Docusign Envelope ID: CC303391-AB6A-81D1-8237-2088EDEB8565

Docusign Envelope ID: CC303391-AB6A-81D1-8237-2088EDEB8565

July 1, 2026

Ridgewood Trails CDD

MINUTES OF MEETING RIDGEWOOD TRAILS
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT

The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Ridgewood Trails Community Development District was held Wednesday, July 1, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. at the Azalea Ridge Amenity Center, 1667 Azalea Ridge Boulevard, Middleburg, Florida.

Present and constituting a quorum were:

Michael Wetherbee	Chairman
Jacqui Proctor Miller	Vice Chairperson
Cassie Alba	Assistant Secretary
Scott Edson	Assistant Secretary
Tom Schumacher	Assistant Secretary Also present were:
Marilee Giles	District Manager
Katie Buchanan	District Counsel by telephone
Joe Schofield	District Engineer by telephone
Jay Soriano	GMS
Rob Alba	RMS
Several Residents

The following is a summary of the discussions and actions taken at the July 1, 2026 meeting.

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
There being no comments, the next item followed.

THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion of Suspension Letter
Ms. Giles stated this was on the agenda for the last meeting and the board asked to continue it to this meeting. The suspension was for a rental at the facility, overflow parking issues that

interfered with a following event and the party moved to the pool deck and also had glass containers. The suspension was issued April 10^th.

On MOTION by Mr. Schumacher seconded by Mr. Wetherbee with all in favor the resident was suspended for a total of 6 months from the date of the incident.

FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion  of  Demand  Letters  Regarding
Easement Encroachments
1831 Marias River Court
1837 Marias River Court
1843 Big Spring Point
1846 Big Spring Point
Mr. Soriano stated we have talked about the easements on the back ponds before. The board isn’t required to do much with the ponds but is required to keep the water flowing then outlined the need for access to the easements,
Ms. Buchanan stated this is a legal right the district has, it is on the plat and on the survey so it is something the residents should have advance knowledge of when they purchased their property. They are neighbors and sometimes it is difficult to ask them to spend money to make a change to what is on their property and that is why Jay is trying to consider if there are alternatives to this and how strictly you want to enforce this. It puts you in a precarious position if you have ask one person to change and not every person to change. I don’t feel that we have the ability to distinguish how we treat different lots. How hard do you want to pursue these things? You can have license agreements from everyone but that doesn’t change the status quo necessarily it just makes the homeowner acknowledge that if the district has to get back there any damage to their property is at their expense, not the district’s expense. To the other situation which is how do we get back there for our operation and maintenance functions, is a separate question and you are going to have to prioritize your approach that way.
Mr. Weatherbee asked what are we asking of the homeowner besides a legal document that gives us the right to do that? Are we saying they have to take their fence down or put a gate up or we can tear the gate fence down to get back there? What are we asking of the residents to do?
Mr. Soriano stated realistically we didn’t ask anything, it was the residents that came to your last meeting because of the emergency. We had already said if nobody wants to move their

fence we are just not going to maintain the ponds, they would have to do it. We can walk in to look at the structures. We have to inspect the structures every once in a while to make sure water can flow through, nothing is blocked, nothing is falling apart. That way your permit with St. Johns River Water Management District stays in place. The concern of the residents who attended the last meeting was because of the fire and we explained the problem and those residents asked can we get the easements back. The only way to get the easements back is to have the homeowners move their fences.
Ms. Buchanan stated we can knock on the door first and explain we have problems with our infrastructure we have allowed this fence on our easement to remain because we didn’t want to inconvenience you but at this point we have no choice but to use this easement, you have a certain number of days to try to figure out how to handle your fence. That is how I perceive it being played out in real life. If they don’t respond then we have to take it out ourselves.
Ms. Miller asked have we had a conversation with these four properties you can keep the fence but you need to mow the grass because we don’t want anything to happen but if it does this is what is going to happen.
Ms. Giles stated we have not had that conversation with them. We sent the letters that I emailed you a copy of. I think two have reached out to staff to better understand the letter. Two of the three have reached out. Staff cannot make any decisions for the board.
Mr. Schumacher stated fire trucks have to have access.
Ms. Buchanan stated we are just talking about the CDD having access to maintain its infrastructure.
Mr. Edson stated if we don’t make them move the fence and they decide they want to cut down to the pond is there a liability with them cutting CDD property?
Mr. Soriano stated there is going to be liability.
Ms. Buchanan stated there is a difference between a homeowner and a contractor mowing the grass on our property. We require a landscape company to acknowledge that they are liable and responsible for their own employees, they are responsible for their negligence, they are required to be insured and they are required to name the CDD as an additional insured on their insurance policy. We do not have any of those protections for a private person performing work on CDD property.

Ms. Giles stated I think staff is asking for your guidance. Do you want us to continue to work with these residents to ask them to come off the easement 5-feet each? Do you want to allow them to keep their fences right where they are at and enter into a variance agreement?
Ms. Alba stated I don’t think 5-feet is going to make a difference. My personal opinion is that we go into this agreement but I also think that they need to have the knowledge of one of the reasons other than an emergency is because of the grass cutting.
Ms. Miller stated it is more than cutting the grass, it is about the structures underneath that run through the easement.
Ms. Buchanan stated your options are: ignore it, let it stand or have a variance agreement where it stands but everybody understands they are responsible for liability and cost if the district has to remove it or your third option is to request that they remove the fence and leave it unimpeded.
After further discussion the board took the following action.

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Ms. Miller with all in favor staff was directed to enter into a variance agreement with each homeowner at 1831 Marias River Court, 1837 Marias River Court, 1843 Big Spring Point, and 1846 Big Spring Point.

FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Ratification of Agreements
Riverside Management Services for Fiscal Year 2027

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Wetherbee with all in favor the agreement with Riverside Management Services for fiscal year 2027 was ratified.

Lake Doctors

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Edson with all in favor the agreement with Lake Doctors was ratified.

Hi Tech for Security System

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Schumacher with all in favor the agreement with Hi Tech was ratified.

Waste Pro

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Wetherbee with all in favor the agreement with Waste Pro was ratified.

SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Ratification of Engagement Letter with Grau
& Associates for Fiscal Year 2026 Auditing Services

On MOTION by Ms. Miller seconded by Ms. Alba with all in favor the engagement letter with Grau & Associates was ratified.

SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Consideration of Work Authorization No. 1
for Parking at Playgrounds
Ms. Giles stated at the last meeting the board discussed getting proposals to add some parking spots to a playground. This would be that first step in that process, and this is a work authorization from your district engineer.
Mr. Schofield stated I put together a lump sum proposal to get you to a preliminary bid. The deliverable is preliminary bid drawings, site design work that Alliant will provide for you to be sent out to bid and get construction numbers so you can decide whether to fund a construction project.
Ms. Giles stated this is a pretty big project. What the board has seen in years past is smaller projects where staff was able to get a general contractor and get proposals. This is much larger than that as it involves working with the county and county easements. First, we have to approve this work authorization for $7,500 and he will bring back proposals for board consideration. If the board decides it is not a project they want to take on at this time, you would be better educated for the future. This is how you get proposals.

On MOTION by Mr. Schumacher seconded by Ms. Alba with three in favor and Mr. Edson and Ms. Miller opposed work authorization no. 1 was approved.

EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion of Fiscal Year 2027 Budget
Ms. Giles gave an overview of the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget that has no proposed increase.
Mr. Edson asked why did we not choose to increase the capital budget this year?
Ms. Giles stated we increased the amount going to the capital reserve. The board authorized us to get an update to the capital reserve study and staff is reviewing that. The contribution to the capital reserve in the study is close to what we are putting in the budget for FY 27.

NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion of:
Land Acquisition of Parcel ID 02-05-24-005924-010-71
Ms. Giles stated a resident reached out to buy this parcel and some of you responded to staff that you were not interested in this offer, but Tom wanted to revisit it.
Mr. Schumacher stated it is 13 acres we can’t do anything with it and we are not going to do anything with it. I thought we should entertain the offer.
Mr. Soriano stated the property does contain one pond and the only way to get to it is to go into Middleburg and back on those dirt roads to the backside of this property. A long time ago the plan was homes there. When they designed Warm Springs and D.R. Horton closed off the back of the loop, you no longer had access to that area. The only road coming in would be through Middleburg. It is not all preserve, some is useable for development, some would have to be kept for stormwater. If you want to sell it, you need to get with the attorney and engineer, you can’t just take an offer. This has enough space for 40-60 homes.
Mr. Schofield stated if you want me to spend a few hours talking to the county and looking at the open space and calculations that were included in entitlements for this project we can determine quickly if this is something we should sell.
Ms. Giles stated before Joe does that work is this something the board would like to ask Joe to look into? Is there any interest from the board?
Mr. Edson asked how much are we talking about to do the research?

Mr. Schofield stated initially 2 to 4 hours, maybe half a day to do due diligence will get us a long way.
Ms. Buchanan stated generally speaking I would expect that the purchaser would be responsible for paying all of your legal fees in connection with the sale, all the title work. The only other restrictions that I can see are to make sure there are no CDD improvements are involved or as Joe mentioned regulatory requirements that would prevent us from doing that and that is more engineering than legal. The last issue is whether or not there would be similarly situated property and I don’t think that is an issue. This is a unique situation from what I understand. We can get through there if we want to, can’t we?
Mr. Soriano stated no, you can’t get through there unless you use dirt roads in Middleburg. Ms. Buchanan stated then we don’t think he wants to join the CDD.
Ms. Giles asked does it include the district’s pond?
Mr. Soriano stated it would cut off our access to the pond, and it would be something the engineer would have to look at. That is the pond I spoke of earlier that is back there, and we can’t get to it. That would end up being cut off because it would be part of that property.
Ms. Giles stated I want a motion authorizing the engineer to research this.

On MOTION by Ms. Miller seconded by Mr. Edson with all in favor four hours of engineering services to do due diligence on this parcel was approved.

Agreement with Governmental Management Services
This item was taken off the agenda.

Agreement with Riverside Management Services
This item was taken off the agenda.

Pressure Washing Azalea Ridge Boulevard
Mr. Soriano stated this belongs to the county; the district does not own any of the sidewalks. The only reason we agreed to do the front portion was because the county engineering staff was here and gave verbal agreement, which they don’t normally do. It is not our sidewalk. The front cost $3,500 and this is twice as far but we can get a price if that is what you want.

Mr. Schumacher stated if we gave you a relatively low number not to exceed that might help set the price. $7,000 would be twice the price and if we knocked that down $1,000 then it may be $6,000.
Mr. Soriano stated if there is no rush, an estimate doesn’t cost anything.
It was the consensus of the board to have staff obtain estimates for cleaning the sidewalks.

Tree Replacements
Ms. Giles stated we talked about this at the last meeting. What was the plan for that?
Mr. Soriano stated that was when we were forced to plant a tree because the county wouldn’t finalize our permit for the playground gazebo. They wanted us to go back to the original landscape design from when we opened that pocket park 10-years ago. There is no irrigation and we knew the trees would have trouble, but we were hoping they would live, but we had a drought. I would include that as part of your project for the parking lot.
Mr. Edson stated then we don’t have to replace the dead trees.
Mr. Soriano stated no, you got the C.O. for that playground, it’s done. They are completely dead and we can remove them; we don’t need to replace them. That is up to you. We are getting more rain but you have no irrigation.
It was the consensus of the board to remove the trees at the playground if they are dead.

TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Acceptance of the Fiscal Year 2025 Audit
Report
Ms. Giles stated it is a clean audit with no findings or recommendations in the preceding financial audit.

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Edson with all in favor the Fiscal Year 2025 audit report was accepted.

ELEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Staff Reports
Attorney
Ms. Buchanan stated the legislation we spoke about previously where there was a recall process put into place for CDD board members was in fact signed by the governor. It was an update to my report yesterday explaining it so if you haven’t gotten it send me an email, I am

happy to resend. The sovereign immunity increase meaning the potential cost of insurance because our liability will be higher, that is no longer on the table for the current year.

Engineer
There being no comments, the next item followed.

Manager – Discussion of Fiscal Year 2027 Meeting Schedule
Ms. Giles stated the fiscal year 2027 meeting schedule is in keeping with your normal first Wednesday of the month for November 4, January 6, March 3, May 5, July 7^th and September 1st.

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Schumacher with all if favor the fiscal year 2027 meeting schedule was approved.

Ms. Giles stated everyone completed their form 1 and you have until December 31^st to do the ethics training. I think three have already done that. Let me know when you complete it.

Operation Manager’s Report
There being no comments, the next item followed.

Amenity Manager
Report
Mr. Alba reviewed the amenity manager’s report, copy of which was included in the agenda package.

Brightview QSA
A copy of the Brightview quality site assessment was included in the agenda package.

TWELFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Supervisor’s Requests and Public Comments
A resident stated the last time I was here we talked about people living in the back. Are you aware of the teenagers who have hacked out a little place over there and they go there quite often to do whatever they want to do. Most of the time I don’t care because they are quiet but sometimes late at night they have parties back there. I don’t know if you have anything to do with that but it is in the reserve.

Mr. Soriano stated that is district property, it is a conservation easement. The only thing we can do is rely on the sheriff’s office to address it. I always tell residents when they see things like that you can call the sheriff’s office.
Mr. Shroyer asked who is interested in buying the property? Mr. Soriano stated it is public information.
Mr. Shroyer stated now there is someone interested in the farm by Freedom. I wonder if it is the same person.
Freedom is not interested in getting in getting our CDD fees frozen. Whoever made that suggestion was not speaking for the Freedom board. We are not trying to get out of the CDD. We don’t want our rates frozen. We are in this together.
Ms. Reeves stated I am one of the residents around pond 3 along with some other residents who are also around pond 3. Did you allude to the fact that residents are responsible for mowing their properties behind them?
Mr. Soriano stated no. We can’t tell you that you have to mow that. You could mow. That is a pond bank we can’t get to, but we would typically have it mowed.
Ms. Reeves asked are you saying because you can’t get to the field because of gates and the easement being closed, that field is something that is going to be left to grow unless the residents mow it.
Mr. Soriano stated we are not mowing it unless we have access through those easements, we can’t get the equipment back there.
Ms. Reeves asked how many of you live around a pond in this community? At least the rest of you don’t have to worry about the people behind you. You don’t have to worry about 3-foot snakes in your lanai. You represent the people here tonight and the rest of the community. You are the CDD you have the responsibility for the infrastructure. It is a problem that is getting worse and the problem is not going away unless we have your support. We need you to back the residents of pond 3. Why is that we can’t find a solution for the residents of pond 3? You are telling me you can’t come up with an idea to help us figure out how to mow that field around the pond.
Mr. Soriano stated we have a solution. We gave the board all the options. The option tonight was they are not going to force the homeowners to do anything, but they are going to do

legal agreements. Maybe those homeowners will change their mind and realize the problem they are creating. They bought the house with the existing fence, but it is still their problem.
Ms. Reeves stated we are looking for a workable solution. Mowing behind our property is not a solution for us. We have weeds that are 3-feet tall. Someone has mowed that field for 11 years, but it has not been mowed for five months. You have no idea what it looks like and have no idea to be afraid that something is going to come in your yard because of the height of the weeds. You represent us. We need your help. You should be able to come up with something to help us residents on pond 3.
Mr. Slade stated I’m one of the guys who has the easement going through that you dealt with today. He wanted to know if possibly setting the property out further to where they are required to take care of that grass behind the yards. I think the argument with like emergency services coming through I don’t think that should have any sort of effect on the fences in the easement because if the fire department needs to get back there they will. Extend the property line and move the fences down.
Mr. Soriano stated that is not something we are able to do. You are basically asking the CDD to give property to a private owner. Short of what we are doing tonight we are asking people to move their fence. We approached the owners and none of them wanted to move the fence so this board would have to force them.
Ms. Giles stated those are the dedicated easements to get back to that pond for maintenance.
We have access to all the ponds through a common area except this one.
A resident stated if I bought a house and someone had a fence on my property I would make them move it. What is the difference here?
Ms. Giles stated if the board wants to revisit this, we can. If your decision stands then it
stands.
Mr. Schumacher stated we should enforce all the easements.

On MOTION by Mr. Wetherbee seconded by Ms. Miller with all in favor item four will be reconsidered.

Ms. Giles stated Mr. Schumacher’s stance from the beginning was to have the fences removed from the easement. It is a 30-foot easement and staff is saying they need at least 10-feet.

Ms. Miller stated get the whole easement back. That way there is no discussion later, no questions, they just need to move it to the easement line.
Mr. Schumacher stated we have to enforce the easements.
Ms. Giles stated you have to decide how far you want the fence, 10-feet on each side or the whole easement width?
Ms. Buchanan stated I don’t know if this is an issue on other ponds. For reference, we have seen this before in another community and there are close to 20 of these situations that exist in that other community and they decided to send letters, the letters did not create responses so I would not be optimistic. They ultimately filed lawsuits against all of those lots to enforce the easements and it was pricey. I want you to understand your path forward, not to change your vote or weigh in on the right or wrong but I’m explaining what a CDD has done when faced with a very similar situation.
Mr. Edson asked is there a way to incentivize these owners to move the fences? Ms. Giles stated we will cut the grass when they remove the fences. That’s it.
A resident stated 10-feet of the property should give you the room to access the pond, any more than that would be unfair.
Mr. Edson asked could the district pay for the fence to be put up.
Ms. Buchanan stated I’m reluctant to use district funds on private property but if you anticipate litigation would cost more to settle potential litigation.
Mr. Edson stated if we enter into an agreement with those two homeowners to move the fence back on each side and pay for the length of fence for both. Also if we do it we wouldn’t be required to do that for the other homeowners would we?
Ms. Buchanan stated I don’t think you have to do it for everyone. I can’t give that decision tonight, you have to give everybody notice and allow comments. I wouldn’t recommend that you choose that path tonight without giving everybody opportunity to think about it in advance.
Mr. Soriano stated you can still go through the process and then consider the option later.
The letter was sent for them to contact us. If you want to send another letter we can do that.
Mr. Edson stated we can send them a demand letter telling them they have to move the
fence.
Ms. Buchanan stated sure.

A resident stated residents are not going to agree to pay to move the fences. They will be angry because they are paying for someone’s private property.
Ms. Giles stated we will send the letter and put it on the next agenda.

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Edson with all in favor staff was authorized to send a second letter to the homeowners to move the fences and staff was directed to obtain a proposal to move both fences.

Supervisor’s Requests
Mr. Edson stated I have a question about the white truck. Do we know who did it? Mr. Alba stated the investigating officer was going to speak with the potential owner. Mr. Edson stated the owner of the truck should be responsible.
Mr. Alba stated that is up to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to determine that was the vehicle. I provided all the surveillance to them and spoke to the investigating officer.
Ms. Miller asked I know the roads are Clay County. We have no say so over the golf carts that are being used by youths that are not of a legal age to drive. Is there anything we can do?
Mr. Alba stated we asked Clay County Sherriff to come out and try to educate the kids on motorcycles and golf carts and they did show up and talked to the kids. I suggest calling CCSO.
Ms. Miller stated some residents have commented about the cleanliness of the gym, sometimes it is clean but most of the time they don’t feel it is clean. Another resident told me the women’s bathroom was out of TP a couple times.
Mr. Alba stated I stocked up all the bathrooms, and I will talk to them about the gym.
Mr. Schumacher stated at the end of Sandy Ridge Boulevard and Green River there is landscaping with six little cutouts, half of them have mulch. Does Brightview take care of that?
Mr. Soriano stated those are drift roses and knockouts and some of them need to be replaced. We can talk to Brightview, they clean up the beds. We can get some numbers to make that look better.

THIRTEENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Approval of Consent Agenda
Approval of the Minutes of the May 6, 2026 Meeting

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Schumacher with all in favor the minutes of the May 6, 2026 meeting were approved as presented.

Acceptance of the Minutes of the May 6, 2026 Audit Committee Meeting

On MOTION by Ms. Alba seconded by Mr. Schumacher with all in favor the minutes of the May 6, 2026 audit committee meeting were accepted.

Balance Sheet & Income Statement D	Assessment Receipt Schedule
E.	Approval of Check Register

On MOTION by Mr. Schumacher seconded by Ms. Alba with all in favor the balance of the consent agenda items was approved.

FOURTEENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Next Meeting Scheduled for September 2,
2026 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 September 2, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the same location.

FIFTEENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Adjournment

On MOTION by Mr. Wetherbee seconded by Mr. Schumacher with all in favor the meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Secretary/Assistant Secretary	Chairman/Vice Chairman