[Muncle]

It seems to me there is a gorilla in the room today that everyone seems to be ignoring. I know a lot of forum participants don't get the Daily Sun, but most do. When I finally got around to reading it today, the first thing that jumped out was the page 1 headline "Lawsuit Seeks to Establish Resident Amenity Authority."

As a relatively new member of this group, I was really excited about logging on to read the comments. This had the making of a real knock down and drag out with POA sycophants attacking all things Morse and the VHA while FODs (Friends of the Developer) ranted about crybabies and erected "TV, Love it or Leave It" signs. Since I, of course, am totally impartial and above all that sniping, it looked to be interesting. But hours later, there's still no postings???

So, back to the article. Apologies to those who don't get the paper. I could not find the article on their website or I'd have attached a link. There is a write-up with much quoting at the following blog: http://thevillagesfl.blogspot.com/20...-resident.html

I have no comment about the substance of the article. I thought it rather poorly written, but that might have been just my reading. What do y'all think???

[redwitch]

I didn't bother commenting because it really sounded like a settlement was pretty imminent. If there isn't one, this is going to get U G L Y!

[villages07]

Muncle....I have tried to do my due diligence in learning about the bond, CDD government, commercial CDDs, covenants, etc. The one area that is still fuzzy is the budget for and future of the amenities. We, the homeowners, do not own the amenities.

They are originally funded by the developer and then he sells them to the commercial CDDs. There are currently 2 commercial districts...North and South of 466 (yet we all have access to all amenities). The commercial CDDs, whose reps are appointed by the developer, agree with the developer on the price for amenities that are sold to them (golf courses, rec centers). The amenity fee we pay funds the maintenance and operation of the amenities as well as a portion going to payoff the initial cost as purchased from the developer.

The commercial CDDs set and manage the amenity budget. Everyone in the Villages pays different amounts, depending on where you live, but, we all have access to all amenities. I guess my biggest concern is what the amenity fees will be (to maintain current standards of quality) in 10-15 years. The existing amenities will continue to age and at some point in the next 5-10 years, there will be no more new homeowners coming in. At times, it feels a bit like a pyramid...today's new owners pay amenity fees that pay for upkeep for older facilities. What assurance do we have that the 2 commercial districts have an adequate replacement and reserve fund to do periodic remodeling and updates of older facilities as they age? Apparently, funding the remodeling of Paradise Rec Center and Chula Vista caught some people by surprise.

Right now, the amenity fees are quite reasonable for what we get. The real unknown is what will they be in 10 years and will the facilities and amenities be as nice as they are today?

It sure seems like Villages residents should have some input into this process through representation on commercial district governing boards.

[Happy Villager]

It appears the POA was correct in what they have been stating for quite some time. They have been writing about the concern of our amenity services being under the jurisdiction of the Village Center Community Development District with the commercial property owners being the largest voting group. It seemed to come to a head with the sale of the Rolling Acres Plaza to I believe a German owned conglomerate. The article stated that "in hindsight, additional reserve and replacement deposits should have been established at the time of each amenity sale so that facilities such as the Paradise Recreation Center could have been rebuilt without the need for the Village Center Community Development District to incur additional debt. More broadly, adequate reserves should have been funded to assure continuation of amenity services at current levels without any additional debt." The Village developer has built a unique community here and has made improvements with each section and apparently a revision in the amenity handling is another area that needs tweeking.