Bridge at Lake Sumter Landing
 

As I said, this is an unusual situation. In a normal arrangement the island would transfer to the government agency through a process known as eminent domain before it would spend a penny to put in a road.

I think Ms. Tutt will also be speaking February 17 at 7 PM at Lake Miona Rec Center.

It doesn't make sense that a public bridge on Morse Blvd, which has been built and is owned by Sumter County, would be built on private property. :confused:

I admit this is something I should know, but don't. Have the areas south of 466 been turned over to the residents at this point, like they have been turned over above 466? I was under the impression they had not, but like I said, I don't know. I was also under the impression that when a private road was turned over to the state, county, etc., the governing agency accepts responsibility for all associated areas. For instance, you would not be able to have a bridge over the water without the water/land, so it is kind of a package deal. Anyhow, I think that the primary responsibility should rest with the builder/contractor/developer/state, etc. before it is up to the residents. We have been here 4 years, but I would be very angry if we had just lived here for several months. I am a fan of the Morse family, but for something like this, I cannot believe they would not offer to be responsible.

I suspect that there is an easement for the street (as there often is for streets). It isn't all that uncommon for governments to obtain easements rather than outright buy land. Much cheaper and, if they later move the bridge or road, easier to stop using the land. And the county isn't responsible for maintaining the grass, plants, etc on that piece of land.

Think about it - do you really want the county to do the landscaping?

I see no reason to think that. Sometimes big businesses are run by ethical people and I suspect that is true here. Twenty years ago they weren't rich, just hard working.

I urge everyone to go to this meeting. I won't . I am satisfied it will work out to everyone's best interest. A million and a half for such a big project is not much at all. No one can blame anyone for the land settling.

Under Florida law the CCD is a government of sorts and it may well be the CCD that owns the land, thus not truly privately held, unless of course you think that our CCD structure is somehow privately held. Think of the road for your home. Who owns that road? Is it Sumter County, or the state of Florida, or the US Federal government. No, it is I believe owned by the CCD. Your bonds built it and your fees maintain it. So this is not an issue of a government highway on private land but rather a public highway built on land owned by a different government. (perhaps using the term government too loosely).

Now that is the real issue. There are experts and engineers and geologists who are exactly responsible for that feature. Why there even is a high school module to introduce students to the field
https://www.teachengineering.org/vie...d_lesson03.xml

If in just 10 years the soundness of the ground foundation of the bridge is failing it suggests to me that the experts used for the assessment failed in their work. They would seem to be the ones who should be held responsible unless of course they did warn of issues and the builders proceeded without heeding the expert concerns.

cutting corners could be the culprit....

I could say..."you get what you pay for" but we all know that "quality" is not job one with the villages construction......they prefer "speed", and you pay the big bucks anyway....

You work for another developer???????????????????????????

There is no evidence to support what you just said. They build them fast but they do it very skillfully.

We watched this home being built and team after team of skilled workers built it.

Does anyone know how many homes are south of 466? 1,500,000.00 sounds like a lot of money but just suppose there are 20,000 homes (there are about 50,000 in the entire Villages). If You divide 1,500,000. By 20,0000 that is only $75 per home.

in 100 years, I do not expect many of our homes to be in the same condition as some of the quality built homes of the past...

we will never know, but with all the issues I have had in the past 3 years with the siding buckling, the foundation cracking on the decking and the driveway, the quality of the woodworking and finishing jobs in the kitchen, the flooring and the roof eases....I can pretty safely say, my particular home will probably not be inhabitable in 100 years....

I forgot the big bummer....my formica on my kitchen counters have nail head marks starting to come thru.....the formica seems to be growing pimples in more than one place.

BUT, as everyone has always pointed out to me......your not buying a quality home, your buying a lifestyle........

I could easily see this as something litigate-able as three parties are involved.

The county owns the bridge, the district owns the land under the bridge. Somewhere in public records are the details of the bridge building agreement between the two parties. I care not to look up that information, but certainly it is spelled out in writing as to who is responsible for what, maintenance, repairs, etc. As it is a land erosion problem, it therefor it is a district responsibilty , or so it seems.
Maybe our on line news source could have done a better job in reporting. Stating that the district " could " be asked to pay for repairs once the engineering studies are complete and repair options are weighed might leave some to believe the district might not have to pay. I would have liked to see them investigate the facts of the agreement, and report them. This issue was decided before the bridge was built.

Slight tongue in cheek here, but......


Our nice little islands were doing fine in the lake, with no problems. They weren't causing trouble----UNTIL someone came and put a bridge on them. It wasn' the poor little islands fault. They would still be fine if someone hadn't put some poorly placed bridge on them!!!! The bridge is the trouble maker here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!