You know that I am a great fan of yours Challenger, but I can't figure out what you are getting at. Do you think that someone from the district issued the orders for the tree removal?

I don't think so. They have carried new trees everywhere in the new areas to be planted. It would not benefit the district for a few homes already inhabited to have a clear view of the lake. I think the fault lies where the wood lay stacked.

Rightly or wrongly, I'm going to assume that the District is on the hook for this due to the fact that the damage is in their District. According to the information that was passed along in the meeting I attended, SOMEONE has to pay for the damage, and right now that someone is The Villages in one form or another. I am only assuming that if, and when, the perpetrator is found they will be prosecuted, and it will then be up to court to decide how painful the settlement will be.

This is much bigger than it seems on the surface ........... we will now have the State Environmental Dept. crawling all over TV, we will have SWFWMD as regular visitors and certainly more Florida Agencies breathing down the Developer's neck. I, personally, believe that the Developer has done everything by the book in building TV and this criminal act will make him a target.

Gracie,

I am a great supporter of the Districts, the Developers , and am not shy about expressing my support for their actions and integrity.

That being said, we need some clear explanation why a District would be required to pay a fine for the criminal actions of others.

This may be all on the up and up, If so the speculation would be cleared up buy some "facts" There may be a good explamation.

It is back in "the woods" between the houses and a desolate area of Lake Miona and if someone used handsaws , it could have been undetected, but not by the immediate neighbors. Those homes adjacent would be where somebody would notice something.... Someone knows.

Read the article and go to Sumterpa.com and type in Lake Miona (not drive), just Lake Miona, and see where this is. You will see the trees and see how out of sight this area would be to many.

I have never known you to be wrong, sir. I admire you very much.

I don't know the law or the details, but I'm guessing that these trees were located on land either belonging to the district or under the care of the district. If so, then the district is charged with protecting the land from this type of encroachment and destruction, and thus they are held responsible.

I think you are correct. This area is designated as wetlands and I'm under the impression that wetlands cannot be "owned" by anyone, but are managed by State, Federal and Local Agencies. There is actually a Home Owners Guide to Wetlands which gives 50+ pages of information on what you can and cannot do. In this case the land that was cut was not "owned" by the homeowner, there is a large buffer zone between wetlands and the homeowners property. So on top of everything else, they were trespassing and destroying on State/Federal land.

Someone has opened Pandora's box ......................

I smell a rat !!!! Maybe more than just one. My thought are that perhaps several neighbors joined together and hired someone to cut the trees. The act took considerable time and no one saw or heard anything ?? C'mon. Those who know something are not talking.

Good point, it would not be the first time someone from the district made a mistake and tried to hide the damages. It concerns me that the district was awfully quick to assume they would pay to clean up the mess.

If they used "hand saws" they would still be there. District manager Wartinbee states in the article "They were out there for hours with a chain saw." No doubt he inspected the cut down trees.

I have no doubt the developer had nothing at all to do with cutting down the trees. Most likely stuck with cost of rehab of area since it lies within district.

Rather convenient for some residences to be "traveling" while trees were cut. I would also want to be out of down when something like this took place.

I still believe if the law enforcement authorities apply enough pressure someone will talk. It's not like the authorities are dealing with hardened criminals or anything of that sort. Once the person/s realize they could lose their homes/fines/imprisonment you will have more than enough information. It really depends how many people are "in the know". Just remember the police can cell phone records and look for patterns, times, etc.

why not check the gate cameras for around the time this was done !! check the plates and see who was coming and going, it just blows my mind that noone in the neighborhood heard and saw anything, and did not question anyone about this ??

I agree wrt actions that should be taken by law enforcement, but don't you think this has already been done? If not, investigators aren't doing their jobs. The pool of people with a motive isn't large.

I don't agree that the case will be solved. Too much time has passed and it sounds like the CDD has accepted financial responsibility. Unbelievable.

Great idea.

If this case is not solved something is very fishy.