 and Magason. I bought my home in October and had no knowledge of this. I live approximately 200 feet from this construction, and my concern is they took all the trees down. Where 470 goes south, it loops eastbound, so we get the headlights into our back of our houses and lanai's master bedroom, living room area for about five seconds before they continue southbound. Not to mention the noise because all of those live oaks that they took down. I understand it's private property. I don't know if there was an environmental impact survey done on this or not. My concern, it's extra noisy now. We got all of this traffic and the lights. I was wondering, I'd probably too much to ask to extend the wall down, but maybe if they could plant bamboo or something along the fence line just to block out the lights from the traffic at night, especially with the trucks because they sit higher. So that was my question. I mean, right now it's continuous construction. They've been moving dirt for at least a month now. I don't know. I've heard that there's a couple of warehouses going up, and another concern is that are they going to ring these warehouses with security lights, the high wattage, so we're going to see that all night long. It's going to come right over that. Because there's nothing to block it out now, so it's another concern. So, Mr. Chair, I did go back, and at the last meeting, I indicated we would determine if the district had any involvement or information on any of the projects or construction that was going on. Unfortunately, we don't. That is not something that the district has been provided with any information. So unfortunately, we did provide all of the concerns that were brought in the last meeting to the developer, but we don't have purview. I'm not aware of anything that's happening down there other than what we read in the paper, just like everybody else. I believe also the property he's talking about is not even Village's property. You live in Daphne? Right. I understand that. Yeah. That property's not Village's owned either. Okay. I don't know. One of the local residents actually talked to the builder, and they provided him plans for two warehouses, which I saw on Facebook. I don't know if that's going to happen or not, but I was hoping that... You can't get them to give you what they're going to build there or not? I don't understand that. So they would've had to get permits for everything, but that would be through the county. Right. So you could certainly reach out to Lake County, and it's all public record, so they would have to provide you with any information they had. But that's not something that the district has any... They don't submit plans to us. They don't- Right. So I don't know how... This is strange how the government here operates. I've never seen anything like this, so I don't understand. It's not The Villages. It's not the district. Who do I have to see to find out information- The county ... the county. Well, so this- Then if I find out that, what would you do with it? Nothing or what? No. Unfortunately, the purview that this board has is over the infrastructure within District 14. So they have responsibility for all of the stormwater infrastructure, the entry walls, the fences- Right ... the landscaping. That is the purview that this board has. Eventually, they will have purview over deed compliance and architectural review as well. Lake County has purview, or the city of Leesburg, depending on what area you're looking at, for all of the general government services. So building, permitting, zoning, law enforcement, all of that falls under either the city of Leesburg or it falls under Lake County. So this board, just like where you came from, governments don't duplicate services, so they're not going to provide the same services that you are being provided to from Lake County. The only money from you as a resident of District 14 that goes to this board is your District 14 annual maintenance assessment and your bond assessment. Right. So your bond assessment goes to pay off the bond, and then the maintenance assessment goes to pay the maintenance of the infrastructure. So inside that wooden fence line... Well, by the way, they broke that fence, so I guess they're going to fix that with their excavators because they're digging right up to the fence line. SoWho would be able to plant something there to just mitigate the lights? Would that be the village? Who would do it? Typically, it would be the property owners would have to do it on theirs. This board is not allowed to expend maintenance assessment funds. So we would just have to collect money and plant it ourselves. Is that what you're saying? No, it would have to be on your private property. If this board would like, we can look at the fence and determine if there is a district buffer or something in which we would be able to, if you directed us to. I can tell you historically, that's not something that the districts have taken on. There are a lot of districts that have had situations like this where it's fairly new residents and construction continues. We also have residents that are in, for example, District 9, and then all of a sudden Trailwinds goes up, and they've lived in their home for 15 years. The district cannot expend maintenance assessments from all residents of District 14 to benefit a small amount of residents. So although you may be able to, there may be a District 14 tract that you can plant plants on. Generally speaking, it would be our guidance to not do it because of that, and you also would be setting a precedence, and any resident that came after and wanted you to add additional plantings, you would have to treat them the same. But it is up to this board if you would like staff to continue doing research or how you would like us to proceed. Can I make a suggestion? So I would start with the city of Leesburg. It's on a county road, so Ms. Duckett's probably right that it's Lake County. But in the plans, things like plantings and where the lights are going, all those kind of things have to be part of their plans. Right? So see what they're going to do, and you might be satisfied by what they're going to do eventually. Right? But I would start with the city of Leesburg just because of the proximity of the city of Leesburg. Right? Start with them, and then you have to go to Tavares and go to Lake County. Right? But their plans are supposed to have landscaping and all. Just like when you do an ARC application- Right ... they have to go through a similar process. So you might see that they've already planned for that stuff. Supposedly, they were going to plant some magnolias. It's probably about this tall along the edge there. And they may after the construction. Right. But they're also bound by, like we can't build X number of feet from our property line. They'll have similar restrictions. So if they're excavating all the way to the fence line, that doesn't mean they're building all the way to the fence line. Maybe they're putting in grass or whatever they're doing. I don't know. Right? But I would start with Leesburg just because they're closer. So basically, nothing's going to get done. Well, it's not our property, so even if- I'm talking about inside the fence line, we could put bamboo or something. That's village's property, right? Most of inside the fence line is- But where does the fence line- ... an individual's property, an individual homeowner. I'm looking out on preserve. Mm-hmm. So talking about that area, there's no houses behind me except for maybe a quarter mile away on the other side of the pond. So it might be worth us looking at after they're completely done because we wouldn't want to make- Right ... any kind of expenditure after they've done theirs. We're talking maybe a couple hundred feet of just plantings because there's a big tree line behind the pond. It's just that in between the end of the cul-de-sac and the tree line where the pond is. They took out all of these live oaks. And as Ms. Duckett indicated, you could always do something on your property. Yeah. Unfortunately, my property goes back two feet, and then there's the preserve. Preserve. So I can't do really anything for four feet. It's not very much. Anyhow, thank you. Thank you. Any other audience comments? Seeing none, we'll move on in the agenda. Law enforcement update. Good morning. All right, so my name is Lieutenant Shannon Walsh of Leesburg Police Department. I have the quarterly stats from January 1st to April 30th of this year. So for calls for service for District D14, as I lovingly refer to it as, is 381 calls for service. Out of that, we've had three crashes. We've had 32 traffic stops. We've had one burglary, however, it was deemed a criminal mischief. It was a broken window at the 6000 block of Cherry Creek. We've had 124 secure checks, and seven suspicious incident reports have been made. We also received an influx of driving concerns, specifically on Magasin, so we did a traffic study. The traffic study on eastbound was 14,134 vehicles, in which the average speed was 29 miles an hour. And as we understand, it's 30 mile an hour road. 0.66 travelers were going over 40. On westbound, we measured 16,511 vehicles, of which the average speed was 30. Between people going over 40 miles an hour was 2.43%. We'll be doing another one in the next couple of weeks just to make sure our facts and figures are the same. Questions? Yeah, I have a question. So when you're coming south on Magasin, you're alerted really far away that you're going 40, let's say. I've heard from other people. And so by the time you get to the unit, you're going 28, 29 miles an hour, right? So where are you measuring that infraction from, so to speak? So we actually have two suitcases. You don't actually see them. They're attached to different pieces of property in the villages. Sorry. Mm-hmm. We hook them up, if you will. It's a suitcase. Mm-hmm. And when you drive past them, it's not like a flashing sign or anything. Mm-hmm. Nobody knows they're there. Okay. Does it measure the golf carts that are traveling on Magasin as well? Because they go below. It measures anything that is in its line of sight. Yeah. So if they are a smaller vehicle, it could be missed. Yeah, so- And that's something else that we can consider and have it lowered for the golf carts. Okay. Speaking about that, if a golf cart is in front of you and you're going faster- Mm-hmm ... it measures the golf cart speed because that's blocking the view of the car? Yes. It is just a laser. Yeah. So it's going to hit the first one- Yeah, so- ... and register it vehicle one, and the next vehicle two. Right. Thank you. Thank you so much. New business, approval of the March 12th minutes. Any questions or comments? Yeah, I have a correction. Mm-hmm. Rick Losey's name is misspelled in the minutes. His last name is L-O-S-E-Y. And so I would just like to make that correction. Noted. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? No. Seek a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Thank you. 26-27 budget review. Yes, sir. This item will be presented by Ms. Brandi Cook, our budget director. Good morning. Brandi Cook, budget. I'm here today to present the fiscal year 26-27 budget for your review as prepared by staff. First, I'd like to review the revenue comparison of 26-27 recommendation from staff, as opposed to 25-26 amended budget. You'll see that we did include a 5% increase to the maintenance assessment rates as discussed last fiscal year, which will be a $99,792 increase to your assessment revenue. There's also a decrease of approximately 31% or $13,000 for your investment income based on what we're seeing in the market, as well as your fund balance. The contribution from developer is slightly up to $15,144, which is for your deed compliance services line item in your budget, for a total operating revenue increase of $88,550 or 4%. We also are continuing to add to your working capital balance this year. It'll be $99,890 for a total revenue to offset your appropriations of $2,039,686 or 10% increase from prior fiscal year. Next is to look at the appropriations for 26-27. Your EMAC fees are approximately 50% of your overall budget. Your repair and maintenance services are approximately 34% of your overall budget, and your professional services are approximately 13% of your overall budget, with utility services and personnel and other miscellaneous operations making up the remainder. To look at what those 26-27 recommended budget items are compared to your 25-26 amended budget, you'll see that we have a slight increase for personnel and other miscellaneous operating of $173. There's an increase to your professional services of $29,479. Your utility services does have a decrease of $8,404, which is mostly due to the electricity usage that we've seen in your district, and it does include a slight increase of 3% for projected increases in that area. Your repair and maintenance is an increase of $68,563, and then your Eastport project-wide fees or your EMAC fees are an increase of $127,221 for total appropriations this fiscal year of $2,039,686 or 10% increase, which equals $186,063 for your budget. Looking at what some of those other budget variances are compared to the 25-26, we did have an increase in the management fees based on the cost allocation which is 8% of your overall budget operations. So that's $23,571 this year. Your building structure maintenance is an increase of $18,000 due to one-time villa lighting projects that are included in 26-27. So we did list which villas will be receiving those lighting projects this fiscal year. We also have landscape maintenance non-recurring. So these are your plant replacements and tree trimming. So we did have an increased count of plant replacements projects for 26-27 for a total of $26,500. And then your Eastport project-wide fees or your EMAC fees are the increase of $127,221, which is based on the cost allocation, and there were also additional areas turned over for maintenance into the Eastport project-wide fund for district to maintain. Looking at the Eastport project-wide allocation for your district, the total allocation this fiscal year is $1,009,501. It's an annual increase of $127,221 or 14.4%, and the District 14 assessable acreage is 639.75 acres, which is 25.34% of the overall project-wide fund allocation.As new districts continue to come online or new phases of districts, then your percentage may go down, but we'll see an offset of additional operating expenditures to maintain their infrastructure. So we won't see a relative decrease to your allocation, only to the percentage that you're responsible for. Looking at the five-year budget estimate for your revenue, you'll see that we do have the 5% increases in the maintenance assessments, as was discussed last fiscal year. We also have your investment income set at a fairly flat level each of those five fiscal years, and your contributions from developer, again, are to pay for those deed compliance services. In fiscal year 30-31, it's anticipated that you would start the process to move to having the deed compliance under you. So that fiscal year, depending on when that takes effect, would be modified and those funds would no longer be received to cover those costs. Total operating revenue in 26-27 is $2,139,576. Once we reach out to fiscal year 30-31, following that series of 5% increases, your total operating revenue would be $2,591,197. In the current fiscal year, we are adding to working capital of $99,890. But as you can see, from fiscal years 27-28 to 30-31, we would be utilizing working capital if we maintain at that 5% increase each of those fiscal years. In looking at what the actual appropriations are for each of those five budgeted fiscal years, 26-27, as we've already reviewed, has all of the items reaching the 2,039,686. You will see on that last line for your EMAC fees that in 27-28, there is an increase of $500,000, and that is due to the contribution of working capital from the Eastport project-wide fees to offset what you're contributing. There is currently no anticipated additional contributions from that fund unless we see any additional appropriations that weren't expended in the fiscal year, then we would continue to see if there's any ability to provide those back to your district, as you're the ones who will maintain any reserves for those. But at this point, we don't have those in there, so you are receiving a $500,000 contribution again this year from that fund balance, and that is not programmed in for the out years. So again, looking at the 5% for each fiscal year, you'll see that in the current fiscal year, we have projected that you'll end the year at approximately $900,000. In 26-27, again, that would go up to just under a million dollars. However, by using working capital for the next four fiscal years, if we maintained at 5% and had no other adjustments to the appropriations that are in that five-year projection, your fund balance would be just under $70,000. And you'll see from this small chart at the bottom of the left, that three to four months of working capital is what the district needs in order to sustain those fund balance in lieu of when you receive your tax collector fees. So as you know, all of the maintenance assessments are through the non ad valorem process. Those payments are made from the residents in November and December, typically, and we would receive those typically between three and four months following the start of a fiscal year. So that fund balance is meant to sustain the district while we're waiting for that new revenue to come in. At this point, staff is comfortable with leaving the 26-27 maintenance assessment at the 5% increase. However, if those out years do maintain at that level, then we would probably come back with something a little bit higher than 5%, as by the time you reach 28-29, you are below that three-month minimum. Looking at that from a chart perspective, you'll see that in the current fiscal year, we do have your expenditures, which is the light blue line, which is below your revenue. So you are meeting your operating expenditures, and you're able to add to your fund balance. However, as we go out for those next few fiscal years, we do draw down to that $70,000 of your fund balance based on the 5% for each fiscal year. For information, each 1% that's assessed to the residents would bring in approximately $20,000 of additional revenue to the district. There would be about $400 of additional tax collector fees, and there's a $5,000 flat fee expense, regardless of which percent you determine would be appropriate, and that is to pay for the legal advertisement, legal services, and then, of course, the letters that are mailed out to each of the residents. So at this time, I would invite the board to have a conversation and provide maintenance assessment direction for what you would like to see in your June proposed budget. And I'd like to remind the board that whatever rate you set in your June proposed budget is the maximum rate that you can set for your final budget. You can come down from the rate that you set in June, but you cannot go any higher. And Mr. Chair, we did provide you with some information last year when we were looking at the maintenance assessment increases. As District 14 is continuing to evolve and grow and mature, it is necessary, and it's pretty common for the districts to have to have these maintenance assessment increases. And I asked Mrs. Cook to put together a slide, and I'm going to ask the clerk to put it up on the screen. That'll show you that even with the 5% increase, District 14 is right in line with the other districts in this area. So if you look up at the screen, for the average lot sizes, districts 12 through 15, we've provided the information for, and District 14 is not... I mean, if you look at the first column, District 14 is less than two of the districts, and on the right-hand side, although District 13 is higher, or even with one of them, it is not significantly higherSo I know that sometimes your residents are saying, "Why do you keep increasing our fees? District 14, it's more expensive." It's really not when you look at it in comparison. It's just now you're starting to build those, just like every other district has previously done. Is 13 lower because it's larger, there are more homes, or is that not really the reason? You see it's like 708 versus 773, right? Is that because there's more homes in District 13? So sometimes we do see lower rates in districts that are larger in size. They have more villas sometimes, so they'll have additional maintenance assessments that can help offset. There's various reasons why. Sometimes they have their assessments set higher in the beginning so that they can maintain that higher fund balance a little bit longer out. District 13 has gone through a few increases, so they're not necessarily in line either. Why are we planning for our investment to be flat? If anything, we would expect that it's actually going to deteriorate as your fund balance goes down. So we're not recommending that you plan that. We're showing you that if you don't change what plan we have previously provided to you, that's what will happen. So certainly that's not what we want to happen. That's not what we would recommend, and as Ms. Cook said, you can stick with the 5% this year, but based on projections, you're not going to be able to continue to do 5% increases. So you have a couple different options, and we can present those to you in June. You can direct us to do 5% this year and then up it to 8% to see what that looks like in the out years. You can direct us to do 8% in June, knowing that you can still come down to five if that's what you choose to do, and then see what it looks like with all 8% increases. If you give us a couple different scenarios, or you can ask Ms. Cook to put her recommendation, and we can come up with a couple different scenarios for you. We're just showing you that if we don't change the plan, this is what it will look like. I like the idea of getting us a couple of different ones. I'm kind of disappointed, honestly, that the 5% doesn't hold up, because it was pretty exciting last year when we said, "Okay, we're going to do this increase, but then we're going to be 5% going out," and then that's not panning out. Yeah. So that's kind of disappointing. So I would like to see a couple of different proposals, but both of them with this year being only 5%. Understood. I would agree with that. Okay. Any other questions or comments for Brandy? Okay. With that, we will make sure to bring back your maintenance assessments then at your June meeting with a 5% increase at this point. And then those would be what we bring back for your public hearing. Again, you are only setting the current year. We will make sure to have some options, though, for you to start reviewing the out years with some increased assessment rates. Okay. So the last thing in the presentation is actually the bond fund. And you'll see, based on the amortization schedule from the deposits, whi

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