It's Official: Westchase Community Development District Unites

The destiny of Westchase’s Community Development District was determined at Tuesday's meeting. The Westchase CDD and Westchase East CDD are no longer two separate organizations.

A new board, whose members are a combination of the two CDDs, was appointed to make up the newly unified Westchase CDD.

Although this merger is now official, it had been in development for over two years. The state of Florida first had to approve the requested merger, before any changes could be made. Prior to the merger, the golf course and St. Joseph’s Clinic on Linebaugh Avenue served as a rough borderline, dividing Westchase CDD and Westchase CDD East. Creation of the unified Westchase CDD will produce a more lucrative community, with more productive board meetings, and a unified community overall.

Newly-Appointed Board Members:

Mark Regusa: Chair (Resident of Harbor Links/The Estates; Occupation is Attorney)

Greg Chesney: Vice Chair (Resident of The Bridges; Occupation is Financial Planning and Insurance)

Brian Ross: Assistant Secretary (Resident of West Park Village; Occupation is Attorney)

Ernie Sylvester: Assistant Secretary (Resident of The Greens; Retired Military)

Bill Casale: Assistant Treasurer (Resident of Radcliffe; Occupation is Entrepreneur)

Honorary plaques were presented to the newly-resigned board members, for their dedication of service to the Westchase CDDs over the past several years. The recipients were Keith Heinemann, Joseph Lechman, Bob Argus, Lewis Patterson and Susan Edgerley. These board members were a combination of Westchase CDD and Westchase East CDD.

In other meeting news, the board voted for the Chair to complete a New Audit Engagement Letter for Fiscal Year 2011. The amount is not to exceed $15,000, and any amount over $9,000 will go towards merger expenses.

Some discussion also ensued during the Engineer’s Report, labeling flood concerns as an issue of “critical importance.”  For instance, street intersections are low areas prone to flooding. Cleaning drains would improve the situation, since the back-up of drains is the most likely culprit. But before any work can begin, additional information must be gathered, regarding which areas need to be worked on, and which areas need to be avoided.

Another issue discussed was the congregation of recreational soccer players at Glencliff Park, of Countryway Boulevard, on Sunday mornings.  Since this facility is first come, first serve, over two dozen players gather early on Sunday mornings to stake out the field. This constant congregation is a constant disturbance to nearby residents. The board discussed possible ways to alleviate the issue, such as addressing the players.