The Project Wide Advisory Committee’s sudden reversal on a proposed meeting on guest passes in The Villages hasn’t sold everybody on the status quo.
PWAC last week decided to back out of a proposed joint meeting in October with the Amenity Authority Committee about guest passes.
The idea of the joint meeting initially appeared to appeal to PWAC members in August when Village of Duval resident Catherine Laird suggested that Villagers’ children and grandchildren living in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties are getting a free ride. They are granted in-area passes, which are good for up to a year for the use of Villages amenities, so long as the guests are accompanied by their Villages relative.
PWAC abruptly changed course last week and put the brakes on the proposed joint meeting. Likewise, the AAC has agreed there is no reason to re-examine that part of the guest pass system, which came about thanks to a resident panel formed more than a dozen years ago.
Community Development District 7 supervisors, at their meeting Thursday morning, bristled at the notion of refusing to discuss the matter.
“They are using the facilities basically without paying a dime,” said CDD 7 Supervisor Mark Gallo. “We need to seriously look at this. The cost of maintaining things should not just fall on the residents.”
Supervisor Ron Ruggeri said charging $5 per guest could raise more than $1 million per year and could help hold the line on amenity fees, which were uncapped earlier this year thanks to votes by PWAC and the AAC.
Supervisor Jerry Vicenti said it’s about more than money.
“It is about revenue, but it is also about fairness,” Vicenti said.
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