Lake Ashton Community Development District
&
Lake Ashton II Community Development District
Joint Meeting

October 18, 2021

October 11, 2021

Lake Ashton and Lake Ashton II
Community Development Districts
219 E. Livingston St., Orlando, Florida 32801 Phone: 407-841-5524 - Fax: 407-839-1526

Board of Supervisors
Lake Ashton & Lake Ashton II Community Development Districts

Dear Board Members:

The joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Lake Ashton Community Development District and the Lake Ashton II Community Development District will be held Monday, October 18, 2021 at 11:30 AM at the Lake Ashton Clubhouse Ballroom, 4141 Ashton Club Drive, Lake Wales, FL 33859.

Members of the public may attend and participate in the meeting utilizing the following options from your computer, tablet, or smartphone. To participate using video, please go to the link address below. To participate by telephone, please use the call-in number below and enter the Meeting ID when prompted. Members of the public are further encouraged to submit comments or questions in advance of the meeting by email to jburns@gmscfl.com, or by telephone by calling (407) 841-5524, up until 2:00 PM on Friday, October 15, 2021.

Zoom Video Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/96959231158

Zoom Call-In Information: 1-646-876-9923
Meeting ID: 969 5923 1158

Following is the advance agenda for the meeting:

Board of Supervisors Meeting

Roll Call and Pledge of Allegiance
Approval of Meeting Agenda
Public Comments on Specific Items on the Agenda  (the District Manager will read    any questions or comments from members of the public in advance of the meeting; those members of the public wanting to address the Board directly should first state his or her name and his or her address.1)
Approval of Minutes of the July 16, 2021 Joint Board of Supervisors Meetings

1 All comments, including those read by the District Manager, will be limited to three (3) minutes

Update Regarding Joint Amenity Policies (requested by Supervisor Realmuto from Lake Ashton CDD)
Consideration of Resolution Setting a Public Hearing Amending Joint Policy Related to Non-Resident User Fees
Resolution 2022-01 for Lake Ashton CDD
Resolution 2022-04 for Lake Ashton II CDD
Discussion Regarding Community Action Group Formation (requested by
Supervisor Costello from Lake Ashton CDD)
Update Regarding Focus 2020 Group (requested by Supervisor Realmuto from Lake Ashton CDD)
Discussion Regarding Security Gate Options (requested by Supervisor Realmuto from Lake Ashton CDD)
CLOSED Board Discussion Regarding Security Procedures
Supervisor Requests and General Public Comments
Adjournment

M INUTES

MINUTES OF MEETING
LAKE ASHTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT AND LAKE ASHTON II COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT

The joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Lake Ashton Community Development District and Lake Ashton II Community Development District was held on Friday, July 16, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at the Health and Fitness Center, 6052 Pebble Beach Blvd., Winter Haven, Florida.

Present and constituting a quorum:

Bob Plummer	Lake Ashton CDD Chairman
Michael Costello	Lake Ashton CDD Vice Chairman
Steve Realmuto	Lake Ashton CDD Assistant Secretary
Harry Krumrie	Lake Ashton CDD Assistant Secretary
Lloyd Howison	Lake Ashton CDD Assistant Secretary

James Mecsics	Lake Ashton II CDD Chairman
Bob Zelazny	Lake Ashton II CDD Vice Chairman
Duff Hill	Lake Ashton II CDD Assistant Secretary
Angela Littlewood	Lake Ashton II CDD Assistant Secretary
Colette McKie	Lake Ashton II CDD Assistant Secretary Also present:
Jill Burns	District Manager
Jan Carpenter via Zoom	Lake Ashton CDD District Counsel
Mike Eckert	Lake Ashton II CDD District Counsel
Christine Wells	Community Director
Mary Bosman	Community Director

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS	Roll Call and Pledge of Allegiance
Ms. Burns called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. and called the roll. All Supervisors were present. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS	Approval of Meeting Agenda
Ms. Burns: First item on our agenda is approval of the meeting agenda. Unless anybody has any changes or additions to that we would be looking for a motion to approve the meeting agenda for Lake Ashton and Lake Ashton II.

On MOTION by Mr. Realmuto, seconded by Mr. Costello, with all in favor, the meeting agenda was approved by the Lake Ashton CDD Board.

On MOTION by Mr. Zelazny, seconded by Mr. Hill, with all in favor, the meeting agenda was approved by the Lake Ashton II CDD Board.

THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS	Public Comments on Specific Items
on the Agenda (the District Manager will read any questions or comments from members of the public in advance of the meeting; those members of the public wanting to address the Board directly should first state his or her name and his or her address.
Ms. Burns: Next is public comments on the specific agenda items and we'll also take public comments on items that are not on the agenda at the end. Do we have any public comments from anybody here in person? I do not have any forms. Is there anybody on the Zoom line? You can use Zoom's raise hand feature to be called on. We have no public comments on the Zoom line. I did receive one via email, but it's for something that's not on the agenda, so it will be read at the end.

FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Approval of Minutes of the April 19,
2021 Joint Board of Supervisors Meetings
Ms. Burns: The next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes of the April 19th Joint Board of Supervisors meetings. Any questions, comments, corrections to those minutes?
Mr. Mecsics: I have one correction. When it shows who was present for the last meeting, Mary Bosman was also at that meeting. Then it says April 19th, 2020. It should be 2021.
Ms. Burns: We'll make those two corrections. Anything else? Jim, do you want to make a motion to approve as amended for Lake Ashton II?
Mr. Mecsics: I make motion to approve the minutes as amended.

On MOTION by Mr. Costello, seconded by Mr. Howison, with all in favor, Approval of the Minutes of the April 19, 2021 Meeting, were approved, as amended.

On MOTION by Mr. Mecsics, seconded by Ms. McKie, with all in favor, Approval of the Minutes of the April 19, 2021 Meeting, were approved, as amended.

FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Unfinished Business
A. Discussion of Security Options and Gate Security Enhancements (requested by Supervisor Mecsics of the Lake Ashton II CDD)
Ms. Burns: Moving on to unfinished business. We have discussion of security options and gate security enhancements requested by Supervisor Mecsics, I will turn it over to Jim and Bob.
Mr. Mecsics: I'll start off, if that's okay with you? Mr. Plummer: Go right ahead.
Mr. Mecsics: At our last joint meeting, Mr. Plummer and I were asked to review the use of the resident “clickers” and whether an upgrade or change was warranted. The clickers are a courtesy to residents, so they do not have to show their proper identification, Lake Ashton ID or Florida driver's licenses, with the Lake Ashton address to the officers at the gates. There are generally three types of phenomenology for automated access control: Radio-frequency, which is what the clickers are, our code readers, or a more sophisticated system such as satellite down-link to vehicle. The RF or radio frequency system is relatively inexpensive, and requires full administrative actions. The bar code system will require an administrative system as well as fixing the code to a vehicle. The bar-code is generally used in the transportation areas, cargo vehicles or trains and are not generally used for access control anymore. It's an older technology. Satellite based system is expensive and does require some administrative functions. The systems other than the radio-frequency will require modification to the hardware at the gates and will entail a financial requirement. Add to the need for some type of administrative support, the cost then increases. The access control system Lake Ashton has functions under the requirements of the roads being public. There are other facets of the security system that we're not going to go into at an open meeting that address use of the amenities by other

than authorized personnel. It is my evaluation that while the current system is not perfect, it does not present a substantial vulnerability to the community. Bob?
Mr. Plummer: Jim and I have worked on this issue for quite some time now and did some exploration of different items and he's covered most of that there. When he talked about the cost of doing that, we received a quote to change to a bar code reader. The price for that was $38,000. We obviously knew what those dollars and cents were, we didn't find a lot of support for camera readers of license plates. We had a difficult time until just recently finding one other community and I'm not even exactly sure where that is. It came through our security company said they had one community that did that. We've not had the availability to talk to them to find out exactly their ramifications of that. With things the way they are today, the bar-code reader is not only expensive, it also entails putting decals on your car that can be read and those kind of things. I think it's a little bit of a cumbersome operation to start with. I'm in concurrence with Jim at this point, I think I would just continue with the the present “clickers” until we can come to some other type of a system that we think might be good for the community, we will continue to look at that. If we find something that we would like to recommend, we would obviously bring it back to the joint Boards at some future meeting.
Mr. Mecsics: The technology changes. I receive more books and magazines about all new stuff and when that would come. As Bob said, we review our security postural all of the time. Bob and I talked about and if something comes up that looks like we could use it, then we'll readdress it.
Mr. Realmuto: First of all, I wanted to thank both Jim and Bob for doing the research and bringing back that information to us, particularly the quote to put an actual dollar figure on it. I do want to say that I believe there are at least three important things we need to do to improve gate security. That is to ensure that we have a record of every vehicle or driver entering the community. This would mean that all the vehicles must either have an access device, be it a clicker, barcode, other means, or go to the guest gate and provide a photo ID with no exceptions. I think it's also important that we can revoke access from devices when someone leaves the community. Whether that's provided by the clicker's bar-codes, plate readers, etc. So that ability to be able to revoke it, I think is essential. Otherwise, we have no control over who has access to the community

whatsoever because they'll come through the resident gate. Finally, I think it's important that all vehicles that are granted access to the community properly by either having been granted access, coming through the resident gate, or by stopping and presenting an ID at the guest gate, that they can be easily identified as belonging here. For example, color- coded, yes passes. Maybe color-coded by day would help all of us easily identify whether a vehicle belongs here. Although there might be cases where one of those wasn't issued for reasons I think we all understand. If you saw a car without one, you might be a little more on guard or suspicious about it. Those are three things I think we need to achieve to improve our gate security. Whether or not it's financially an option is a consideration, but if it's something we plan for and budget for, we can make it happen at some point. I want to address the comments that were made about barcode readers being old technology and not being very used very much anymore. It's my understanding that they are used in a great number of communities today. I don't think they should be dismissed too readily, mainly because they address all three of the issues I talked about. They provide some other advantages in addition to satisfying essentially all three of what I think the requirements are, they also solve the problem of someone pressing a clicker too early. With a bar code reader, you have to get to where the reader reads your bar-code, which is right before the gate, so the gate wouldn't open early. They also could be a visual indication that someone has one. I'm not talking about just the bar-code. If there was a Lake Ashton decal near it or as part of it, that would help people satisfy the desire, to know that any vehicle in the community had valid access either through the Lake Ashton bar-code sticker or the guest pass that had been issued. I know as you gentlemen know in the past, we had actually issued guest passes that we asked visitors to display on the dashboard. That would seem to be a simple, virtually no cost thing that we could pursue. Any changes we make to security need to be done jointly to be effective. As I would like to ask that, if nothing else, we move forward on the one that doesn't cost us anything and that is to resume the practice of issuing guest passes that are displayed on the dashboard of vehicles coming into the community.
Mr. Mecsics: Well, I can only speak for Lake Ashton II but when I'm down here at the gate and all the time, they issue guest passes. We’ve never changed that.
Mr. Howison: Yeah. We've never changed that.

Ms. Burns: If I recall correctly, it was taken away because of COVID because there's a concern of the guard going up and back and forth, so we discontinued the gate pass. I haven't gotten a gate pass in a year probably coming in, but I think that was the reason why. It was a COVID thing so the guard didn't have to continually walk up to the cars, and I'm just not sure that we've put it back yet.
Mr. Plummer: I think Jill is correct. We'll make sure that that's being done. Because we intend for that to be done, so we'll make sure that it goes through.
Mr. Mecsics: If they don't have the clicker coming through there, they are asked for a picture ID or a driver's license, and they're logged in.
Mr. Realmuto: See, that's the other concern is the guards following strictly the procedures. I don't mind saying this publicly, because it's not a problem with the fact that you can do it, it's a problem with our procedures and the personnel following the procedures. Basically, all someone has to say is they're a resident, and they get clicked- through. Certainly, that's happened to me on both sides with guards I'm sure don't know me. That's an issue, and we need to be sure that that stops. Someone shouldn't just be able to say, I'm a resident and get clicked through.
Mr. Plummer: I agree. That's a management issue and we'll address that and make sure that's taken care of. Actually, also make sure that the guest passes are being issued again since we stopped doing those during COVID.
Mr. Zelazny: Bob and Jim, perhaps this is a good time because we're discussing security at the gate, to spend no more than five minutes to get in the record how we secure our gates. What the procedures are.
Mr. Eckert: If we're going to talk about security systems, plans, procedures, etc. that needs to be done under private meeting. The reason why, is there is a statutory provision that says if you're going to talk about a security plan or a system, that that has to be done in a closed session. You do not want to publish what your security plan is, what your security protocols and procedures are, so people can look at that and then circumvent them.
Mr. Mecsics: What we can do at a future meeting, we can advertise it as a closed meeting, and have that discussion between the Board.
Mr. Eckert: Yes.

Ms. Burns: Would you like for us to include that in the next joint meeting advertising?
Mr. Zelazny: Yes. I don't have a problem with that.
Ms. Carpenter: Hey Jill, it's Jan Carpenter, what's the date of that meeting?
Mr. Zelazny: I think I have a problem with that though. We tell the residents that in order to access Lake Ashton, you have to have a clicker or you have to go to the guest place, sign in, and get a gate pass. That's the procedure. That's the kind of thing I think that we need to educate the residents on. We record everybody that comes in and keep track of that kind of stuff. I don't know that that's a security violation as it's just a reassurance to the community how we are monitoring access to the community.
Mr. Costello: This is what should be brought up in the joint meeting when we're in a closed session because as your attorney has noted, that by us sitting here discussing it, I agree with you only on the fact that procedure should be published to the people. But as far as talking about it here right now, should this not go to a closed session?
Mr. Eckert: Well, what Supervisor Zelazny has just stated in terms of how you go get a guest pass, I'm not concerned about that.
Mr. Costello: I realized that. But this should come out in a closed session I would
think.
Mr. Eckert: When we start talking about procedures and protocols, that should be
at a closed session, and Jan Carpenter, I think was trying to chime in there. My only point is I have to say that, because I don't know what else you guys are going to say. I'm conservative. But go ahead, Jan.
Ms. Carpenter: No. You're exactly right, Mike. You don't want to say something that you can't take back, so if you're going to talk about changing the procedure or the types of scanning, you really do need to set it for a date for a closed session. Unless folks can really think about what you're going to say and how you're saying it, and that is not anything that someone could try to circumvent, you really want to do it closed session. I guess just think before you talk or decide to do a closed session. One or the other.
Mr. Realmuto: I just want to point out to the residents present, or that might attend this or future meetings, that doesn't preclude you from expressing your desires to the

Board on what you feel is important or not important with regard to security. I think we'd all like to hear that either at this meeting or in future meetings.
Mr. Mecsics: Any other further discussion on that?
Ms. Burns: Nothing else on security? Alright moving on.

SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion	of	Jointly	Working
Together to Benefit the Lake Ashton Community (requested by Supervisor Realmuto of the Lake Ashton CDD)
Ms. Burns: The next item is discussion of jointly working together to benefit the Lake Ashton community, this was requested by Steve, go ahead.
Mr. Realmuto: I put this on the agenda because like many residents, I believe that the entire community is better served when we act as a single Lake Ashton community, regardless of the circumstances that resulted in us currently being organized as two independent CDDs. Since it doesn't seem likely that that's going to change in the short term for many reasons, I thought it would be helpful to take this opportunity to explore smaller ways we can jointly work together to benefit Lake Ashton residents. I'd like to start by first asking that we all keep it positive by looking forward to new opportunities and try to avoid criticism regardless of how constructive we think it might be. I'd like to start us off with a few examples. First, I do point out that two things we've already done are the joint amenity policy that applies to the whole community, and the work done by the Focus 2025 survey committee. I think those both serve as two very positive examples for all of us. Second, I think it's important that Supervisors, staff, and other community leaders be positive role models. Our words and actions should be considered carefully to unite rather than divide. For example, a few years ago, a former Supervisor and Chair proposed that the golf courses be renamed from East and West to something else. I believe residents were even encouraged to submit suggestions. Perhaps that effort could be revived. We could also replace the use of East and West in other contexts, using something more meaningful to all. Such as the Route 653 and Thompson Nursery Road entrances, or Lake Wales and Winter Haven when referring to the CDDs and HOA. Some other examples, I think we talked about gate security. That's one that's absolutely essential, we be on the same page and do the same thing for it to be effective in the community. Finally,

the last idea I'll offer is that there could be financial benefits from joining together for some contracts, such as the drainage flume repairs that each of our Boards approved at their meetings last month, or future road repaving, that I'm sure we'll both need to do in the coming years. Combining the work into a single contract could result in more competitive bids, and reduce the total cost of things like mobilization charges. That's enough from me. I'd like to hear ideas from other Supervisors and staff. Residents also have an opportunity during the public comment period. Thank you.
Mr. Mecsics: I think what you're saying is valid. I encourage each one of our staff members to seek you all out. If I see Harry Krumire walking on the street and I got something to ask him about, I'll grab him. Same way with Mike, or Lloyd, or Bob, or you, I'm not bashful. I think the more we communicate, obviously without being a sunshine law violation, that's the important part. As you said, I think we should keep it positive, I don't think any Board should ever criticize another Board for wherever actions they take. That just creates ill will, so I would not criticize anything you guys do. We need to work and earn that mutual respect and communication that way. That's the most important. I encourage everyone on CDD II, to get with you all, and we have our office hours, feel free. You can come over to see me on my office hours, Steve, so feel free to do that.
Ms. Burns: Anybody have anything?
Mr. Zelazny: Well, in light of what you said Steve, I think we ought to engage now in, you mentioned the joint amenities policy, it's been in place for about two years now. I would suggest that we have a representative from both Boards meet and get a group together to update the amenities policy. There will be a number of changes that are going to be requested and required coming out of the Focus 2025 group. There are a number of policies that were written independently one side versus the other that probably if we spent more time we could get them a little more in agreement. I would recommend that that would be a project we could take on immediately.
Mr. Mecsics: From the CDD II Board, I think that's something that needs to be done and I'm going to ask one of our Supervisors to take the lead on that. Angie, would you take the lead on working with them on the joint amenities policies?
Ms. Littlewood: Sure. Working with Steve?
Mr. Mecsics: Let's see, who's got the amenities policy on your Board?

Mr. Plummer: I'm going to ask for volunteers. Steve, would you volunteer? Mr. Realmuto: Yes.
Ms. Littlewood: Okay, I'll work with Steve.
Mr. Realmuto: I just want to add that while I think it's important to do the leg work behind the scenes which Angie and I I'm sure can do, it's also important to discuss these at joint Board meetings. We only have four opportunities a year assuming none of them get canceled. Quite frankly there's one I intend to bring up under Supervisor comments to address one of the comments made during the Focus 2025 reports that I think we could at least all be on the same page or understand what the existing policy is and perhaps make changes to it. There is a place for discussion at the joint Board meetings is the point I'm trying to make.
Ms. Burns: Anybody have anything else on this agenda item?
Mr. Realmuto: Frankly, I think I've heard both Boards essentially encourage staff to do whatever that they can to work together for the benefit of the community. I'd like to hear from our staff, both Christine and Mary, if they have any thoughts on the issues.
Ms. Wells: I'll start. Mary and I do meet on a monthly basis. It went by the wayside during COVID because we had our minds on other things. We have started back. I think our 3rd meeting again is going to be at the end of this month. At our meetings we always talk about ways that we can do things for the betterment of all Lake Ashton residents. They're always very productive to me. We talk about activities that we're doing to see if we can coincide with that, ways to just jointly meet. We do have the same meeting room software now and Mary's staff has access to our calendar. Our staff has access to the HFC calendar so that when we go to book an event we can look. There are some times where it's overlooked and we book events on the same day, I know you have one coming up that we have an event on the same day as well so we try to make the time a little different so residents don't have to choose. But they did go by the wayside during COVID and we're working on those again and we're always very productive and working towards a common goal. You have anything to add to that?
Ms. Bosman: I just wanted to add that, Christine and I, it's therapy for both of us as well because we can share our joint issues both constructively and serve as each other's shoulder to talk about certain things. In that respect it's productive too and I would

just like to thank Christine for the ability. We both fortunately have the ability to separate business from personal and so throughout it all we've maintained friends.
Mr. Mecsics: I just want to say for both of you guys, I meet with Mary quite often and all of our Supervisors stick their head in and I see Christine and I was like the teaser because she's a lot of fun to tease with. But most importantly, I know you two guys do meet regularly and work out those issues. I think from a staff's perspective, they're already doing that Steve and I encourage that to continue on whichever way you can.
Ms. Wells: I'm sure, Mary would agree, if there's any residents that feel like we could be doing something different you're more than welcome to approach either one of us and it's something we would talk about. I know there's things that I'll email Mary and let's talk about this at our next meeting. If there's ever any residents that have any suggestions on anything we can do or any supervisors just let us know and we'll address those together when we meet.
Ms. Bosman: I was just going ask, will Christine and I be a part of the joint amenities group because there might be some details that might need to be lifted up.
Mr. Realmuto: Thank you for that. We're getting concrete results already. I think that's an excellent idea.
Ms. Burns: Anything else on that agenda item? Seeing none,

SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion	Regarding	Fiscal	Year
2022 Proposed Joint Meeting Dates
Ms. Burns: Our next item is discussion regarding the Fiscal Year 2022 proposed joint meeting dates. We alternate on a quarterly schedule after each meeting. This follows along with what we are doing, so unless anybody has any objection to continuing on this schedule, we'll go ahead and advertise for this. Does this work for everybody? I figured it's not very controversial. Okay, we'll continue with the rotating schedule on a quarterly basis. My office will advertise for those.
Mr. Realmuto: Jillian, we haven't actually set meeting dates for the new fiscal year starting in October. I assume it's going to continue on the current schedule.
Ms. Burns: Should any of the Boards change their meeting schedule at their individual meetings next month we will adjust that schedule slightly to coincide with the District Board meeting. I haven't heard any discussion about changing those but to the

extent that they are, we'll just ask staff to adjust that. I anticipate we'll move forward in the same schedule.
Mr. Plummer: Again, Jillian there's no problem if we cancel any of these meetings Ms. Burns: Correct. We generally send out the agenda item email. If no supervisors
send us agenda items we then get with the Chairs of both Districts and they would jointly decide that the meeting would be canceled if there was nothing that they felt had come up and we had no request for items from the supervisors.
Mr. Realmuto: Okay, but we're all in agreement that they'd only be canceled if no supervisor had requested an agenda item?
Mr. Costello: That's the way both Bob and I work. Yes. Mr. Realmuto: Okay.
Mr. Costello: We don't want to set up a meeting and spend money for nothing.
Mr. Plummer: Yeah. If there's nothing on the agenda there's no reason to have the meeting.
Ms. Burns: Right. Then we don't incur the cost of the ads and other things. We have our motion to approve this proposed schedule from the Lake Ashton Board?

On MOTION by Mr. Costello, seconded by Mr. Howison, with all in favor, the Fiscal Year 2022 Proposed Joint Meeting Dates, was approved.

On MOTION by Ms. McKie, seconded by Mr. Zelazny, with all in favor, the Fiscal Year 2022 Proposed Joint Meeting Dates, was approved.

EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Supervisor	Requests	and	General
Public Comments
Ms. Burns: Any Supervisor requests before we move on to general public comments?
Mr. Realmuto: I did promise at least one. Actually, I might have two. I promise to be brief. I did want to follow up on the Focus 2025 survey because there was one issue that I actually brought up at the last joint Board meeting regarding the non-smoking policy. The current joint amenity policy essentially states that smoking is permitted in designated

areas only. It doesn't distinguish between indoor and outdoor. The Lake Wales CDD has recently ensured and designated a specific area outside for smoking. There were some statements made about designated smoking areas in the Winter Haven amenities, but I have not seen anything in writing or published about that. I'm asking for my information, but I also think it needs to be publicized to the community. Since the joint amenity policy does require that smoking areas be designated, what are the officially designated smoking areas for the amenities within Winter Haven?
Mr. Mecsics: Correct me if I'm wrong Harry, but our designated smoking area is in the back over there by the fence line area. Is that correct?
Ms. Bosman: Yes.
Mr. Realmuto: That's the only designated smoking area? Mr. Mecsics: That's correct.
Mr. Zelazny: Steve, do you have the joint amenities policy in front of you? Mr. Realmuto: I do not.
Mr. Zelazny: I believe all amenities in Lake Ashton are non-smoking. Mr. Realmuto: That's correct.
Mr. Zelazny: That's the way the amenities policy has written it. Mr. Realmuto: Except in designated smoking areas, that's right.
Mr. Zelazny: Inside the facilities, there is none by the joint amenity policy.
Designated areas have to be outside.
Mr. Realmuto: Well, wait a second, we have amenities that are outdoors as well as indoors. The current joint amenities policy does not distinguish. It says smoking is not permitted.
Mr. Zelazny: I don't know have the policy in front of me, but I believe the policy is written including the pavilion and other areas. It states all amenities. Because of the issue with the Focus 2025 group, the smoking policy needs to be readdressed in the joint policy. I believe it's clear that the pavilion is included in an amenity, where there's no smoking at the pavilion.
Mr. Realmuto: There was confusion though about other areas. I think one of the concerns that was raised in the Focus 2025 committee meetings was smoking outside of doors or near doors, or too close to pool where someone wouldn't be able to enter an

amenity without passing through a cloud of smoke. There seemed to be some ambiguity in that area. I don't believe that amenity policies need to be changed. They're really quite clear. Unless it's a designated smoking area, smoking is not permitted. It sounds like we're on the same page about that. There is a designated smoking area outdoors here, as well as in Lake Wales so we're all set. Perhaps we just need to work better getting the word out to the community.
Mr. Zelazny: Several guidelines tell you what makes a designated smoking area and it is obviously not in front of doors, etc. You shouldn't have ashtrays out there and they wouldn't be standing in there smoking.
Mr. Mecsics: For the CDD one, I'm sorry, I missed it. Where is your designated
one?
Mr. Realmuto: It is an outdoor area outside of the fenced area for the restaurant.
There's tables there in one corner.
Mr. Mecsics: Okay. Anything else, Steve?
Mr. Realmuto: No, not on that topic. Just one other thing I wanted to follow up from our last joint meeting. Jim, at the last meeting I believe you said that you would talk to the owners of the non-residential lots in the community about property that might become available and provide a report to both Boards. What's the status of that?
Mr. Mecsics: Specifically on the building across the street from the clubhouse, the other area down here where we have all the maintenance facilities, the dark area, I approached the owners of that and they were not interested in talking about selling at this time.
Mr. Realmuto: Okay. I had forgotten about until I read the minutes of the last meeting. Fair enough. Thank you.
Ms. Burns: Any other supervisor requests? Then we will go on to public comments.
Do you have one on the Zoom line?
Tom Scali (3084 Dunmore Drive): My concern is we had a health scare with the pandemic and both Boards came out with two different policies. I would hope and pray that that never happens again, that there is only one policy for the entire community when it comes to health, and that is the safety of residents paramount. Please make sure that there is never another case where one side has one set of rules for health, and the other

side has another. I would like to see that in your amenities policy. Thank you for your time.
Ms. Burns: Thank you, Tom. Any other public comments on the Zoom line, you can use Zoom's raise hand feature to be called on. After that, we're going to move on to everyone here after we do the Zoom line. There's no other comments on Zoom. Anybody here in person, we'll open up to public comments as well.
Cynthia Haldi (4115 Aberdeen Lane): I am highly allergic to smoke, so I haven't been to the golf pro shop for a year and a half because of COVID and stuff. Before the year and a half, there had been a lot of smoking of those cigarettes and cigars at the entrance to the golf pro shop. Are you now telling me that we have finally stopped that? You didn't talk about that as a designated smoking area. There have been times I have not been able to go to the golf pro shop. What I do is I go around to the back, or I go up the steps to the restaurant, and come down because that's how allergic I am. I would just like a clarification on that.
Mr. Zelazny: I'll talk with Indigo Golf this afternoon to identify a designated smoking
area.
Ms. Burns: I do have one that I received via email. Give me a second, I'm going to
pull that up. This email is from Carl Boast, and he asked that this be read at the joint meeting.
Carl Boast: Thank you for your service and governance to this wonderful community. I am a Lake Wales resident of Lake Ashton who is drawn to the community in part because of the many amenities provided by the apparent cooperation of two governing bodies, CDD East and CDD West. I'm also a member of the Lake Ashton Pickleball Association, which has well over 100 active members. Lake Ashton Pickleball Association, has worked cooperatively with the CDDs over many years, and has provided thousands of dollars towards the construction and maintenance of four high-quality pickleball courts that have attracted new residents and are the primary focus of the LAPA membership. It is sad that I feel compelled to write this note to bring to your attention the poor condition of the pickleball courts and amenities situated in the West but utilized by over a 100 residents of both communities. After years of heavy use, the courts have deteriorated and now have many cracks, uneven areas and discoloration. Their

surrounding fence is in need of repair. These are observations easily made by a court user. They would be supported by a professional evaluation if one were requested. The costs for those necessary repairs are likely less than $12,000. Again, a professional evaluation would clarify these costs. With three organizations, CDD East, CDD West, and Lake Ashton Pickleball Association able to contribute a portion of the total cost, this would likely be less than $4,000 each. Action is required. At the upcoming joint meeting of the CDDs, it would be a straightforward motion to establish a not to exceed amount agreed to among the CDDs and Lake Ashton Pickleball Association and perhaps to delegate the responsibility of seeking professional assessments and assessments to someone not as busy as yourself, so that the progress on these repairs could be made as expeditiously as possible. It would be wonderful to see this once premier amenity return to the quality long established for the entire community that I'm so proud to live in. Respectfully submitted Carl Boast.
Ms. Burns: That was all the public comments that I had.
Mr. Mecsics: Anything else? Any other comments from the supervisors, Bob? Mr. Plummer: No comments.
Mr. Zelazny: Could we just have an update on the restaurant. A lot of our residents ask and don't come to your Board meetings. It would be nice if we could share that.
Mr. Krumrie: Bob, that is a very general questions I'm not specifically sure what you're talking about financially or operationally.
Mr. Zelazny: No. Just what was going on and I know that they've started some new programs, they have a new menu, etc.
Mr. Krumrie: We started July 5th with the new menu and it's been received quite well. Although again, there are some people who say they want the old menu. Some people they've warmed to the new menu so we hear things on both sides. Staff has been a challenge, maintaining staff. I talked to a lady yesterday who just traveled out West. As you said a lot of restaurants have closed already at five o'clock. Even gas stations didn't have people in them to help with service and so on. Hotels were doing the same thing. Small towns are actually Boarded up in some cases. But specifically to our restaurant we've had some changeover in the cooking area or the kitchen area. But we've got people that are very committed to the situation. We have a buffet that is going very well. Again,

revenue has been down because everyone wants to get away this summer to go North. Then we have music on Sunday afternoons at three o'clock and it's been very well- received. It's been a packed house every week. We were sending dates of a daily in terms of the menu and so forth. I talked to Annie also about the menu the other day and she said that she would be willing to help. If you all see that in the menu, ask her, but she can make it anyway. In some cases she will go to make that particular item. But I know the new menu has more gluten-free items than the old menu they had and so forth. Financially, we're still struggling. We're in it for a long run before we come out of this. Because of COVID, we have not been able to do weddings and things like that. We're just starting out coming out stronger than it has been. I think the last month's revenue showed, $8,000 or something in catering. It's improving, but it's not going to improve until a year from now or six months from now before things get better. But overall, I'm very positive about it. I think it's been generally speaking, well-received. We've had some more recent surveys, they have talked about how much they liked the restaurant, they talk about the ambiance and how they don't rate that as well as the food service. But I think our Boards will be looking at that down the road. We actually do have a group of people who are just looking at ambiance trying to make some improvements that hopefully won't cost very much.
Mr. Zelazny: I just want to say I think you guys have done a great job in bringing in an amenity and keeping an amenity in the community. The residents in the West they all agree that it's an important amenity that we have to have. I would only share and it's not a complaint. The only comments, I've heard that in the negative side is they wish there would be more advertising ahead of time of the special things like that. You're just getting the word out so people have time to plan to come. But other than that, I think everybody is very happy with the job you're doing.
Mr. Krumrie: Okay. Thank you. I'll make sure I pass that on.
Mr. Realmuto: Thanks for that feedback, Bob. There were a couple of aspects I wanted to address, one regarding the menu. I've also gotten some feedback about the menu and perhaps people's favorite menu items that were taken off the menu that they really miss, and I think we've all heard that. The idea is to keep the menu fresh and I understand that, and he's listening to the feedback and I would hope would make

adjustments as necessary. But the thing I want to point out to residents is, when she sends out things, what you don't have a good picture of it, in my opinion, is the changes to the daily specials. To me, that was the real bright spot that changed concurrently with the menu changing. There were a lot of changes made to the daily specials where there's something interesting each day of the week and in fact they rotate. For example, on Fridays rather than just being fish Friday, there's a rotating seafood special that might be different every Friday. That's a way of keeping the menu fresh and keeping people coming back. You do need to keep up with the emails, that's how you find out about it. I think I've heard some feedback that people would perhaps like to find out about that in advance. I think she's been doing a lot of that actually on the restaurant Facebook site, letting people know what's coming a day or two in advance.
Mr. Zelazny: It comes in at a time when you've already made your plan. She needs to be so far ahead that you can say, I'm going to go there tomorrow or the next day or whatever to get one in the afternoon. If I'm looking and there's a special tonight then I might have already had plans. That's a small thing. Again, I think you guys are doing a great job.
Ms. Littlewood: When you go to a restaurant, you're not informed. If you go to a restaurant outside, say Sizzling Grill, you're not informed of what the specials are until you get there, you ask what the specials are. It's a restaurant. You ask what the specials are when you get there.
Mr. Realmuto: I did have two other things financially, as the Supervisor responsible for the finances on Lake Wales CDD. I've been following that very closely and doing a lot of analysis. I won't say too much about that because that's on the agenda for our meeting on Monday. You will notice it's one of the very early agenda items, reports from all of the restaurants staff and Annie, her manager. I actually added a third item on there will be closely looking at the financials. If you want to find out more about that, come to that meeting. What I will say to residents is I've done a little analysis on the days of the week when the restaurant is likely profitable and when it's not. The bottom line is we need residents to utilize it more often, particularly during the summer months where there are not as many of us here. They do pretty well on the days you would expect. Basically Friday-Sunday. They don't do as nearly as well Monday-Thursday. Now, again, I'm sure

there were things the restaurant can do to address that, but those are the things that we're going to have to look at very carefully going forward if we want to get anywhere near break-even on the restaurant and be able to keep it open all of those hours in my opinion. The message to residents is to utilize it. Let your friends in the community know it's open to the public. That's where it'll keep it viable financially going forward. Then finally on the question of feedback. I know the restaurants have done some limited feedback surveys. I do want to encourage the many people who have spoken to me with their feedback. I think it would be more effective to come directly from the people who are offering that feedback. Even if you don't want to speak to someone face to face, or you haven't been given a survey by the restaurant itself, we on the CDD want to hear that feedback and one way you can provide that is that in the club house, we have a CDD resident feedback form. It's not specific to the restaurant. Feel free to use that and give us the same feedback you've given us here so that we get the feedback directly and we would certainly pass that along to the restaurant. Thank you.
Mr. Mecsics: Anything else, Steve? Anything else from anybody? Ms. Burns: Anybody? Seeing none,

NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Adjournment
There not being any further business to discuss,

On MOTION by Mr. Costello, seconded by Mr. Plummer, with all in favor, the meeting was adjourned by the Lake Ashton I CDD Board.

On MOTION by Mr. Hill, seconded by Ms. Littlewood, with all in favor, the meeting was adjourned by the Lake Ashton II CDD Board.

Secretary / Assistant Secretary	Chairman / Vice Chairman

SECTION VI

SECTION A

ASHTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT TO DESIGNATE A DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND AUTHORIZATION TO PUBLISH NOTICE OF SUCH HEARING FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADOPTING REVISED JOINT AMENITY POLICY RELATED TO NON-RESIDENT USER FEES; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

WHEREAS, the Lake Ashton Community Development District (the “District”) is a local unit of special-purpose government created and existing pursuant to Chapter 190, Florida Statutes, being situated entirely within the City of Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida; and

WHEREAS, Chapter 190, Florida Statutes, authorizes the District’s Board of Supervisors (“Board”) to adopt rules setting amenity rates pursuant to Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE LAKE ASHTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT:

SECTION 1. A Public Hearing will be held to adopt revised Joint Amenity Policy Related to Non-Resident User Fees on Friday, January 21, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Health and Fitness Center, 6052 Pebble Beach Blvd., Winter Haven, FL 33884.

SECTION 2. The District Secretary is directed to publish notice of the hearing in accordance with Section 120.54, Florida Statutes.

SECTION 3. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of October 2021.

ATTEST:	LAKE ASHTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT

SECTION B

ASHTON II COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT TO DESIGNATE A DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND AUTHORIZATION TO PUBLISH NOTICE OF SUCH HEARING FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADOPTING REVISED JOINT AMENITY POLICY RELATED TO NON-RESIDENT USER FEES; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

WHEREAS, the Lake Ashton II Community Development District (the “District”) is a local unit of special-purpose government created and existing pursuant to Chapter 190, Florida Statutes, being situated entirely within the City of Winter Haven, Polk County, Florida; and

WHEREAS, Chapter 190, Florida Statutes, authorizes the District’s Board of Supervisors (“Board”) to adopt rules setting amenity rates pursuant to Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE LAKE ASHTON II COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT:

SECTION 1. A Public Hearing will be held to adopt revised Joint Amenity Policy Related to Non-Resident User Fees on Friday, January 21, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Health and Fitness Center, 6052 Pebble Beach Blvd., Winter Haven, FL 33884.

SECTION 2. The District Secretary is directed to publish notice of the hearing in accordance with Section 120.54, Florida Statutes.

SECTION 3. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of October 2021.

ATTEST:	LAKE ASHTON II COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT

SECTION X

Closed Board Discussion