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Coincidentally, yesterday, Fairways Watch , had made spent some time at the gate area, with different security system vendors.During our 2 separate visits ,yesterday, we were amazed at the total amount of disrespect and ''devil may care'' attitude of some of the ''guests'' and other unknowns, entering our community.
First up are the ''GATE RUNNERS''. These are the folks that will not follow any legitimate procedure, for entering our community. Certain cars and trucks, will lay back and pull off to the side and wait for a resident with a clicker. With the gate, already starting to close,--here they come full speed, trying to get through. Sometimes they make it --and sometimes they do not! In looking at our gates, they look like something brought back from Afghanistan.
The outbound gates also have their fair share of idiots. Tuesday afternoon about 1PM, a blue Ford pickup tried to ''tail gate'' another vehicle--[just could not wait] . the outbound gate closed on the second vehicle,breaking off a mirror and doing other damage to the truck. --The truck, never even slowed down,
The ''weird'' happenings are not just limited to vehicles.While talking to a security technician, we noticed a young male ,aprox 20 years of age, banging on the pedestrian gate.--He yelled out'' how do I get out''?--our response was--''how did you get in'' ? The young male then said --''I live in here'' ??? The young person, then went to the outbound vehicle gate, and walked out behind a car!
Another strange occurrence yesterday, was the following. A handicapped resident, who routinely ,illegally, takes his 4 wheel scooter, out on rt 50, did the following. The resident,on the scooter, pulled in ,behind a car at the keyboard kiosk.The procedure, was not progressing fast enough, so the person on the scooter yelled out''use code 77##''---so much for private, personal security codes
In summary ,we would say this--''OUR GATE SYSTEM IS ONE BIG MESS!'' The system in place, provides no security to our community--it only creates more problems and maintenance expense.
As outlined in a previous post Fairways Watch is working on getting options that are available for a more protective system.
When these options are available, they will be presented to ALL residents and management, complete with estimates.
In the meantime,--be careful around the gates,you never know what you will be subjected to!
15 comments:
Bill you are doing a great job! Surveillance of the fairways is a must. I hope your reports and cost estimates will help convince the board and our fellow residents that this is very necessary.
As to the gate.....The gate is broken more than its functional, if we had security - folks would have to slow down to speak with the guard, therefore causing less or no damage.
I have personally seen cars waiting on the side for someone with a clicker to let them in. We as residents cannot stop them from following in behind us. But if there were a guard - they would stop that from happening.
A lot of things would be alieveiated with security at the gate.
That person on the scooter is sending a message to the board. Get security in here now, so that person on the scooter will stop letting "potential criminals" in our nice community !
Thank you again Bill - you are very much appreciated !
Would just like to add to the gate saga..I work nights and leave the park around 9:45 every night to go to work. I can tell you from my experience that about 50% of the time the entrance gate is standing wide open for anyone who wants to come in. Alot of the time it stands wide open all weekend because it was damaged on a Friday and no one got the message to management or management does not believe in calling in the gate company for repairs on a weekend or after hours. It almost always happens on a Holiday weekend, so now the gate stays wide open and broken for 4 days and nights. I don't think we can honestly say we live in a "gated community" because most of the time it stops no one who wants to come in. There is absolutely no security to it. As far as cameras go, I have yet to hear of Fairways catching any gate runners or outsiders on camera entering or damaging the gates. So the cameras are either non fuctional or "dummy cameras". No one from management can answer weather the cameras work or not.. Summary, our front gate security is a joke, and it's not too funny. HTA refuses to discuss it because at some point it will hit their bottom line. You can bet if and when the office, Pro shop or tavern get broken into, then it will be on someones radar..
Well folks here we are on Thursday afternoon and the entrance is still standing wide open. Are we headed for another "open to the public" weekend? I will be suprised if the gate company gets it repaired on Friday before closing time, because they hit it a ton this time. Last time they had to take it completely off the posts and take it to the shop for a couple days. Thanks Bill for your service on the neighborhood watch, and if the gate stays open all weekend we will be watching for extra unwanted people over the weekend or until it gets fixed. "The Watcher"
fIf someone looked at the finances for the number of times the gate has had to be repaired we probably could easily afford the security person.
I would have to agree, the gate repairs probably far outweigh the cost of a security guard.
HTA should pay for the security, why should they reap the benefits of security for all there buildings and not lay out a dime of there own money, they cannot expect the residents to foot the entire bill.
Well folks as I predicted last Thursday ,the entrance gates stood wide open all weekend long. I have seen no movement on the part of management to have the front gates repaired since Bill reported the damage on this blog last Wednesday the 14th. Each nite for the last 4 nites as I went to work, I wondered how many criminals and drifters will walk, bicycle, or just drive on in to our park. Because after all on the big new expensive LED sign out front in big block letters it says "RESTURANT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC" and "GOLF COURSE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC", and and the biggest attraction of all "3 SWIMMING POOLS". Instead of saying anything about being a private gated community, HTA choses to send the message out loud and clear to the public about all our amenities, and just how "PUBLIC" everything in this park is. It is no small wonder that we have so many outsiders coming and going, because it is so easy. As far as the front gates go, we will wait and see, tommorrow will we a week since the damage was done and the gates have been standing wide open. Maybe it is a money thing, or maybe we are going for a new record on how many days they stay out of service.
Rolled in the front gate this morning and it still sets there broken and in the same condition Bill reported 6 days ago...but I did notice that the Westchester pool renovations are going full speed ahead, so that shows me where the priorities lie. Makes sense to me, fix the pools up real nice so the outsiders can drive right on in thru the broken front gate and enjoy our beautiful pools, unchallened by a pool monitor or any security of any type. Nice
I did see the gate company taking pictures of the gate yesterday. I would like to think it will be fixed this week. New Pole due to the condition of the pole there now and new gate.
Well here we go folks another weekend with the front gate standing wide open, so keep your eyes open for the outsiders. Has anyone heard from management about a timeframe for the repairs? I get the feeling HTA really does not feel responsible enough to inform the residents of the status of the repairs. I am sure someone has called the office, It just wasn't me. Bill if you know or anyone else know, please pass the word. It is hard for me to see why it takes so long to fix. I am quite sure the gate company would fix it right away if management would pay the right price. I am more inclined to think that someone at HTA has decided not to fix it until next months maintenance moneys roll in. But they still have 7 days to go this month, so we will see. I know it has been damaged pretty bad this time, but 10 days? Come on HTA...really?
Really sad if our gates are open over Labor Day. Crime will be running it's course in here. Something has to be done to secure our park....need to get more people involved.
Tomorrow marks exactly 2 weeks since the front gate got broken.
I Have seen no evidence of any repairs by any gate company or any attempt by HTA maintenance to repair the gate. Maybe pictures were taken and HTA is waiting for a insurance check. But to me that is no excuse of why it should take 2 weeks or more to get this gate repaired. Maybe there are complications that I'm not aware of, but as a resident of gated community, I fail to understand why it has taken HTA so long to respond.
Having the gate open the past two weeks has done nothing but invite in the criminal element and outsiders.
Maybe HTA should just put on the expensive new LED sign "Criminals welcome" ! and roll out the red carpet.
I guess the question of how concerned HTA is about security of the park has been answered, take a good look at the gate folks.
Hopefully they'll have it fixed by Labor Day weekend, but I'm not holding my breath.
Well hopefully one of the HTA big wheels that rolled in yesterday for the meeting noticed the broken gate. It's obvious now that the front office at our park has ignored it. I am sure it will be a fairly expensive repair, but we as residents pay plenty for our rents, and have the right to expect that the park keep up with the security issues, and keep us informed. The management here seems to not think this way.
We're all paying a "pass thru" fee of some sort in our monthly lot rent. Shouldn't that cover a guard at the "GATE"
Here we are at Labor Day weekend, and now both entrance gates have been taken off and to the shop for repairs. Rumor is HTA had to wait for the "insurance check" to get here before getting the repairs started...pitifull..I really hope there is no crime here over this long holiday weekend, but I won't be suprised at all because HTA has set the table for the criminals. Prepare to have all the outsiders in here, you will probably see them around the pools and at the tavern. Since we have no security or pool monitors, the general public is free to enter our park and enjoy all our amenities, because we have an incompetent front office running our park, who could care less about the residents and the security of the park. Thanks HTA!!!
Be on the lookout on Spyglass for the careless wheelchair bound man. I have nearly creamed him many times when turning the corner from Pebble beach onto Spyglass as he is in the wrong lane coming right toward me. A second or 2 sooner and I would've run him over.
I have seen him crossing over colonial and go to Winn Dixie and Walgreens on the wrong side of the street, I have also seen him on his way back to the Fairways and his motorized vehicle stopped in the middle of the highway! People were blowing there horn and they were just flying right by him doing 50mph! I was sure he was going to be flattened.
The thing I don't understand; his family has a vehicle with the wheel chair lift on the back, why not use it? I wonder if he has a death wish or if he's just ignorant and ignores the safety factors involved with being bound to an electronic wheelchair.
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