The Project Wide Advisory Committee on Monday rejected a call to seek financial help from the Developer and Community Development Districts north of County Road 466 to help fund a $1.7 million project to shore up the Morse Boulevard bridge embankment.
CDD 7 Supervisor Ron Ruggeri raised the idea of seeking the financial assistance. It was rejected by fellow supervisors on PWAC, which includes representation from CDDs 5 through 10.
PWAC approved spending up to $159,000 for work by Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. that would pave the way for the a rock revetment project aimed at shoring up the embankment which has suffered significant sloughing over the past few years.
PWAC Chairman Peter Moeller said the committee had decided to go with the $1.47 million rock revetment project because it would not require annual maintenance. Coupled with the $159,000 for Kimley-Horn, the project could top out at $1.7 million.
Ruggeri said he believed PWAC should seek the Developer’s financial assistance as had been done in the case of the traffic light which was installed in 2014 on Colony Boulevard. The Developer contributed $100,000 toward the installation of the traffic light.
“He’s part of this community as much as we are. What ever help he could provide would be appreciated,” Ruggeri said.
However, Ruggeri’s idea failed to gain traction with other PWAC members. Neither did his idea of asking CDDs 1, 2, 3 and 4 to contribute.
CDD 10 Supervisor Don Wiley called it “daisy picking.”
He said PWAC couldn’t simply decide to include four CDDS that aren’t part of PWAC to share in the costs.
However, Wiley did say he believes the Sumter Landing Community Development District has some “skin in the game.”
“If something happened, it would significantly impact every one of those businesses (in Lake Sumter Landing),” Wiley said.
Sumter Landing would only pay .97 percent of the cost under the existing PWAC formula.
