The Community Development District 13 Board of Supervisors agreed last week to take ownership of the Brownwood Bridge ahead of its planned opening.
The Brownwood Bridge will span State Road 44 and provide golf cart access from a spot behind the Barnstorm Theater. A section of the bridge will skip over a pond and then take golf carts, bicycles and pedestrians over State Road 44. It is expected to open just before Christmas.
The Brownwood Bridge is located west of the Chitty Chatty Bridge which opened in October.
The CDD 13 Board of Supervisors, made up of appointees designated by the Developer, with little fanfare on Thursday afternoon accepted the Brownwood Bridge Turnover Package. With absolutely no discussion during the meeting at Everglades Recreation Center, the CDD 13 board agreed it “herby assumes all of the liabilities, obligations, and responsibilities of Developer with respect to the Brownwood Bridge.” The agreement noted the bridge was being turned over “as is.”
You can see the bill of sale at his link: Bill_of_Sale_-_Brownwood_-_VLC_executed
Eventually, all of the new golf cart bridges providing connectivity to the southern section of The Villages will fall under the responsibility of the Project Wide Advisory Committee, which oversees infrastructure south of County Road 466. Bridges have long been a thorny subject for PWAC:
• PWAC has debated for years how best to address “sloughing” at the embankment which supports the Morse Boulevard Bridge over Lake Sumter. Most recently, PWAC settled on a Geoweb option that would address the issue, but the project has not moved forward due to continued high water levels at the lake.
• PWAC agreed earlier this year to spend $141,348 to prop up an oft-flooded bridge at at the Mangrove Executive Golf Course. There were complaints at the time that PWAC was spending residents’ money to re-do a bridge that was poorly designed and constructed by the Developer.
• A PWAC member earlier this year argued that The Villages was benefitting from having its trademarked logo on infrastructure owned by residents. He said the large Villages logos on the new Florida Turnpike and State Road 44 bridges will ultimately be paid for and maintained by residents.
