[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by Army Guy

Ok, let me wade in to this discussion.......
I find the last 2 lines of the above quote, totally wrong. A guest according to Webster, is "a person who receives hospitality of another person while visiting".
If family is "living" near TV and using OUR amenities that WE are paying for regularly as is implied that is WRONG! They are not "visiting". The intent is, as an example, my family lives in NJ, they stop by for a visit while in FL on a trip and I want to take my Dad and play some bocce, that is the intent. Not that they live near, pay nothing, and use facilities, REGUARDLESS if a TV Owner is with them or not. That according to Webster is "stealing, fraud, etc." And yes there should be a limit and 30 days seems fair.
I am sorry if MHO offends anyone, but being military for 30+ years I follow rules to the reg and intent.
Ok, I am off my soap box now!

Army Guy

Right on, Army Guy!

I wonder who is responsible for policing the pools and rec centers to verify guest rules are being followed ? Anyone? Or is it just the honor system.

Dirigo

[Whatever]

I pay and they play! I'm in Army Guy's corner on this one.

[alemorkam]

Go army guy. Right on. And for GMONEY. The majority of golf cart paths are maintained by amenity fees. The more people that use them, the more repair they need. Just like roadways. Seeing you DO NOT pay amenity fees you should not be using the golf cart pathways. growing up has nothing to do with it.

[MelZ]

Originally Posted by Dirigo

Right on, Army Guy!

I wonder who is responsible for policing the pools and rec centers to verify guest rules are being followed ? Anyone? Or is it just the honor system.

Dirigo

rec center staff spot checks people at pools and usings rec center outdoor facilities.

[Talk Host]

Originally Posted by MelZ

rec center staff spot checks people at pools and usings rec center outdoor facilities.

And, what do they do if they find a violation? Do they, somehow, force the visiting family, including the little kids with their inflated duck floats, to leave the pool. What if they refuse to leave? Will the sheriff be called and they will all be hauled off to the precinct.

Believe me, I'm not in favor of opening the amenities to non residents. I am focusing on enforcement. Who has authority to do what?

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Talk Host

And, what do they do if they find a violation? Do they, somehow, force the visiting family, including the little kids with their inflated duck floats, to leave the pool. What if they refuse to leave? Will the sheriff be called and they will all be hauled off to the precinct.

Believe me, I'm not in favor of opening the amenities to non residents. I am focusing on enforcement. Who has authority to do what?

Is enforcement a problem?

[sandybill2]

I actually was a witness to the "enforcement" of the no guest pass policy this past summer. My 14 yr old granddaughter and I were at the Churchill Family Pool. Our ID's were checked as we entered. I witnessed a couple with a small child of around 3 attempting to come into pool area---they did not have guest passes and did not even seem to know what they were. They did not go away happy but they were not allowed in. I also witnessed people in the pool area questioning the "enforcer" as to why he would not let them in since they had a small child. Any Villager should know that passes are required for their guests so I wondered if they were just driving by looking for a pool to use. They did not get into the Churchill Pool. This was in July.

[Talk Host]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Is enforcement a problem?

I don't know. Do you?

I was asking a question and got a your question in reply.

[golf2140]

I would think that if they were using the facilities and were not a guest. They could be charged with trespass.

[uujudy]

Originally Posted by Army Guy

. . . And yes there should be a limit and 30 days seems fair. . .

Army Guy

On the other hand. . .
My 86-year-old mother-in-law from St. Petersburg visits us for weeks at a time, and she LOVES having a Villages guest pass. She only uses it when we go to the pool or the movies, but she LOVES showing her guest pass. She doesn't swim; she just likes to sit at the pool with us. We usually get her a pass for her entire visit. She visits us for two weeks at Easter, another two weeks for Thanksgiving and her birthday, another 3 weeks for Christmas, plus occasional weekly visits from time to time... She would use up a 30-day pass in no time at all.
Would I have to get her a pass on a daily basis, or just get one whenever the weather was nice, so we could go to the pool together? That doesn't make much sense to me.

PS: Shhh. Don't tell anyone I told you how old she is. She still claims to be 79. She said that once you're 80 everybody thinks you're old.

PPS: She saves her old guest passes. She keeps them on her refrigerator so all her neighbors can see that she's been to The Villages many, many times.

[gemorc]

I have read all sixteen pages of this thread, and I believe we have missed the point. Who was the developer of Bison Valley? Why did he build golf cart access to our cart paths? What newspaper advertises Bison Valley Real Estate? What Real Estate Company is the lead in Bison Valley Dealings?

Boy am I a conspirsay nut or what?

[dillywho]

Originally Posted by uujudy

On the other hand. . .
My 86-year-old mother-in-law from St. Petersburg visits us for weeks at a time, and she LOVES having a Villages guest pass. She only uses it when we go to the pool or the movies, but she LOVES showing her guest pass. She doesn't swim; she just likes to sit at the pool with us. We usually get her a pass for her entire visit. She visits us for two weeks at Easter, another two weeks for Thanksgiving and her birthday, another 3 weeks for Christmas, plus occasional weekly visits from time to time... She would use up a 30-day pass in no time at all.
Would I have to get her a pass on a daily basis, or just get one whenever the weather was nice, so we could go to the pool together? That doesn't make much sense to me.

PS: Shhh. Don't tell anyone I told you how old she is. She still claims to be 79. She said that once you're 80 everybody thinks you're old.

PPS: She saves her old guest passes. She keeps them on her refrigerator so all her neighbors can see that she's been to The Villages many, many times.

As I have said in earlier posts, I served on the Focus Group concerning the guest IDs. The 30 day limit proposal was for the In-Area Guest ID's only since those are issued for 365 days and are limited to children, spouses, grandchildren, spouses, great-grandchildren only (no other relatives, i.e. brothers, uncles, etc.) The actual proposal was not for 30 days, but for 30 days of use per 365 day period. Persons living outside the tri-county area are issued passes (maximum 30 days) which are renewable. Some of the ones we heard from who have the in-area guest passes use them very little. One guy said he sees less of his grandkids now than he did when they lived in Orlando. The 365-day pass just allows them to do things with the grandkids, etc. on a spur of the moment basis (Sunday afternoon occasionally for instance). Out of area guests are usually not just "drop-ins" but planned visits.

Most people who have guests from outside the area do so for much less than 30 days annually. Some people have many guests but not the same ones all the time. This focus group all came about, not because they don't want you to have guests, but because of those few (and they are few) who abuse the system. Guest passes are now issued for the very young children because some were passing off their grandchildren's friends (or others) as their grandchildren as well. Much of the abuse was from people who do not live here full-time and as a result, did not want to have to pay the amenity fees, upkeep of property, insurance, etc. so they bought close, got their friends in TV to get them guest passes (using their out-of-state id's) every 30 days thus giving them all the amenities of what the guest program was meant to be without having to pay all the stuff that goes with ownership in TV.

If you know of someone using the pools, etc. and living in Bison or somewhere close but not here, call (all the rec centers and pools have phones) and they will send someone out to check. I have noticed much more checking going on since the focus group meetings at our neighborhood pool and that is as it should be. Personally, I would like to see the pool monitors returned, but we were told that it is totally cost-prohibitive. Meanwhile, protect our investments by calling and reporting. If they are indeed there legally, they should not be offended and if they are, too bad. I can count on one hand the times I have been to our neighborhood pool in the six years I've been here and have had people in the pool ask me if I belong. I actually appreciate that they do and am happy to produce my ID, thank them for asking, and enjoy the rest of my time there. Turst me, I am not offended....quite the opposite.

[GMONEY]

Originally Posted by gemorc

I have read all sixteen pages of this thread, and I believe we have missed the point. Who was the developer of Bison Valley? Why did he build golf cart access to our cart paths? What newspaper advertises Bison Valley Real Estate? What Real Estate Company is the lead in Bison Valley Dealings?

Boy am I a conspirsay nut or what?

The Villages is the developer for Bison Valley. It goes under the name of Mid-Florida Porperties which is addressed at Lake Sumter Landing. The company that sells these houses is The Villages.

www.bisonvalleyvillage.com

Originally built for employess and their families that build and operate in The Villages. Thus the cart path access. There are alot of Villagers that sold and moved into Bison. memebers of the Villages Sales Dept live there as do adminisrtators at the Villages CHarter School.
Funnything about this Cart Path issue. We sat out and watched the other night a whole string of Carts come into Bison drive around and look. then drive out the main entrance turn left on CR-101 and drive to Parkwood Village. They then returned and drove back thru Bison. i asked them as they drove by my house where they were heading. they just wanted to go see Bison and drive thru Parkwood. Just out on a stroll. Imagine that. get all in a uproar because they gave the us a cart path access then the residents use our streets as a short cut to somewhere else. Complain about cart path use, try going to LSL or Spanish SPrings and stopping all these people that drive there, park their vehicles and either ride bike or rent the golf carts and tour The Villages. dont see them paying for anything...
Amazing what people will complain about. most of the people who are buying in Bison like myself have been working thier butts off many hours a week for 16-20 years so you FINE FOLKS have this Great Place to live. Thye give us cart access and you turn into the Exorcist..

What a Deal..

[Lou Card]

We first came to The Villages 5 years ago with friends that live in here. We fell in love right away. Now, we have our home in Atlanta listed for sale and are planing on moving as soon as it sells. That said, articles like this make we want to take a closer look. At my age, I know that unfortunatly, rules are required for us unperfect humans. Without rules you have caos. Rules that are not enforced are worthless.

Show me a bunch of young men on the town square with their pants hanging down and underwear showing with or without a guest pass and I become unhappy.

Remember, you pay more for the house just because it is in the Villages:

You pay ammenities just because you live in the villages:

If you allow the rules to slide to much or issue to many Outside Visitor Passes, and you will have just another large Florida city.

Compare the crime rate of outside communities with that of The Villages.

For those that work on the villages, I have no problems with them having worker permits for the family pools and even the golf cart trails, but I would say no to anyone living within 100 miles of the villages but not in The Villages haveing a year long pass. Why would they have a pass??? So they can use the Facilities without any obligation whatsoever. To make one Resident happy that is a relative. If you took a vote, I feel confident that 1000's of passes would not be given out. Keep in mind that when the villages is built out, rules will have to take a strong stance toward enforcement or you will have total breakdown of the concept of this wonderful place.

Lou

[Avista]

GMONEY, I for one support you.