District Manager Richard Baier will meet with residents of Community Development District 4 on Monday, April 8 to offer an update on the sinkhole issue that has plagued McLawren Terrace in the Village of Calumet Grove for almost 15 months.
Baier will speak at the District 4 Q&A meeting that’s being hosted by Supervisor and Amenity Authority Committee representative Don Deakin. The meeting will last from 7-9 p.m. at the Mulberry Grove Recreation Center. A second Q&A session will be held Thursday, April 11 at the same time and place but Baier won’t be speaking at that gathering.
Earlier this week, a group of residents from the Calumet Grove neighborhood attempted to speak in front of the Marion County Board of County Commissioners about issues they have been dealing with since sinkholes opened up along McLawren Terrace in February and May 2018.
The residents are concerned because two homes that were severely damaged and deemed unlivable have been sold to a company that refurbishes damaged houses and resells them. They are worried about repeated delays in getting the homes fixed so the District can then repair the damaged portion of McLawren Terrace in front of the homes at the intersection with McAlpin Street.
As it stands now, that intersection is blocked off and a temporary pump has been put in the neighborhood to avert stormwater away from a damaged drain pipe that runs between the two ravaged homes. For safety reasons, the District can’t repair the roadway until the properties containing the two damaged homes are stabilized.
The Villagers who attended the Marion County Commission meeting last Tuesday left feeling frustrated and upset – with one going so far as to suggest a class-action lawsuit against The Villages Developer over the entire sinkhole debacle. Their frustration largely came from the fact that their time was cut short and they weren’t allowed to show their entire slide presentation demonstrating what they’ve been dealing with.
Those residents, many of whom have praised Baier and District 4 supervisors for their attention and desire to get the situation resolved, are worried that McAlpin Street will deteriorate because of the stormwater that’s been rerouted down it. They’re concerned about traffic issues surrounding a temporary pump that’s been set up on Locustwood Court. And they are afraid that Marion County commissioners will give Asset Trust Holdings LLC, the new owners of the two damaged homes at 17092 and 17086 McLawren Terrace, further extensions to get the properties stabilized and the houses repaired, according to Barbara Gaines, spokesperson for the neighborhood Buds and Blossoms group.
The purpose of the monthly District 4 Q&A meetings is to improve communication by providing residents with the opportunity to sit down together to discuss any topics concerning District 4. Each month, residents have an opportunity to “chat” with a District 4 supervisor, ask questions, get answers, share their concerns, offer suggestions, address rumors and listen to other residents’ questions.
Because residents choose the topics for the meetings, they vary. Some that been discussed in the past include:
- Architectural Review Committee;
- Amenity Authority Committee;
- Amenity deferral rates;
- Bonds (District 4 and AAC);
- Church purchase;
- Community Watch;
- Deed restrictions;
- Dog parks;
- Finances (AAC and District 4);
- First Responders Recreation Center;
- Fitness trails;
- Gates;
- Hurricanes;
- Landscaping, fences and walls;
- Law enforcement;
- Multi-modal paths;
- New developments;
- Phillips Villas;
- Recreation, parks and executive golf;
- Road maintenance;
- Sinkholes;
- Soulliere Villas and development in that area;
- Water usage and surcharges; and
- Water retention areas.
For more information, call Deakin at (352) 750-5395 or send an email to [email protected] or [email protected].