Gate controversy that appears to be brewing
 

Apparently some of the CDD’s are considering possible changes to the current gate system utilized in the Villages.

From what I understand, there are three options being discussed.

1) Keep as is
2) Eliminate gates
3) Keep the gates, but get rid of the attendants

Perhaps there are other options being considered that I’m not aware of?

Based on the three options listed I’m curious what option others favor?

Personally, I would favor keeping the gates, but getting rid of the gate attendants. I feel the gates are necessary to slow automobile traffic so golf carts can safely get through gated intersections. However, I don’t really see any benefit of having the attendants. In fact, I think having a gate attendant at the 466/Morse gate is a detriment. The attendant typically just holds the gates open waving cars through as fast as possible, alternating between the two gates, leaving no openings for golf carts. Without the attendant, automobiles would have to stop and either waive their gate card or push the little red button, leaving openings for golf carts to cross. I suppose the only time I could see the gate attendant as being helpful would be if the gate was temporarily broken, so they could hold up a stop sign to slow down automobiles not being constrained by a gate.

If history is any indicator, most of us will be dead before they change anything. I am happy leaving the gates the way they are.

If you are referring to the gate near CR466, they keep the gate open during busy periods so that traffic doesn't back up on to CR466. There is not a lot of distance between the gate and the major road. Not ideal, but generally carts don't have to wait very long before the lights change and normal operation is resumed. Those traveling north are not affected as they can slip on to the cart path.

Given the amount recently spent to replace the control boards, I don’t see the gates changing significantly anytime soon.

Finding that the attendants are no longer necessary might be an option. With the red button to open the gate and Nav systems to find homes there is less need for a person at the gate. Plus, as pointed out above, when the attendants choose to facilitate traffic flow by holding the gates open they make things dangerous.

Keep the gates , dump the attendants.

I would vote to get rid of them. The golf carts don’t pay attention with the gate anyhow. I noticed when the fire department came the other night going by Sawgrass they had to completely stop and push the button on the (non attendant) gate. I wonder if my home insurance takes that into account and my rate is higher based on a slower response, LOL. Like another said we will be gone before any change ever happens.

Since we have owned a home off Morse, north of 466 for 10 years, I am as familiar with that gate as just about anyone. There is a good distance between the gate and 466, and I have never seen automobile traffic back up anywhere even close the 466. On the other, I have witnessed many dangerous encounters between automobiles and golf carts trying to cross over to the MMP because of the gate attendants not staggering automobile traffic enough to let carts through. The picture below occasionally happens when the gate attendant never bothers to turn around and check out how many golf carts are backed up behind them. In my opinion, that area would be much better served by not having a gate attendant.

I attended the District's Budget Meeting last year.

The amount of money spent on Community Watch, is criminal. The guy that runs it, is a nut bag in my opinion. I had to leave after listening to his nonsense for 10 minutes ... he apparently went on for another 20 minutes after I left. He thinks he's running the NYC Police Department and had more facts and figures than any human could stomach.

Want to know how many homes Community Watch can drive by per minute? He can tell you. Want to know how long it takes to call a homeowner, to tell them their garage door is open? He's got the statistics. It was mind boggling.

I left before I heard how much they spend for those clowns operating the gates & paddles at the gates ... I can only imagine!

Cutting all those guys loose is going to be an issue. It should have been done a long time ago. I'll be curious how this one shakes out.

That would be my vote as well, if I get one.

I feel the gate attendants are an essential part of this community. You don’t see all the people who need help that these people provide. If anything we should provide better training for them.

Disagree! I think if any thing we need more Community Watch. Too many unauthorized people taking liberties with TV property. Using swimming pools, using recreation areas, golf courses, trying to get around deed restrictions etc etc. And there is a sense of comfort knowing they drive by my home each day and night. They help keep our place safe and civilized.

Community watch does nothing about “unauthorized people taking liberties with TV property.” Rec center employees do check ids at pools and Rec centers, but not Community Watch.

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

Automatic Open
 

I suggest keeping all of the gates, however, have the gates open as our vehicles approach them. This way we don’t get soaking wet when it’s pouring rain and we have to open our window to wave our card in front of it.

Community Watch drives around all day and mans the Gates. That's it. They're Mall Cops with automobiles.

Try to get your head around these numbers:

The Community Watch Budget in FY 24 was $11,800,000

Community Watch Budget increased approximately 14% for FY25 ... +/- $13,000,000.

PWAC (South of 466) = +/- 60%
AAC (North of 466) = +/- 40%

I'm fairly certain the PWAC is currently subsidized by the Developer, their % will increase.

I don’t know how I have survived my 20+ years as a Villager, getting soaking wet all those times. :duck:

I wonder if they had the stats for how many homeowners they have to call because the Sunny paper they never subscribed to is piling up on their driveway while they are snowbirding up north?

Only some of the gates actually have attendants. Most don't. EMS has to "push the red button" to get into my neighborhood...

They have every stat you can imagine and a zillion you can't imagine.

If that were the case, why are there attendants at only -some- of the gates?

Being a part timer, I very much like the Daily Fun. I can call and have them turn the paper delivery on and off as we come and go. We pay for a one year subscription and they never charge us for the days they don’t deliver. A one year subscription typically lasts us a little over two years, and I really enjoy reading a real printed paper as opposed to digital. And you can’t beat the price, all the advertising makes the paper very affordable. Plus, I love getting the sports pools schedule that is buried in the recreation news insert in the paper every Thursday.

PWAC does not pay for Community Watch. Community Watch is an amenity and is paid for with amenity fees. PWAC is funded with maintenance fees.

In what way do you believe PWAC (or RAD or SLAD) is subsidized by the Developer? Which revenue line item captures this subsidy? (The Developer did contribute $3M towards a project in the current year but not in previous years and not in the upcoming year)

The numbers I see in the proposed budgets are different from yours.

RAD (30%):
$3.392M -> $3.638M : 7% increase
SLAD (70%):
$7.065M -> $8.356M : 18% increase
Total:
$10.457M -> $11.994M : 12% increase

I haven't attended any of the workshops to hear why the RAD increase was greater than inflation. The SLAD increase includes coverage for much of the new development over the last year.

EDIT:
Much or all of the 7% increase in RAD might have been due to an increase in the Florida minimum wage. Much of the Community Watch budget goes towards pay and moving from $12/hr to $13/hr is an 8% increase.

The problem is the Super Saturday delivery to all residents and often times they are delivering to residents during the week that do not want it like they were subscribing. I thought I heard the Sunny does not offer digital version (please correct me if I’m wrong)? Either way like the POA you have to call them to unsubscribe.

The gate at Morse and 466 needs gates. I wish they'd provide electronic sensors and stickers for cars, plus red buttons for people who don't have them. Instead of gate guards at that spot. That way, everyone would still have to stop at the gate, which allows golf carts to cross to the MMP if they're coming south on Morse, but residents wouldn't have to open their window or get out of their car to push the button.

I am in favor of anything that slows illegal speeders down but does not ruin cars and trucks under carriages.

Have ALL gates open automatically. No need to open windows. Maybe decide which entrance is a main entrance and put an attendant there.

I think the gates are a necessary part of our community. We have almost had accidents where the gates open at the same time letting cars through our gate is broken and cars just one after the other go through. When they’re on a curve to get to the gate even worse cause you can’t seem coming. We depend on the gates coming down to know we can go in the golf cart when it’s safe so I can’t picture not having that. When a gate is broken people drive-through at 20-25 miles an hour sometimes. If you don’t want the gate attendant at least keep the gate and have someone there when the gates are broken. If people are so desperate to save money then change the flowers to twice. That would probably pay for most of the game attendants.

I totally agree with you Velvet.

Gate readers for Fire, Police and EMS.
 

Interesting post. I am shocked that our emergency personnel have to stop to push the gate button. If I can purchase a gate reader for my mirror, on my car, our First Responders must have a reader on their vehicles.
As far as gates and attendants. How many residents often are too lazy to use their card and rather be waved through by the attendant? There's room for improvement on both sides.

Since 2007 your paper by the second delivery is picked up by CW taken to front door which in 99% of home is out of sight from road. The second consecutive day a phone call is placed that the paper has been delivered and not retrieved.

It’s just as much a helpful notification for short vacation than snowbirds.

However the best reason for the CW phone call is…….

Non Responsive Resident or a Death of the resident who isn’t picking up DS….

That alone one should be happy that phone call is made, because eventually the smell becomes overwhelming.

Yes….more than a few times the phone call has resulted in well check, with not so positive outcome.

After all it’s a retirement community with some elderly who live alone. Non DS pickup due to Death has happened in 7 times in three of our neighborhoods. Not all residents who live alone take advantage of the daily well check phone calls available in TV

No attendant
 

I agree that the gates should open automatically and perhaps add a few speed bumps.
I complain to Community Watch frequently about the Boone gate attendants who just open the gate for all approaching vehicles and wave them through without slowing them down at all. They are supposed to stop every vehicle. Sadly, it hardly ever happens.

None of those involve Community Watch responsibilities.

Community Watch drives around looking for open garage doors. Their responsibility ends with "observe and report" (their words). Gate "Attendants" are a large part of Community Watch.

Traffic backup to 466
 

I have seen back up numerous times on Morse Blvd when trying to turn from 466, I live in De La Vista, this section of Morse is a very Dangerous road with many golf cart/auto accidents and have almost Ben hit several times when people pass in the golf cart lane

Maybe try leaving most gates either on automatic opening as a car gets closer or push the red button/swipe. We have our gate is on automatic and it still gives carts a quick chance to cross if needed.

Keep the gate attendants but focus only at the busy gates like Morse/466. Belvedere has an attendant off Buena Vista where traffic NEVER backs up as there are 2 entry gates. However, Belvedere rivals the Morse/466 gate for congestion as there is only 1 gate and it often backs up 20 plus vehicles! Another consideration at this gate is the fire/EMS is located just outside this very busy gate with traffic backup slowing entry during an emergency response. This busy entry should manned to relieve congestion. Community watch used to man the gate during busy times like when school lets out, but have not seen that for a few years now. The gate is also used as a shortcut for non-residents between south of Rainey Trail and 466 to avoid going around via 301. With Costco coming I dread the increase in traffic that will come through that gate. Hope the powers that be read this post!!!

Exactly my point.

Because the attendant keeps the gate open, the traffic keeps flowing and does not back up to 466.

If you get rid of the attendant, then every car has to stop to wait for the gate to lift, and you would then see the traffic backed up to 466.

Having the attendant prevents that from happening, which is why you have never seen it.

Then replace the gates with highly-aggressive speed bumps if you’re not providing a security disincentive by having gates. Are they an illusion? Sure. But outsiders do not necessarily know that.

PPC - Public Protection Classification
 

With regard to how gates may impact insurance pricing for homeowners I don’t believe there is a direct one to one correlation. However in aggregate cities and towns receive a Public Protection Classification (PPC) ranging from 1-10 and this value is normally used by actuaries/insurers to determine fire insurance rates.

The PPC is used by insurance companies and national insurance rating organizations such as the Insurance Services Office (ISO) to determine fire insurance rates for properties within the city. There are a number of elements that go into the PPC rating including water supply, fire department equipment and training, and fire alarm systems.

A higher PPC (closer to 10) generally means higher insurance premiums, while a lower PPC means lower premiums. ISO's PPC system also provides a benchmark for cities to improve their fire protection capabilities.

As a former insurance underwriter I recall that FD response time was among the factors that went into the PPC and I was surprised to see some major cities with lower ratings than some suburban cities. When I questioned the difference I was told at the time that the traffic/congestion was a factor. Also, as a volunteer fire fighter for several years I learned that our town in CT had a lower rating than surrounding towns due to the RR that ran through the center of town which created the possibility of delayed FD response due to separation and access in the event a train was passing.

However, given the many FD’s in TV, personally doubt that community watch gates and guards are an issue. For more detail about the current Villages PPC see this Public Safety reference:

what is the ISO PPC for The Villages Florida? - Google Search

Most? So everyone in TV is the same age and they’re going to close the entire thing after we’re all dead? lol!!

I’m new here. Based on my dad still being alive, I’ve got thirty years left. People are still having children, too. Today’s thirty-year-olds will be moving here when I’m on my deathbed.

My two cents.

Get rid of them all. I never saw any value. They slow traffic, confuse drivers both auto and golf carts.