Windermere boaters and tennis players could soon pay more to use the town’s ramps and courts, but the Town Council has not settled on new rates. During a meeting last week, council members tabled proposals to increase the existing $25 boat and tennis passes while staff gather more information about maintenance costs and current revenue.
The Parks and Recreation Committee proposed bringing both passes into the $50 range, a rate it described as more comparable with other municipalities, according to a report from the West Orange Times Observer. Windermere issued 158 boat passes and 232 tennis court passes last year, the report said. Parks and Recreation Committee member Mandy David asked the council on September 8 to consider higher fees, which the committee said could help offset the costs of maintaining and repairing the boat launch and tennis courts.
Committee member Tonya Elliott-Moore said the fees have remained similar for many years and are low compared with those in other Central Florida municipalities, the outlet reported. The current boat pass costs $25. Nearby Orange County-operated ramps on the Butler Chain of Lakes, including R.D. Keene Park, charge $5 per day for a motorized boat or $150 for an annual ramp pass, according to a MaxLife Realty blog post.
Council Wants Cost Data Before Setting New Rates
Mayor Andy Williams asked staff to compare the town’s maintenance and operating expenses with revenue from the current rates before setting new prices. Council member Tony Davit likewise said the fees should either be based on a cost-recovery model or remain unchanged, rather than being increased arbitrarily. The council voted to table the proposed fee resolutions until that information is available.
How the fees and pavilion timeline compare
A direct comparison of municipal access fees is limited because cities package access and restrictions differently. Windermere’s proposal would move its $25 passes toward $50, while the City of Winter Park’s tennis center offers eight hard courts and eight clay courts and gives play-pass holders a two-day advance booking window, illustrating that municipal tennis-access models are not directly equivalent, according to the City of Winter Park. The pavilion’s funding history also predates the reimbursement dispute. The original $1 million grant agreement was between the West Orange Healthcare District and Windermere Rotary Inc. and took effect May 5, 2021; the grant’s withdrawal was announced at a Windermere workshop on February 12, 2024, according to the West Orange Times & Observer.
The town's tennis courts are gated, lighted, and restricted to pass-holding residents and property owners. The courts were only recently reopened, having briefly closed for resurfacing work before welcoming residents back in March, as the Orange Observer reported at the time. That kind of resurfacing work is exactly the type of maintenance expense the Parks and Recreation Committee is hoping revised pass fees might help offset.
On the water, boaters using town ramps access the Butler Chain of Lakes, a system of 13 lakes.
Council Denies Rotary Club's $49,573.77 Pavilion Claim
In a separate vote, the council denied a $49,573.77 reimbursement request from the Rotary Club of Windermere related to the canceled Healthy West Orange Pavilion project. The dispute grew out of a 2020 council-approved partnership among the town, the Rotary Club of Windermere and Healthy West Orange to build a community structure at Town Square Park.
The project lost its $1 million grant in February 2024 after the Foundation for a Healthier West Orange withdrew the funding because grant parameters were not met, according to a report from Vox Populi. The town had previously reimbursed the Rotary Club $95,621.58 for project expenses, including project management, an asbestos survey, demolition, construction, architectural services, surveying and miscellaneous fees.
The Rotary Club later said outstanding invoices totaled $148,993.96, including $49,573.77 it paid McCree Construction for additional costs. The council rejected that amount after determining that the additional work had not been validated within an approved work phase, the Times Observer reported. The pavilion project was canceled at the 45% design phase.
Davit said the disputed invoice included unrealized profit for incomplete work and that the provision appeared in the Rotary Club’s contract but not the town’s. He said design and pre-construction services had been approved only through the 45% design phase. Council member Byron Sutton said McCree had performed the work it was expected to perform, while Mayor Williams said the town’s position was that it had paid what it owed.
Other Council Business
Wade Trim is the engineering consultant that provides Windermere with contracted town planning, zoning, stormwater, and development review services. The council also approved appointing Maggie DiMino to the Parks and Recreation Committee.
The Orange Observer also reported on the Ward Trail pedestrian bridge.
Mayor Williams is Windermere's mayor.
