To: All Property Owners

From: Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors

Date: August 12, 2024

This letter is to provide our Indian Trail Improvement District property owners an important update on the lawsuit filed by Seminole Improvement District and Minto PBLH LLC against the landowners of the Indian Trail Improvement District. Minto PBLH LLC is the developer that owns and is building large residential, commercial and industrial properties in the City of Westlake.

In October of last year and in a final judgment this summer, the court sided with Indian Trail Improvement District in a very long legal battle with Seminole Improvement District (SID) and Minto PBLH LLC (Minto), which was seeking to access our roads, which are paid for by the landowners of the Indian Trail Improvement District. Since the recent final judgment this summer, SID and Minto have already filed to appeal this decision of the court.

It is important for us to take this opportunity to explain that if SID/Minto prevail in their appeal against the District, the cost estimate from our engineer estimates that Indian Trail Improvement District (ITID) would be left with a $75- $100 million bill for the improvements to roads and other transportation infrastructure needed to support the heavy level of daily traffic from the Westlake area. [The images below detail these cost estimates.]

As ITID’s attorney, Michael Burman, wrote to Palm Beach County Commissioners on March 20, 2024, “In Mr. Foy’s [ITID’s longtime engineer Jay Foy] opinion the cost of the above additions will be in the range of $75 million to $100 million dollars. The question then becomes ‘WHO WILL PAY FOR THIS?’ The County has made it clear that there is no money to pay for additions such as this. Thus, the residents of Indian Trail would be left to bear the burden of this incredibly costly project.”

Neither SID/Minto nor Palm Beach County will fund these improvements. You as the landowners of ITID would be left to bear the burden of this incredibly costly project.

Meanwhile, as it has been reported in the Palm Beach Post, as the legal decisions stand currently, Minto Communities owes Palm Beach County $18 million because they have yet to construct any infrastructure needed to support their burgeoning real estate development.

Palm Beach Post: “Agreements made decades ago when much of western Palm Beach County was swamp and orange groves could cost a prominent home builder $18 million after a judge ruled it couldn’t use a country road to connect to the burgeoning city of Westlake. Minto Communities, the master developer and primary builder in Westlake, lost a partial judgment this month in a yearslong legal battle with the Indian Trail Improvement District about a right-of-way easement and a connector road between Minto’s property and district lands.”

 The Indian Trail Improvement District will continue to fight to protect our beautiful, unique landscape from the threat of $100 million in increased costs to build roads for those who live outside of our community. We have already implemented increased assessments to fund drainage improvements, park improvements and overdue road maintenance during times where the federal government sent Covid relief funds to Palm Beach County and city governments like Westlake

It is now up to the Palm Beach Board of County Commissioners if they believe Minto should pay the $18 million owed under their original traffic proportional share agreement. For anyone who wants to connect with their County Commissioners on this matter, their information is included below:

PALM BEACH COUNTY COMMISSION

Please do not hesitate to contact us at info@indiantrail.com or (561) 793-0874. We will continue to serve you in the most transparent way to prevent any confusion or misrepresentation about the investments and actions that we take to protect our beautiful community.

Sincerely,

Board of Supervisors

Indian Trail Improvement District

Email: info@indiantrail.com

Phone: (561) 793-0874

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