Packed Audience Hears Spring Lake Golf Options

The question was asked by several of the 200 audience members in several different ways: Why should the Spring Lake Improvement District buy the golf resort?

They were told it would cost more money not to buy the golf course. They also were told by the golf course owner that SLID has a drainage easement to the golf course lakes, and that as a government, SLID controlled water solutions. Then they were told about the acres required for wastewater.

That's why some in the audience left a three-hour workshop Wednesday feeling they still don't have the answer to the question: Is it necessary to buy the golf course?
Water Violation

Gary Priest, SFWMD's senior engineer, sent a Feb. 27 letter of non-compliance to Spring Lake district manager Joe DeCerbo. SLID's permit required construction of a water management system, including swales, canals and retentions lakes, and a 260,000 gallon-per-minute pump station into Arbuckle Creek.

Construction of the surface water management system has not been completed, nor certified, as required by the permit, to serve 4,934 acres, Priest wrote.

"What you have is a dysfunctional system," said Gary Ritter, director of South Florida Water Management District. "We expect you to get it in compliance."

Whether it owns the land or not, SLID's board of directors is responsible for moving rainwater from its canals into Arbuckle Creek, which flows into Lake Okeechobee, Ritter said.

"Without ownership, it makes it very difficult," Ritter added, "to come into compliance." He seemed to favor the idea of purchasing the golf course from Mike Tellschow. The asking price, once $6.5 million, is now $3.4 million.

"Let me clear up some of this nonsense," Tellschow addressed the crowd. "SLID has got every legal right to clear the ponds. They have an easement."

The good news, Ritter said, is that SLID could set up a model system for handling storm water, and they could be environmentally responsible as well by catching phosphorous runoff that comes from nearby farms.

As long as they work with SFWMD, Ritter said, penalties won't be imposed. If not, the fine could be up to $10,000 a day.

"How did we get so far behind?" asked SLID director Ken Poe, who is also a builder.

"It's everybody's fault," said Ritter, who has worked for SFWMD for 30 years. "We didn't have as much regulatory presence as we should have had."

"It's your fault. Period," accused Tellschow, the golf course owner, pointing. Ritter shook his head, but didn't respond.

SLID also wasted time in a multi-million dollar lawsuit with Sandra Tyrell, the board admitted, which was eventually settled.

"Flows will increase," predicted Gene Schriner, president of CAS Engineering, who was hired to prepare a drainage plan. "And requirements will go up. I'll guarantee that."

The wastewater treatment facility is in need of repair, Schriner said.

Some in the audience complained, like Wally Ward, who bought a Spring Lake house a year ago, but he wouldn't have if he'd known the extent of the water problems.

Some residents offered solutions. Leon Lehman suggested merely dredging the silted-up canals, which would then hold more water.

It's not that easy, engineer Schriner and board member Brian Acker replied. There's a water quality problem that wouldn't be solved with wider, deeper canals; the district doesn't have clear easements to every canal; and there's the problem of where to put the silt and trash that's dug out of the canals.

What will happen, one resident asked, if Tellschow tells the board and the residents to go jump in the lake, closes the resort, and lets the golf course go fallow?

It would negatively affect property values, replied Craig Wrathell, the district's financial advisor. But, suggested another audience member, it would be more expensive if SLID paid $3.4 million for the course, then it failed anyway and went fallow.

After listening to the experts for an hour, then taking an hour of questions from the audience, the board recessed and reconvened to handle other agenda items.

CLARIFICATION
A sentence in the second paragraph needs clarification. The crowd was told by an engineer that money could be saved on drainage easement work by purchasing the golf course. The work is necessary regardless of whether the district buys the golf course, as is being considered. We apologize for any confusion.