Well the last laugh will be on whomever was involved. According to the news article, the trees will be replaced, and the damage to the wetlands repaired....so the view will go back to what it was.....and the reward will still be there. I wonder how long the person responsible will enjoy looking over there backs to see who is coming to get them.....The world runs on KARMA, need I say more.

The Article in the newspaper did decent job of reporting what has transpired on this. This issue was discussed in detail at the monthly District meetings and the PWAC meetings for the last two months. None of the district supervisors are happy about what happened or that district funds will need to be used to restore the preserve areas.
As to which district pays, the answer is simple, all districts south of 466 are paying for the restorations. There are inter local agreements in place to cover items of mutual benefit to all the districts, the wetlands are in that category.
Again, this was all discussed in detail at the district and PWAC meetings. Attend the meetings, get involved, and become an active part of the governing of this community we all live in.

As to the ongoing investigation, we do have laws in this country and we assume innocent until proven guilty, Sumter Sheriff office is doing all they can within the confines of the law. Stop watching so much TV, you can't "put pressure" on someone to get them to talk. Assume for just a minute that you actually do know nothing of the incident and that you live in one of the homes that may have benefited from the tree cutting, how would you like to be treated by law enforcement officers? How would you be feeling about this "friendly" community after reading the last 9 pages of posts? This thread is turning into an electronic mob justice.

Well said. I regretted what I posted and took it down. You are right on all counts. To all new residents and wannabees, don't cut down or order a tree cut down on your property until you clear it with ARC. (They aren't the ultimate authority, but they do know the rules)

They already have committed a crime if they made a false statement to the sheriff's investigators.

Since the Villages makes up the majority of the population for Sumter County are there any Villagers on the Board? We should have a voice and presence in what goes on in Sumter County!

We have a voice. There are 5 commissioners and I think 3 of them live in TV.
http://sumtercountyfl.gov/296/County-Commissioners
BTW do you remember voting for county commissioner?

The crime is probably solvable if the Sheriff's Department is able to devote the resources to thoroughly investigate it.

There are only about 4 suspects (the homeowners who got the improved view of the lake). The trees were huge, so it is unlikely that the guilty homeowner cut them himself. Thus, he had to contact and pay a professional tree cutter. He probably did not anticipate all the scrutiny and was not as careful as he should have been.

Thus, if I were doing the investigation, I would:

1. Ask the four homeowners to let me look at their phone and bank records for the relevant periods. (Anybody who refused would be the immediate suspect.)
2. Subpoena the phone records of those homeowners and check for calls to tree-cutters. I would also subpoena bank records of the homeowners and look for large cash withdrawals during the relevant period.
3. Have a heart-to-heart talk with the tree cutter, and get him to flip on the homeowner--probably offer him immunity.

I think that there is a pretty good chance that the homeowner responsible for the tree cutting is reading this column. If so, I say to you, You should be very, very worried. Think along these lines: How much extra should I slip the tree cutter to buy his silence? Where do I get the cash without leaving a paper trail? (This could get very expensive.) What about my wife? (I better better not get her mad at me, and a divorce is out of the question until the statute of limitations on tree cutting runs out.) What about the neighbors? Who did I tell about this? Who saw what was going on? Are they going to continue to keep their mouths shut? Hell, I've got a lot to worry about. This isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

Don't be naive, local, state,and federal law enforcement put "pressure" on people all the time. Many times they will give the information because they don't want to be implicated in something big if they only knew about it or played a bit part in the scheme.

It is a big in some regards because it was done underhandedly...but it isn't big in the scheme of things. Wasn't it said that it could be repaired for thirty thousand dollars?

I would guess that the neighborhood is buzzing with talk.

If in fact the people involved are known by the police then why is the district paying for the repair unless of course the district is the guilty party and if they are the supervisors and the home owner should pay. Why is the other residents have to pay

BECAUSE THEY CAN'T PROVE IT.

Why would the district do something like that????? There would be absolutely no benefit to the district.

You are right, it's a big deal for some but not for others. No one was killed or injured. As you say you know people are are talking a lot about it in the neighborhood.
Just a hint for someone who wants to have a better chance of getting away with a crime: Do the crime by yourself, don't brag, don't take your cell phone or E-Z pass with you, don't make any unusual deposits, drive a non -flashy vehicle and obey traffic laws when leaving the scene.
Or to really rest easier: Don't commit the crime in the first place.

It sounded like I was trying to minimize it, but I wasn't. AND I very much respect your opinion. Sorry if I sounded critical of what you said. I didn't mean it that way.

I tend to believe that the truth will come out and those responsible will be held accountable. The district most likely will foot the bill initially to make things right, with the intention of getting every penny back. I would be beyond shocked if it turned out to be the actions of the developer or the district that took those trees down. This issue will be resolved in time.

The longer this runs on the more the conspiracy theories will grow. The District should make a public statement as to the reasons they are paying the fine. Failing factual info the rumblings will continue.

I think they did. It was done to district property. The St. John's River authority got on them about it. It is ultimately the district's problem, because it is district's land even if a third party(s) had the cleared to increase their site lines to the lake. Someone came on to the district's property and illegally removed trees that are protected under law. Now the law can make the district pay to replace them.

http://www.sjrwmd.com/about/

There was a similar situation in my old neighborhood where mature trees were leveled for two blocks without warning.. The utility company that did it replaced each tree with a sapling and called it even. So don't expect large replacement trees, unfortunately.

Thanks- Maybe that was covered in an earlier post, but if so I missed it. Totally logical, but apparantly many didn't see a District Response.

Was this info disclosed publicly?

Challenger, I am beginning to doubt my memory. There were articles twice in the Daily Sun explaining the problem, but they don't archive, so I can't find the article.

It is possible that my memory of what I read is flawed. I am not trying to start trouble.

Reward
 

Apparently the reward is not high enough. If the District was not at fault but is willing to pay $30,000.00 then maybe a higher reward would help Say $20,000 reward upon conviction and the District could save $10,000 .

I think that your memory is quite good. Now, who am I responding to?

My guess is that you did, in fact, see their response. Thanks for searching

I think the district is paying for it so it is done in a timely fashion so the St. John's River authority doesn't charge more in the long run(possibly fines).

Once they fine out who did this, then they can go after them to be reimbursed.

Today's Daily Sun reports that CDD 5 got approval to restore the oak trees. It mentions that the cut oak tree debris is behind at least four residences. The houses are 1750, 1764, 1778, and 1792 Lake Miona Drive in The Village of Bridgeport at Lake Miona. There is a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest or conviction.

I was kayaking recently on Lake Miona and I saw what I believe is the area where the oak trees were cut down. There is a big gap when you look at the back of the homes. I could be wrong so I only put this out as an FYI, but what I saw was astounding. there appears to be only two houses that have an improved view of the lake, both are light colored houses, either a light yellow or cream color. These houses are next to one another. One of these houses has construction tape wrapped around the lanai. It looks like they are having some work done on their lanai. It appeared that the screen had been removed. They have a greatly improved view if I am correct that this was the location where the trees were cut down. It is hard to see from the water side as the tall grasses etc., obscure some visibility. It would be interesting to see if they had sought ARC approval and got a building permit for the lanai work. It appears that construction has stopped as I was on the lake a few times and no progress has been made.

Good detective work Happydaz. Would it have been possible for the perpetrator to come in from the water side with his saw to do the dirty deed? The fact that they left the tree debris behind tells us they did not want to do a professional job of cutting down the trees and hauling them away. And now CDD5 gets to pay the $30,000 fine.

BTW: 1792 Lake Miona Drive is listed for sale on TV website for $1,100,000.

Very interesting theory! Yes it is possible for someone to have taken a boat to this area and then beach the boat in the grass and walk to the shore with saws and equipment. The fact that they left all the debris is also indicative of someone who came in, cut, and left quickly. One of the homeowners could have done it themselves, but in view of the size of these live oaks he would have had to been an experienced tree cutter.

New article in today's on-line news about a meeting held this morning (Feb 20) stating how upset residents of CDD5 are about this tree removal. Ms Tutt reiterated that the matter is under investigation and the offender will be prosecuted when caught. Nobody can explain why this investigation is taking so long, since the incident occurred back in Nov or Dec.

It is taking so long because just like in the inner city no one is talking......the lake miona ghetto

Someone in that village knows who cut the trees, or had them cut. In time, the truth will be known. It would be nice for that someone to come forward and "do the tight thing". Sorry, but I can't quite picture a person or persons arriving by boat and cutting down big oak trees. I CAN picture trucks parked in front of the homes with neighbors seeing them and the workers.

Would you take offense if your village was referred to in this way??

No.

If my village was behaving in this manner, no I would not. Someone saw something and the only motivation for the act is to improve the view from houses along the lake. Environmental thugism, hence the title.

.

It isn't the WHOLE village who is at fault.

You're right- but it is hard to believe that no one in the neighborhood knows " Who done it". My bet is that there are several neighbors who know the answers to most of -who,when, and how JMHO

Maybe up the reward to $5,000, or offer immunity from prosecution to the actual cutters if they come forward and disclose who ordered and paid for the damage. Or offer both, just a thought..

you're right the whole village is not at fault. Maybe everyone stays in their houses with blinds drawn. All I know is when we were out of town and CVS called to see if they could install the enclosure for our lanai we had ordered to which we said yes. We had two neighbors call us to see if we knew guys were around our house. Very thankful my neighbors noticed, I guess in some villages the neighbors are blind, deaf and mute.

But it is the WHOLE CDD5 that is being asked to pay the $30,000 fine. These residents are outraged because someone felt entitled enough to break the law and now hides out somewhere. Come forward, pay the fine, apologize and move on. JMHO

Actually $30,000 is pretty cheap. If they wanted to be hard nosed they could have demanded larger trees be replaced instead of the small size I see called out in an earlier post.

Well according to the on line newspaper ... "The good news for CDD 5 residents is that they won’t foot the cost of restoration alone.

The cost of restoration is estimated to run from $30,000 to $50,000 and will be shared by districts in the Project Wide Advisory Committee."

IMHO you are overly optimistic. Can't help but think there's more to this than the public has been made aware of. It's sad. :confused:

At the PWAC meeting this morning, it was announced by Sam Wartinbee that the price for replacing these trees has risen to $45,000 to $50,000. This according to a new article in the on-line news.

It was also announced that no arrests have been made in this case, although the investigation continues.

Also, according to TV web site, a house that was for sale for $1,100,000 that benefits from the improved view, is no longer on the market. The plot thickens.