LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Back in 2002, they were calling it “the hole in the doughnut.”
It was the former Taylor Ranch, a 326-acre tract of land surrounded by Schroeder-Manatee Ranch property.
Developer Pat Neal bought the property, now known as Country Club West, for $9 million in 2002 with plans to develop 446 single-family homes.
Manatee County approved the property as Lakewood Ranch’s sixth community development district, allowing Neal to sell $15 million in bonds to finance utility, road and recreation infrastructure.
District 6 is growing up.
On Tuesday, Richard N. Williams, a Lakewood Ranch resident and attorney who has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, took the District 6 seat on the Inter-District Authority.
That seat had been held by Dale Weidemiller, a member of the Neal Communities staff. The change signals that District 6 is on course to become resident- rather than developer-controlled.
District 6 has three developer-appointed supervisors and two resident supervisors. The other resident supervisor is Robert Burstein.
Tom Green, chairman of the Inter-District Authority, which is responsible for Town Hall operations, asked Williams for an update on District 6.
Elections are set for November, when three additional residents will be elected to the District 6 board, Williams said.
At that time, District 6 will shift to resident control.
Districts that have already made the shift to resident control include District 1: Summerfield and Riverwalk, District 2: Country Club and Edgewater, District 4: Greenbrook, and District 5: Country Club.
The remainder of Lakewood Ranch still to be developed is included in the super-sized stewardship district.
Neal has sold 366 homes in Country Club West with another 80 planned, Weidemiller said.
In other business at Tuesday’s Inter-District Authority meeting:
n Ryan Heise, operations manager for Lakewood Ranch, presented an update on a study of water pressure by consultant Azad R. Shah.
Water pressure problems have kept Lakewood Ranch from adopting a twice-a-week lawn irrigation schedule enjoyed by the rest of Manatee County.
Shah’s study is incomplete, but has identified that some of the irrigation lines in the ground are not as large as those shown on plans, Heise said.
But the study has thus far not found any problem in the delivery of water to residents, he said.
Still to be completed is the field testing of the water pumps to gauge whether they are operating with the correct pressure.
In some cases, irrigation lines needed to be cleaned out, and once they were cleaned, worked properly, Heise said.
“It might be a combination of all these things,” Heise said.
Despite the once-a-week water schedule, Braden River Utilities states that Lakewood Ranch is exceeding its water allotment, Heise said.
Dave Emison, one of the Inter-District Authority supervisors, asked how it is possible that Lakewood Ranch is exceeding its allotment.
Heise said he has asked Shah to further study that problem.
n Down to Earth Lawn Care, based in Mount Dora, took over Lakewood Ranch’s lawn care maintenance contract Jan. 3 for District 1 (Summerfield-Riverwalk), District 4 (Greenbrook), and District 5 (Country Club).
The company replaces Garden Leaders.
Down to Earth moved a “small army” of workers to Lakewood Ranch to focus on detail work and to spruce up the look of the community, Heise said.
n Lakewood Ranch community development districts and the Inter-District Authority have their regular monthly meetings starting at 8 a.m. Thursday at Town Hall.
James A. Jones Jr. East Manatee editor, can be contacted at 941-745-7021. Tweet @jajones1
