A large crowd of Villagers showed up Friday afternoon for a detailed briefing on sinkholes threatening homes in the Village of Calumet Grove.
At the Community Development District 4 Board meeting at Savannah Center, Assistant District Manager Richad Baier presented a lesson on Florida geology as well as a status update on the sinkholes on McLawren Terrace.
You can read Baier’s presentation at the link below. Page 17 offers an estimate on the costs of the sinkholes.
Still residents had plenty of questions. A pipe near the sinkhole is the subject of a great deal of suspicion. Residents are nervous about other pipes near their homes.
Jean Jewell of Cloverwood Terrace in the Village of Calumet Grove is among the worried.
“How can I get that thing inspected so I can sleep at night?” she asked District officials.
Sam Wartinbee of District Property Management said Jewell’s storm drain is not slated for inspection this year, but might be inspected next year.
It wasn’t good enough for Jewell.
“I have been here 14 years and it has never been checked,” she said.
Francine Shebell of the Village of Charlotte attended the CCD 4 meeting because she is concerned about sinkholes.
She wondered if there is anything homeowners can do to be proactive and prevent sinkholes.
“Is there something the community can do rather than wait to have a sinkhole?” she asked.
Unfortunately, the answer was “no.”
After the meeting, the two homeowners who have been displaced said they feel they haven’t gotten direct answers from The Villages. Villages-News.com is not identifying the homeowners in consideration of their privacy at this difficult time.
One of the homeowners is a widow who had been bouncing around staying with friends. She is attempting to secure a short-term rental. The other homeowner has found a short-term rental.
