From a practical point of view, it isn't clear to me that there is a need for charging stations. As has been pointed out by others, electric carts generally have sufficient range to get you around The Villages. In those cases where you do run out of power, there is always Cart Aide, or one of the other services, to get you home. For many carts, the charger is an external unit and would need to be carried in the cart. Also, I believe most (all?) of the chargers are 115v 15amp devices and take a considerable amount of time to charge the batteries - hours. If we consistently saw stranded electric carts all over The Villages I guess you could make the case for charging stations but that doesn't appear to be the case. Charging stations will take up space and provide questionable value, in my opinion.
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Originally Posted by Retiring
I’m not a villager at this time so I don’t have a dog in the hunt but want to share my thoughts as a future villager.
You all have some great suggestions here. Just to be clear, the “free” stuff is not free. If you want to light a court or field or dog park, if you want charging stations, if you want… Someone has to pay for it.
For those that want charging stations, are you referring to pay stations? If you truly want “free” fuel for your electric cart than I’m sure you would not have a problem with “free” fuel for gas carts.
I do feel sorry for those on fixed incomes when their amenities fee starts to skyrocket. There is nothing wrong with compiling a wish list but keep in mind the financial impact to those villagers who don’t have a ton of money to spare. God has blessed me with a career that has provided well. If the amenities fee, one day, goes to $1,000/mon. I can pay it, but many cannot. Please have them in mind when suggesting and or demanding amenities.
When I was in college we had several racquetball courts. If you wanted to play late and needed light, you put a token in the meter and the lights would come on for a set amount of time. Those that wanted the lighting paid the electric bill. At that time, 30 yrs ago, I think we paid $1/30 mins of light. You can have a set number of lighted pickleball courts, away from houses (for noise), with pay as you go lighting at an amount that pays for lights/electric/maintenance of the lighting system.
A user pays system can work for more than lighting, this approach can work for charging stations too.
As for safety suggestions, such as street and traffic lights, MMP lighting/striping, signage, all benefit so that is a valid expense all should pay.
Just my opinion, worth what you paid for it  |