RIDGEWOOD TRAILS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT

The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Ridgewood Trails Community Development District was held Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at the Azalea Ridge Amenity Center, 1667 Azalea Ridge Boulevard, Middleburg, Florida.

Present and constituting a quorum were:

Marty Genska	Chairman
Jacqui Proctor Miller	Vice Chairperson
Yolanda Nolte	Supervisor
Eneida Barnes	Supervisor
William Barnhouse	Supervisor Also present were:
Marilee Giles	District Manager
Katie Buchanan	District Counsel by telephone
Peter Ma	District Engineer by telephone
Melissa Brown	Amenity Manager
Brian Stephens	Riverside Management

The following is a summary of the actions taken at the January 5, 2022 meeting. An audio copy of the proceedings can be obtained by contacting the District Manager.

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS	Roll Call
Ms. Giles called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and called the roll.

SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS	Public Comments
Mr. Deck stated I live in Phase 3. Many of us in Phase 3 didn’t move in until after the planning for this playground took place. Many of us were very concerned to see the playground go up so close to Long Bay Drive that has a speed limit of 45 mph that is rarely adhered to and we are concerned for our kids. I don’t know if any conversations took place for plans to relocate the playground to another place in Phase 3 or discussion on a safety fence or barrier.
Mr. Genska stated we have looked at that and we will address that during that agenda item.

THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion of Playground Equipment in Phase 3
Mr. Genska stated I live directly across from the existing playground I know exactly what you are talking about because I’m always out there telling people to slow down. My personal feeling is that we should move that. There is another area that could be used and if it cannot be moved for whatever reason we have estimates for a fence.
Ms. Barnes stated I thought we were originally going to have a fence.
Mr. Stephens stated it was part of the original rendering but there was a notation underneath that said it was to be provided by a separate vendor.
Ms. Barnes stated if the CDD agrees to put up a fence that is probably the most reasonable and cheapest expense rather than try to move it to a new location.
Mr. Stephens stated I spoke with the original installer and supplier of the playground and they gave me an approximate cost of $20,000 to move it because they didn’t know what of the existing structure would get damaged when they relocated it. I have one proposal for fencing in the amount of $7,400. If the board chooses to relocate it, I would go with this fence company as well as the original provider.
Ms. Giles asked does that include the permits?
Mr. Stephens responded no, if you are going to have to redo the permits with Clay County and we know from past experience how long that takes, it could be 6-8 months. Also if you relocate the playground you will have to come in and put in sod where there is mulch now so that it would be put back in the original condition.
Ms. Giles asked do you know when the fence company would be able to install the fence? Mr. Stephens stated they are 60-90 days out on materials.
Ms. Giles stated I suggest we send a message to the community that the playground is not complete until the fence goes in.
Mr. Stephens stated if the board will approve a not to exceed amount of $7,400 I will get the other two vendors out here to propose.

On MOTION by Mr. Genska seconded by Mr. Barnhouse with all in favor staff was authorized to contract for the purchase and installation of an aluminum fence for the playground in an amount not to exceed
$7,400.

FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Update on Traffic Calming Study
Ms. Brown stated we needed at least 51% of the 691 homes for us to petition for traffic calming and we only got 50 signatures therefore, we can’t move forward with that. The off-duty officers have been itemizing their invoices and they have been focusing on speeding.

FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Update on Capital Projects Survey
Ms. Brown stated out of 691 homes and we received only 91 responses and all the items were anywhere from 74% to 79%, not desired. There is nothing to move forward with on that. A few of the other suggestions were: gated community, heated pools, additional parking by playgrounds, palm trees, irrigation and game room, add on to the existing playground on Azalea, streetlights, eliminate street parking, better street parking and designated parking to one side of the road.
Mr. Genska asked if we can’t get resident participation that kind of leaves it up to the board. Ms. Giles stated yes, keep in mind this was for future years as we grew the capital reserves. Some of those projects were very expensive, which means a bond or an increase in assessments.
You will continue to put money in the capital reserves and let it grow.

SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Staff Reports
Attorney
Publication of Legal Notices
Ms. Buchanan stated although legislation was adopted last year to allow districts to publish board meeting notices online, in order to do that you have to pay to publish in a newspaper a notice that says you are publishing your notices online and it is not cost effective.

Needs Analysis that Districts Providing Wastewater or Stormwater Management Services Must Complete by June 30, 2022
Ms. Buchanan stated this legislation was adopted and signed into law at the end of last summer by the governor. We included it as part of your Capital Conversations but no one has indicated the level of detail that this report would require. In the memo there are bullets that identify what the report is supposed to include, number of residents, total cost, and the state included further guidance documents that included tables and charts and they are supposed to be completed by the district. This need analysis is a requirement for the CDD and must be completed

by June 30th of this year. Unfortunately, the way this legislation was timed it wasn’t an expense that was included in your last year budget, but it has to be completed before you collect money for your next year’s budget. You are not alone in this situation; every CDD we represent is facing the same challenge. Peter can go into greater detail about the scope of work that is going to be required for him to put together the report.
Mr. Genska asked was this the budget estimate of $10,000 to do the report? Ms. Buchanan stated yes.
Mr. Ma stated we were given an email on this legislation two or three months ago and we didn’t have any knowledge that this was coming up. Our company services over 30 CDDs and we had a couple guys who took a deep dive and figured out what the needs are in regard to stormwater. Basically, the mandates are all the CDDs and special districts and the goal for the state is determine the amount of unfunded stormwater needs. For a completely developed CDD we don’t think you are going to have any unfunded stormwater needs, but we came up with a worksheet, I will work closely with the district manager to fill in and figure out basically how many residents, how much you pay for maintenance and every five years and we have to compile this information and submit it to the state. This is new to us and we gave it a maximum budget amount of $10,000 hourly and a work authorization. I hope we don’t have to spend that much but we are just getting into understanding everything we have to collect.

Prompt Payment Requirements
Ms. Buchanan stated the memorandum in your agenda identifies additional language that we would like to include in your prompt payment policies and this is reflective of statutory changes. The most significant relates to the amount of interest you would pay for a late payment on a construction contract. You are not going to have a lot of contracts at this point in your life but if we undertake a new large capital project this would be relevant and increases the amount of interest on late payments from 1% per month to 2% per month. I suggest that unless you object to these changes you will have a resolution at your next meeting that incorporates the new statutory changes.

On MOTION by Mr. Genska seconded by Ms. Miller with all in favor the resolution was approved in substantial form and staff was

authorized to amend the policies based on the memo provided in the agenda package.

Public Records Exemptions for Addresses and Other Information Associated with Certain Officers, Judges, etc.
Ms. Buchanan stated the last item is the public records exemption and this goes through the process of how we have to have a written and notarized request to maintain that exemption, which is something district management would implement behind the scenes.

Engineer
Ms. Giles stated there is a work authorization in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for the Storm Water Needs Analysis and we have $5,000 in the budget and the accountant will help me figure out where we can pull the other $5,000.

On MOTION by Mr. Genska seconded by Ms. Miller with all in favor the work authorization to prepare the need analysis in an amount not to exceed $10,000 was approved.

Manager
There being none, the next item followed.

Operation Manager’s Report –Report
Report
Mr. Stephens gave an overview of the operations report, copy of which was included as part of the agenda package.

Landscape Quality Inspection Report
Mr. Stephens stated I continue to meet with Tree Amigos on a monthly basis doing the punch list, which all the board members have as well.

Amenity Manager
The amenity items were included as part of the operations report.

SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Supervisor’s Requests and Public Comments
Mr. Barnhouse stated the HOA would like to know if they could have some common ground to put up a message board.
Ms. Brown stated we have four message boards and have the HOA’s website on there and I always have their meetings posted. I can’t imagine where we would put another message board. I will give her the letters to use.
Mr. Ball asked would it be feasible to have a traffic light on Blanding Boulevard? Mr. Genska stated it is a county or state road and does not belong to the CDD. Ms. Giles stated you can contact your county commissioner.
A resident stated 50% of the residents had no input on the location of the park in 2020.
Mr. Genska stated that subject came up at every one of our meetings. We have never had more than three people show up before tonight and it is hard for us to do things when the residents don’t show up.
A resident stated we are all from Freedom. Can you tell us what the CDD does for Freedom?
Ms. Giles stated Freedom is part of Ridgewood Trails and this is one large community. What is special about Freedom is you have access to all of these amenities but the rest of the neighborhood does not have access to Freedom.
A resident stated something needs to be done about the entranceway, it is not indicative of what you or I want this community to be.
Mr. Stephens stated they have already installed the irrigation and plant material will go in March/April when the concern of frost and freeze are no longer an issue.
Ms. Kirkpatrick stated it would be nice if we made the entrance more presentable.
Mr. Genska stated when they started the construction a year and a half ago that area was much nicer. It had to be dug up and it is slowly getting back to what it should be.
A resident asked for a printout explanation of the CDD fees, who and what it covers and if the Freedom section can be taken out of the district.
Ms. Buchanan stated the CDD was responsible initially for the installation of all of your basic infrastructure, such as the roads even though they are owned by the county, the stormwater management system. You may not have a pond by your house but the whole stormwater system functions as one system of improvements, all the ponds are interconnected. The water and sewer lines were installed by the CDD, the main lines, not the lines between your house and the road and

those were turned over to CCUA and the amenities that everyone has access to were also funded either by the CDD or at some point D.R. Horton participated as well. Most of the time I would say that all of those improvements come with debt on the property that the debt assessments levied by the CDD go to repay the CDD’s debt. In this particular instance, Ridgewood Trails underwent a default when the original developer was unable to pay the special assessments on the land and the district took over the dirt, instead of paying for the assessments. Similar to if you don’t pay your mortgage to the bank the bank gets to keep your house, the CDD took over the dirt. The reality is that you probably don’t have debt assessments on your property in the Freedom section because that was such a late addition to the CDD but to go through a boundary amendment it would have to be approved by Clay County and authorized by the district’s board. If I were on the district board I would be looking at the assessment levels and knowing that if you took out all these units then even though you may drive on the roads and get benefit from the stormwater system and from the water and sewer and you have access to the amenities even if you cut off the amenity portion of that you are still using things that the CDD paid for and would ultimately be responsible for maintaining in some situations. The board may not look favorably upon a boundary amendment.
A resident stated our water and sewer is completely different than whatever is in here. Ours comes from a different place.
Mr. Genska stated she is saying it was all done by the CDD.
Ms. Buchanan stated some of it was, the main lines were put in early on.
A resident asked how do we determine if it is feasible to start the process of an exit?
Ms. Buchanan stated the one thing I will point out is that it is going to cost money to do that. There is a petition statutory requirement, you have to have a lawyer prepare it, an engineer do an exhibit so it is not something that the CDD would do without an agreement for funding for all that work.
Mr. Genska stated maybe Katie and Marilee can take this offline and talk about that.
Ms. Buchanan stated no, I’m not trying to be unhelpful but I don’t think you should spend money on my time for this.
Ms. Giles stated if Freedom wants to bring this forward, they would have to pursue it.
A resident stated we contribute $85,000 to $90,000 a year.  What is the happy medium?
What can you do for us because we have very little responsibility from the CDD?

Mr. Genska stated you feel that you are your own little community and paying the CDD fees and feel you do not use the facilities because you choose not to do it but it doesn’t mean you can’t use it.
A resident stated I’m just asking if it is feasible for us to do it.
Mr. Genska stated from what Katie is saying is that is something you need to pursue and as to guidance you need to get an attorney.
Ms. Buchanan stated we can’t use everyone else’s money; it doesn’t benefit the rest of the community.

EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Approval of Consent Agenda
Approval of the Minutes of the November 3, 2021 Meeting
Balance Sheet & Income Statement
Assessment Receipt Schedule
Approval of Check Register

On MOTION by Ms. Miller seconded by Ms. Nolte with all in favor the consent agenda items were approved.

NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Next  Meeting  Scheduled  for  Wednesday,
March 2, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at the Azalea Ridge Amenity Center, 1667 Azalea Ridge Boulevard, Middleburg, Florida
Ms. Giles stated the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at the same location.

On MOTION by Mr. Genska seconded by Mr. Barnhouse with all in favor the meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.

Secretary/Assistant Secretary	Chairman/Vice Chairman