MINUTES OF MEETING ARMSTRONG
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT

The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Armstrong Community Development District was held Thursday, August 14, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. at the Plantation Oaks Amenity Center, 845 Oakleaf Plantation Parkway, Orange Park, Florida.

Present and constituting a quorum were:

Jose Lopez	Chairman
Cameron Brown	Vice Chairman
Christine Bowen	Assistant Secretary
Cherie Hernandez	Assistant Secretary
Kendrick Taylor	Assistant Secretary Also present were:
Marilee Giles	District Manager
Katie Buchanan	District Counsel by telephone
Jay Soriano	GMS, Operations
Ryan Wilson	RMS
Chalon Suchsland	VerdeGo

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS	Roll Call
Ms. Giles called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and called the roll.

SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS	Public Comment
There being no comments, the next item followed.

THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS	Approval of the Minutes of the July 10, 2025
Meeting

On MOTION by Mr. Lopez seconded by Ms. Bowen with all in favor the minutes of the July 10, 2025 meeting were approved as amended.

FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Discussion of Engineering Services
Evaluation Criteria
Ms. Giles stated at the last meeting staff was directed to notice an RFQ for engineering services. There was an ad published in the local paper and staff sent it to nine engineering firms that are familiar with CDDs. The criteria is set forth by the consultant’s competitive negotiations act. It is a request for qualification and pricing is not one of the criteria we are weighing. We can go by each supervisor for their ranking of each column or if there is a supervisor who wants to take the lead on it and we discuss it then do a ranking. I recommend we talk about them one at a time and weight it based on those seven criteria. I have worked with both and they are both good companies.

RFQ Responses
Alliant
Matthews
After discussion, the consensus scoring was:
Alliant, category 1 20 points, no. 2 20 points, no. 3 5 points, no. 4 0, no. 5 0, no. 6 8 points, no. 7 1 point for a total of 54 points.
Matthews, category 1 30 points, no. 2 30 points, no. 3 5 points, no. 4 0, no. 5 0, no. 6 10 points, no. 7 3 points for a total of 78 points.

On MOTION by Ms. Bowen seconded by Mr. Lopez with all in favor Matthews was ranked no. 1 with 78 points and Alliant was ranked no. 2 with 54 points and staff was authorized to negotiate a contract with Matthews to be considered at the next board meeting.

On MOTION by Mr. Taylor seconded by Ms. Bowen with all in favor staff was authorized to send a termination letter to Dominion Engineering.

FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Consideration of Proposal for Irrigation from
VerdeGo
Ms. Giles stated there are two proposals from VerdeGo, one for irrigation and one for some hedge work. After discussion, the proposal for irrigation was tabled and the board considered the proposal for hedge trimming.

On MOTION by Mr. Brown seconded by Ms. Hernandez with all in favor the proposal from VerdeGo to trim the hedges between the trees on Amberly in the amount of $1,650 was approved.

SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Public  Hearing  Adopting  the  Budget  for
Fiscal Year 2026
Ms. Buchanan stated Resolution 2025-03 is the appropriations resolution. This resolution adopts the budget. It is my understanding that you haven’t made any amendments to the proposed budget and is what we refer to in the resolution as the adopted budget. That adopted budget has been on file with the district manager’s office and it provides for how the revenues collected by the district will be appropriated. It does also authorize relatively small amendments to the budget as long as the amendment is less than $15,000 or 15% of the line item. If you have an amendment larger it is not a problem we will do a budget amendment at the end of the year to true up the actual budget to what we spent.
Resolution 2025-04 authorizes the funding mechanism for the adopted budget; you impose the annual operations and maintenance special assessment lien. There are findings that the services are equal to or greater than what we are actually paying for the community. It also provides for the collection of the special assessments as long as they are collected on the tax bill. The total amount includes the operation and maintenance component for the general operations of the district and the debt assessments that go to pay off the bonds. All these assessments go on the tax roll and are collected by the tax collector’s office. We don’t have to do anything further, just authorize this method in the resolution.
Ms. Giles gave an overview of the fiscal year 2026 budget that included the general fund, the narrative of each line item, capital reserve fund and debt service fund for the 2017 bonds and debt service fund for the 2019 bonds and stated the last page is a chart of the assessments showing everyone is the same at $1,507.47 that is an increase of $103.67 and depending on the lot size and bond series you have the bond portion of the whole CDD assessment.
We did use the reserve study the last couple of years and included in the approved budget
$27,000 to bring us up to the recommendation of the reserve study to get us to where we should be for the year-end balance. We are not able to use any carry forward surplus this year.

On MOTION by Mr. Taylor seconded by Mr. Lopez with all in favor the public hearings were opened.

Ms. Choryan stated they just raised it $103. When we moved here our understanding was that our CDD was $60,000 when we had that paid off that was done. Now you are saying there is an increase. Where is that coming from?
Ms. Giles stated your CDD assessment is two parts; the operation and maintenance part that we call the O&M and that is what increased by $103. The O&M takes care of all your amenities, the pool, field, stormwater, irrigation, landscape, gym. The bond assessment varies based on your lot size and which bond series you are in. That is for the life of the bond unless the property owner pays it down or pays if off. If you want to email me I can look to see if your property has a balance left on the bond.
Ms. Choryan asked you have a price of $51,364 on page 2 for security, then property amenity manager $78,875. How is that $51,364 being paid to security? When are these people working and where?
Ms. Giles stated on the narratives page I think you will find some of those answers. We try not to get into details when it comes to security because this is a public meeting.
Ms. Choryan stated it says we have security yet we have a lot of issues here.
Mr. Soriano stated it does not go into the neighborhood; this is for district property.
Mr. Woods stated on page 3 is the engineering fees and it has the name of Dominion Engineering and you just voted for a new one.
Ms. Giles stated we will make that change.

On MOTION by Mr. Lopez seconded by Ms. Bowen with all in favor the public hearing was closed.

Consideration of Resolution 2025-03 Relating to the Annual Appropriations and Adopting the Budget for Fiscal Year 2026
Ms. Giles stated Resolution 2025-03 adopts the budget for Fiscal Year 2026 and based on the comments from the residents is there any guidance from the supervisors?

On MOTION by Ms. Bowen seconded by Mr. Taylor with all in favor Resolution 2025-03 Relating to the Annual Appropriations and Adopting the Budget for Fiscal Year 2026 was approved as amended with a change in the description of engineering services.

roll.

Consideration of Resolution 2025-04 Imposing Special Assessments and Certifying an assessment Roll for Fiscal Year 2026
Ms. Giles stated Resolution 2025-04 allows the county to place the assessments on the tax

On MOTION by Ms. Bowen seconded by Mr. Brown with all in favor Resolution 2025-04 Imposing Special Assessments and Certifying an assessment Roll for Fiscal Year 2026 was approved.

SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Ratification of Series 2017 Pay Requisition
No. 91

On MOTION by Mr. Lopez seconded by Ms. Bowen with all in favor Requisition No. 91 from the Series 2017 bonds was ratified.

EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Staff Reports
District Counsel
There being no comments, the next item followed.

District Engineer
Ms. Giles stated we will reach out to Matthews and work that process. I’m sure they will want to attend by phone or in person your first meeting and they understand if there is nothing on the agenda or nothing going on that requires an engineer Jay and I will take notes and carry it back to them. If something comes up like it has in the past that requires an engineer, then we will involve him then.

District Manager
Discussion of Fiscal Year 2026 Meeting Schedule

On MOTION by Mr. Taylor seconded by Ms. Hernandez with all in favor the Fiscal Year 2026 meeting schedule was approved.

Goals and Objectives
Ms. Giles stated as a reminder this is new from 2024 when the legislature made a new requirement for special districts to include CDDs to establish goals, objectives, performance measures and standards. They need to be established by October 1st of each year and by December 1st there needs to be a report if we met those goals and objectives and post it to the district website.

On MOTION by Ms. Bowen seconded by Mr. Taylor with all in favor the fiscal year 2026 goals and objectives were approved.

Facility Manager - Report
Mr. Wilson gave an overview of the amenity manager’s report, copy of which was included in the agenda package.
Mr. Soriano gave an overview of the operations manager’s report.
Ms. Bowen asked is there a report on the sod we replaced due to damage caused by the
ducks?
Ms. Suchsland stated we have mowed the bank twice and it has taken very well. The
homeowner had let his grass grow up in the fence line to deter the ducks.
Mr. Brown asked when you mow or weed eat the banks which way do you blow it?
Ms. Suchsland stated we use mulching blades and don’t blow it anywhere. There are weeks that we won’t mow the pond because it is too wet.

NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Supervisor’s	Requests	and	Audience
Comments
Mr. Henley stated I have a few concerns with the pond behand Amberly. The water level goes very low at times and at times we have issues with algae and it ends up behind my house and my neighbor’s. I spoke with Ryan some time ago and they recently treated the pond and I may have missed it but I rarely see any treatment of the pond.
Mr. Soriano stated I get a report every time they come out and what they do and if you have a question you can email me or Ryan and we can share that report with you. Unfortunately, that pond is one of the smallest ones and the more water you have the easier it is to deal with. It is not a safety issue.

Mr. Henley stated in my opinion the pond needs to be dredged and water needs to flow, when it is stagnated it stinks. Something more has to be done.
There have been two or three accidents in the corner of Amberly and Royal Pines due to line of sigh issues with the hedges.
Ms. Suchsland stated I can take care of that.
Mr. Henley asked in the future would it be possible to get a projection screen so we can see what you are seeing on the iPads?
Ms. Giles stated they are discussing having TVs on the walls. Mr. Brown stated a lot of this in on the website.
Mr. Adams stated we need more people from the community to participate.
Ms. Giles stated we put it in the paper at the beginning of the fiscal year and every month we notice it again in the paper and we post it to the district’s website and eblast it the week before the meeting to all the residents.
Mr. Taylor stated we terminated the last company and hired a new company to take care of the ponds and we are fighting against five years of mismanagement and we are trying to improve that.
Mr. Adams asked in the past have you invited experts to answer questions that I have about the ponds.
Ms. Giles stated at the beginning of this meeting there was a report on a recent pond bank inspection and a member of St. Johns River Water Management District walked the property with staff.
Mr. Lopez stated one of your vehicles parks in the road on Royal Pines and it caused a bad traffic jam. If they could park on the roundabout or the amenity center it would be fantastic.
Ms. Suchsland stated absolutely.
Mr. Taylor stated there are ants at the pool again. Something needs to be done. Mr. Soriano stated we have treatments we can do.
Ms. Hernandez asked where are we on the tile?
Mr. Wilson stated they are starting September 3rd and the pool will be shut down for two to three days.
Ms. Bowen stated potentially it could be closed on a weekend or after a holiday when it is hot. Have them start the following week.

Mr. Wilson stated we will talk to them.
Ms. Bowen stated I have a question on what we approved for the shrub cutting. Where are we going to see that coming from?
Mr. Soriano stated repair and replacement.

TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Financial Reports
Financial Statements as of July 31, 2025
A copy of the financials was included in the agenda package.

Check Register

On MOTION by Mr. Brown seconded by Ms. Bowen with all in favor the Check Register was approved.

ELEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Next Scheduled Meeting – September 11, 2025
at 3:30 p.m. at the Plantation Oaks Amenity Center
Ms. Giles stated the next meeting is scheduled for September 11, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. in the same location.

TWELFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS	Adjournment

On MOTION by Mr. Brown seconded by Ms. Bowen with all in favor the meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m.

Secretary/Assistant Secretary	Chairperson/Vice Chairperson