These are my views of the May 16 article Official questions whether windmill and water tower need to be replaced. First, the Developer built the windmill and the water tower with the wrong materials, and it rotted in 10 years. How did the building permit, if there was one, get approved for the original construction? The other recent example of poor construction by the Developer is the $1.13 million price tag to fix underdrain system in Soulliere Villas; all of the residents in District 4 are being forced to pay half the cost of repairing the Developer’s poor construction via their property tax bills via the “Maintenance” charge.
Demolition and replacement of the two Brownwood structures are the responsibility of PWAC. Remember that if you are a resident living south of 466, your elected officials on PWAC are supposed to be representing your interests above all special interests groups. The funds for the demolition and replacement of the two Brownwood structures would come from the “Maintenance” charge on your Sumter County property tax bill. The mail address of Project-WideAdvisoryCommittee@districtgov.org. Express your views to them.
APPROACH A: Some residents state that the two Brownwood structures should be replaced. An interesting concept is for PWAC to establish a GoFundMe account (or equivalent) for the replacement of the two structures rather than pay for the replacement with the ALL Residents’ tax dollars. If the Developer wants the replacement, he will make at least a 50% contribution, and the Residents who really want the two structures replaced would gladly pay for the replacement out of their pockets rather than through the tax property tax bills of ALL of the residents south of 466. It is easy for people to say spend the money when it is from someone else’s pocket. It is time for new thinking on how questionable projects are funded by PWAC.
APPROACH B: There was an interesting comment posted on the May 15 article: “Typical price for farmers in the Midwest for a traditional galvanized windmill pumping water for cattle runs about $7-10K plus another $1500 to drill the water well. Most of these have a life cycle of about 35-40 years and require minimum maintenance. These decorative props at Brownwood all have “Hollywood” prices. I am sure inflation may have increased those prices some, but to see estimates of this project approaching between $200-500K is insane. I have no idea of the cost of a non-working water tower.”
Expanding on that comment, I propose the following: Install a working windmill that pumps water into a storage tank. The contents of the storage tank flow into the local irrigation system. Not only would the aesthetics be restored, but it is a green concept, and hopefully, it would cost less than “Hollywood props.” Our representatives on PWAC should explore this approach.
APPROACH C: If you are a resident of The Villages who lives south of 446, remember the members of PWAC are elected to represent your interests above the special interests of the Developer. In the May 16 article, it states that “CDD 7 supervisors agreed that the Developer should be asked to help finance the replacement of the windmill and water tower, rather than leaving the entire tab with residents.”
If the members of PWAC really represented the people who were elected them, then they would demand the following:
- The Developer pays for at least half of the removal cost ($10,000) of the two structures to correct the Developer’s mistake.
- The Developer pays at least half the cost of the replacement of the two structures.
If the Developer does not pick up half of the total cost, the PWAC should either do one of the following.
- Do not replace either structure.
- Replace one of the two structures with the least cost and place a large sign in it stating “Paid for by the taxpayers in The Villages.” The empty area where the other structure once stood would have a sign stating, “Replacement waiting for funding from the Developer.”
John Kastura is a resident of the Village of Belvedere.
