Villages officials concluded Monday that unkempt postal stations are “a management issue.”
District staff told members of the Project Wide Advisory Committee that they are re-examining contracts with cleaning vendors to shore up the expectations of the type, frequency and quality of work expected.
Community Development District 10 Chairman Don Wiley, who sits on PWAC, raised the issue of “filthy” postal stations last month. He has laboriously visited and photographed conditions at postal stations throughout The Villages, south of County Road 466.
“I was the squeaky wheel last month. They came over and cleaned the postal station at Hillsborough,” said Wiley, a resident of the Village of Hillsborough. “And I appreciate it.”
But he said it has not been touched since.
He challenged the level of service being delivered versus what is called for in the contract. He said the contract is not the problem.
“If the level of service was delivered, we would not have these problems. We are not getting what we pay for,” Wiley said. “We are paying for this work to be done and it is not being done.”
He described himself as totally frustrated with the issue.
“I have been to the squares, you don’t have that problem. I have been to the golf courses. You don’t have the problem,” he said.
His fellow supervisors agreed.
“There seems to be a stark difference between conditions at recreation centers and postal stations,” said CDD 8 Supervisor Dennis Hayes.
CDD 7 Supervisor Jerry Vicenti said it’s time to lean on the contractors.
“It’s really not a hard fix. You just tell the vendor to do the job or you’re out of here,” Vicenti said.
