[Fastskiguy]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Yes, the cost of everything continues to rise, so $1.5M, depending on the level of work to be done is no longer unreasonable, this is one of the reasons why we have the R&R funds in the SLAD & RAD budgets. After 15 years of heavy play and usage, there will be a need for refurbishing the courses, the companies can only do so much before nature wins. And yes, all of this work is competitively bid.

Glad to see you’re an engineer, NOT, there’s a lot more that goes into stabilizing the island shoreline than just “dumping rock”. The island is CDD property not the county so the CDD/PWAC is responsible for the cost, not the county. There is and never has been anything wrong with the bridge, the issue is island shoreline erosion.

The traffic light at Colony is a project from 10 years ago. The horse is dead, stop beating it.

All of these projects are competitively bid work, so the money goes to whoever was most responsive and had the best bid. Your obvious insinuation is that the “developer” is getting the money and you would be wrong. The developer owned companies rarely bids on work for the district government or county projects, they have more than enough work in house to keep them busy, they don’t need to chase low bid work. The largest expenditure by the District and CDD governments with the Developer is for IT services and maintaining the tee time system, and even this is a very small percentage of the total budgets. Yes, it was all competitively bid.

The county does not do golf cart/multimodal paths and doesn’t fund these project (traffic light) and doesn’t fund work on property they don’t own/have responsibility for (the island resentment - it’s NOT the bridge).

Taking a little time to educate one’s self would go a long way in answering your own questions, but then again, finding answers wasn’t the point of your post now was it, it was more about stirring up an issue where one doesn’t exist.

Appreciate the info, thanks!

Joe

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

Agree
While 'politicians' (generalization) pay attention to forums like this, they love no shows at public meetings. Zoom participation not as effective. Attend, speak if its allowed and your objections will be part of the minutes of these meetings. May not change a thing but it's more effective than a rant after money is appropriated and work is completed....

I am going to have to disagree with you. I sat on the CDD10 board and PWAC for 7 years and was Chairman of both for the last 4 and 2 years respectively. I, like all of the other board members (except 1 on PWAC - represents Brownwood) are residents and hated meetings with no shows and poor turnouts. We would much rather hear from the public for their input and when making decisions.

The worst part about getting public opinions is that even after being presented with FACTS, many still rant on repeatedly with misinformed opinions. Most people do not fully understand the issue, history, agreements in place, and legal background and ramifications that the Supervisors or Commissioners do. This background information is explained to the public by both the elected officials and district staff but tends to fall many times on deaf ears as it doesn't match their opinions. So much misinformation is passed on this website, nextdoor, facebook, and on that other online site that can't be named here that it is sickening to those at the front of the room (a major part of why I started doing my videos was to help counter this). Many think their words and their meanings are no heard, they are, loud and clear, but because they are either misinformed or un or under informed on the issue, they will carry little influence on the board members.

For me, one of the most frustrating times are budget season and the budget workshops, I sat over 40 budget workshops in my tenure on the CDD boards, throughout all of these a total of 5 residents were in the audience and a grand total of 2 questions were asked - 2 questions total in 40 meetings! But once the budget is finalized then it's twisted and maligned on social media, then the crying and outrage starts. Supervisors are accused of "being in the developer's pocket" and being puppets because people "know" that the developer is making a fortune on every deal that the district government carries out.

Interestingly, during my time on the boards, the 2 biggest items in all of the budgets that involved developer owned companies were the IT contract with TSG and the printing contract with the Daily Sun, in total these represented less than 2% of the total budgets. These agreements with "interested parties", aka the developer, are documented in the annual audits conducted on all the CDD and committee finances. And yes, these agreements are competitively bid.

My comments above also hold true for the 2 years I've served on the BOCC except the participation, by percentage, is much worse. The level of misinformation is also worse.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

For me, one of the most frustrating times are budget season and the budget workshops, I sat over 40 budget workshops in my tenure on the CDD boards, throughout all of these a total of 5 residents were in the audience and a grand total of 2 questions were asked - 2 questions total in 40 meetings! But once the budget is finalized then it's twisted and maligned on social media, then the crying and outrage starts. Supervisors are accused of "being in the developer's pocket" and being puppets because people "know" that the developer is making a fortune on every deal that the district government carries out.

So true for City & County governments as well.

No body gets involved or gains an understanding.

Much easier to be a back-seat driver and whine later.

Most whining is NOT based on facts.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

I am going to have to disagree with you. I sat on the CDD10 board and PWAC for 7 years and was Chairman of both for the last 4 and 2 years respectively. I, like all of the other board members (except 1 on PWAC - represents Brownwood) are residents and hated meetings with no shows and poor turnouts. We would much rather hear from the public for their input and when making decisions.

The worst part about getting public opinions is that even after being presented with FACTS, many still rant on repeatedly with misinformed opinions. Most people do not fully understand the issue, history, agreements in place, and legal background and ramifications that the Supervisors or Commissioners do. This background information is explained to the public by both the elected officials and district staff but tends to fall many times on deaf ears as it doesn't match their opinions. So much misinformation is passed on this website, nextdoor, facebook, and on that other online site that can't be named here that it is sickening to those at the front of the room (a major part of why I started doing my videos was to help counter this). Many think their words and their meanings are no heard, they are, loud and clear, but because they are either misinformed or un or under informed on the issue, they will carry little influence on the board members.

For me, one of the most frustrating times are budget season and the budget workshops, I sat over 40 budget workshops in my tenure on the CDD boards, throughout all of these a total of 5 residents were in the audience and a grand total of 2 questions were asked - 2 questions total in 40 meetings! But once the budget is finalized then it's twisted and maligned on social media, then the crying and outrage starts. Supervisors are accused of "being in the developer's pocket" and being puppets because people "know" that the developer is making a fortune on every deal that the district government carries out.

Interestingly, during my time on the boards, the 2 biggest items in all of the budgets that involved developer owned companies were the IT contract with TSG and the printing contract with the Daily Sun, in total these represented less than 2% of the total budgets. These agreements with "interested parties", aka the developer, are documented in the annual audits conducted on all the CDD and committee finances. And yes, these agreements are competitively bid.

My comments above also hold true for the 2 years I've served on the BOCC except the participation, by percentage, is much worse. The level of misinformation is also worse.

You’re preaching to the choir kind sir!

I prefaced with ‘generalization’... as yours and mine could include municipalities as well. You would agree, since your public service spans decades, that all were much less attended back in the day, less scrutiny by media, no social media, Zoom and ‘forums’. Not a bad thing today as far as accountability. Sunshine Laws or the like another tool to that end. I’m one of those weirdos that still honors public service. Its difficult, your family makes a sacrifice as well and the decorum has definitely changed. That said, I love a packed house, public participation and civic engagement. It’s healthy for all sides of the equation..

[Bogie Shooter]

GoldWingNut, it’s always refreshing to hear from you as you post on TOTV.
Your fact presentations continue to debunk the agenda crazy posters.

[bimmertl]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Yes, the cost of everything continues to rise, so $1.5M, depending on the level of work to be done is no longer unreasonable, this is one of the reasons why we have the R&R funds in the SLAD & RAD budgets. After 15 years of heavy play and usage, there will be a need for refurbishing the courses, the companies can only do so much before nature wins. And yes, all of this work is competitively bid.

Glad to see you’re an engineer, NOT, there’s a lot more that goes into stabilizing the island shoreline than just “dumping rock”. The island is CDD property not the county so the CDD/PWAC is responsible for the cost, not the county. There is and never has been anything wrong with the bridge, the issue is island shoreline erosion.

The traffic light at Colony is a project from 10 years ago. The horse is dead, stop beating it.

All of these projects are competitively bid work, so the money goes to whoever was most responsive and had the best bid. Your obvious insinuation is that the “developer” is getting the money and you would be wrong. The developer owned companies rarely bids on work for the district government or county projects, they have more than enough work in house to keep them busy, they don’t need to chase low bid work. The largest expenditure by the District and CDD governments with the Developer is for IT services and maintaining the tee time system, and even this is a very small percentage of the total budgets. Yes, it was all competitively bid.

The county does not do golf cart/multimodal paths and doesn’t fund these project (traffic light) and doesn’t fund work on property they don’t own/have responsibility for (the island resentment - it’s NOT the bridge).

Taking a little time to educate one’s self would go a long way in answering your own questions, but then again, finding answers wasn’t the point of your post now was it, it was more about stirring up an issue where one doesn’t exist.

Don

Maybe you can explain what Bret Hage is doing to justify his $925,000 a year pay check after "retiring" as a county commissioner. Educate us!

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by bimmertl

Don

Maybe you can explain what Bret Hage is doing to justify his $925,000 a year pay check after "retiring" as a county commissioner. Educate us!

He was not a county commissioner he was a state representative. This is a part time position and pays between 16 and 75k per year. His full time position for the last several years has been the logistics manager for the villages. Responsible for overseeing and directing the supply chain for all construction operations in the villages, a multi billion dollar organization. This includes homes, infrastructure, roads, and everything else that must be available on time each day to continue to build the community. His salary is comparable to his contemporaries at other large corporations with similar responsibilities. But as this is a privately held company, there are no stock options that most of his peers receive.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by bimmertl

Don

Maybe you can explain what Bret Hage is doing to justify his $925,000 a year pay check after "retiring" as a county commissioner. Educate us!

Where did you get the county commissioner info?

[wisbad1]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

If you truly want answers, and are not just ranting, then I urge you to attend the next PWAC meeting and ask your list of questions there. Here, you will get discussion. There, you will be talking to those who make decisions. Let us know how it goes.

End up like Oren Miller

[4$ALE]

How do you tell someone you are uninformed without telling them you are uninformed? SMH again!

27 Synonyms & Antonyms for UNINFORMED | Thesaurus.com

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Should probably engage, educate and learn.

This is not the place.

Not the place for THOSE questions for sure, though I must admit, the bridge needed 1M in work to secure it leaves a LOT of basic construction questions, but on here, best to TRY to get an honest experience someone has had with a plumber or appliance repair professional, and that is not always productive either (sadly).

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I would like to hear more about this. Where and when was this discussed? Do you have a link to the information?

I can't answer at which meeting(s) it was discussed, or how much a light should cost, but after all the "close calls" I've seen there, I was wondering if they were content to wait until someone was actually killed to do something, never saw such a deliberate plan to guarantee accidents, it's dangerous, confusing, and not because people are just being reckless. This was a POOR PLAN. Like the one at the end of Morris at 466. WHO decided to mix golf carts and autos, trucks, and huge tandem vehicles like roofing and lawn services instead of having golf carts go UNDER Morris rather than try to play "make it across" before the gate opens. Have you noticed they just keep "waving" them through, ignore the danger to those crossing in a golf cart. But, reactive planning, certainly not PROACTIVE... maybe that's part of the golf course problem too ? Don't know, not a turf maintenance expert !

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I took this to be a new expenditure, not the light that was put in place in 2014.

I believe that light is on District property so neither the State nor County would be involved.

Hopefully, the District and County are looking into a similar light near St Catherine.

EDIT: I just read the article about a supervisor arguing against the light on Colony Blvd. It turns out his prediction was wrong and the light is helping the situation. I travel through there often and am thankful for that light. Again, I hope they find a way to install one down near Sawgrass.

That Colony light, a TRUE BLESSING IMO ! What a dangerous location that was ! As I commented previously, it was almost a dangerous as the "try to dodge the autos and trucks game" golf carts have to play at the gate on Morris at 466 !

[4$ALE]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

That Colony light, a TRUE BLESSING IMO ! What a dangerous location that was ! As I commented previously, it was almost a dangerous as the "try to dodge the autos and trucks game" golf carts have to play at the gate on Morris at 466 !

They don't have to play that, just a little "patience grasshopper". And it's Morse.