The Project Wide Advisory Committee has dismissed the idea of holding the Developer to a 10-year warranty on infrastructure in The Villages.
PWAC member Jerry Vicenti had raised the idea of the 10-year warranty in the wake of more than $1 million spent recently to pay for pipe repairs and sinkholes. The Community Development District 7 chairman said the pipe failures and sinkholes which have resulted from those failures are costing residents “a fortune.”
When the topic was discussed at Monday’s PWAC meeting, Chairman Don Wiley said a 10-year warranty would cost residents even more money.
“Who pays for a warranty? I’ll tell you who pays for the warranty, the buyer. The Developer will not pay for it,” said Wiley, who worked in construction for 20 years.
He said a 10-year warranty would “significantly raise prices.”
Bruce Brown of District Property Management pointed out that The Villages is nearly 35 years old and the infrastructure is aging. He also said that sinkholes are to be expected in Central Florida.
Brown also said there have been instances in which “the Developer has helped us out” beyond the one-year warranty that is currently in place. Brown also said failures in The Villages are similar to those in other area communities, but admitted his details were “anecdotal.”
District Manager Kenny Blocker has been directed to put together an “apples to apples” comparison of pipe and infrastructure failures here in The Villages and in neighboring communities.
