District Manager Richard Baier, in an address Friday morning to a large number of community development district supervisors, said The Villages is growing by “leaps and bounds” and outlined plans to stay ahead of that growth.
The Villages is now 70-square miles (Disney World is 39-square miles) and the 17th largest municipality in Florida. The District has $2 billion in assets. The Villages is bigger than than roughly half of the counties in the state of Florida.
“This is no longer a sleepy little village,” said Baier, who took over last year as District manager, succeeding Janet Tutt.
Rapid growth is on the horizon, as a drive south of State Road 44 would certainly prove.
Baier stressed the future demand for efficiency, embracing technology and communicating with residents.
Carrie Duckett, who has long headed the Customer Service Department and has added a new role with communications, announced that a satellite customer service office will open in June at The Villages Public Safety Fire Station 47 being constructed south of State Road 44. The satellite office will offer services such as gate cards, Architectural Review Committee applications, Villages ID card, utility bill information and information on residents’ bonds. The satellite office will serve as an alternative to residents making the trip to the District Office at Lake Sumter Landing.
While in that case, de-centralizing makes sense, in other areas centralizing operations is saving money.
Assistant District Manager Kenneth Blocker said the District has about 150 vehicles, ranging from white trucks to firetrucks. Rather than each department trying to purchase and manage their own vehicles, that process has been centralized. Leasing vehicles will be a better deal for the District, Blocker said.
“We’ll have safer, more efficient, better vehicles,” he said.
Fleet maintenance has been turned over to Sumter County and the District will enjoy a savings of about $500,000 thanks to that move.
Meanwhile, the District is looking at greener options, such as hybrid vehicles for Community Watch.
Blocker, who previously served as the District’s director of finance, said financial stability remains a top priority and lauded the work of the Investment Advisory Committee, made up of elected CDD supervisors. The community development districts have lucratively ridden the stock market wave by investing in long-term portfolios, something out of reach for most local units of government.
At the same time, the community development districts have taken advantage of the short end of the yield curve, Blocker said.
Director of Technology and Board Support Services Brittany Wilson updated supervisors on bold technology steps that will enable the District to better manage and track the facilities it owns and manages. Piggybacking on Sumter County’s existing Geographic Information System mapping technology will save the District a great deal of money and forego duplicating a second system.
CDD 1 Supervisor Paul Sykes called the presentation by Baier and the District staff “very impressive.” Other supervisors concurred, indicating Baier has done a terrific job since taking the reins.
“He is an outstanding communicator. I am excited about the direction we are going,” said CDD 5 Supervisor Jerry Knoll.
You can read the entire presentation at this link: District Gov Update Presentation4-5-19-Final