Had this issue at our summer condo. Issued waterproof id's on a lanyard to be worn in or out of the water. Solved 99% of the problems. Guest lanyards could be made available with a deposit to be returned upon end of use. Food for thought.

If the main concern is misuse of the family pools, a simple and cheap solution would be to require people to check in with the person at the desk in the rec center. They would turn in their ID cards in exchange for a wrist band which would be very easy to check both in and out of the water.

I would think that requiring a visible indication that you are allowed to be there would significantly cut down on those trying to beat the system. Problem solved without the need for more employees or electronic monitors.

edit: George1938 - we think alike

The neighborhood pools (the ones at the mail boxes) don't have a desk to check in at. Only the Rec. centers do.

I think we may be on to something with the waterproof wrist bands

Where does the information come from that there are only three monitors for the "entire area". And by the entire area, do you mean the entire Villages?

We only use a few pools, but there is usually someone at the Paradise pool that checks IDs. He often doesn't bother to ask us because he knows me personally. I asked a monitor at the South Side pool once about why there is no one there and he said that they check every three hours.
I find it hard to believe that there are only three monitors for the entire Villages and they have one posted at the Paradise pool for much of the time. If I recall, there are about fifty pools in the Villages.

As far as checking every one's ID when they do come to a pool including those in the pool, I would hate to be dragged out of the pool to show my ID every time I go for a swim. You be punishing the 99% of us who are legally there to catch the 1% that shouldn't be there.

An electronic card system would be good, but who knows what the cost would be and how much would it impact our amenity fees? Also some people, who are able, might simply hop the fence.

I guess The Villages would have to keep some kind of record of how many intruders they catch at the pools and extrapolate that to determine how big of a problem it really is. The other thing that a gate system wouldn't do would be to keep underage people out of the neighborhood pools.

The only answer, if this is a significant problem, is to have someone at every pool to check everyone's ID as they come in. What would the cost of that be? I really don't want to see my amenity fee raised if we don't have a real significant problem.

Totally agree with you. You make sense as usual.

The wristbands are a great idea. Every owner and family gets one. Make them some odd design that is difficult to copy. If you rent or have guests, get them when you get your guest pass.

The rec dept or whoever is in charge of this needs to start thinking creatively. They tend to just let things lay until enough people start lodging complaints. Maybe Bogie knows who to call or email.

Quick answer, YES. All guests regardless of age need a pass. Get the form at your local rec center.

I still wonder how big a problem is trying to be solved.
There is a lot of hearsay as to what and how big the problem really is.
Oh well, it aint gonna be solved by the posts on this thread anyway..........

This sounds like the best idea.