Would you pay?
 

There’s a suggestion in another online paper to upgrade the ID system. Basically, install a lock system at pools, and probably rackets courts, the equipment rooms, etc
you can open the locks with your NEW ID or a code on a temp ID, usable for the length of your stay.
This would come with a hefty price tag.
Would you pay, let’s say $50, for a new ID; that leads to better monitoring of the amenities.

I don’t think this will eliminate all outsiders from using the amenities, but it would make it harder

It's not about the cost. The problem is that it won't work. I have lived in condos where the front door requires a key, but if someone wants to go in, they just hang around the front door and follow someone in. The answer is to hold the rec center employees accountable to do their job. Every rec center has a fulltime employee who is responsible for controlling access to the amenities, but enforcement is very lax. People show up without an ID, and the rec center employee just lets them in. It should be, no ID, no entry. Period.

Has anyone ever witnessed someone being told to leave a swimming pool because they did not have an ID card? If that is not happening, the current system is worthless and does need to be changed.

The cost would be much more than just $50 for each individual for a new card. The systems that would have to be in place to accepts these new cards would be excessive.

I have been turned away from a pickleball court because I forgot to take my ID, but have been checked only once (in 14 years) at a sports pool.

You’re probably right. At 50,000 homes (100,000 new IDs to be issued) - the $5,000,000 wouldn’t cover software and hardware for the system.

I'm already paying for it
 

Why doesn't my white privilege just open all the gates and doors??? (sarcasm) I'm too new to TV to be disgruntled about "outsiders". I'm in the southern most area where an adult pool is hard to find, and my limited experience at a family pool was less than optimal. A 3 foot pool does nothing to relax a 6'2" man when the teenie tiny 5 foot area is packed full of old ladies talking so loud over each other. It was totally disgusting and I couldn't last staying more than 5 minutes. No one at that pool looked like an "outsider".

With that said...what am I paying $189 a month for? You want to tack on more for a card that you want? You really think once you submit to paying extra that it would be a one time fee??? Please folks, let's not suggest to TV to take more from our retirement checks for them not enforcing rules that they wrote down already. Have you already polled people about having anger over "outsiders" to the point they'll pay extra to eliminate them? How do you identify these infiltrating scoundrels? What behaviors do they exhibit that irritates you? I need to know before I attempt to visit a pool again.

Cost? They could easily get double that estimate if they eliminate the gates and all the support costs for them.
But knowing a bit about security access systems, please understand that the gates are more secure than this new card proposal.

How is the un named paper think it can influence or accomplish anything in TV, other than stirring a bigger pot

Too new! Old ladies?

I've worked in tech my whole life. I can guarantee you within days of rollout of these, people will be offering "spare" copies for $10. The technology is just too easy to be defeated. Access cards are a 50 year old invention. You can by a package of 50 access cards for $25 and the machine to copy them is $20. Bad idea.

Question: Could the access cards be disabled if they are misused or if the owner moves out of The Villages?

But, we are already paying employees to restrict access to the amenities to unauthorized people. Why not just enact a strict policy that, if you don't have an ID, you don't use the amenities. You can watch people entering a rec center for an event, and those without an ID are routinely allowed access by an employee whose job should be to tell them to leave. Why pay an employee to not do their job?

As far as misuse, there have been very few cases where a TV resident has been restricted from using even one amenity let alone all of them. My village had a drunk guy incident that led to a ban from a specific pool for 30 days but that's the only case where I've heard of someone being denied usage of the amenities that they are paying for.

Of course individual access cards can be activated or deactivated, but they can also be copied or modified.

To all the posters saying the rec center employees should just do their job and throw out folks that do not have ids at the pool. Are you signing up for the job? If you ask someone to leave and they refuse, are you going to physically remove them? Block their entrance? Going to call the police? Go “eh” and go about your business? It is easy to make these bold claims when you are not the ones who have to enforce them.

I don't blame the rec center employees because they are only doing what they are told to do. But, if management hires someone to do a job, they should require them to do it. Why have ID cards and employees to scan them if you don't enforce the rules? It is a waste of money. Do you really want to pay someone to check ID's if they let everyone in anyway. I don't agree that people would need to be forced to leave. Most people would leave if they were told to leave. But, if necessary, you can call the police for a trespassing crime. I have seen this happen at restaurants in The Villages. The police are happy to remove a trespasser.