Habitat
Community Development District

The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Habitat Community Development District was held in the Bella Terra Clubhouse at 20070 Bella Terra Boulevard in Estero, Florida and also via web conference on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 at 4 p.m.

Present and constituting a quorum were:

Larry Roth – Chair
Norman Reno – Vice Chair
James Meek – Assistant Secretary
Linda Lea Gibson – Assistant Secretary
Jenny Licht – Assistant Secretary

Also present:

Mandie Rainwater – Assistant District Manager, PDM
Chris Pepin – Field Manager, Community Field Services
David Schmitt – Engineer, Bowman Engineering
John Baker – Engineer, Bowman Engineering
Three Residents

Attending remotely:

Greg Urbancic – Attorney, Coleman, Yovanovich & Koester, P.A.
Melissa Gindling, Assistant District Manager, PDM
One Resident

The following is a summary of the actions taken at the Habitat Community Development District Board of Supervisors Meeting.

Chair Roth called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m., and the roll was called. All Board members were present. Also in attendance were Mandie Rainwater, Assistant District Manager; Chris Pepin, the Field Manager; David Schmitt, the Engineer; John Baker, Engineer, and Three Residents. Attending remotely were Greg Urbancic, the Attorney; Melissa Gindling, Assistant District Manager; and One Resident.

An Amended Agenda was presented.

Add 7E Guardhouse Lightning Rod

None at this time.

A. Items to Be Pulled for Discussion

Supervisor Roth requested to pull 5Div, Fiscal Year 2024 Audit; Berger, Toombs, Elam, Gains, and Frank

B. Motion to Approve Consent Items

C. Consideration of Items Pulled for Discussion

ADM Rainwater presented the Audit from Berger, Toombs, Elam, Gains and Frank to the Board. The audit was a good one, no irregularities were found, and the District has been following standard practices.

D. Consent Items

i. Draft Regular Meeting Minutes for June 17, 2025

ii. Financial Report for June 2025

iii. Project Tracking Logs

iv. Fiscal Year 2024 Audit; Berger, Toombs, Elam, Gains, and Frank

A. Irrigation Contractor

Chris Pepin spoke about a main line break that just occurred and that the vendor is already aware. Mr. Pepin is also waiting on a 5-year plan for snail treatments but hasn’t received it as of meeting time.

D&G Pavement has informed Mr. Pepin that purple road markers are no longer available, and unless the Board has issue, he will switch them to the green ones that are available. These markers will tell everyone where there is an irrigation valve.

B. District Manager

i. Fiscal Year 2026 Proposed Budget Discussion

ADM Rainwater reminded the Board that the Budget was approved and the Public Hearing is set for Aug 19th.

ii. 13244 Lazzaro Construction Follow Up

Mr. Schmitt visited the work site and believes the residents and the contractors are cleaning up the site. He will return once finished. Supervisor Meek believes the job just finished up.

iii. Staff Discussion with LCSO About Roads

On request of residents and past HOA members, a meeting was set up with Commander Alan Canfield of the Lee County Sheriff’s Department. He is the community liaison for most gated communities. Lt. Frank Pisano is still the officer assigned to Bella Terra.

Discussion was had about LCSO’s patrolling of the community. This may lead to a traffic study to examine the road features inside BT such as signage, speed humps, etc. to determine if anything may need to be brought up to FDOT and LDOT Standards of Public Roads. Anything done to the roads that weren’t permitted through the LDO may need to be removed until a proper permit is required.

Private enforcement methods may no longer be employed on public roads. The HOA and CDD will need to meet with LCSO again. Commander Canfield said in the meantime, people should call LCSO to make complaints, rather than the gatehouse. LCSO needs to populate their computers with data of the community’s concerns.

Golf carts were spoken about and Com Canfield explained the requirements for golf carts on public streets. An eblast was sent out to residents about the requirements and will be sent a few more times. At meeting time ADM Rainwater let the Board know that LCSO has confirmed that the CDD owns all of the roads within the community and they are ready to work with us to correct issues.

HOA Vice President, Norm Arflack spoke to Commander Canfield’s point that Bella Terra can’t pick and parcel what they would like from LCSO. Mr. Arflack will also follow up with LCSO on the use of traffic hawks and additional items. He also spoke that the HOA is in favor of this move.

ADM Rainwater will schedule another meeting with all parties to go over more of the nuances and findings will presented to the Board.

a. HOA Updated Post Orders

On June 27 the HOA sent an update Post Order document. They changed some formatting, added the public road footnote to every topic, and changed some contact information for vendors.
It was determined by staff that the guardhouse staff were not reading the post orders. Ms. Rainwater spent about 45 minutes with the shift supervisor and one other attendant discussing the post orders, running scenarios, and ensuring they saw the public road disclosure in the front of the post orders, and throughout via the footnote.

C. Field Manager

i. Current Field Report

FSM Pepin gave his field report. Of note, the lakes look poor to good, the rain coming in should help get the levels up.

He inspected the depression on Bella Terra Blvd just south of the Clock Tower. It appears to be car wear, but he will continue to monitor for severity.

He also spoke about the restriping of the yellow from D&G and the placement of the pavement markers. Many were taken up by drivers running over them as soon as they were placed. He is coordinating with D&G to replace some.

On the clock tower he reported that the pools are cleaning up and the vendor is still working on getting them to stay clean. He did see some sudsy water in the pools and reported that the vendor. Also, the fountain keeps tripping breakers. He will have an electrician look at the structures electrical wiring when evaluating the Guardhouse.

a. Lake 7 and 17 Repairs Ratification

Two compressors went down last month, and we approved Premier Lakes to proceed with the repairs. Lake 7 has a very old / original compressor cabinet that is also being replaced / upgraded to the Vertex style with a sound kit. The cabinet for the compressor on Lake 17 is already a Vertex with the sound kit. Total cost was $4,686.00.

ii. Project Updates

a. Storm Water Management System Inspection Update

Extreme Divers is currently back logged with work as some of their large equipment went down for a couple of weeks. They hope to get to this cleaning by the middle of August.

b. Lake Bank Restoration Planning – LDO Status

David Schmitt is working on the LDO information for this task. A memo was presented that discussed the steps to get an LDO permit for this project.

He introduced John Baker of Bowman Engineering to the Board. Mr. Schmitt informed the Board that he was moving toward retirement in October and would like to bring Mr. Baker in to assist with the hopes of him taking David’s place.

Mr. Schmitt would like to prepare a budget for the Board to consider for Bowman to begin the lake bank restoration project prework, such as LDO permits, surveying, and RFP creation.

D. Attorney

i. Mary Ann Lauria Update

The insurance company has indicated that the claimants representation was no longer representing them and they have gotten no communications from the claimant about new representation. This item will be removed from the agenda.

iii. Kenneth Jay Riha Update

The Insurance case manager said the claim was denied and a denial letter was sent to the claimant and their representation. They have not responded and the file was closed by the insurance company on June 27, 2025. This item will be removed from the agenda.

Attorney Urbancic reminded that all ethics training is due by the end of the calendar year.

E. Engineer

i. Road Project Update

The Board has still expressed an interest in having cores completed to ensure there is a minimum of 3/8 penetration of the product. At this time, the vendor refuses to do that as a courtesy for the Board. It has been advised that the Board get the samples, get them tested and if they are found deficient, then seek repayment from the vendor.

The Board agrees that they will wait until the mediation session before they move forward, if they need to. The Board also agrees that Supervisor Roth should represent them in the mediations.

ii. Serre Pump Station Dying Vegetation Report

Mr. Schmitt presented a report on the dying vegetation and agrees it appears someone may have sprayed them or over sprayed onto them. He agrees they should be replaced, and Mr. Pepin indicated in his field report that the plants already have been.

A. Clock Tower Refurbishment Discussion

Water clarity has improved, the injection system on the tower seems to be operating as intended. Last meeting it was discussed that perhaps an entire overhaul isn’t needed, perhaps just the bowls to be cleaned and repainted, but wait on painting the whole tower to align with HOA paintings.

Supervisor Reno believes that based off of the field report and the working injection system, that a quote for bowl refinishing and tile cleaning would be the best course of action.

Supervisor Roth asked Mr. Pepin if there are any items in the vault that should be repaired or replaced while the tower is being cleaned. Mr. Pepin believes that is all working but will double check. Mr. Pepin will obtain proposals to drain the pools, clean the tile and the bowls, refinish the bowls, and then refill with clean water.

B. Utility Easements Update

This agreement has been signed and filed with the County. It will also be reflected in FLGIS Updates once complete.

C. Proposal for Cabinet Door for Pump Station 4

Kelleher Renovations started the prep work on 7/09 and will be returning this week to complete the final installation. Mr. Pepin let the Board know that the struts that hold the door up were not correct and the correct ones have been ordered and will be installed once they arrive.

D. Proposal for Guardhouse Desk

The various IT companies employed by the HOA will come into the guardhouse and clean up by removing old unused equipment, wires, etc. Then they will let the HOA CAM and staff know that the desk can be removed and re-installed. This may need to happen in the later evening hours, but staff have asked for daytime installation if possible. After the vendor reinstalls the new desk, the HOA will take care of the remainder.

E. Guardhouse Lightning Rod

The HOA informed staff that lightning hit the guardhouse, more specifically the gates at Barletta and questioned if the guardhouse needed one. Plans were pulled. Mr. Schmitt believes that the building code didn’t apply to the guardhouse. Mr. Pepin will seek an electrical inspection of the guardhouse and the clock tower and bring proposals or recommendations to the next meeting.

F. Cul De Sac Report

Supervisor Licht presented a cul de sac report with a favorable opinion of the plantings that have been installed in the cul de sacs. Supervisor Licht said she is still concerned about the lxoras not looking good around the stop signs and other signs.

Estate Landscaping has suggested replacing some plants to help this process. Estate has also assured staff that there is proper irrigation for the plants suggested. Estate sent a proposal for $1660 to replace existing dead lxoras, a total of 60.

Supervisor Roth asked if a maintenance plan was also shared by the vendor. Supervisor Licht indicated she asked for one, but it has not been provided. Supervisor Licht said the HOA plants look like they are getting attention, but the CDD plants look ignored.

Mr. Pepin has been asked to get a maintenance plan for these plantings. Mr. Pepin believes that the cost may be more than the Board is considering; he will send it to Supervisor Licht when available.

This item was tabled pending the maintenance plan from the vendor.

Norman Arflack reported there is nothing to report. He did voice the HOA’s support of the LCSO patrol discussions.

Supervisor Licht would like to ask that the adhesive from old things stuck on the guardhouse windows be cleaned off. Staff will pass that along to the CAM.

Supervisor Gibson would like to request the pump station drive at Serre Dr cleaned up.

ADM Rainwater informed the Board that she received an email from a resident who said they have spotted two green iguanas in the community and would expect that the CDD and HOA would take care of this invasive species.

Supervisor Roth asked if pictures were sent, Ms. Rainwater let them know only a page on iguanas being invasive was attached.

A reply was sent to the resident prior to the meeting to let them know that the CDD would not be able to pursue animals onto private property and that homeowners should be proactive in protecting their property.

The Board has decided to not take any action at this time.

The Next Regular Meeting and Public Budget Hearing: August 19, 2025 at 4p.m.