A member of the Project Wide Advisory Committee stormed out of a meeting after a heated exchange Monday morning at SeaBreeze Recreation Center in The Villages.
Community Development District 7 Board of Supervisors Jerry Vicenti walked out of the meeting after criticism from two fellow PWAC members – the board’s chairman Don Wiley of Community Development District 10 and the board’s past chairman Peter Moeller of Community Development District 6.
Tensions have been building for months during discussions concerning the formation of a second PWAC south of State Road 44. The “window was set to close” on the negotiations at the end of September, said attorney Kevin Stone, representing PWAC’s parent board, the Sumter Landing Community Development District Board of Supervisors.
District Manager Richard Baier declared at Monday’s meeting that the PWAC II deal has “died on the vine” due to the fact the CDD 7 board has failed to sign onto the proposed agreement, which has gained the support of all of the other entities involved.
Moeller prodded Vicenti and asked him to “think again” and take the PWAC II deal back to his board for a vote. He scolded Vicenti for having CDD 7’s independent legal counsel attempt to negotiate concessions from PWAC’s parent board.
“I don’t know how a single CDD thinks it can go and negotiate with Sumter Landing without going through this committee. It’s insanity,” Moeller said.
Wiley immediately joined in and also asked Vicenti to ask his board to vote on the agreement which would form PWAC II.
“A lot of work, time and money has been spent on this. I believe everything both reasonable and legal has been done,” Wiley said.
However, Vicenti wouldn’t budge.
“Unless The Villages negotiates in good faith, we are not going to accept it,” Vicenti said.
He also predicted that if PWAC II was put to a vote before the CDD 7 board, “It would get voted down.”
The discussion quickly devolved into accusations of failure to show “respect,” and Vicenti walked out of the meeting room.
Wiley apologized for the “unprofessional behavior of the CDD 7 representative.”
He called it an “embarrassment.”
Moeller wondered out loud what the future might hold for CDD 7’s representation on the PWAC board.
“Does he think he can come back?” Moeller asked.
