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The Resident Advisory Council (RAC) has just had its first meetings.
The full compliment of 10 supervisors met on September 17 and 19 in the side conference room in the District offices at 3201 Wedgewood Lane. There were no residents in the audience at the first meeting and only four at the second meeting. The September 17 meeting was announced in the Classified Announcements section of The Villages Daily Sun in the week before the meeting.
The RAC was created by the VCCDD to provide resident input, explore issues and provide advice and recommendations to the VCCDD on matters related to the operations of the District Amenity Division and relations between the members of the RAC. The RAC is an advisory board – final decisions are to be made by the VCCDD. But, the RAC should carry weight as the voice of residents on issues of importance in this community.
These supervisors were appointed by the four residential CDDs north of highway 466 and the town of Lady Lake in the VCCDD-administrative area. The RAC idea was conceived after the Straw Vote last November showed resident approval for a Resident Authority Board which would have had actual decision-making authority in the VCCDD area. However, several of the residential CDDs in the area declined to participate because a majority of their residents voted against the idea. A Resident Advisory Council, rather than a Resident Authority Board, was eventually embraced by all concerned.
There is at this time no comparable RAC for the residents living south of highway 466. This may come in the future as interest and conditions permit and the developer agrees.
The RAC will meet on the Wednesdays before the regularly scheduled board meetings of the numbered residential districts in the VCCDD administrative area. For the remainder of 2007, these meetings are scheduled for October 10, November 7, and December 12. The meeting for November and December will take place at 2:00 p.m. in the side conference room at 3201 Wedgewood Lane (unless otherwise announced in the Daily Sun’s Classified Announcement section).
On the agenda for consideration at the October meeting is the issue of abuse of the golf tee time system. The RCA expects a heavy turn-out at the October 10 meeting due to the controversial nature of this problem and the potential penalties that will be discussed for abuse of the system. This meeting on October 10 will take place at the Laurel Manor Rec Center.
The
Topics which the RAC will initially discuss include but are not limited to the
following: -
Abuses of the Golf Tee Time System -
Pool Usage and closing times -
The Amenities Budget -
Resident Council Guidelines -
Recreation and Pool Monitors -
Rental Rates for use of district facilities -
Maintenance of the Recreation Trails -
Areas of Maintenance Responsibility -
The Annual Resident’s Survey -
Wireless Internet Service in the area -
Operating Policies for the Traffic Gates -
Neighborhood and Villages Watch
Another topic for initial consideration is that of the closing times of the various swimming pools throughout The Villages. Some now close at dusk, some at 10 p.m. and some at 11 p.m.
District staff points out that pool usage is often meager in the last hour or two of operations and that savings could be worthwhile if a uniform closing time was established. John Rohan, administrator for recreation activities, was asked to do a census over the next two or three months to identify usage at the various closing times. When this census is completed, the RAC will consider a uniform closing policy. Residents interested in this issue should plan on attending future meetings to voice their opinions. Residents interested in any of these topics should plan on attending the RAC meetings. Some of these topics are scheduled for a particular meeting; others may come up at any time. So, if you are interested, please plan on attending.
The POA strongly supports the idea of residents having a say in district decisions on the amenity program. So, Villagers, this is your chance to have a strong voice in various Home Rule issues. The
September issue of the VHA newsletter described the many positive activities
that the VHA has sponsored in our community.
The POA applauds the VHA for its many contributions to The Villages.
The VHA plays an important role in our community and we are fortunate
to have such an active and dedicated group of residents working for the
benefit and well-being of all Villagers. Residents
should not interpret the comments in the POA newsletter last month as negative
on these aspects of the VHA. As we
said last month: “These activities are worthwhile.” However,
we need to examine the VHA record in more detail to fully understand their
contribution and role in our community. In
reviewing the list of thirteen accomplishments cited by the VHA, we can see no
position taken on any controversial topic and no position taken on any issue
contrary to the will or interests of the developer.
The
POA feels that any property owners’ association worth its salt will speak
out on controversial issues and advocate actions in the best interests of
residents, even if contrary to the will or interests of the developer. The
best recent example we can cite of the VHA failure to speak out is the issue
relating to the $165,000 repair cost of the sinkhole in a pond on the
developer’s Nancy Lopez golf course. The
developer refused to pay the full bill, saying that residents got various
benefits from the pond and should pay the repair bill.
The
POA thought this was outrageous and said so.
We called on the developer to pay the bill.
The VHA said nothing. The
VHA silence was certainly not what we would expect from a property owners’
association claiming to do worthwhile things for the residents of this
community. The
POA continues to believe that if the VHA had joined with the POA to take a
united stand against the developer’s position, we could have resolved this
situation much sooner than was the case. On
another issue, the VHA never joined the POA in its call for the VCCDD to
renovate the Also,
the VHA never joined with the POA to condemn the infamous Activity Policy passed
by the two Central Districts a few years ago which would have severely
restricted our Constitutional Rights of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of
Assembly. At the time the Policy was
passed, the VHA showed support for the action by saying the Policy was a good
idea. After the Policy was
rescinded, the VHA said that was a good ideal also.
Confused VHA? The POA think
so. Most
recently, the VHA tried to mislead residents over the Vinyl Siding Issue by
giving blind support to the developer without even understanding the issues or
making an attempt to learn more. The
VHA just praised the home-building activities of the developer and literally
didn’t know what it was talking about. The
POA has spoken out strongly to support residents and to prod the developer to do
the right thing and stand by its product. The
VHA has said nothing constructive to support residents. The
VHA never faulted the developer, as the POA has done, for the inflated-value
sales to the VCCDD of common property. These
sales were approved by the developer’s hand-picked supervisors who are often
employees, friends, or business associates of the developer and obviously have a
conflict of interest. The
VHA has never denounced the actions of the developer in hand-picking the
supervisors on the Central District boards.
The POA has been outspoken on this issue and has often called for home
rule by residents through direct elections of these supervisors. Summary
- Let’s be clear: the VHA does worthwhile and important things for this
community. But, as the POA Bulletin
pointed out last month, the VHA fails as a true property owners’ association
by its blind support of the developer on Residents’ Rights issues where the
best interests of Villagers should be the main VHA concern. The
POA feels that The Villages needs the VHA for the many worthwhile things that it
does for residents. But, when the Rights of Residents are concerned, The Villages needs the POA. And, if the POA were not here, who would speak up for Residents’ Rights? Not the VHA, that’s for sure....
The POA
will move its October 17 meeting back to the The
speaker for the evening will be Mr. Len Hathaway, a local Villages resident
who is knowledgeable about the CSST problem and the Lightning Protection
systems often suggested as a fix for the CSST problem.
Mr. Hathaway will speak about what to do now and take questions. We also
plan to provide an update on the activities of the Vinyl Siding Committee. If you haven’t been to one of our meetings in the past, please join us on October 17. Coffee and donuts afterwards are a heck of a deal. And, the discussions and opportunity to meet fellow Villagers make for a thought-provoking and interesting evening.
The purpose of the POA Hall of Fame is to honor those past POA members who have contributed significantly to this organization.
The
POA annual elections are coming up soon. All
officer and director positions will be up for a vote by active members. Nominations
open at the October meeting. Elections
are held at the November meeting.
Officers and directors are sworn in at the December meeting.
The term of offices starts in January. Please
take a moment to consider how you might participate in the activities of your
POA. We need more people to take an
active role in the management of the POA by running for these officer and
director positions. You may find
that the time commitment is less than you think and the rewards are truly
satisfying on a personal basis. So,
please consider running for one of these positions and joining the other
officers and directors in helping to make The Villages an even better place in
which to live. If you want more information, please call or talk to any other officer or director. Phone numbers are listed on page 15. We
have heard some residents complaining that they are tired of hearing and reading
about the vinyl siding problems in the POA Bulletin. Perhaps
these people live in a block home or feel that this issue doesn’t affect them
or anyone they care about. Perhaps
their warranty has expired and they feel there’s nothing they can do about it
anyway, or their own repair issues have already been resolved.
Or maybe they would just rather think about more pleasant things. But,
being quiet about the issue won’t make the problem go away.
What silence and apathy will do is empower the developer and the builders
to take whatever shortcuts they want in the future.
If no one objects, if no one notices, why not?
The unacceptable becomes accepted. Poor
workmanship becomes the standard. Should
excellence no longer be a goal in life, just because The Villages is a
retirement community and it’s a lot easier to ignore problems than to speak
out and seek solutions? And
what about the new residents, moving in every day?
The Vinyl Siding Committee members have found problems with new
construction as well as existing homes, even the tendency to revert back from
the progress that has been made in the quality of construction during this past
year. Don’t new residents have a
right to learn about these shortcomings so that they can act on the information
and have repairs made without delay? What
better way to inform homeowners than the POA Bulletin which is delivered to all
the homes each month, published by an organization that stands in support of
homeowners’ rights, and is outspoken
about residents’ welfare. Should
we withhold information about this continuing problem because it is unpleasant
to read about, or seems redundant to those who have already had repairs, or for
one reason or another, don’t need any? Oversight
is what will keep the developer, the contractors and their subs on their toes.
Knowing that someone will be checking the end product, and that their
reputation depends upon the quality of that product and how they relate to
Villages homeowners. The
builders and the developer need to know that we care about the quality of what
we are buying, and we must insist upon good quality construction.
If we don’t care, if we don’t stand up for ourselves, if we keep this
issue hidden by our silence, then we deserve what we get. And
don’t forget, the recurring siding issue is only one of many construction
problems that have been found – it is just one of the easiest to see. We
are very disappointed that there are some residents who, rather than supporting
their neighbors in the quest for quality and accountability, seek to suppress
information and limit discussion about the vinyl siding issue in this
publication simply because they are tired of hearing about it. The Vinyl Siding Committee Just
what is the home warranty when it comes to vinyl siding? Homeowners
are still getting inconsistent responses. A
copy of the Home Buyers Warranty booklet, page 2, provided to one homeowner by a
Home Warranty representative, makes reference to a defect as defined by
“failure to meet ‘construction quality standards.’”
The Vinyl Siding Committee has found little quality to boast of in the
siding installations, and standards according to siding manufacturers’ manuals
are still not being consistently met. So
who is setting these “construction quality standards” and what do they
consist of? The
manufacturer sets standards by publishing instructions for the application of
the product it manufactures. This
has been confirmed by the Chief Building Inspector of Why
should buyers of homes here in The Villages suffer with this poor workmanship?
Why should we have to fight and argue with Home Warranty and/or the
contractors and subcontractors to get what we paid for: a properly constructed
home? Why are the repairs having to
be done again and again before they get it even close to right?
And why are some repairs being flatly denied by certain contractors? The
job should have been done correctly in the first place. A
Home Warranty representative has told one homeowner, and made a written note, of
5-year warranty coverage for siding failures.
What is a failure and who determines whether a failure qualifies for
repair? We
think bad workmanship is a failure in itself. Failure to do a correct
installation. Failure to meet the
building inspector’s requirement that installation instructions be followed.
Failure to make a commitment to quality construction here in The
Villages. In a recent example, the subcontractor, F & R, refused to go back and repair a home in Tall Trees. Home Warranty told the owner they would “get to the bottom of this,” but then just gave F&R’s number and told the owner to deal with them herself. The job was done incorrectly in the first place! Don’t you think the siding outfit, F&R, would have the integrity to go back ad repair their own shoddy work? Warranty, why don’t you help this owner get her house repaired? Remember, from what your rep told another homeowner, there’s supposed to be 5-year coverage for failures in materials or workmanship.
The Vinyl Siding Committee Welcome.
The Villages is a beautiful place in which to live. For
those of you who have purchased vinyl-sided homes, you may not yet be aware of
the siding problems that exist due to poor workmanship in construction.
It has been a year since these problems were first brought to light and
the Vinyl Siding Committee was formed in order to help residents become more
knowledgeable about proper siding installation so that they could have their
homes repaired correctly. The
Vinyl Siding Committee members are volunteers, your neighbors, with backgrounds
in the construction industry, who are willing to look at your home and make
observations about the siding installation that was performed.
In addition, we keep an eye on the new homes being built, to see if the
contractors are following through – whether they are now using correct
techniques on the new installations –
or not. Due
to our efforts over the past year there have been some improvements made by the
builders. However, we are not out of
the woods yet. We
had hoped that after all this time the contractors would have learned by having
to re-do their work over and over and over.
For some, such as Carter Construction, there has been a sincere effort to
change bad habits and improve quality. However,
certain other builders seem to be unconcerned about the quality of what they
sell us, and do only the bare minimum of repairs once flaws are pointed out,
often not correcting the underlying cause of the siding problems.
They appear to simply be waiting for all the fuss to die down and go
away. This has even been stated to
some of our committee members. They
probably want to go back to the old way of doing things. What
we have recently seen in the Holly Hill and the Crestwood Patio Villas is not
encouraging. Just driving through we
have observed many instances of bows, bellies and wavy siding.
What will a closer look reveal? There
have been some comments lately that people are tired of hearing about siding.
Should we stop looking and making observations about the situation you
want to know if your home, a major investment, is affected?
Wouldn’t you want to take steps to have corrections made as soon as
possible? The POA calls upon its
members, old and new, as well as non-member readers, to stand up and insist upon
quality of workmanship and integrity. We’re tired of all this, too. It would be great if all the builders would give us a break and just follow the siding installation manuals so we could get back to being retired and they could get back to building new houses instead of fixing the ones they just built. The Vinyl Siding Committee Mr.
McDowell of McDowell Construction Company surprised us yesterday morning
without notification that he had a crew outside and wanted to
"properly” repair the vinyl siding.
Believing that he was finally going to do the right repair by removing
the vinyl siding and properly fasten it with galvanized nails, I gave him
permission to proceed. Instead
of removing the siding properly to re-nail, they forced the vinyl out at least
8" to drive the nails. The
result is deformed vinyl which cosmetically looks worse. The
comment from his workers was that the vinyl siding should have been completely
removed and new vinyl siding installed. This
is the third botched attempt to repair a terrible installation and we are at a
loss to explain the actions of the warranty department or the contractors doing
the work. Unless
there is good intention to replace the siding, we do not want McDowell
Construction Company on our property. Matthew and Lois Klein
This
is a reprint of an editorial in the Wall Street Journal on September 21, 2007: Florida
Governor Charlie Crist didn't appreciate our coverage of his plan to socialize
his state's disaster insurance market and put taxpayers on the hook for
billions. Now his populist lunge has won him a more formidable foe in the The
highly popular Mr. Bush doesn't make a habit of violating Ronald Reagan's
Eleventh Commandment ("Thou Shalt Not Criticize Fellow Republicans"),
but he's making an exception here. BestWeek,
a trade publication of insurance rating firm A.M. Best, quotes Mr. Bush
criticizing states that are crafting disaster insurance plans "that are as
bad as the natural disasters themselves."
Which states? "My
beloved state of In
January, Mr. Crist enthusiastically signed into law a measure to reduce the cost
of hurricane insurance by largely abandoning the insurance market in favor of a
guarantee that, whatever happens, Mr.
Ross outlines the financial downside in the Journal of the James Madison
Institute. "As a result of the 2004-2005 storm seasons, private insurance
companies paid out $39 billion to rebuild That's a storm warning Mr. Crist would do well to heed.
Greetings
FHD Supporters: We have only 14 weeks until the end of the year. Florida Hometown Democracy has now collected close to 500,000 petitions. Not all of them have been verified by the various counties. We still need a total of 611,000 valid signatures to qualify. Please do your share to make this happen! Organize a petition drive and spend a weekend morning collecting petitions. Go to football games, art festivals, your public library, public hearings (where our "representative government" is busy representing the developers). Get your neighbors and friends involved. If you can't collect petitions, then send money. One or the other, heck both if you really care! Time
is not on our side, and we can't do it alone. With your help, we can get the
numbers we need to get to the ballot. Best,
Lesley
Blackner Founder
and President
*************************** Florida Hometown Democracy continues to be in the news every day. To stay current with the many news clips, visit the "news" link at this internet website: www.floridahometowndemocracy.com.
HELP
SAVE WHAT'S LEFT OF LET
THE PEOPLE VOTE to control growth! Help
put HOMETOWN DEMOCRACY on the 2008 ballot. Please download and SIGN THE PETITION at this internet website http://www.FloridaHometownDemocracy.com
WE NEED YOUR HELP...NOW¼. Below is the
Fourth POA Residents’ Survey. All
residents are asked to spend a few minutes filling out this form, but, please,
just do it once. Please rate
each question with your opinion on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 would be your
highest, best, or most satisfactory rating – all the way down to 1 which would
be your lowest, worst, or least satisfying rating.
A rating of 5 would be an average, or middle-of-the-road, answer.
If you have no opinion or no information about a question, or it does not
apply to you, please put in “NR” (No Rating) for that question. Then, either
bring this form to the next POA membership meeting or you can mail it to:
The POA Survey,
Some
residents have asked why the POA does its periodic POA Survey when The Villages
already does an annual survey and publishes partial results in the Daily Sun. A
related question is why even do a survey when most residents are perfectly happy
with The Villages and wouldn’t have moved here unless they were happy with
what they saw. On
the first question, the POA has been disappointed with the annual survey done by
The Villages. It just seems like
that survey misses the opportunity to address some of the hard issues of concern
to residents. We have often said
that the survey seems to sidestep the important issues and whitewash the results
of what is surveyed. The
POA has come to view The Villages’ survey as much too general, incomplete, and
lacking in enough details that can be measured on a continuing annual basis. Hopefully,
this POA Survey addresses some of these concerns.
Take a look at some of the questions listed on the right.
Don’t you think that we should be asking these questions, getting the
answers, and doing something about any problems uncovered? On
the second question, we agree that most people are happy living here.
But, that doesn’t mean that no issues exist that could be addressed
and, if solved, would make our community an even better place in which to live. So,
let’s do this POA Survey and see what we find.
Let’s not whitewash issues. And,
let’s be honest about what is good and what is not-so-good about The Villages.
Maybe we can make this place better for all of us. There are 50 questions. To complete the entire questionnaire, on two sides, should not take longer than a few minutes. Thanks in advance for helping on this survey. The
POA has conducted three previous Surveys. The
first was conducted in late 2002 and reported on in the February, 2003, issue of
the Bulletin. The second was
conducted in April and May, 2004, and reported on in June, 2004.
The third was conducted in October, November, and December, 2005, and
reported on in January, 2006. All
three of these are available for review on the POA website in the archived
Bulletin section. As
we report on this 2007/2008 POA Survey in a few months, we will show comparison
to the earlier Surveys where appropriate. Rather
than go into details right now on previous Surveys, and perhaps influence this
year’s results, let’s just do these general comments listed below: The
earlier Surveys showed favorable opinions of The Villages on the general
questions and various resident services. The
Villages Media Group generally showed good marks for the radio and TV station.
The Daily Sun, however, didn’t fare as well and was marked down for
objectivity. The
golf program got so-so marks, but the executive golf program fared better. The
POA scored better than the VHA as an organization and for its newspaper. The
lowest scores in both surveys were recorded by various elements of our local
governments. Lightning-induced
failure in corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) has been implicated in the
cause of an alarming number of fires in the recent past.
To understand why, let us first look at the history and nature of this
relatively new product, and then review a probable scenario. For
at least 100 years, “black” pipe (originally wrought iron, and now steel)
has been the mainstay for supplying fuel gas to appliances in structures.
Copper pipe has also been used, to a lesser degree. In
the late 1970s, the Japanese developed what is now called corrugated stainless
steel tubing, or CSST, for short. Because
of its reported substantial installation cost savings compared with black
pipe, CSST caught the imagination of many in the construction field. By
the year 2000, CSST accounted for 10% of all residential gas piping work. CSST
is compliant with most local, state and national model building codes, and may
be installed in most areas as an alternative to rigid black iron pipe.
Advantages
claimed for CSST include: (1) lack of pipe threading; (2) fewer fittings
required; (3) ease of snaking it through walls like electrical conduit in
remodeling situations; (4) lack of problems from structural shifts and
vibration in buildings; and (5) labor savings for both new construction and
rehab work. A
disadvantage of CSST has been its higher material cost-per-foot.
However, the cost of CSST has come down significantly since it was
introduced. Covered by American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard LC-1 - 1997, CSST comprises
stainless steel corrugated tubing covered by a yellow polymer coating, with
brass fittings for coupling. Installation
of CSST is done by installers who undergo training by manufacturers, as
required by ANSI LC-1. (This means that CSST should remain unavailable at home
improvement centers.) CSST
was recognized by NFPA 54 (the Fuel Gas Code) in 1988.
The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO,
which develops both the Uniform Mechanical Code–UMC, and the Uniform
Plumbing Code–UPC) finally approved CSST in 2003, after having rejected it
in 2000 for “reasons of safety.” At
present, all of the CSST brands, with the exception of Omegaflex’s
CounterStrike, are believed to have the same basic design and physical
attributes. (CounterStrike is
marketed as having a proprietary black jacket material with energy-dissipating
properties to help protect the metal components if the line becomes energized
by lightning.) CSST
also differs from black pipe in that natural gas entering a house in a CSST
system is routed to a manifold, which then distributes the gas to each
separate appliance by individual CSST lines, known in the trade as “home
runs,” one line for each appliance. Enough
tubing for each run is cut at the job site from spools containing from 50 feet
to 1000 feet of CSST. Diameters of
CSST are currently available in sizes up to 2";
however, the actual inside diameters of tubing provided by different
manufacturers may vary, and fittings are not interchangeable from one brand to
another. With
black pipe, on the other hand, a single pipe at the point of entry into a
building will have numerous “Ts” branching from it, connecting to rigid
pipes leading to various appliances. Enter
lightning! Unpredictable
and extremely powerful, lightning has such high levels of voltage that paths
to ground with high resistance can be overcome.
Therefore, the current induced by lightning does not take the path of
least resistance, but rather takes all paths of resistance to ground.
Lightning
can enter a building either by a direct strike or by a nearby strike, where
the energy of the lightning is transmitted to the building through ground
current transfer or through metallic supply or communications equipment.
When
lightning strikes at or near a structure, the energy can travel through any
type of conductor to ground. Proper
grounding and bonding of electrical systems, and bonding of metal piping
systems, as required by the National Electrical Code and Fuel Gas Code, are
essential for safety, but will not necessarily prevent arcing between metallic
components under these highly energized conditions.
Lightning
affects black pipe and CSST to different degrees. When
lightning strikes black pipe, which is relatively thick walled, damage usually
takes the form of microscopic pits in the iron/steel.
These pits do not penetrate the pipe, and do not leak gas.
CSST,
on the other hand, is very thin, with walls about 10 mils thick or less.
This low mass is intended to make the tubing more flexible, thereby
affording easier routing. However,
this thin, low mass configuration also makes CSST tubing susceptible to
perforation by electricity. As a
general rule, the amount of electrical energy needed to melt standard ½"
black pipe is around 15 times as much as would be required to melt CSST
tubing. One
commonly cited lightning-induced fire scenario involving CSST has lightning
attracted to a metal-walled chimney flue and cap.
The current from the lightning travels down the metal chimney flue,
through the metal fireplace insert, and into the CSST line connected to a
valve used for gas logs in the fireplace.
Arcing between the CSST and a bonded metal object causes the CSST to
become perforated, allowing gas to escape and ignition to occur by: (1) an
adjacent open flame; (2) auto-ignition; or (3) metallic byproducts of the
arcing process. Investigating
a fire suspected of having been abetted by CSST necessitates a systematic
process. All possible causes
must be addressed and eliminated until there remains only one which cannot be
eliminated. For example, stainless steel (used in CSST) is not prone to melt during a fire because of its high melting point. So, if an arced hole is found in a CSST line after a fire, which was preceded by lightning (as verified by positive lightning reports), and the arcing was not caused by an energized wire contacting the CSST, then the process of elimination leaves lightning as the probable culprit. Of course, the location of the perforation(s) in the CSST line and subsequent fire development must conform with the area of fire origin to substantiate the culpability of the CSST. So the next time you have a fire following a lightning strike or near strike, and CSST could be implicated, professional engineers are ready and able to help analyze the problem. Ollie’s
Frozen Custard, located in The Spanish Plains Shopping Center, has come up with
a unique way to make money for The Villages Charter Elementary School.
Ollie’s, in conjunction with Box Top for Education (A General Mills
Company), is offering 10 cents off any of Ollie’s products, in exchange for
every Box Top their customers bring into Ollie’s. Each
Box Top is worth 10 cents to The Villages Charter Elementary School, according
to Nancy Borkoski, the new Villages Charter Elementary School Box Top Parent
Volunteer. If
you own a computer and have email, please register online to become a New Box
Tops member at the website: www.boxtops4education.com/clubbonus. Choose The
Villages Charter Elementary School as your school.
The school will receive 10 Bonus Box Tops/$1.00 for your effort.
Please register before the deadline of 10/31/2007. Since
this program started over 10 years ago, General Mills has sent checks out to
over 90,000 schools totaling over $200 million.
For more information on the Ollie’s Box Top Promotion please stop by
their store or go www.boxtops4education.com. For more information - contact Bob Borkoski at (352) 259-3568. Concern
about rising school taxes prompted me to attend the Sumter County School board
meeting on 9/18/2007. I
was under the impression the developer built the Charter school for The Village
employees' children and the parents paid for its operation.
NOT SO. This year The Sumter
School board paid $2.7 million to lease the charter school from the developer
and approx. $1.5 million for capital improvements at the school.
Also 25% of all school tax dollars collected in My
concern is what percentage of the students attending the William Reynolds Don’t
miss the first annual Environmental Expo to be held in The Villages.
All you ever wanted to know about the latest products on the market that
relate to living the “GREEN LIFE.” There
will be displays of solar panels, hot water heaters, solar golf carts, three
hybrid car dealers, Gem electric cars,
furniture and other home products made from recycled material. There
will be presentations on Florida Friendly Yards.
The Save-R-Planet Kids will perform. Bring
your old no-longer-needed eye- glasses, cell phones, hearing aids -- we will
help you recycle them. Learn
more about what YOU can do to save our planet. Join The Village Greens. At
the October 24 Village Greens meeting, Lesley
Blackner, founder and president of Hometown Democracy, will be the guest
speaker. She will bring us up to
date with what is going on with the Hometown Democracy issue.
Hometown Democracy directly relates to preservation of land and the
environment. Hometown Democracy
speaks to the importance of “the voice of the people.” Call Sue Michalson for more information at 259-1426. In
the September 17, 2007, issue of Newsweek Magazine, the actor Michael Douglas
talked about his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and his 90 year-old father Kirk
Douglas. Michael said: “Not long ago, my father gave me some great advice. He loves giving advice now. He pointed toward Catherine and said, ‘When it's all over, all you really have is your wife. You can dote on your kids all you want, but they're going to grow up and leave you someday. Then it will be just the two of you.’” Many
people are thinking green. A lot of
people would like to reduce dependency on foreign oil.
Every little bit will help. There
are tens of thousands exterior post lamps in The Villages.
Replacing the incandescent bulb in these lamps is one way to reduce
electricity use and save money. The
manufacturer represents that each compact fluorescent bulb will last up to five
years and save $38.00 in energy. Each
13 watt compact fluorescent bulb is equal to a 60 watt incandescent bulb.
This is something that we Villagers can do without much effort.
¨ William
D. Stilwell Sept
10: I would like to address the concerns of Mr. Easterling in the last
edition of the POA paper concerning renters.
Let
me start by saying that I am a full-time resident of The Villages.
Yes, my husband and I both play golf.
I have also done some homework before writing this.
Why
would you or anyone else think that renters are here for a “free”
vacation, including the renters? If
they are renting a home here, they are paying what I would consider a
substantial sum. The homeowner pays the amenities fees just like the rest of
us, along with the taxes, etc. Unless
he/she is a really, really generous person and does not want to at least break
even, or is not too bright, those costs are being factored into the rental
rate. When
they play golf, the renters have to pay the trail fee.
As for the priority memberships, unless they rent 12 months out of the
year, they can only buy 6 months at a time.
Priority memberships are not available on a monthly basis and those
renting through The Villages do not qualify if their rental time is limited to
one month. Priority memberships
are not transferable. All the
membership does is give a slight break on championship course green fees and
pays the trail fees, both executive and championship.
If
everyone who owned property in The Villages lived here all the time and played
golf, then there would be a real problem.
The renters make up a small percentage of the people living here and
are not the only ones playing golf. Why
lay all the blame on renters and snowbirds because you can’t get the tee
times and courses you want? They
can’t either. We have the
priority membership and still don’t always get our top choice request.
We get turned down occasionally. So?
Tee times are based on frequency of play, not status.
What
about those residents, snowbirds and full-time, that do not play golf?
They still pay all the things you pointed out.
I
don’t swim or use the rec centers to play cards, etc., but I don’t mind
having to pay the amenities fees anyway. The
amenities cover many things other than golf and rec centers.
Golf seems to be the only sticking point.
Maybe
renters who come never intending to move here have friends that just might check
it out and make the move. That
happens. People come with no
intention of doing anything but play golf....they like it, go home, sell out,
and move here. If you live long
enough, you learn never to say never. Starting
in October, The Villages CDDs meet at the Laurel Manor district offices:
Second Friday of the month:
SLCDD at 8:00 a.m.
CDD # 2 at 9:30 a.m.
CDD # 4 at 11:00 a.m.
CDD # 1 at 1:30 p.m.
CDD # 3 at 3:00 p.m.
Third Friday of the month:
VCCDD at 8:00 a.m.
CDD # 5 at 9:30 a.m.
CDD # 6 at 11:00 a.m.
CDD # 7 at 1:30 p.m.
CDD # 8 at 2:30 p.m.
CDD # 9 at 3:00 p.m.
CDD # 10 at 3:30 p.m. Please
watch the Daily Sun Announcements section, or the Our Place column on
Thursdays, for notices of schedule changes.
Holidays can alter the schedule, and special meetings may be held at
other days and times. These
worthwhile meetings show our local governments in action.
Residents wanting to know what’s going on should attend, ask questions,
and watch the proceedings. Also,
the District Administrator’s office conducts a two-hour CDD Orientation twice
a week at 10:00 a.m. on Monday and Thursday at either Laurel Manor or other
recreation centers. Call 751-6700
for details. CDD
Orientation is informative and provides a good basic overview of how CDDs work
and are organized. The POA
recommends the program for all residents.
I
read with interest the letter concerning the Laurel Manor Sports Pool and how
the Villages Charter Schools receive priority usage of this facility. I
would like to know why this is allowed to happen.
According to the official Recreation Pool Guidelines as written in the
Villages Phone Book on Page 18, "ALL VILLAGES SPORTS POOLS ARE FOR
RESIDENTS ONLY (AGE 30 AND OLDER)." It
also states that "Private Sport Pool Parties" may rent the pools on a
Sunday afternoon for a fee. Accordingly
this means only Residents may use the pool from Monday thru Saturday but it can
be rented for a fee on a Sunday afternoon (by a Villages Resident). All
the facilities here in The Villages are built by the Developer and then sold to
the residents for their use. If the
schools need facilities such as pools, baseball fields, golf courses, or
anything else, I am sure that the residents of The Villages would very
generously be willing to assist with fund raisers, etc., in helping the schools
to raise the funds to let them build their own facilities so that they can have
full use of them without-inconveniencing our residents.
In the meantime if the developer wants to let the schools use the
properties that are owned and run by them then that is his decision. The
Villages is a 55+ community and all the facilities that are built and paid for
by our residents are suppose to be for the benefit of same residents and their
family and guests. Again:
"ALL VILLAGES SPORTS POOLS ARE FOR RESIDENTS ONLY (AGE 30 AND OLDER)."
They are not even open to our guests.
And they are definitely are not there for the children of the employee's
who work here. I do not want to deny
these children any of the privileges that go with attending the Charter Schools
but there has to be a better way to accommodate them than to deny our residents
their rights of usage. M. Schaeffer Is
there any way to appeal the cost increases that have just been laid upon us by
insurance companies? I thought we
were to get cost CUTS in our homeowners insurance NOT HUGE increases. Richard
Ivinjack Editor’s
Note: Yes, we were also disappointed
by our insurance rate "reforms." Not
much we can do now, except write our legislators -- but, you know how that
works. Let's remember this for the
next election.... In the mean time, please consider the Wind Mitigation evaluation being offered by independent contractors, like AmeriPro (see their phone number in their ad on page 6). Insurance companies are offering what could be substantial rate cuts if this evaluation shows required stabilization capable of withstanding high winds. The
POA Discount Partner Program has been updated for 2007.
Many new Partners are listed here.
We will be adding more in coming months.
Our website will carry this information also so check there often.
Just
show your 2007 POA Membership card when ordering the product or service listed
here. And, please say “thanks”
to our Discount Partners for participating in this program. All
Things Fine - Bravo
Pizza - 1080 Lake Caribongo
- Carvel
Ice Cream Store - Chick-Fil-A
of The Villages - Cingular
(Spectrum Global Network) - 972 Cold
Stone Creamery - Comfort
Suites - 1202 Avenida Central (352) 259-6578.
Special Rates: $97.95, May 1, 2007 to Oct. 31, 2007.
$107.99, November 2, 2007 through April 30, 2008.
Not valid Leesburg Race Weekend. All
reservations are based on availability. Must
call hotel directly in advance for individual reservations. Cozco
Handcrafts - Domino's
Pizza - Gourmet
Go Go - A delivery service for dinner menus from local restaurants.
POA members receive a $1.00 discount off regular delivery fees.
For details call (352) 205-0829. Great
Day on the Water Boat Hertz
Local Edition - Island
Images - Kilwin’s
Chocolate and Ice Cream - MOE'S
Southwest Grill - US Hwy. 441 North - Rolling Acres Plaza (352)
430-3610 Buy 1 Get 1 Free Every Sunday! Not
valid with any other offer. One
benefit offer per family membership. Ollie's
Frozen Custard - Next to Blockbuster in the Panda
Express - 869 North Hwy.27/441, Plaza
Jewelers - 16770 S. Hwy. 441, Quiznos
Sub - 3509 Wedgewood Lane- Southern Trace (352) 751-5698.
$2.00 off any toasty combo meal. Includes sub or entrée salad, side
item, and a 20 oz. fountain drink. ScentSational
Candles and Gifts - Sonic
Drive-In - 11211 SE 178 Pl. - Southern
Image Photography - 97 Sunshine
Hair & Nail Spa - The Terrace Shoppes of Spruce Creek, Summerfield,
across from Wal-Mart, 352-307-0099. 10%
off on retail products or nail services. Tropical
Accents - The Terrace Shoppes of Spruce Creek, Summerfield, across from
Wal-Mart, 352-307-2100. Free gift
with $30.00 purchase. Vic's
Embers - Villages
Car Wash and Lube - Villages
24/7 Kart Aide - Triple A Rescue Service for golf carts.
10% discount on yearly membership. Call
352-409-5853 for details.
Villages
Paw Spa - Villages Largest Premier Country Club for Pets.
Call 352-751-5711. 10% discount on grooming or boarding. Wholesale Computer Components - The Terrace Shoppes of Spruce Creek, Summerfield, across from Wal-Mart, 352-245-1500. $15.00 off on any computer repair by showing your current year POA membership card.
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