After nearly two years, our dedicated resident volunteers, on January 7, received the Firewise USA certificate of recognition. The Villages is the first Firewise community in the City of San Jose and the largest in Santa Clara County. Since November 2024, the committee has been conducting home ignition zone inspections, utilizing Fire Aside software and iPads to assess key exterior building and landscaping components. A Wildfire Preparation Workshop event is planned for May 3 as part of the National Wildfire Preparation Day in conjunction with Firewise program sponsor, the National Fire Prevention Association.

For more coverage
https://sccfiresafe.org/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGTWLpnP4Hm/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Deisy Gomez, The Villages Comcast/Xfinity Account Manager, is available for virtual appointments every Friday by appointment from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Please use https://calendly.com/deisygomez1326/the-villages to make an appointment

Proper Lightbulb Disposal Guidelines
Disposing of household lightbulbs correctly depends on the type of bulb. Here’s what you need to know:

Incandescent Bulbs
Old-fashioned incandescent bulbs can be disposed of in the regular trash. However, to ensure safety, wrap them in newspaper and tape or place them in a sealed bag to contain the glass. Note: These bulbs are not recyclable.

Fluorescent Tubes, CFL Bulbs, and LED Bulbs
These types of bulbs are considered hazardous waste and cannot be placed in the bins at The Villages. They must be recycled at a hazardous waste facility.

Monthly Recycling at The Villages (Trial Basis)
The Villages will host a trial program to collect a limited number of fluorescent tubes, CFLs, and LED bulbs for recycling. This service will take place once per month, beginning on Friday, February 28, alongside the household battery collection event.  Watch for details

Cutting Down on Food Waste: Take proactive steps to reduce food waste. For example, plan meals ahead of time and shop accordingly for portion sizes and servings. When you have leftovers, ensure they are stored properly – and enjoy in an appropriate amount of time. Find ways to use food scraps, such as saving vegetable scraps for broths or sauces. 

The Villages community is fortunate to have Green Team Waste Services provide automatic recycling of food and organic waste through the normal garbage pickup at The Villages.

Food and green waste is taken to GreenWaste’s Renewable Energy Digestion Facility. This is an anaerobic digestion facility designed not only to compost organic material, and thus keep them out of landfills, but also to extract energy from the organic material during the process.

GreenWaste’s Renewable Energy Digestion Facility in San Jose is the first large-scale commercial dry fermentation AD technology in the United States, producing clean, green renewable energy, while simultaneously producing a feedstock for composting. The facility can process up to 90,000 tons per year of organic waste generating approximately 1.6MW of clean green renewable power and is the largest facility of its kind in the nation. As a net power producer, the first use of power is to run the facility, with excess power being sold to California’s Grid.

On January 7, The Villages received the certificate of recognition from the Firewise USA organization, making The Villages the first in San Jose to receive this honor and the largest community in Santa Clara County. This remarkable achievement comes after years of dedication from our Boards, committees, organizations, Villagers, management, and the GM’s Office. What was once a dream has now become a reality.

For many, you will remember the beginning of this dream to be a community ever mindful and prepared—as prepared as can be—for natural disasters that threaten The Villages. In 2022 the Fire Safety Committee was formed, which led to Carol Rice, an outside consultant, being hired to assess every village for fire safety. Those reports and a culmination of hours of thoughtful conversations, in March, initiated the epic idea to become a Firewise Community. Collaboration between organizations such as CalFire and Santa Clara County FireSafe Council was instrumental to The Villages team who, early in the Firewise process, completed the organization’s preliminary risk assessments. In conjunction, hours of volunteer training took place and a broadening of the vision to Fire Aside Defensible Space Evaluations were conducted.

Through these years, incredible progress was made—yet we’re not done. The Firewise USA program continues for the next three years—and then will most likely be ongoing. Meeting all requirements of Firewise’s annual reviews ensures that The Villages will remain a Firewise Community. Although the program is rigid, holding the certificate of recognition brings immense pride and peace of mind, with the opportunity to ebb insurance costs to The Villages and individual homeowners.*

Thank you to all who brought us to this point, and to the entire Villages for being a part of moving us forward. Although being “firewise” is a relatively new mission for us, keeping The Villages safe has a 50-plus year heritage.

See Firewise Recognition certificate below.

See Press Release here

Starting April 1, 2025, Villagers will notice a change in the way monthly statements are provided. To ensure compliance with Davis-Stirling regulations, members who reside in condos will begin receiving two separate monthly statements—one for Club dues and account charges and another for Association assessments.

If you live in a single-family home, your statement process will remain the same, with one consolidated statement from the Club.

With The Villages’ new online business operations system, the Accounting team provides breakdowns of each financial category, so you will have a clearer view of where your contributions are allocated. This update ensures compliance with the segregation of accounts as required by Davis-Stirling regulations while enhancing clarity for our members.

Delivery Methods Remain Flexible

Your preferred method of receiving statements—online, by mail, or both—will remain unchanged. This ensures continuity and convenience as we transition to the new system.

Stay Updated

More details about the new statement process will be shared in the coming months. Look for updates in The Villager, FastNews and other communication channels.

Questions? 

If you have questions or would like to update your Membership accounting information, feel free to contact the Accounting team:

• Email: accounting@the-villages.com
• Phone: (408) 223-4639
• In Person: Visit Building A to speak with an Accounting representative.

We trust that these improvements will provide a better accounting experience with The Villages.

The last of our new technology tools rolls out into the palm of your hands—The Villages Golf & Country Club mobile app (a.k.a. Member App). This mobile app displays at a glance The Villages’ top events and information, including The Villager Online news and push notifications. With a tap, you can quickly get to popular interests, news, numbers and important content as well as another convenient way to book a tee time or make a dining reservation.

Tailored Member App content and functionality that differs from the Member Portal

• Notifications (Bell icon top right) – Once a notification’s released, the alert comes across your mobile screen and, if missed, a red circle icon will appear at the top right of the Bell indicating the number of notifications you have.
• Profile – Settings (green gear icon) takes you to important options to activate or opt-out. To increase your connections to your community, we encourage you to tap options to green to make options active—especially Add App Notifications.
• Alert Us – This tile connects you to Public Works, with submitting a Work Order at your fingertips. Alert Us also is the place to contact Public Safety and give your guests gate access.
• Member ID – This QR Code will be another way to make a purchase at The Villages. It’s coming soon!

Ready for you to download!

Option 1: Tap the appropriate button (Apple, App Store; Android, Google Play) on your mobile device.

Option 2: Go to the Apple App Store or to Google Play Store and type The Villages Golf and Country into the Search bar. Make sure it has our Bell Tower logo. Once downloaded and installed, your login is required. Please log in to the app with the same login credentials that you use for accessing the new Member Portal.

Option 3: Open the camera app on your phone and scan this QR code.

Need Assistance?

If you dont have access to the Member Portal, go to the Villages Support site and fill out the I Still Need Help form.

If it’s a download issue, go to the Support site and view our Video Tutorial Downloading the Member App.

Or attend the next WOW session. WOW sessions will be ongoing on an as-needed basis.Thank you for being a valued member of The Villages community.

We hope you enjoy the extra convenience of The Villages online!

How do we dispose of Tetra-Paks and refrigerator cartons?  Garbage or Recycling Bin?

Tetra Paks and  refrigerator cartons often are used to sell all types of milk, juice, soup, tomato sauce, dairy products, etc.

 Place both in the recycling. Tetra-Paks are identifiable by the smooth and glossy plastic carton and shiny metallic lining on the inside. When recycling, Tetra-Paks should not be flattened, as this can lead to them being misidentified and improperly sorted by the sorting machinery at the processing facilities. Refrigerator cartons (such as milk and juice) contain more paper than a Tetra Pak carton. Empty the cartons of any liquid or residue and, if possible, remove any plastic or metal caps or spouts before recycling. Remember to recycle right!