Quote:
Originally Posted by Happydaz
It is interesting that people tell us that the squares are open to everyone and that we Villagers don’t own the squares. That is not true. We Villagers do own the squares that is why the amenity fees we pay each month were used to pay for the new windmill and water tower at Brownwood and the new dock at Sumter Landing. We do not own the roads around the squares (the county does) nor the stores around the squares (the developer does). I am always surprised how many people think we have no control over the squares and don’t know that we own them and are responsible for the cost of all repairs and improvements.
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We, the Villagers, do not own the squares. Our amenity fees do not pay the performers. Our amenity fees did not pay for the windmill or water tower. The Villagers have as much control over the squares as a homeowner in Lake Panasofkee: we influence with our spending.
The Resident Academy, offered monthly as I recall, is a great place to learn the facts of how the Villages works.
According to Sumter County, the Brownwood square is owned by the Brownwood CDD (BCDD), the Sumter Landing square is owned by the Sumter Landing CDD (SLCDD), and the boardwalk at Sumter Landing is also owned by the SLCDD. These two CDDs along with Districts 5-13 contribute a portion of their maintenance fees to the Project Wide Fund (PWF) which is controlled by the Project Wide Advisory Committee (PWAC). In the documents creating the PWAC there is a list of common areas that will be maintained using PWF dollars; the water tower, windmill, and boardwalk are all included on that list which is why they were repaired through the PWAC using maintenance fees (PWF).
When it came time to repair the boardwalk at Sumter Landing there was a proposal to increase the size of it to support additional activities. Later, it was proposed to remove a portion of the boardwalk as a designated common area and reclassify it as an amenity. This moved the funding out of the PWF/maintenance pot and over to amenity fees. Under the last proposal I looked at, the boardwalk along the lake would still be part of CDD common area while the dock and gazebo would become part of the Villages amenities.