Do We Really Need Gate Keepers?

[sparky]

When I purchased here 5 years ago I was led to believe that The Villages was a gated community. I was not lied to, I just failed to ask my agent, who I'm sure was told not to offer this information. I found out during my orientation shortly after I moved in. By then it was too late to change my mind and the developer wasn't about to refund my money.

Since visitors had to go through the gates where the Gatekeepers were I felt a little more secure. However, after the Sumter County good ol boys decided all gates had to remain open to everyone, I felt like I had been taken advantage of.

Why do we need to be paying Gatekeepers in Sumter & Lake counties?? :dontknow: I don't need them to give me directions and if I invite someone over I can supply the directions. Don't get me wrong I don't have anything against gate keepers but why not put them in the area pools as monitors.

Our money should be spent on something useful.

[Talk Host]

I have often wondered the same thing. I don't understand the logic in keeping people on duty 24 hours a day 7 days a week just to push a switch and wave. :welcome: Maybe somebody can shed some additional light on this. :dontknow:

[Sandy222]

Gate keepers are definitely a deterrent to some unwanted traffic. It maybe a false sense of security but it sure can't hurt.

Loving life in The Villages

[sparky]

:agree: The Gates are a deterrent but not the Gatekeepers. The resident gates are a deterrent for the residents.We must stop and use our card while anyone can drive right through the visitor side barely slowing down. Don't get me wrong,gates give the appearance of security,thats about all, but I don't want them torn down.

[LovinItAtTheVillages]

:cop:Yep I agree, they look nice..would hate to see them torn down too BUT golly, the workers in there are not informed one single bit on anything
gatekeepers in other neighborhoods Ive gone to.......in southern Fla, for instance ...are very up to par on who is coming and going....they have a directory of all neighbors on the streets that they cover..and are supposedly watching over
here it is a different set up I understand that but I do wish the gatekeepers at least had a directory which of course would need to be updated weekly
so that if.........a person is coming to visit and loses the address there should be a cross directory :joke:

[rlight]

What happened? Were the gates just a ruse to get more sales? I expected more security. As the Villages grows towards populated areas your going to see more trouble. Your already seeing it down around 466A.

You don't want people wandering around looking for opportunities to rip something off.

[family]

We have lived here for 5 years and have never thought of this as a 'gated' community. If that is what we wanted we would have moved into Spruce Creek or Del Web; one entrance, one guard. We are comfortable with this because we were never given the impression that The Villages was a secure village.

[bobbcatt]

I think you have a valid question :cop:, I am all for spending money in the right places. However, I do believe that the gate keepers are a deterant to potential criminals checking out the homes in the Villages. I would love to restrict entrance into the Villages even more, but to do that we will have to get the County law changed. I guess we could organize and develop a bill to change the law, after all we are now County residents.

[Taltarzac]

I think you have a valid question :cop:, I am all for spending money in the right places. However, I do believe that the gate keepers are a deterant to potential criminals checking out the homes in the Villages. I would love to restrict entrance into the Villages even more, but to do that we will have to get the County law changed. I guess we could organize and develop a bill to change the law, after all we are now County residents.


Any new thoughts on the topic of Villages' gatekeepers? I believe there's a camera that takes pictures of each and every person as they come through each gate. That's a kind of deterrent. They should show these cameras a bit more prominently? Big Brother is watching.

[jadebox]

Leave the gates alone. I like them and don't mind the cost. If you feel the gates are a problem then if you do not already live here don't move here. I have known many many people who were coming to my house and they worried about how to get past the guard. This tells me that everyone does not know it is not gated. To get it gated we need to pressure Sumter County to let it be gated.

[golfnut]

I would guess if prorate the cost over 35,000 homes it comes out to pennies per day per household, I wouldn't change a thing.

[Russ_Boston]

I agree with Donna Lee - Last year when i visited i didn't even know that vistors could bypass the gate.

[SteveFromNY]

I agree that gatekeepers are a good thing to have. It seems like a reasonable cost, and it's a service I like having.
I understood from somewhere (maybe here?) that the reason the gates can't be closed / locked was because FEMA wouldn't help repair structures (like Mallory Hill CC) as there is some difference in how the disaster (in this case tornado) is treated by FEMA behind a set of locked, limited access gates.
Does this ring a bell with anyone else?

[Taltarzac]

I agree that gatekeepers are a good thing to have. It seems like a reasonable cost, and it's a service I like having.
I understood from somewhere (maybe here?) that the reason the gates can't be closed / locked was because FEMA wouldn't help repair structures (like Mallory Hill CC) as there is some difference in how the disaster (in this case tornado) is treated by FEMA behind a set of locked, limited access gates.
Does this ring a bell with anyone else?


I heard that they have to be open to the geenral public because they are county roads not private property of TV. :dontknow:

[Taltarzac]

The best way for a lowlife to find out everything they need to know about the "useless gates" is here, on TOTV. ::)


The Villages' Watch is out and about though AND the gates' system does take pictures of people entering each gate.

You are right that lowlifes do use the Internet like the rest of us.

[Bella]

Hey...don't take away the gatekeepers..........

That's my husbands dream retirement job!!!!

[Becky]

Steve, that reason rings a bell with me! Thought I read it here on TOTV!

Becky

[MMC24]

I am all for keeping the Gate Keepers and impowering them to challenge/question the visitor's purpose of entering the village.. At least it gives the impression of a Gated Community eventhough we all know that it is not. :bigthumbsup:

[SteveZ]

The more human eyes that watch who/what goes through the gates, the better. The cost is minimal versus the convenience and the traffic surveillance.

[Reccer]

I've heard that while this is a gate community, the roads in The Villages are county roads and therefore must be allowed use by others and not just residents. They do deter the wrong kind of people and allow for identification if a vehicle or person looks suspicious. Take away the gate people and chaos will consume us all!

If it's not broken, don't fix it!