Project Wide Advisory Committee members are set to discuss cost overruns at the new Brownwood Woodshop.
PWAC, which oversees amenities south of County Road 466, is set to meet at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the SeaBreeze Recreation Center.
Mark Cook Builders submitted a bid of $85,934 for the addition of three canopies at the woodshop, which opened last year. The good news is that the purchasing staff has been able to negotiate Mark Cook Builders down to $79,899 for the canopies. It is still higher than the original $75,000 estimate. The canopies are an addition sought after the ribbon-cutting at the wood shop. Members have also asked for an enhanced dust collection system.
The new $3 million Brownwood facility, located across from the Eisenhower Recreation Center, is a sister facility to the wood shop on Rolling Acres Road and operated by The Villages Woodworking Club. Its members are the only ones who can use the two facilities. The club has 1,300 members with another 275 on a waiting list.
Residents have long complained that the The Villages Woodworking Club runs the operation with an iron fist. They contend the two facilities amount to a “private club” with Villagers who want to join kept for years languishing on a waiting list while long-time club members enjoy top-line privileges and equipment paid for by residents who cannot use it. The two facilities are funded with amenity dollars.
