WATCH REPLAY: Viera Community Development District Set to Vote on Bond for Viera East Golf Course and Clubhouse Improvements

By  //  July 25, 2019

54,000 rounds of golf projected to be played at Viera East this fiscal year

SPACE COAST DAILY LIVE TV: Viera East Community Development District meeting: Board set to vote on approval of 20-year bond to raise over $11 million for Viera East golf course and clubhouse improvements. 

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: The Viera Community Development District is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a proposal to approve a 20-year bond of over $9 million to fund improvements to the Viera East golf course and clubhouse. At least some residents and those representing businesses are unhappy with the proposal.

BREVARD COUNTY • VIERA, FLORIDA – The five members of the Viera East Community Development District Board are slated to vote next week on whether to approve a 20-year bond that will see more than $11 million put towards improvements at the Viera East Golf Club clubhouse and golf course.

The vote will take place at a meeting of the Viera East CDD Board at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 25 in the multi-purpose room of the Faith Lutheran Church, located at 5550 Faith Drive in Viera.

As part of the improvements, $2.9 million would go towards clubhouse renovations, over $2 million towards a new irrigation system at the golf course and $1.1 million would be directed to bunker renovations and liners.

But some residents and business owners in living in the CDD’s coverage area aren’t happy with the proposed bond, on which payments would begin in 2023, stating among their concerns that those living along the course would benefit disproportionately.

The five members of the Viera East Community Development District Board are slated to vote next week on whether to approve a 20-year bond that will see more than $11 million put towards improvements at the Viera East Golf Club clubhouse and golf course.

Viera East Golf Club includes the communities of Aberdeen, Addington, Ashton, Blackheath, Brightwood, Canterbury, Collingtree, Durban Park, Oaklefe, Parkstone, Stratford Place and Woodhall.

“It’s a large anchor for the community for the next 20 years,” said Rob Dale, a resident of the Osprey subdivision and who identifies himself as a spokesperson for the Coprorate Park at Viera.

“We have a lot of residents that were expecting things to open up in the way of options in a couple years because we were going to be getting our existing bond paid off that we’ve had for the last 20 years.

“I think a lot of it (the opposition) actually has to do with the volume of this bond, the percentage of it that’s going to this golf course,” said Steven Colasinski, a resident of Heron’s Landing. “It seems like this is too much, too fast.”

To that end, some who live and have businesses in the area filed an injunction on Friday to delay the vote.

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“As we began to examine sort of some of the line items that were going to be included in this bond, we started to realize that this bond appeared to be pretty self-serving,” said Blake Stewart, proprietor of Stewart Law, which is located in the Viera East CDD.

“Given some of the circumstances behind the discovery of the bond, the timing of the bond and the people involved in creating the bond, the residents and business owners came to me to bring an action to try to obtain an injunction to at least stall the vote so that we can have discussion about it. This is certainly something that needs to be discussed.

“There’s a lot of frustration in the community about this,” Colasinski added.

Tim Melloh, general manager of the Viera East Golf Club, said he believes the upgrades are needed.

“The golf course opened in 1994 and like anything, things wear out,” Milloh said.

“This being built as a golf course community, a lot of the homes in the CDD, their home value is tied to the golf course. It’s (the proposed bond-funded initiatives) going to allow us to upgrade. Everything here is very tired.”

Viera East Golf Club is an 18-hole course that opened in 1994 and the club projects 54,000 rounds will be played there for the fiscal year ending in September.

Melloh was particularly hopeful to improve the restaurant area of the clubhouse, comparing what he hopes it would be to the Twisted Birch restaurant at the nearby Turtle Creek Golf Club in Rockledge.

“We’re trying to enlarge the restaurant and have it more like a restaurant where there’s breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Melloh said.

Melloh also added that the club projects 54,000 rounds will be played there for the fiscal year ending in September, an increase from the previous two years when 52,000 were played. He also added that the club made a $55,000 profit last year.

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