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Letter to the editor

Westchase to keep manager; east side to reinstate patrols

The board will seek a cheaper management pact and hire deputies.

By RODNEY THRASH, Times Staff Writer
Published January 18, 2008

Listen up, you small-time rogues. Off-duty deputy patrols are coming back to Westchase.

After reports of vandalism and loitering at Baybridge Park surfaced at the January meeting of the area's two taxing districts, the board that governs the eastern portion voted 3-2 to reinstate off-duty patrols.

In 2006, it suspended patrols in the Bridges, the Fords, the Greens, West Park Village and the Vineyards. At a cost of $80,000, board members felt the patrols weren't worth the money. Chairman Greg Chesney, one of the two dissenting votes, still feels that way.

"Westchase, while it's had isolated incidents, has never had any kind of crime problem," he said after the meeting. "These type of patrols should be provided by the sheriff to all communities. It's shocking you have to get extra patrols on your own."

The bulk of January's meeting was spent interviewing companies competing to manage Westchase. Supervisors could have switched to a company that would have saved taxpayers $80,000. Instead, they stuck with the one that has balanced the books, landscaped the lakes and maintained the parks for close to two decades.

It was that firm's poor performance that prompted officials to begin talks with rival companies last year. Turnover in the district manager's position, missing financial reports and shoddy landscaping threatened to dethrone Severn Trent Services, the company that has managed Westchase since its inception.

Four companies submitted bids:

- Severn Trent, the current company, which bid $164,666.

- Rizzetta & Company Inc.: $175,000

- DPFG Development Planning & Financing Group Inc.: $155,000.

- DMS (District Management Services LLC): $85,000 (additional charges would have been assessed if monthly meetings exceeded three hours).

The last bid was attractive, but its disaster plan was not. If a major hurricane struck Tampa, DMS would have a hard time retrieving backups of Westchase's financial data.

Severn Trent keeps that information in Texas and Pennsylvania. DMS stores it in a safe at the owner's home, which is in an evacuation zone.

That concerned board members, who ultimately decided that Westchase's history with Severn Trent was too great to ignore.

"I don't think we should change," said east supervisor Ernie Sylvester.

"Continued discussion of this is a distraction to the board," said Westchase supervisor Bill Casale.

This was the second time since April 2007 that supervisors interviewed management companies.

Rather than keep talks going, they voted to negotiate a new, less expensive contract with Severn Trent, the terms of which will be discussed at 3 p.m. Feb. 5.

Rodney Thrash can be reached at rthrash@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5303.

[Last modified January 17, 2008, 23:04:53]