[Goldwingnut]

Here’s my latest flyovers and updates on the construction happenings in the newer sections of The Villages. The bridges are progressing quickly and for the one near Brownwood it was announced that it will be put in place over SR44 the week of August 18th.
Enjoy the video and please subscribe to my channel.

Construction Update

[sohappytobehere]

Excellent video! So informative. Thank you!

[stings]

Another great video in the series. Once again, thank you for all the hard work and effort you put into these productions. Continued success with your new business.

[Altavia]

Thank you Don, much appreciated.

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Here’s my latest flyovers and updates on the construction happenings in the newer sections of The Villages. The bridges are progressing quickly and for the one near Brownwood it was announced that it will be put in place over SR44 the week of August 18th.
Enjoy the video and please subscribe to my channel.

Construction Update

403 Forbidden

Really appreciate your videos.You do a great job. I have a request .I was hoping you could fly your drone parallel to The turnpike heading north from the walking trail/ cart path near the Hogeye sink. I was hoping to see where the cart path goes headed to the bridge over the turnpike. Thank you Don

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Bosoxfan

Really appreciate your videos.You do a great job. I have a request .I was hoping you could fly your drone parallel to The turnpike heading north from the walking trail/ cart path near the Hogeye sink. I was hoping to see where the cart path goes headed to the bridge over the turnpike. Thank you Don

Would like to show it but that area is still in the no trespassing area. While I can see it all as I transit from Hogeye Sink up to the new bridge, I've agreed not to show these areas, to protect the developers proprietary construction methods.

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Would like to show it but that area is still in the no trespassing area. While I can see it all as I transit from Hogeye Sink up to the new bridge, I've agreed not to show these areas, to protect the developers proprietary construction methods.

Thanks anyway .Makes no sense to me but ...

[Bay Kid]

Thanks again Don.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Bosoxfan

Thanks anyway .Makes no sense to me but ...

Let me try to explain a little better.

About 8 months ago I had a meeting with a member of senior management of the development company concerning the drone footage I was producing. They had two primary concern, the first was protection of proprietary information and construction techniques, and the second was, for a lack of better terms, protecting their story line of The Villages.

The Villages is very successful at what they do because they are very efficient. In my videos you frequently will hear me mention "moving a lot of dirt", while I tend to make light of this, to the developer it's a very big deal, the how and when of movement of the soil is critical to the ability to rapidly open new areas and produce new homes. This is a trade secret and proprietary techniques they have developed and they want to protect that information. My videos, to the untrained eye, look like moving a lot of dirt, but to their competition (few and far between as they may be) it could be revealing some of this information.

As important as building the homes is, building The Villages and its backstory is just as important to the long term success of the development. My videos and some of the information I was putting out was disrupting the development of that backstory. Translated, I was putting out information before they and their advertising department was ready for, stealing their thunder, and causing them to have to rework things.

An underlying tertiary concern that wasn't spoken of is showing area that were being developed but not released for sale that may have interfered with buyers decision to purchase available properties and wait for that special lot they saw in my video.

While we may have disagreed slightly on our interpretations of Florida privacy laws we none-the-less came to an agreement. The basics of it are that I don't trespass into marked areas and don't show videos of these marked areas still under construction.

This leave me in the situation where I can't station spotters in the marked no trespassing areas and gaps in the areas were I can show videos of. I try hard not to fly into the marked areas but occasionally do have to transit these but either stop recording or keep the video private. The exception that I have recently made to this is when I see people in the marked areas, I'll show this video and warn people to stay out of these areas for their safety.

With respect to the trail from Hogeye sink to the bridge over the Turnpike, this is in a no trespass area. To get to the bridge I transit up the right-of-way along the Turnpike to get to a good viewing angle which also gives me a view of the path construction in progress in the no trespass area. The bridge is in public view along the Turnpike so I consider it fair game. I'll tell you this about the path, it winds along a path parallel to the Turnpike through and around many treed areas, it will be a pleasant drive.

Similarly, the area between Brownwood and the north side of the Turnpike bridge is a no trespass area and I can't get the necessary spotters in place to maintain visual line of sight on the drone, for these reasons I can't shoot or share that area, yet.

I push the limits on what I show in my videos from time-to-time but believe that I have kept to the intent and spirit of my agreement with the developer. Keeping the peace is a very important part of the entire process.

I hope this explains things a little better about what I can and can't put in my videos and why it's like that.

[FenneyFanatic]

I'm going to guess the company raising the bridge will be East Texas Bridge Inc.

[VillageIdiots]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

The bridges are progressing quickly...

Yes they are, and I see that they are now beginning to work on extending the GC trail going toward the turnpike from the southern side. Wondering if you, or anyone, has any "official" information as to when the connectivity is expected to be open. When I moved here last year, the date was January of 2020. The progress being made certainly makes that date seem achievable. However, a rumor was going around that it is now set to be spring of 2020 and that it was delayed by FDOT. I haven't seen any official announcements to back that up, but I've also been told that the 3D maps that show the bridges, in the sales center, also say spring of 2020.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by VillageIdiots

Yes they are, and I see that they are now beginning to work on extending the GC trail going toward the turnpike from the southern side. Wondering if you, or anyone, has any "official" information as to when the connectivity is expected to be open. When I moved here last year, the date was January of 2020. The progress being made certainly makes that date seem achievable. However, a rumor was going around that it is now set to be spring of 2020 and that it was delayed by FDOT. I haven't seen any official announcements to back that up, but I've also been told that the 3D maps that show the bridges, in the sales center, also say spring of 2020.

So nothing official has been released as far as any date changes that I know of. If the realtors are staying any thing you'll need to check them for lying. It's a real simple test, if their lips are moving, they are lying. Don't trust or believe rumors.

I've connections at the FTE (Florida Turnpike Enterprise) and FDOT and none of them know of anything that has been said to delay the bridge construction over the Turnpike. Obviously things can change at anytime.

[champion6]

Thank you!

[Altavia]

Just wanted to add I probably would not have decided to move to the the Villages as quickly, much less south of the Turnpike, without your video's and very balanced commentary Don.

It's hard to comprehend the extent and quality of the development without seeing it as in your independent videos. Much less your videos help convince my family I'm not (totally) crazy moving so fast 😜. And I sleep better thanks to the evidence you provide No doubt in my mind you provide far more benefit than risk to the development side.

A recent example, after doing a little math, and an email discussion with Design (my design meeting is Sept). We determined It would not be possible to widen my garage 4ft as the drawings with standard streatches showed when I purchased the lot.

Working with my Rep, we found a wider lot close by and I was able to confidently make a decision to shift lots, thanks in a big way to your fly by video's over Linden and Monarch Grove.

Unfortunately the lot is not big enough for a 4 car garage, can't have everything 🤣


Thank you sir!

[UptownBee]

Great video Don, I really like the map feature so I can get a bearing on where you are flying.