(Please note the following
referenced contents were published in 2002/2003 era to reference the time frame.
Most of the contents were
NEVER made public until
PFGG
published the facts.)
McLemore finally tells it all --
Speech to Oviedo chamber of commerce below.
but
not to the citizens/taxpayers in Winter Springs !
(McLemore's
speech below --
DID YOU KNOW ?
)
DID YOU KNOW --
(
PFGG
has been presenting the below facts to our web site visitors for over two years
! )
The City spent $12 million
dollars on
250 acres of
raw pasture land on which to build their
"Town Center". Was this
EVER
revealed in an open Winter Springs public meeting as it was in the "Speech" below
in OVIEDO? The answer --
of course is ---- NO
!
The cost on this
raw pasture land was $48,000 per acre.
Or a total cost on
that raw
pasture land was
$12,000,000.00 dollars.
Is this the reason
most of our utility bonds are being "floated"?
All that
refinancing did was pay enormousbrokerage feesto
the City's favorite bond brokers.
The City even "touts"
the various "grants" issued by the State for this
project. What they didn't tell you was the taxpayers had to pay
matching, or even
more in tax funds.
That's the same
ploy they used for the park expansion projects.
GRANTS AREN'T FREE to City
citizens! Most grants required local taxes to be paid in the amount
of 50 to 75 per cent of that received.
The City even
refinanced one bond, and -- not interest --
not principal -- and not even brokerage fees, but it cost
$19,038,020.00 just in "DEBT SERVICE" !
Then the City even
ADVERTISED June 10th, 2003 a small "IMPROVEMENT
REVENUE REFUNDING" bond. That was an amount of
$8,755,000.00 for a
"REVENUE REFUNDING (?)
" bond.
Refunding WHAT REVENUE ? City manger McLemore hide
this fact very well.
Very clever
verbiage wasn't it ? Do you, the citizen, know what that bond's
NAME means ?
If it cost
$12,000,000 million dollars for the land --- how
much does it cost for the roads, traffic lights, phony two story buildings
(that
have empty top floors -- non-revenue bearing space ), electricity, expensive
sewerage lines, the cesspool behind City Hall, and etc. Why doesn't
City Manager McLemore tout those figures? He doesn't want you to
know, but it was okay with your Commission.
THEY --
YOUR COMMISSIONERS
-- APPROVED ALL THESE EXPENSES !
On July 22nd,
PFGG published a page on our web site indicating
"the Towncenter was floundering" in debt.
Has this now
become a reality ? Or, are bond revenues being
pumped into the project, therefore bringing about huge City bond debts ?
Either way, the citizens of Winter Springs
lose
--- they're paying the load for
private developers.
(They are still paying today
-- 2008.)
Did you know that
one of the Commissioners bought property in the
Towncenter location, and sits as the "Development Review Committee"
on the voting the structure of the "building codes"
and "laws" surrounding the development of the
Towncenter ?
Can "Tiny
Town", the Towncenter, generate enough revenue to repay the vast expenditures by
the City's tremendous debt load in this Century ? It's very
doubtful this could ever be accomplished within the
current life span of the
people who had to pay for this egomania spending venture by your City Commission
and City Manager. After all --- it's
NOT their money ---
IT'S
YOURS !
Meet City Manager McLemore bragging to citizens of another City, while he
remains
silent
to the citizens of the City of Winter Springs!
The same citizens that pay his enormous income !
WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF Mclemore --
YOUR JOB
?
The McLemore keynote speech --- to OVIEDO !
(The
following is as taken from the minutes of this meeting in Oviedo.)
Ronald McLemore , City
Manager of Winter Springs, was the keynote speaker at the Greater Oviedo Chamber
of Commerce meeting last month. He, unlike Oviedo City manager Gene Williford,
represented the City of Winter Springs well by attending the luncheon and
introducing the concept of the Winter Springs Downtown to local business
leaders.
Oviedo's City Manager was
afforded a similar opportunity several months ago when consultant Mike Roberto
got snowed in and was unable to speak to the Chamber about Oviedo's New
Downtown. Williford, however, did not rise to the occasion and fill in for the
Downtown Consultant, nor did he send a representative to speak about the New
Downtown in his place. Instead, Oviedo's City Manager, after being called and
asked to speak, turned down the opportunity and sent the Fire Chief to talk
about safely to a room full of seasoned business owners. So much Oviedo's City
Manager serving as a spokesperson in the community and enticing private
partnership in Oviedo's New Downtown.
Oviedo's marketing
shortcomings aside, Winter Springs's Downtown sounds marvelous, and Mr.
McLemore, the City Manager, was a wealth of information regarding the project.
Perhaps the most
interesting tidbit he shared was the amount of Winter Springs municipal funds
needed to complete the project: $12 million. This, added with grants from the
County and State will aid in developing 250 acres of land near Central Winds
Park into a rambling, but
bustling, downtown center. When all is completed,
Winter Springs will have spent about $48,000 per acre in creating a downtown
center.
Oviedo's New Downtown
boasts a price tag of $9 million. But we will only be developing 40 acres - that
means that we will be paying $225,000 per acre to develop our new downtown. At a
rate of 4.69 times MORE money per acre, Oviedoans might want to think about
whether there is a more economical way to complete this project.
The staple of Winter
Springs' new downtown is the Cross Seminole County Trail. Because they decided
to build the downtown around the trail, the city was able to receive grants from
the County and State to develop parks at the core of the New Downtown.
Only about 15 acres of the
project have been developed so far, but there is no shortage of private support
to make the project a long-term success. Townhomes, parks, retail, and office
space are all planned for the space.
No private retailers have
committed to coming to Oviedo's New Downtown, but we have committed to building
one anyway.
Even more impressive,
Winter Springs did not have to issue bonds specifically to fund their New
Downtown. Instead, they floated some utility bonds
to get sewer lines and other
essentials to the property that private companies will then develop according to
the guidelines set out by the City of Winter Springs.
(Any spelling or
others errors are source errors.)
