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EAST COUNTY
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
TRIBUTE
NEAL’S VIEW
PET PARTY
The Lakewood Ranch builder offers insight into his company’s culture. PAGE 3
Braden River’s longtime athletic director signs off. PAGE 3
OUR TOWN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
Residents unite for pets in need. PAGE 19
safety first by Kurt Schultheis | Managing Editor
Road privatization effort gains traction Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club communities seek to have more security and complete control over their streets and gates. The effort will take perseverance.
+ Coach helps launch icy challenge Chris Kennedy’s simple gesture to put a smile on his cousin Anthony Senerchia’s face is garnering national attention. The Cardinal Mooney High boys golf coach, who helped start the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge earlier this summer, has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Real Simple, The Golf Channel, Globo TV and Fuji TV, among other outlets. Kennedy was called out by a friend on July 15 to participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge. At the time, participants were encouraged to pick a charity of their choosing — it wasn’t tied to one specific charity. Kennedy gladly accepted, choosing the ALS Foundation in honor of Senerchia, who has been battling the disease for the past 11 years. “What started out as a small gesture has turned into a national phenomenon, to be a part of this movement has been pretty cool,” Kennedy says.
Lakewood Ranch Country Club residents want the ability to beef up security at their gated entrances and turn motorists away if they aren’t invited guests. But they have a long way to go toward achieving that goal. The first step is gaining complete ownership of their roads and gates. On Aug. 29, a small legislative issues workgroup met at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall to
start the process. Community Development District 6 Chairman Richard Williams is leading an effort to get the Florida Legislature to approve a bill at its 2015 session that would allow the CDDs to transfer the roads and control of the roads over to the homeowners’ associations. “We have to take the lead with the state to get us on a level play-
ing field,” said Williams, who already drafted a bill that will now be reviewed by Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh and other Manatee County officials. Then the bill will come before the CDD board members later this month for their approval to move forward with the legislation. The effort, though, still has a long way to go.
That’s because the roads were paid for with bonds through the CDD taxing districts that residents are still repaying. The roads and current ownership structure of the roads must remain intact until those bonds are paid off. Until then, the gates that sit at the entrances of the country
SEE ROAD / PAGE 8
LOCAL A PEEL
Amanda Sebastiano
Luca Milbank picks out a piece of fruit at the Lakewood Ranch farmers market Saturday, Aug. 30. The farmers market returned to Main Street for a trial run, with about 22 vendors and a new name — Jen’s MarketPlace. For more photos, see page 23.
GROWTH SPURT
by Amanda Sebastiano | Staff Writer
East County braces for growing enrollment New numbers show the Manatee School District welcomed 1,200 more students compared with a year ago. District officials say they can handle the increase without affecting education. + Deer model East County resident Darlene Stewart captured this photo at 7 p.m. Aug. 22 on Arnold Palmer Drive, near a pond across from the Lakewood Ranch Country Clubhouse driving range. “How stately is this deer?” she asks.
EAST COUNTY — As the principal of a school that sits in the center of constantly expanding Lakewood Ranch, Kathy McLean is used to seeing B.D. Gullett Elementary classrooms fill up with students. So far, in the 2014-15 school
year, however, the East County school has welcomed more students — in one year — since it opened its doors in 2007. Gullett’s enrollment has increased by more than 100 students, according to a 10-day count McLean received Aug. 29
from the Manatee County School District. The school now houses 665 students. “We knew we were going to have a little bit of a burst in enrollment due to new developments around us which have either just entered the last phase
of completion or are finished,” McLean said. “We’ve typically grown by about 30 to 60 kids each year, but we’ve had a little more of a gain this year.” As more families head to East
SEE ENROLLMENT / PAGE 8
INDEX Building permits...25 Classifieds ...........29
Cops Corner..........11 Crossword.............28
Neighborhood.......19 Real Estate...........24
Sports...................15 Weather................28
Vol. 16, No. 44 | One section YourObserver.com