chessclubmom said:
Our boat Captain told us that most of the Treehouse Villas have been torn down but the remaining ones sit on land that is protected. .
Not true.
Disney owns the 40 square miles of their property, and as part of the deal brokered back in the 60's when the land was bought, they controll the zoning, police, taxes, restrictions..everything.
Disney is kind of like the vatican is to italy.
The Reedy Creek Development Corparation is the official name of the group that controlls disneys 40 square miles.
RCDC does everything a small town would do in a normal state, and then some. The only requirement is that all the money taken in, then has a seperate tax that is kicked up to the state of florida.
go here to learn more
http://www.state.fl.us/rcid/about.html
THE DISTRICT
The District is a public corporation of the State of Florida and is located in Orange and Osceola Counties in central Florida, about 15 miles southwest of the City of Orlando. The District currently encompasses approximately 25,000 acres or 38.6 square miles. Approximately 18,800 acres of the District's property are located in Orange County and 6,200 acres are located in Osceola County. Two cities are located within the boundaries of the District, the city of Lake Buena Vista and the city of Bay Lake.
The District is intersected diagonally (northeast to southwest) by U.S. Interstate Highway Number 4 and midway (east to west) by US Route 192. The land in the District (exclusive of about 2,118 acres primarily owned by the District itself, 450 acres owned by the State of Florida and 24 acres owned by others) is primarily owned by wholly owned subsidiaries of the Walt Disney Company. The District is the site of the Walt Disney World Resort Complex, which was first opened to the public on October 1, 1971.
GOVERNMENT
The District was created in 1967 when the Florida Legislature passed an act sponsored by delegations from Orange and Osceola counties which created the Reedy Creek Improvement District, combining within one multi-purpose district many of the various powers then found in limited purpose taxing districts in Florida. The act clearly outlines the District's authority to provide essential public services such as drainage and flood control, solid waste collection, wastewater treatment, pest control, fire protection, and the regulation of building codes and land use within the district. It also gives the District authority to issue bonds to finance these improvements and services. The charter also sets forth a number of responsibilities and opportunities for the District, ranging from the promotion of conservation and resources... to the promotion and creation of favorable conditions for the development and practical application of advanced concepts and designs for a recreation oriented community... to the establishment of reclamation, drainage and irrigation of land... to construction and maintenance of essential infrastructure.
As a special taxing district, The Reedy Creek Improvement District must operate in accordance with state laws governing such districts. Just as any city or county, the income is derived from taxes and fees imposed within its boundaries. In the case of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the major portion of taxes are paid to the District by Walt Disney World Co. and other property owners, who also pay property taxes to Orange and Osceola Counties.
The District is governed by a Board of Supervisors of five members. The Supervisors hold office for staggered terms of four years each. Elections of Supervisors are held every two years at the annual meeting of the landowners of the District, at which two or three Supervisors, as the case may be, are elected. The present members of the Board of Supervisors, and their respective dates on which their terms expire are as follows:
Name
Term Expires
Thomas B. DeWolfMay 2007Donald R. GreerMay 2005Wayne SchoolfieldMay 2005Elizabeth A. DudaMay 2005Laurence HamesMay 2007
ADMINISTRATION
Under the direction of the Board of Supervisors, a District Administrator acts as the chief administrative officer of the District. C. Ray Maxwell currently serves as the District Administrator, replacing Thomas Moses in October 2001. Prior to serving as District Administrator, Ray served as the District's Director of Finance and Planning since 1992. Under the direction of the District Administrator is the Deputy District Administrator.
In October 2001, Mickey Shiver was promoted to Deputy District Administrator. The Deputy District Administrator is responsible for Personnel Services, Building and Safety, Emergency Services, Information Services, Environmental Services and the Planning and Engineering department. Prior to being promoted, Mickey Shiver served as the Director of Administration and Services and served in this capacity since 1992. He has been an employee of the District since 1973.
FIRE PROTECTION
From its inception, the Reedy Creek Improvement District has been a leader in requiring sprinkler systems within all permanent and most temporary buildings. It also requires extensive networks of smoke and heat detectors requirements that always exceed generally accepted standards.
These high-technology systems are automatically monitored by computers which alert the Reedy Creek Improvement District fire department well in advance of actual combustion. This sophisticated fire protection system has held the structural fire loss rate within the District to the lowest of any community of its size in the world--to less than $100,000 total--in the past seven years.
The Department serves the property from three stations housing fire suppression apparatus and rescue equipment staffed by certified firefighters, paramedics and fire prevention inspection personnel.
EMERGENCY
MEDICAL SERVICES
The Emergency Medical Services of the District provides emergency care and transport services for both employees and the general public present in the District. Six ambulances provide advanced life support service, staffed with paramedics who are qualified to perform multiple procedures including life-saving semi-surgical procedures, advanced last-chance airway maneuvers and external cardiac pacing.
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
The Department of Environmental Services is actively involved in the collection, filing and processing of data in connection with water and air quality and its effect upon the environment. The staff monitors water quality throughout the District, and their analyses play a major role in evaluating potential changes within the District to assure compliance with applicable laws. They operate a chemistry laboratory, a biology lab, a fisheries management program, computer operations and a quality assurance/technical assistance program.
BUILDING AND SAFETY
The Reedy Creek Improvement District introduced the innovative EPCOT Building Codes which are based on a philosophy that encourages new methods in design, construction and materials. They are recognized as containing some of the most stringent provisions in the nation and have become "living documents" which serve as valuable reference for other major building codes throughout the United States.
The EPCOT codes have led to a wide range of imaginative projects and ideas within the Reedy Creek Improvement District. They have permitted such unique construction as a fiberglass castle, an 18-story geosphere attraction building, and windowless assembly buildings containing hundreds of thousands of square feet of public attractions while ensuring a high degree of public safety.
The Department of Building and Safety applies the EPCOT Building, Plumbing, Mechanical, Gas and Electrical Codes and Florida laws relating to accessibility, thermal efficiency and energy conservation. Those codes have enabled construction at the Walt Disney World Resort to implement some of the most unique systems found anywhere.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
The Reedy Creek Improvement District Information Services Department provides computer related technical support, Systems Design and Engineering, and Hardware/Software procurement to all departments within the District. Computer usage has grown in the last five years from using less than 40 stand alone PC's to utilizing approximately 200 networked PC's, three Local Area Network file servers, a series of UNIX based Governmental Applications, a UNIX based Geographical Information System (GIS), a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), a Wide-Area Network linking all RCID systems together, Electronic Mail, and access to the Internet.
Future Information Services projects include Year 2000 issues, Emergency Services systems, Human Resource Information System (HRIS), Document Imaging, Office Automation upgrades, and Internet Electronic Mail. These systems allow RCID to provide its clients the highest quality service possible and will poise RCID for growth into the twenty first century.
PLANNING AND ENGINEERING
The Department of Planning and Engineering is responsible for continuing maintenance and implementation of the District's comprehensive plan and land-use regulations and oversight of the District's growth management programs.
In addition, they provide the engineering oversight for maintenance of the District's expansive surface drainage system which consists of 23 water control structures and 47 miles of canals with 22 miles of levees. They review and provide approval of engineering plans and development of agreements for receipt of surface drainage from properties from beyond the boundaries of the District. The Department also monitors mosquito and other pest control programs.
UTILITIES
The District currently owns a wastewater collection and treatment system, a reclaimed water system, an electric generation and distribution system, a solid waste and disposal system, a potable water system, a natural gas distribution system, a high temperature hot water system and a chilled water system. By contract, Reedy Creek Energy Services, Inc. operates these systems on behalf of the District.
ROADS
Since its establishment, the Reedy Creek Improvement District has spent or has under construction in excess of $150 million in public road improvements. The District has over 113 lane-miles of roadways, 70 lane miles which have been constructed by the District, none of which have been funded by county, state or federal funds.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District has funded the costs for traffic controls and roadway costs at the points of access to the District along state and county roads as part of its infrastructure management system.
