Community Development Districts are choosing from among home-repainting options in The Villages.
The Amenity Authority Committee and Community Development Districts 1 through 8 conducted a workshop Sept. 27 to discuss house repaintings.
In that workshop, a color palette was reviewed and out of that meeting came four options for each of the CDDs to consider independently:
Option 1 No change in current process. Architectural Review Committee approval is not required for home repainting.
Option 2 Exception Based Process. Owners re-painting their homes are only required to submit an ARC application for approval if the proposed color is not the original color or is not a color on the District’s approved color palette or within the color palette’s hue range.
Option 3 ARC approval for home re-painting (original and color palette only.) All home repainting requests are submitted to the ARC for review and approval in accordance with guidelines set forth in the ARC Manual.
Option 4 ARC approval for all home repainting. No palette. If you don’t go with original color, then you will be required to go before ARC.
Enforcement will be complaint based, said District Manager Janet Tutt.
The process is designed to keep home colors harmonious and eliminate hot, electric, neon or energetic colors.
On Friday, CDDs 1, 2, 3 and 4 met with a mix of decisions on the matter:
District 1 Option 2
District 2 Option 4 (With the provision that if homeowner uses the original color you don’t go have to go before the ARC.)
District 3 Option 2
District 4 Option 3 (CDD 4 Chairman Don Deakin was not in attendance.)
The action provides direction to district staff. It will come back before the CDDs later this year.
Marty Wilber, a member of the Architectural Review Committee, was thrilled with Friday’s action.
“This will eliminate a lot of the conjecture,” he said.
He added the ARC has been seeing about 5 to 10 house repaints per week.
The new standards would only apply to Premier and Designer homes, not villas.
Repainting of homes in the Lady Lake portion of The Villages will be the topic of an AAC workshop set for 9 a.m. Wednesday at Savannah Center. The topic of the future of the old El Santiago restaurant building is also on the agenda for that workshop.
A color palette has been under review to serve as a guide for house repaintings in The Villages.
The Villages has been selected by a major golf grip manufacturer as the location for grip prototype testing and feedback. The grip manufacturer is currently seeking participants for Tuesday and Wednesday at The Sarasota Golf Practice Center.
Each test session will take approximately 30 minutes.
All golfers selected to participate will receive a free set of grips (13 swing grips).
Raymond Thomas Brooks, age 76, went home to be with our Lord Wednesday, October 9, 2013.
Mr. Brooks was born January 18, 1937 in Warrensville, N.C. He served in the US Navy from 1957 until 1962, stationed in San Diego, Ca. He then returned to North Carolina where he was a Corrections Officer for the NC Department of Corrections, retiring in 1999. He moved to The Villages in 2002. He enjoyed golf, reading, professional football and baseball.
He is survived by his wife, Imogene Stanley Brooks; son Michael Brooks and wife Corinne of Eden, NC; grandchildren Evan Brooks and Brittany Logston of North Carolina; great-grandson Owen Brooks; Brothers Ralph and Kenny Brooks of Lansing, NC. He was preceded in death by parents Fieldon Sherman Brooks and Virginia Roark Brooks; Sisters Phyllis Weaver and Mary Nell Brooks.
There will be a Memorial Service at the Lady Lake Chapel of Beyers Funeral Home on Friday, October 18, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. with visitation from 10:00 am to 11:00 am prior to the service. Inurnment will be in Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Fla. at 1:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to: Villagers for Hospice, 601 Casa Bella, The Villages, Fla. 32162.
Condolences may be left at http://www.beyersfuneralhome.com
Beyers Funeral Home and Crematory, Lady Lake/The Villages, FL in charge of arrangements.
Fruitland Park commissioners gave the go-ahead Thursday night to look at whether the city should amend its charter to allow single-member districts.
City attorney Scott Gerken and interim city manager Rick Conner raised the question at Thursday night’s commission meeting.
“Municipalities typically review their charters periodically,” Gerken said. “There are a number of items in the charter that are outdated and I can’t remember the last time Fruitland Park’s charter was reviewed,” he said.
Gerken has served as city attorney for 10 years. None of the commissioners—including 21-year veteran John Gunter, Mayor Chris Bell, who has served for 20 years, and Vice Mayor Sharon Kelly, who has served for 16 years—could remember either.
Under the city’s current charter the mayor and four commissioners are elected at large.
“The way it works now, voters could elect all four commissioners and a mayor who all live on the same street,” Gerken said.
Under single-member districts, commissioners are elected by voters each respective district. Typically the mayor would continue to be elected at large.
District lines would have to be drawn to accommodate a proportionate number of residents in each district, Gerken said. In some municipalities district lines are drawn to accommodate representation by minority populations living in contiguous or close-by neighborhoods.
Any amendment to the city’s charter would require a public vote, most likely next November when two city commissioners are expected to run for reelection.
Commissioners agreed that staff should research the feasibility of appointing a charter review committee to gather public input and recommend specific charter amendments.
Two long-time leaders honored
As Fruitland Park stands on the edge of historic change, two men who have served the city for the past two decades have been honored.
Bell and Gunte were saluted at Thursday night’s commission meeting for 20 years of service to The Friendly City.
Both were presented with plaques by the Florida League of Cities.
Commissioner John Gunter Jr., left, and Mayor Christopher Bell were honored Thursday by the Florida League of Cities.
Joanne M. Sabatino, 72, of Belleview, Florida passed away October 7, 2013 at Sylvia’s Hospice House Ocala, Florida. She was born on May 31, 1941 in Batavia, New York to Robert and Bertha (Gauck) Morgan.
Joanne was a graduate of Corfu High School class of 1959. She was a secretary of E.N. Rowell Box Factory and later secretary at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Joanne and her husband moved to Belleview, Florida from East Bethany, New York in 1994. She then became a secretary and bookkeeper at St. Timothy Catholic Community until her retirement in 2006. She was an active member of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church. Joanne was the founder of the Knights of Columbus Auxiliary, Council 14222 and was a member of the 4th Degree Assembly Auxilliary, 3296.
Hiers-Baxley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
The Amenity Authority Committeehas scheduled a workshop to discuss the site plan configuration for the recently purchased El Santiago Club building.
The AAC spent $350,000 to purchase the former restaurant building. The building has been gutted. It has been empty for more than two years.
Additionally, the AAC will be reviewing and considering policies and procedures to address the re-painting of homes in the Lady Lake/Lake County portion of The Villages.
The workshop will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Ashley Wilkes Room at the Savannah Regional Recreation Center.
For a brief history on the discussion of the El Santiago building, you can refer to the story below published this past month at Villages-News.com:
I am an ordinary American Citizen and just like my neighbors I am interested in this country running at its best. I feel it is every citizen’s job to keep up with what the government is doing “on our behalf” so I read a lot.
When a receptionist at the doctor’s office mentioned that she was instructed not to accept any new patients that come in with Obamacare, I was stunned that she and the doctor were not aware that there is no insurance by that name.
There is a misconception in our nation that the insurance industry will no longer sell health insurance coverage. I explained to the receptionist that every patient who walks into that office will present an ID card from Medicare or one of the many private insurers just as they always have, such as Cigna, Aetna, BCBS, Humana, United, Medicare Advantage, etc.
The only difference is that these insurance companies will no longer be allowed to impose unfair obstacles on people, and that a greater number of Americans will be able to afford to buy healthcare insurance. The new rules include coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, an end to discrimination based on gender, no lifetime caps or annual limits on medical expenses, coverage for essential health benefits (including mental health), free preventive care, and extending coverage to young adults. The new Healthcare Insurance Exchanges make sure consumers can compare the plans and prices offered by the different insurers. Plans have to be written in easy to understand language with no “fine print” or hidden costs. There will be free live assistance to help people navigate their way through this unfamiliar territory.
These changes are designed to help Americans avoid devastating expenses due to untreated illnesses that only get worse without treatment. No one will have to be “one illness away from bankruptcy.” The funding to cover all this is spread out among many new sources including the individual mandate which means everyone has to pitch in according to their ability. Just think of the huge savings to tax payers when high-cost use of Emergency Rooms drops. This saving will help pay for our coverage.
This is what all the excitement is about regarding the Affordable Care Act. Not a bad thing.
P.S. When asked, people on the street liked all of the provisions in the law; what they didn’t like was its nickname. Obamacare is the nickname for the Affordable Care Act.
