This is a good reminder.

Birds Are Here...
 

Actually the birds ARE here. I attend many of the water aerobics and Aqua SHYNE classes at Lake Miona (and drive a whole 10 mins to get there) instead of going to Seabreeze, which is closer to me, and can get in any of the 9 am classes with no wait. The later classes do have a line so as to check ID's and control entry to resident adults only, and I'm glad they do.

And to any that have knowledge of someone holding classes in The Villages pools and charging for them, please pass that info on to Mr. Rohan - that is truly self-serving and dead wrong!

When I do use the Adult Neighborhood Pool at Tamarind Grove, I know I wouldn't appreciate a class being held there...it's just not the right thing to do.

I'm glad to read from so many posters who agree that aquasize classes belong in sports pools and not neighborhood pools. Many people in my community (Charlotte) now go to pools in other Villages because of the situation in our community pool. People love to get their swim in first thing, and simply cannot navigate around the people exercising in the pool. That's not right. We have complained to Community Watch (they are fully aware of the situation but are under no authority to do anything about it), Captiva rec center (the same) and honestly do not believe that Mr. Rohan cares, either. Complaints have been made to no avail. ASs thr snowbirds continue to arrive, the situation will not get any better. I just hope the other Village pools near us don't have this happen! It's just not right.

Please email Mr. Rohan! It takes a village...

Give us back our pools.

Whats next ----" Sex in the Pools ???" Oh No-- one picture -thousand words

I am not sure why anyone would want to do a water class in the neighborhood pool. They are too small for any movement. Unless this is the no splash or I can't move class , you would run into too many people durning the class. At sea breeze I was yelled at for splashing cause I am looking for some kind of heart rate change. I was all the way in the back and did not splash any but my splashing made noise.. Go figure

Wrong sport!! That looks like water Zumba. Don,t give them any ideas, Gracie!!

I totally agree. We do our aerobics @ the sports pool. Why people chose to break the rules is beyond me.

In addition to the organized classes, every sports pool has several hours blocked off each day for "open exercise" and "combo swim". During open exercise the entire pool is available for exercising and during combo swim, half of the pool is available for exercising.

These are options for those who don't want to "stand in line" to get into the organized classes during high season.

So true - perfect solution to the problem. That was such an easy and sensible solution - maybe you should forward the idea to Mr. Rohan....

Mr Rohan
 

Please see email sent to Mr. Rohan and his response.


Dear Mr. Rohan,

As you probably know there is a storm brewing over exercise classes being held at the neighborhood pools. And I am also sure you realize we do not have a sufficient number of sport's pools to accommodate our growing population.

I think I might have a way to ease this situation a little. We currently have 18 family pools south of rte 466. These pools are underutilized during most of the year. I suggest 3 days a week each FP be opened for adults only from 7 to 11AM. on alternating days. For example, Truman adult days Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Odell Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Sundays would be open to families all day,These hours and days are only suggestions but I do think this is something to think about.

Thank you and your staff for a job well done.



Thanks for the suggestion. While there are nine sports pools, we have ample time for scheduling water exercise classes. We encounter this situation from time to time when we open up new areas in our hometown. It really is an expectation, understanding, and function of our facilities and programming that needs to occur. Once we get this alignment in place it will help folks better enjoy their lifestyle.



John Rohan

Director of Recreation

984 Old Mill Run, The Villages, FL 32162

Ph: 352.674.1800 Fax: 352.674.1805

Honest to God, this guy should run for office. That was a non answer if ever I heard one. Thanks for trying, Whalen.

I participated in a neighborhood pool exercise group until I saw how much of a violation of the rules it truly is. While the group made every effort to make room for people that just wanted to walk or swim, people have left their designated neighborhood pool frustrated. I agree that we all should follow the rules and share the space appropriately. I also believe that the idea of the family pools being converted for local exercise is a great idea, as most people drive up to the neighborhood pool anyway. There are also better facilities for changing and warming up in the cold weather.

You can't get blood out of a turnip, C. It is obvious to me that The official corporate feeling at Sumterinc. is no confrontation and it is as clear to me a policy as The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit used to be. Unwritten rules are there and the higher ups don't like to get into a fracus with the folks who live here..

I kinda like it better than the ugly confrontations from some of our residents. You could NEVER win with some of them.... Never win. I am so glad I had the good sense to be from Ohio. Ohio people are generally polite to you right up to the second before they deck you.

Good points.

And remind me to keep my head up the next time I go to Columbus.

Whalen,

Thank you for trying to start a conversation that could solve a problem.

I think you have put forth a really good idea for a way to accommodate more water aerobics classes by scheduling time to be shared in the family pools. Your idea could make optimum use of the facilities without literally or figuratively stepping on anybody's toes. The grandkids should know the sharing drill, and besides, the kids still would have plenty of pool time.

I do not understand Mr. Rohan's answer. I read it three times. It makes no sense. Should I question my own reading comprehension ability -- or his?

It seems like he might have completely missed the point you are making about the family pools and thinks you are talking about the regional sports pools. :shrug:

You have made such a reasonable suggestion. It should not be ignored. It is worth looking into.

Note: I just noticed that when Whalen's post is quoted, it is difficult to read the part written by Mr. Rohan. This is a long thread. The reference point for this is Post 133.

Laurie 2, you hit the nail on the head. Mr. Rohan's response was a non-response. Read Gracie's reply to my post above. They do not want to address the situation. It just bugs me that they set these rules up and then don't enforce them because they don't want to make anyone mad.

Once again the squeaky wheel gets the oil. If enough people complained loudly enough, I believe they would be forced to do something about it. JMO

To all the wonderful folks who have tried to approach Mr. Whalen about this nonsense, and to Graciegirl, who offered to help out in a more personal way, I want to thank you all. As you can see from Mr. Rohan's non-response, the powers that be have absolutely no intention of doing anything. Their inaction in this, and other matters I've seen on TOTV over the years, is the reason people like me stop getting involved in having wrongs addressed. This is still a great place to live and I wouldn't move, but the bloom is off the rose for me.

I'm sorry, applesoffh. It is such a shame that the rule breakers and bullies get their way.

If no one else will address this problem then I say get your neighbors in large numbers to go where these infractions are occurring and tell them they are not welcome,bullies do not care for sheep with teeth!

That was the most nonsensical and appeasing non-answer I've ever seen. A hundred times more useless as the famous answer of the 90s, "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is"!! :0000000000luvmyhors

Reminds me of "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last" --W. Churchill

I'm not certain everyone one in The Villages is aware of the fact groups can't get together to do water aerobics. The Village Transportation dropped us off at Sumter Landing on Sunday and a taxi was waiting to take us to our villa. The driver was great, friendly, personable, and we picked his brain for any information we could get from a Villager. We're newbies and love to ask questions. He was telling us he was thinking about joining his neighbors in the neighborhood pool to do aerobics 3 mornings a week.

My husband looked at me, I got the look, and knew to keep my mouth shut. Is anything posted at the pools that this activity is not permitted? We've only been to the family pool and it may be posted at the neighborhood pools, but don't remember seeing the information at the family pool that aerobics are not permitted.

What a good point! I will email Mr. Rohan and see what kind of a response I get, and will be sure to post it, also.

Thank you, and welcome to The Villages!

Maybe 1 solution is to get together a big group of friends, and have everyone meet at the pools where the aerobics are going on about 15 mins before the "violators" arrive, and be in the pool just floating or talking. If any of the violators say anything about doing their aerobics, show them the Rec ccenter newspaper that you conveniently have brought that says exercising must be done at the sports pool. Be very sweet!!!!! If they get in the pool, just stay in the pool, spread out and ignore them. You have to have a lot of room to do water aerobics. Also have a friend on deck with a camera to take pictures, expecially if you are afraid of confrontation. No one will probably make a scene if they are on camera. If things even start to get a little heated , stay in the pool, just swimming around, and have someone call Community Watch--not that they would do anything, but would be a good witness. Obviously, if things actually got ugly, nothing is worth getting hurt over. If everyone is ok, do the same thing for a while until they get the message.

That seems like a lot of work and emotional turmoil to "teach the water aerobic folks a lesson".
If I find a pool is busier than I like, I just find another nearby adult pool where I can relax.
We have so many pool choices in Lala Land.

That is what I would do. BUT...

I MIGHT think about leaving a sign on my chair that said..

I left because all of you are pool hogs.

This is my first post here and it seems that those in authority seem to take the same approach with all amenities primarily one of self-policing which in my view is pitting residents against each other.

The ambassadors on the executive courses do little to keep play moving

the monitors at pools seem to do little to solve problems there.

some say common sense should prevail but what if common sense tells me that since there is a waiting list for aerobics at sports pools starting an aerobics class at other pools solves my problem.

And of course we can find other examples at the RecCenters

common sense however tells others that these are social pools to be enjoyed by everyone and now we have people who are hogging the pool...........

The amenities issue is only going to get worse as build out proceeds.

[QUOTE=rubicon;954253]This is my first post here and it seems that those in authority seem to take the same approach with all amenities primarily one of self-policing which in my view is pitting residents against each other.

The ambassadors on the executive courses do little to keep play moving

the monitors at pools seem to do little to solve problems there.

some say common sense should prevail but what if common sense tells me that since there is a waiting list for aerobics at sports pools starting an aerobics class at other pools solves my problem.

And of course we can find other examples at the RecCenters

common sense however tells others that these are social pools to be enjoyed by everyone and now we have people who are hogging the pool...........

The amenities issue is only going to get worse as build out proceeds.[/QUOTE]

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It may not get better but the build out will bring the same amount of NEW pools and rec centers to the new population so it shouldn't be worse..

I have a problem with people here unlike ANY I have met in my life who think they can save chairs and hog the pools. Who or what made them so arrogant and selfish?

First, it is not necessarily an effort to teach any one a "lesson". People were asking about how to regain the opportunity to use the pools as they were intended. Some suggested that maybe the people didn't know that they were not supposed to be doing exercises in the neighborhood pools. They had already tried all the appropriate routes, so I offered a suggestion that hopefully would have been acceptable. If we say nothing when people are doing wrong, then we accept what we get. I don't use the pools myself, was just trying to help.

I am new to TV and have occasionally used my neighborhood pool. I prefer the early hours when few folks are present. Those who are do their own brand of exercise, use their own water weights and take up little space. I have heard about this issue and some of my new friends at my NP have said they are very much upset by it and should it happen at out NP they would put up a fight. I have also been told that in one case it is suspected that the 'instructor' receives payment. In another instance I have been told (second hand) that there has been some physical contact. This is really distressing and give TV a bad name, which I hope does not spread. I noticed that at the pools there is a large sign displaying pool rules which indicates activity, equipment and permitted occupancy. No more than 52 people are permitted in a pool at on time though I do not know how this is enforced. It sounds as if it is not enforced based on some of the comments. I view this not as an effort to accommodate but as a weakness. In reading the recreation news I noticed that in order to participate in exercise activities at SP a person must have a signed waiver to participate in organized water activities. Though I am not a lawyer I imagine this is to address any problem with liability (we are older and sometimes exertion can be a problem). Would not the issue of liability apply to any of these 'organized' activities at the neighborhood pools since they are not sanctioned by TV and since they seem not to be interested in managing activities on TV property?

:icon_bored::icon_bored: Enough already!! I can't believe 16 pages on this subject??? Go for a swim and COOL OFF!!::Screen_of_Death:

:BigApplause::mademyday::agree:

One day this pool situation will turn to a physical confrontation and maybe someone will be hurt. It's not up to villagers to 'self police' to enforce the rules. A rule broken,ceases to be a rule.

You just may have hit upon the one thing that would get the Developer's/Rec Department's attention--liability.