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The
POA Bulletin has been printing stories about the vinyl siding problem for
about a year-and-a-half now. The volunteers on the POA Vinyl Siding Committee
have given extensively of their personal time and have checked over 1,000
vinyl sided houses. We have made a considerable effort to address the problems
and are pleased to have attained some worthwhile progress. In summary now, we can point to some successes as follows:
In
spite of all of these successes, we still don't have a solution.
Listed below are the elements of a solution that we wish for and think
would be reasonable:
The
POA would like nothing better than to report that Mr. Morse has accepted
responsibility for the homes built by his construction companies and is
willing to stand behind his product and make things right. In
doing so, Mr. Morse would demonstrate that he wants to take the high road
mentioned in his VHA presentation. And
he would demonstrate the integrity that we believe is there but that needs to be
expressed through his high road actions now. It
would be a great day in The Villages if and when that happens. We
hope it happens soon. We ask Mr. Morse to please stop stalling, take the high road (it’s not too late), demonstrate your integrity, and make things right for the many residents who have come here to recognize the dream of Harold Schwartz – to have a happy retirement.
In
the previous issue of the POA Bulletin, we mentioned that we sent letters to the
federal and state agencies responsible for certifying and regulating hospitals.
We heard back from both indicating that each has started an investigation
of The Villages Regional Hospital (TVRH). We
expect to hear from both for follow-up activities.
However, this may take some time and we are not sure how rapidly the
follow-up will occur. In
the meantime, we have now received over 130 letters or stories, via either
regular mail or email, explaining the writer’s experience with the emergency
room at TVRH. Some of the stories
are very disturbing about the quality of care given by the emergency room.
We continue to believe that TVRH may be providing sub-standard care in
many of the cases we have been told about. We
noticed that the problems mentioned go way beyond the long wait times and
over-crowding that seem to be common in many communities.
Some of the problems we are seeing often describe: ·
Questionable triage, ·
Inattentive care, ·
Mis-diagnosis, ·
Rude staff, ·
Lost tests and paperwork, ·
Poor communication in English, ·
Overworked staff, ·
Poor staff training, ·
Understaffed departments, ·
Lack of on-call specialists, ·
Poor nutritional support, ·
Inadequate facilities, etc. We
would ask that residents with stories about the emergency room that they would
like to share with us, be these positive or negative, to please write or email
their stories to us. We will respect
your confidentiality.
The
next POA membership meeting will be on Tuesday, July 15, in the Please
note that we are back to the The
staff of the Please join us for this important meeting and coffee and donuts afterward. And, the discussion and opportunity to meet fellow Villagers add up to a thought-provoking and interesting evening. Non-members of the POA are always welcome.
In
his presentation to the VHA recently, Mark Morse said the following:
“If you want to achieve lofty goals, you’ve got to take the high
road.” Inspiring
language, certainly. The problem
is that Mr. Morse finds things like this easy to say – but, he is not
following his own inspiring language. Case
in point – the vinyl siding problem. Mr.
Morse says he builds a quality product. But,
if so, where did all of these overwhelming vinyl siding problems come from? Our
Vinyl Siding Committee has checked the vinyl siding on over 1,000 Villages
homes and has not found one that is without problems.
Most of the problems relate to the decision of The Villages to ignore
manufacturer’s instructions and cut corners in the installation process.
Furthermore, it appears that inadequate training and inexperienced
workers just magnified the sub-standard workmanship problem.
And, we can see bad decision-making in how some basic good construction
rules were broken. Is
this the high road to lofty goals mentioned by Mr. Morse?
We don’t think so. If
you want to see the high road to lofty goals in action, consider the Tylenol
recall problem from 1982. Several
people died after taking Tylenol which had been laced with poison by a still
unknown person. The
manufacturer of Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson, didn’t know whether the
problem was a manufacturing problem, or a distribution problem, or a local
problem, or a national problem, or a tampering problem somewhere between the
manufacturing plant and the customer. But,
with uncertainty about the cause, and the prospect of more people dying from
taking the product before the cause could be identified, Johnson & Johnson
made the high-road decision – it recalled every bottle of Tylenol in the
entire country. This covered 31
million bottles with a retail value then of over $100 million Yes,
it was a huge expense and effort. But,
Johnson & Johnson felt an obligation to not only its loyal customers, but
also to stand behind its product, and took the high road.
Why? Because the management
of Johnson & Johnson had character and integrity and wanted to maintain the
trust of its customers. Now,
what lessons are there here for Mr. Morse? The
question is what should Mr. Morse have done when the vinyl siding problem first
emerged a-year-and-a-half ago? If
Mr. Morse wanted to achieve his lofty goal (of building quality homes), he
should have taken the high road, by acknowledging the problem, and offering to
stand behind his product. Mr.
Morse should have investigated the problem quickly, and, once discovering that
it was sub-standard workmanship on the part of his construction crews, he should
have offered to repair the vinyl siding installation on any home with a
documented vinyl siding problem. That
would have been the high road approach to building quality homes.
It is very disappointing that this high road was not taken. We ask Mr. Morse to please stop stalling, take the high road (it’s not too late), demonstrate your integrity, and make things right for the many residents who have come here to recognize the dream of Harold Schwartz – to have a happy retirement. Here
is a summary of the main points of the recent lawsuit settlement with the
developer covering the area of The Villages north of highway 466 in the VCCDD
administration area: 1.
The total value of the lawsuit settlement amounts to $50,423,544, paid as
follows: $39,823,544 in cash is to be paid by the developer into the amenity
fund of the VCCDD and an additional $7,000,000 in cash paid by the Developer
was ordered by the Court for legal fees and expenses. Further, an additional
$3,600,000 was identified in annual VCCDD budgets as money which should have
been placed in the Renewal and Replacement Reserve account, and this was
officially moved to the R & R account, thus insuring that these funds will
also be under the direct control of the soon-to-be-elected Amenity Authority
Committee (AAC) described below. 2.
The Developer has already made an immediate payment of $11,803,168. It was
agreed that $2,812,295 would be used immediately to pay off the remaining debt
on the 3.
Over the next 13 years, the Developer will pay a total of $28,020,376 into the
amenity fund of the VCCDD with the first payment in the amount of $1,748,659
in December of 2008. The largest annual amount is in 2018 in the amount of
$3,104,103 and the smallest is $166,695 which will occur in 2020, the last
year of the payments. This additional funding was required until the year
2020, at which time the reduction in bond debt, due to scheduled amortized
pay-off of some of the earlier bonds, is calculated to be sufficiently reduced
for regular amenity fees to provide adequate funds. These
funds were secured to assure monies for the services that had been reduced (pool
monitors, decrease in Neighborhood Watch services, recreation facility monitors,
etc.) and to pay expenses that were not budgeted at the time of the revenue bond
issues (Renewal and Replacement Reserves, recreation trail and tunnel
maintenance and reserves, retention pond maintenance and repair, and additional
funds for unforeseen circumstances such as substantial increases in the minimum
wage). 4.
The settlement also includes the creation (which occurred last month) by
Interlocal Agreement of an Amenity Authority Committee (AAC), whose members will
be one resident, elected by residents, in land owner elections, in CDDs 1, 2, 3,
4 and the We
need your help for Bulletin delivery. During
some times of the year, especially the summer months, the Bulletin is sometimes
delivered to unoccupied houses. The
homeowner may be away for vacation, or may be a snowbird.
And, the Bulletin may lie on the driveway for some time.
We ask if neighbors could pick up the Bulletin when these situations
occur, or at other times during inclement weather, and either discard the
Bulletin or hold it for the resident’s return.
Those
who know they will be away for any length of time can contact us at the email
address: delivery@poa4us.org and advise us to put you on our “No-Throw”
list. Just include your name,
address, village or villa, and the time period for which you do not want the
Bulletin delivered. We’ll do our
best to not thrown the Bulletin on your driveway as you request. Cheers
- To The Villages Regional Hospital for sponsoring the Teen Age Volunteers
program this summer. The TAV
program focuses on 14 - 18 year-old students and gives them insights into
various health care careers through volunteer work in various departments of
the hospital. Students will work
with various staff and administration officials and interact with patients
when possible under the direct supervision of TVRH personnel.
This is a good way for local students to test their interests in
various health care professions, from nurses to doctors and administrative
staff. Jeers
- To Roger Kass, president of the VHA for his continuing conflict-of-interest
over this position as president of the VHA and his job working for the
developer. Roger is dependent on the
goodwill of the developer for a paycheck and then praises the developer on
various issues, vinyl siding included. Roger
should resign one of those positions, preferably the VHA presidency, since his
actions show poor judgment in the performance of his official duties. Cheers
- To Janet Tutt for organizing the new Jeers
- To Lee Huntley, new CEO of LRMC, and Tim Menton, administrator in charge of
TVRH, for wasting a lot of money on “feel good” and “pat yourself on the
back” ads in the Daily Sun and glossy brochures.
That money would have been better spent on hiring more staff, paying
better wages, and organizing more effective recruiting for TVRH.
Prime need: another doctor at critical times for the Emergency Room. Jeers
- To the VHA for not supporting the POA’s effort to improve the quality of
medical care in the Villages Hospital Emergency Room and for continuing to
insist that the hospital is “one of the finest hospital facilities in the
country.” Also Jeers to the VHA
for not joining the POA in its call to the developer for an accounting of where
the annual charges of $700,000 for the recycling effort goes. Cheers
- To the VCCDD and the RAC for opening our first “dog park.”
We can only say thanks and “woof-woof” for a job well done. “All
truth passes through three stages. First,
it is ridiculed. Second, it is
violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
Arthur
Schopenhauer Editor’s
Note: Do these first two stages describe
the response of the The
POA passed a significant milestone when our membership officially passed
5,000. Congratulations to all on
this great achievement. As
recently as 2001/2002, the POA membership stood at approximately 500-700.
The compound annual growth rate since then has been about 40% per year.
This compares to a compound annual growth rate for the population of
The Villages during this period of approximately 18% per year. We
feel the rapid growth of the POA is attributable to the POA’s efforts to
speak up for residents about significant issues affecting all Villagers. Whether
it was the Nancy Lopez pond sinkhole ... the Sumter County hospital tax ... the
start of the hospital expansion ... the renovation of the Paradise Center ...
the vinyl siding problems ... the problems with the Villages Hospital emergency
room ... the closing of the Chula Vista and Silver Lake recreation centers ...
the location of the Bob Evans restaurant ... the central districts’ activity
policy ... the developer reneging on his granting of free amenities to some
residents ... the lawsuit over the use of the “maintenance fees” ... and
most recently, the $50 million lawsuit settlement – the POA was there to speak
up and fight for Residents’ Rights. We
champion Residents’ Rights for all Villagers ever since our founding in 1975. We
are sending out emails and letters to POA members as a reminder about renewing
their 2008 membership in the POA. These
emails and letters are being sent out in the first half of July.
If you don’t received an email or letter from us in this timeframe,
then we don’t have at least your information on file. We
are using email more and more because of the low cost compared to sending out
membership renewal notices by regular mail.
It would be a big help to us to have your email address on file.
For each membership renewal notice, the difference is about 50 cents for
letters versus emails. So,
if you don’t received an email or letter from us, we would appreciate it if
your could at the very least email your name and address to us so that we can
update our membership database. If
either a letter or an email gets through to you, then we have your up-to-date
contact information. Email
your current information to us at: poamembership@thevillages.net Recently
the POA Vinyl Siding Committee has received inquiries from homeowners in one
Courtyard Villa neighborhood who are puzzled about letters they received from
Alcoa Home Exteriors (Plygem). There are two versions of the letter: one
states that their home has had a “thorough field inspection” and no
defects have been found; the other tells homeowners there is a product defect
(without specifying the extent or the defect), and that defective portions of
siding will be replaced. An unspecified cash settlement is offered as an
alternative. Apparently,
there are about 30 homes that have received this second letter, and from those
who followed up on it, we learned that the defect is in the formulation or
coating of the vinyl, making it susceptible to fading, and giving a blotchy
effect. According to the letter, Alcoa plans to remedy “only a portion of
the product.” We do not know if any other homes or neighborhoods are
involved. Our
Committee members question a number of things about this situation: 1.
How could a “thorough field inspection” have been conducted without the
majority of those we spoke to knowing anything about it? 2.
How could a “thorough field inspection” have been done when some of the
homeowners keep their courtyard gates locked, and they were not contacted to
allow access to their back yards? 3.
For those homeowners who were not at home to give permission for access, why did
the “inspector” trespass on their property? This was not an emergency
situation and many homeowners do not want anyone on their property without their
knowledge or permission. 4.
The wording of the “no product issues” letter has led some homeowners to
believe that nothing is wrong with the installation, either. This situation has
nothing to do with installation problems. 5.
If portions of the siding exposed to long periods of sunlight have visible
defects now, won’t the same defects show up on the rest of the home as the
total sun exposure increases over time? How will your home look in 5 or 10
years? 6.
Homeowners told us that Alcoa expects them to sign off on the repair. What
recourse will they have when the same problem shows up in other places in the
future? 7.
Doesn’t it make more sense to re-side the entire home? If Alcoa realizes there
was something wrong with the formulation or manufacturing process, wouldn’t
that effect the entire “lot” made from that mix of material? Replacing a few
panels that have visible problems now is just a “band-aid” fix. 8.
If you sell your home in the future, you may be required to disclose any
problems, and this could have a significant dollar affect on the value of your
property; or you may have to make another claim with Alcoa (if you still can,
having signed off on the repair) or fix it, at your own expense. We
urge residents who have received either of these letters from Alcoa to be
particularly cautious when dealing with this issue. We feel that the correct
repair would be to re-side the entire home, not just a few panels on the front
or the side. Additionally, the “thorough inspection” should be done, by
appointment, when the homeowner is present. Please
note that in the course of observing so many homes, we have often noticed
significant fading and “chalking” of shutters, as well as some vinyl panels.
This condition may be covered by Alcoa as a “product failure” since the
product itself carries a lifetime limited warranty. This concerns the vinyl
material itself, not the installation. Alcoa’s Product Failure Department can
be reached at (800) 962-3563. As always, make sure all repairs are done
completely to your satisfaction before you sign anything. If you are unsure,
have the work checked independently before you sign off! The POA Vinyl Siding Committee Please
extend our most sincere thanks to Ray Micucci and the POA Vinyl Siding Committee
for their services and outstanding efforts on behalf of Villages homeowners.
The POA is the one organization in our community with a proven record of
looking after the best interests of Villages homeowners. Glenn
Pannell I
am so GRATEFUL for you people. I
year ago I called the Warranty Dept regarding my vinyl siding. At
2 am one night I was awakened by such a loud noise I thought the house was
blowing away or falling apart. I
called The Warranty Dept the next day and they sent a worker from F&R, and
guess what he said? There is nothing
wrong. I
felt crazy, but every time it rained or was windy I could hear the siding
blowing. I knew one year later they
would not send someone again, so I hired a man that had an ad in the POA.
I
have pages of problems, and he specifically wrote that the TRIM needs to be
installed at all locations. Horizontal
J- channels under eves and windows. The
installer sent by the warranty department said he could not do it the way Alcoa
or the inspector suggested. He said
there is a revised way. I
called the warranty department and got Dennis, a real charmer.
He said the same. I
asked for written documentation to be sent to me stating this revised method.
He did and now I'm trying to contact Alan Hoying (Alcoa Technical
Services Manager) without much success. He
is the person that wrote the letter of the revision dated Dec 6, 2006.
I'm trying to find out the date of the revision from Alcoa. I
bought Sept, 2005. I live in Tall
Trees and there has been so many problems here since day #1.
If you or any others can add any info to the above I would appreciate it.
Keep
up your amazing work. I
live in the My
house is all wavy and there are bellies...I called the Warranty Dept. and they
sent out someone who inspected and said that the house was fine. I
decided that I needed a home inspection and I called Mike at Precision Home
Inspections and he came and gave me a report. There were bellies, wavy siding
and also trim missing around the windows. I
then called Warranty again and they now sent out a fellow named Chris Andrea
who I believe is with McDowell Construction who is the builder of my home.
He basically told me that they are not residing any more houses and the
J channels around the windows were not being done anymore because they looked
terrible and stuck out. He also
said that he would only repair gaps. I
called Warranty again and they said that they would call McDowell and have
them contact me. I am waiting for
the phone call from McDowell. My
plans are to have it re-inspected again and again and again until it is fixed
correctly. I get the feeling that these builders are coming out to look to make
it look good for The Villages but could care less about doing the work
correctly. Is
there anything else I should be doing to have my house sided correctly?
I also told Chris Andrea that I wanted to see certifications of anyone
who works on my home. He wasn't too
happy!!! Editor’s
Note: This is an exchange between a potential home buyer in The Villages
trying to contact the POA. The
contact person in this exchange is at the website called The_Villages_OnLine: Hi
guys! I am renting here---about
ready to make a purchase when I read your newspaper delivered to my rental unit
this morning. Is there any way to
have my vinyl siding checked on my potential new home before I make an offer?
All this talk about the poor quality of the homes built South of 466 is
scaring me. I am by myself...and
don't really understand a lot about home building!
The home I planned to buy is in
Lynn Fitzgerald Please
notice a comment in today's Villages Daily Sun (Page C4) regarding CDDs
budgets. For
CDD 3, Gail Lazenby "expressed concern" about "free
publications that do not require a subscription and that are thrown in
driveways only to later become street debris or litter". Read on, to
Janet Tutt's response. We
appreciate delivery of your "free publications", & want to
continue to receive them. That's all I care to say on the subject at this
time, but my thoughts are activated :))! Please
keep it "real", as Bill Maher says, giving us the un-embellished
facts of what is going on in our community. We appreciate honesty without
"spin". Carole
Del Monte Editor’s Note: We are also concerned about Bulletins which may sit for some time in driveways of unoccupied houses. For residents who will be away, we ask that they contact us at: delivery@poa4us.org beforehand and ask that their house be put on our “No-Throw” list for the months during which they will not be there. We will then try our best to avoid throwing the Bulletin on their driveway. For others who may be away for several days about the time of the delivery, we ask neighbors if they could pick up the Bulletin and either save it for the resident’s return or discard it. Thanks in advance to all who try to be a “good neighbor” and help us on this important task. I
just cannot understand, or endure, the charges of negativity directed at the
POA, so I decided to award you three cheers on my personal list of
"Cheers and Jeers." Cheers
to you for providing critical information to Villages residents - it's great
to be treated like intelligent adults for a change! Cheers
to you for identifying and addressing issues adversely affecting our community
- a daunting task in the face of so much resistance! And
Cheers to you for your dedication and for sacrificing your leisure and peace
of mind on our behalf! My
husband and I have personally experienced the appalling construction practices
used in homes built in the 2005-2006 time frame.
Even before closing, we'd submitted pages of defects to be corrected,
and we reported a multitude more during the warranty period.
We, also, found that the level of resistance of the Warranty Department
was proportional to the costliness of the correction.
Because of your reporting last year, we had AmeriPro perform a whole
house inspection and have since spent many hundreds of our own dollars to
correct construction problems that could well have caused significant damage
in the future. I
learned firsthand, also, the inadequacies of The Villages Regional Hospital's
emergency room when I accompanied my friend there last year after her
accident. I won't go into details
of that horrific experience now, but I want to say that you are spot-on with
your recent reporting. It
amazes me that folks want to "shoot the messenger" (i.e., the POA)
and are willing to give the developer a free pass because of the
"Villages lifestyle he provides."
The Villages IS a lovely environment and a fun community, but we all
pay for that lifestyle when we buy our homes and through our amenities fees.
Further, the "Villages lifestyle" works to the benefit of the
developer. It is key to his
marketing plan, as it alone sets The Villages apart from other developments
offering far more house and property for the price.
This symbiosis works for all and I'm not knocking it!
But let's not be naive either. I
guess there are residents who wish to retain the Villages fantasy of a
carefree retirement at all costs and who lack compassion for their less
fortunate neighbors. But, just as with people we love, we can maintain our
affection for The Villages while acknowledging its flaws.
The POA attempts to make The Villages the best it can be for all
homeowners, thus fulfilling the fantasy. We
should be grateful that we have a tireless and informed ombudsman working on
our behalf while the rest of us enjoy our leisure. Jean Santoro-Hitch Below
is part of a personal letter addressed to Joe Gorman, president of the POA: I was at breakfast this a.m. with other [residents]. One of them brought up the latest issue of the Bulletin and the hospital issue. They were VERY supportive of the POA, VERY grateful that it is working the issue. Two of them said they had considered writing letters, but hadn't done it. I strongly urged them to follow through. They were also supportive of the [vinyl] siding committee. You once commented ... that you appreciated feedback, so now you have some. I hope the two other hospital-story people do write. P.S.: They especially liked the bit where [the Bulletin] took the [hospital] paragraph from 4.5 years ago, and it could all be about right now. Jun
13: At best, most ER's are
filled with horror stories. Having
said that, my only personal experience with the ER at TVRH was positive.
In fact, the Sometime
ago an article appeared in the Sun introducing some management change at TRVH.
Reading between the sugar coated lines I detected problems existed that
were going to be addressed. Jun
14: While it is true that all
hospitals may have some problems that need correcting, that doesn't make it
OK. Just because Hospital A has
problems, it doesn't make it OK for hospital B to also have problems. Having
problems should not be "the norm." I
had a horrible experience in the ER. I
have no complaints about the ER doctor. He
was kind and caring, and was able to diagnose my problem.
The care was good, but the nurses were the rudest, most insensitive
people I have ever met. I was
extremely ill, and they had no compassion at all, to the point of being angry
at me for being sick. They made a
bad situation even worse. These
are two people who need different jobs, not working with sick people. People
who put their heads in the sand are fooling themselves.
If problems are not fixed, they will only get worse.
While The Villages is a wonderful place to live, there are still
problems that should be addressed. No
matter how wonderful something is, it can always be better. Jun
15: And is that not what TVRH
is doing: "trying to get better"?
How can TVRH, or any other enterprise serving the public, not improve
unless they are provided with people's concerns. Jun
15: My neighbor had the same
bad experience.... His doctor
corrected it by sending him to LRMC where his experience has been outstanding.
Jun
21: ...my experience was last
summer. I wrote a letter explaining
it in great detail, with the nurses names, to the head of the hospital, and the
head of the ER. I heard from the ER,
and was promised that the nurses would be "spoken to."
I never heard back. I will
not go back to this ER again, unless I have no choice!!!! Jun
3: Do the recent full page ads
in the Daily Sun explaining what the hospital is doing about wait times in the
ER along with the Orlando Sentinel series on hospital ER wait times in Florida
and the nation now make the POA Hospital witch hunt irrelevant? Jun
4: I want the hospital to
improve. But is the way to do it by
soliciting horror stories and then publishing them in the POA news letter?
In the meantime the hospital seems well aware of the problem and is
applying resources for improvement. Jun
7: Until TVRH solves the
current problems with the ER, we will have the same stories repeated in the next
six month and beyond, if necessary. To
be silent to a very crucial matter is like an Ostrich putting it's head in the
sand. Jun
7: If the same problem exists
throughout the state and nation, as reported in the Jun
11: ... saying the POA "investigation" was a "witch
hunt" could be considered inflammatory.
If posters run the risk of being called names because of their opinions,
they will not feel comfortable posting on this site.
I have witnessed forums be virtually destroyed because of flame wars. Jun
12: You are right.
I chose the wrong words to stimulate discussion. Jun
7: I'm writing in regards to
the so-called hospital here in Leesburg. On
Feb 20, 2008, we took my brother to urgent care in The Villages.
They sent us to the ER at the Leesburg hospital.
My brother was having severe, terrible abdominal pain.
Three times I went to the desk and begged them to look at him.
I was told the whole room was full of sick people.
I have no doubt that there were some there sicker than others.
We kept waiting our turn and 7 1/2 hours passed.
My brother had a twisted colon and got sepsis from the
all-but-perforated bowl. Until he
got help and was operated on, another day-and-a-half had passed.
Needless to say he died. We
where told by three doctors that it should have never happened.
He survived lung cancer and removal of the left lung 11 years ago.
He was cancer free. So,
Mark Morse, when you say that anyone who sits in an ER for over 7 hours and
lives to tell about it does not belong there, well my brother died there on
March 4th. He did not live to tell
about it. He was in good health,
walked 3 miles a day, and ate right. He
did all the right things except go to the Editor’s
Note: Our hearts go out to you
for the loss of your brother. Unfortunately,
we may be seeing a pattern here between The Villages Hospital and the The
bigger problems we are seeing here seem to be:
defective triage, indifferent staff, insufficient staffing, lack of
resources, poor training, mis-diagnosis, etc.
What is it about the common attitudes, management, administration, etc.,
in both The Villages Hospital and the Florida
Hometown Democracy, Inc., filed a federal suit seeking ballot placement for
the Florida Hometown Democracy citizens’ initiative in the November 2008
election. Florida
Hometown Democracy is the sponsor of a citizens’ initiative to amend the
Florida Constitution. The
proposed amendment will require that changes to comprehensive land use plans
approved by city and commissions be submitted for final approval or
rejection by voters. Hometown
Democracy is a response to decades of uncontrolled development that cares
nothing for the long term health and sustainability of communities, Over
820,000 Floridians signed the Hometown Democracy petition to place the
initiative on the November 2008 ballot.
The Florida Division of Elections website currently posts 595,368
validly filed petition signatures. However,
numerous actions by the Florida Division of Elections and opponents of
Hometown Democracy blocked Hometown Democracy from having its ballot
position certified, in violation of the United States Constitution.
The suit asks the federal court to examine and overturn these actions
and place Hometown Democracy on the November 2008 ballot. Hometown
Democracy President Lesley Blackner urged all supporters to continue to send
donations and petitions in support of this
important amendment. She
stated: “...we are compelled to take this matter to federal court.
The State’s constant war against the citizens’ right to amend
their own constitution must stop. We
look forward to a complete exposé of the tactics employed to deny us our
constitutional rights and a swift vindication in court.
We fully expect to be on the November ballot.” FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION: Lesley
Blackner PO
Box
636
, New
866-779-5513 This
letter is to inform Villages residents who purchased a steel-frame-built
home in the Villages with DEFECTIVE STEEL BEAMS. In
November, 2007, I heard a loud continuous sound as if huge logs were rolling
on our roof, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. After
investigating, several metal steel beams supporting the roof were found
bent. Since this happened, major
creaking and cracking sounds occur continuously day and night.
I
called home warranty and Mr. Robert Lock inspected the house and found a
major problem with twisting of metal beams around air heat escapes. On
11/13/07 Dean Carter and Jim Boston of Carter Construction inspected the
problem. The
Steel Company did an inspection and wanted to down play a serious problem by
reinforcing the bent beams ASAP with 2 by 4’s. This
will ultimately cost me the homeowner the devaluation of property at resale.
I will have to disclose the bent beams, and, also, a professional
house inspection will show the inferior workmanship. After
several months of conversation with contractor Dean Carter and Mr. Rick
Murray to solve this problem amicably, Mr. Murray, admitted to the failure
of inspections by steel delivery personal, erecting crew, roofers, general
contractors, and county inspectors of not seeing the problem, and, also
admitted that damage had accrued to several of the trusses before they were
installed. This
is not satisfactory to a homeowner who paid top dollar for a properly
quality-built home and feels he has been short changed. In
my opinion, the developer, contractors and the Village’s real estate
company may have some legal liability here for any fraud they commit on home
buyers. The property was
misrepresented to us as being of high quality and meeting or exceeding
building code standards. I
cannot understand why Mr. Morse allows construction companies to build poor
quality homes. His failure to
make a commitment to quality construction and lack of required inspections
spoil the image of the Villages and also lowers our home values.
In my opinion the Villages developers need to be accountable, legally
and financially, and to change their practices.
It appears the only way is to “hit them where it hurts,” i.e. in
the pocket book. Please,
all residents, if you are having any of these problems, please e-mail me at:
lf222222@yahoo.com Len
Farish It
is with a heavy heart that I sit down to write this letter concerning my deep
feeling of sadness at the loss of our Village buffalo. Thursday
(May 29th) morning we witnessed the rounding up and shuttling of a herd of
buffalo and their young calves on to a truck to be removed from the Villages.
As might be expected, the buffalo became quite upset, as did the numerous
spectators who had gathered to watch the spectacle. Visiting
the fields to watch the buffalo has become a favorite past time here in the
Villages ... some of our citizens have even been privileged to be able to
observe the birthing process of some of our recent calves. To
now have to part with these buffalo is almost as painful as if someone came into
our home and took a member of our family. Visiting
the buffalo has always been one of our favorite activities.
Whenever family & friends come to visit, they, too, are always
anxious to see the buffalo. They
continued to be one of the unique attractions of the Villages ... one that has
set us apart from other retirement communities.
We
know the Village administrators have found creative solutions in the past to
solve problems that needed to be addressed.
Is there a possibility that they may now turn their attention to the
buffalo problem and find a way to maintain their presence for all of us to
enjoy? Maybe a double fence could
remedy the problem? We
have seldom heard of any problem that has touched the hearts and saddened so
many Villagers as the loss of the beloved buffalo.
Please realize how very important these animals are to our community.
Every time we pass by an "empty field," we are reminded of our
recent loss and wonder if there is not something that could be done to rectify
the situation.
New
Look Exteriors, Steve Justice 352-288-3040
Brix
& Stix, Terry Poortenga, Vice President 352-330-1817,
352-516-0505 cell Scott
Smith Roofing (352)
867-0044 (877) 296-0898 The
June 14, 2008, issue of the Orlando Sentinel carried a story about recycling.
It was entitled: “County Finds Green Mine in Recycling” and told
again the story of the recycling success in According
to the Sentinel: “The county handles up to 1,000 tons of recycling a month.
Selling that to private customers can bring in about $100 a ton,” or
about $100,000 per month, or $1.2 million a year. If
the bulk recyclable materials is separated into more valuable components, the
take could be up to $160 a ton, or $160,000 per month, or $1.9 million per year. For
all recycling operations, the county nets about $600,000 per year after paying
for the processing and other costs. With
a new sorting system now being considered, the county “could net close to
$1 million” annually. Debbie
Fore, the coordinator of recycling for Aside
from the profit, recycling keeps 1,000 tons of materials a month from going into
the county’s landfill or from being burned in county incinerators. Coming
back to the situation in The Villages, we think we could also do this.
There
are profits to be made from recycling materials.
The
problem is that someone other than Villagers is making that profit now.
We
need to get an accounting from the developer as to the expenses and revenues
being generated by our recycling program. If
there is profit to be made here, then Villagers should participate in that.
First
of all, thank you POA for being the resident’s voice.
We appreciate you. And also
a huge thank you to the Morse family and any others responsible for making The
Villages one of the nicest places in the world to live.
And you need to know how we appreciate what you have done. I
cannot tell you how very upsetting it is to find our buffalo gone.
We as a community must do something about this. Personally,
I would like to tar and feather those of you who had the unmitigated gall to
sue the Morse family or The Villages. Those
of you who are guilty of putting your hands through a fence where there are
wild buffalo with new born babies are brain dead.
On top of it, you think you have the right to sue for being injured
when it is totally your fault. I
say we print the names of these people in the paper so everyone in The
Villages knows just who these people are.
If there was a monetary settlement they should be made to give it back
and apologize for their ignorance. K
A Knutsen Editor’s Note: The developer’s decision to ban the buffalo was, perhaps, premature. He should have publicized the problem, issued warnings and a disclaimer, improved the fences where the buffalo roamed, set up designated “safe feeding/viewing” areas, and made the effort to continue a really nice feature of The Villages. My
wife and I have the thought that if there is going to be a tunnel built to the
new shopping area south of Rolling Acres Rd. it should be paid for by the
companies being there. They want our
business; with a tunnel we could get
there. If Morse put it in, the cost
would be given to all of the residents of this retirement community.
That should be also for any other bridges or tunnels built for
businesses.
Dale and Ramona Lamb Editor’s
Note: The POA believes that if a tunnel is put in, the businesses that
benefit from the increased traffic should pay the cost, as they now do for
parking lots Residents should not be
charged for the cost of a tunnel just so we can patronize businesses that will
be the beneficiaries of our purchasing power.
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