bserver O EAST COUNTY FREE • Thursday, AUGUST 1, 2013
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
NEWS
sports
Manatee schools fare well after FCAT standards change. PAGE 5
Misdee Wrigley Miller ‘drives’ home with championship. PAGE 13
OUR TOWN
big time
SOCIAL NETWORK New committee fosters community spirit in GreyHawk Landing. PAGE 17
CONTROL SYSTEM
by Josh Siegel | Staff Writer
by Josh Siegel | Staff Writer
Budget plan bent on fixing past mistakes The Manatee County School Board approved a tentative 2013-14 budget plan, which includes new revenues from higher property values but leaves little wiggle room.
Courtesy photo
+ Mom named ‘Rookie of the Year’ Paula Lohnes, of GreyHawk Landing, recently earned the coveted “Rookie of the Year” award with national health-benefits company AmeriPlan. The award, which thousands of new representatives seek, came with a $3,000 prize. Over the past six months, Lohnes has built a successful business and earned the level of regional sales director while working from home. AmeriPlan provides individuals, families and businesses across the United States affordable medical, dental, vision, prescription and chiropractic benefits.
+ Ranch resident collecting food The Food Bank of Manatee is in need of donations, and Lakewood Ranch resident Don O’Leary is stepping in to help. O’Leary will be collecting donations from residents of Edgewater and the Lakewood Ranch County Club (Community Development Districts 2 and 5) between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3. Individuals should place bags of non-perishable food items they wish to donate in bags at the end of their driveways. Individuals also wishing to make cash or credit-card contributions should contact O’Leary at 907-1227.
Josh Siegel
Participating in Lennar’s groundbreaking ceremony at Bridgewater at Lakewood Ranch, from left to right are: Darin McMurray, division president of Lennar Homes Southwest Florida; Matt Devereaux, vice president of sales; Matt Figlestahler, sales manager; Rex Jenson, president and CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch; Sen. Bill Galvano; Jimmy Stewart, Lakewood Ranch vice president of sales; and Terry Kirschner, land manager for Lennar.
Lennar breaks ground on Bridgewater homes National builder Lennar held a groundbreaking ceremony last week for its new community in Lakewood Ranch. LAKEWOOD RANCH — Building inside the award-winning master-planned Lakewood Ranch community is a privilege reserved for select homebuilders. Homebuyers can only sign contracts with a builder in a group of primarily local homebuilders that Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the community’s developer, has pre-approved. The condition has helped Lakewood Ranch grow on its own terms. But, now, wed to its long-held No. 9 ranking among best-selling communities in America, SMR is changing its terms, opening them up to national brands that make the stakes — and the potential impacts — bigger. Seated in the crowd at a July 24 groundbreaking ceremony for Lakewood Ranch’s newest community, Bridgewater at Lakewood Ranch, Rex Jensen, president and CEO of Lakewood Ranch developer SchroederManatee Ranch, looked at ease. He’s comfortable Lennar, a Miami-based company known locally for its work in Heritage Harbour, will be building the community, and he believes it fits nicely into a national homebuilder lineup that also includes Taylor Morrison and D.R. Horton.
“The national builders are giving us a look because of the critical mass we’ve hit,” Jensen said. “Lakewood Ranch has gained some credibility, and we are a proven product now.” Lennar plans to about 280 new homes at Bridgewater, which is located off Pope Road. Two home styles will be offered in the community. Homes in the Bridgewater Estate collection will range in size from 2,245 square feet to 3,828 square feet and in price from the high $300,000s to the high $400,000s. Manor Homes will range in size from 2,394 to 3,800 square feet and will run from the high $200,000s to the high $300,000s. Every home features a three-car garage and follows Lennar’s “everything included” philosophy, which includes luxury features, such as high-end appliances, security features and green-building and energy-consumption techniques. “Lakewood Ranch is such an unbelievable opportunity for us and a place we’ve been wanting to build in for a long time,” said Matt Devereaux, Lennar’s vice president of sales for Southwest Florida.
EAST COUNTY — Last year’s budget appropriated money that didn’t exist. Some dollars were budgeted for one program but spent on something else. A new Manatee County School District leadership team rushed to put together a legitimate budget but could not build on a past that had no validity. So, it started from scratch. “This is a balanced budget,” said Don Hall, the new deputy superintendent of operations. “The expenditures and revenues match. This is the first time that’s happened in a long time in the How will general district.” fund money be spent? The Manatee PAGE 8 County School Board unanimously approved the tentative 201314 budget plan July 29; it includes a $342.9 million operating budget — from a $564.9 million total budget — that had to cover next year’s expenses and fix mistakes of the past. Superintendent Rick Mills said a lineitem budget, which has not yet been published, will be revealed during an Aug. 29 public hearing, an extra meeting not required by law. The School Board will not vote to adopt the budget until Sept. 9. It’s all in the name of transparency. “Last year’s budget has no validity,” Hall said. Superintendent Rick Mills and his staff scrambled to build safeguards that would prevent repeats in previous budget errors
SEE BUDGET / PAGE 8
SEE LENNAR / PAGE 8
INDEX SEE OUR TOWN / PAGE 4
Briefs......................6 Classifieds ...........25
Cops Corner............9 Crossword.............24
Neighborhood.......17 Real Estate...........22
Sports...................13 Weather................24
Vol. 14, No. 31 | One section YourObserver.com