Elected supervisors from across The Villages have agreed to put edge lines on the 42 miles of multi-modal paths running through The Villages.
The historic informal vote Monday morning drew applause from a large group of officials and residents assembled at Savannah Center.
The vote came after a presentation by The Villages’ longtime engineer, Richard Busche of Kimley Horn & Associates Inc.
Busche told the group that his study, for which CDDs 1 through 10 and the Amenity Authority Committee will share the $6,500 cost, indicated that edge line striping was not warranted.
However, he said he didn’t think adding edge line striping would make the trails more dangerous.
“If you do it, I don’t think it’s going to make the trails less safe,” he said.
CDD 2 Supervisor Bryan Lifsey took to the podium to declare he had been “underwhelmed” by the Kimley-Horn study. (You can read the study here: MultiUse Trail Marking)
“They could not find a reason to say, ‘Hell, no,” so they said, ‘No but, maybe,'” Lifsey said.
Still, he implored his fellow supervisors to act in response to the desires of residents to do something to make the multi-modal trails safer.
“Now it’s time to act. Our residents want us to do something to increase safety. No more delays. No more procrastination. No more studies,” Lifsey said.
Other supervisors also said they were feeling pressure from residents to act.
However, CDD 5 Supervisor Gary Kadow said he was concerned about the cost for the $3,500-per-mile thermoplastic side-line striping suggested by the engineer.
“If you put it down over 84 miles (both sides of the multi-modal trail) it’s over $300,000,” Kadow said.
He agreed that residents want action, but he added that officials need to come with a plan that would be cost effective.
Kadow said he did some research and found a company in Gainesville that would do the work for 40 cents per foot.
The major difference would be whether to the use the more expensive but longer-lasting thermoplastic or paint.
Possible cost of the thermoplastic could run 45 cents to $1.01 per foot, District Manager Janet Tutt said after she consulted Property Manager Sam Wartinbee.
She offered these estimates of what the shared cost of the total tab might be:
Amenity Authority Committee: $20,000 to $31,000
CDD 1: $6,400 to $10,000
CDD 2: $16,000 to $24,000
CDD 3: $16,000 to $25,000
CDD 4: $21,000 to $32,000
Project Wide Advisory Committee (which includes CDDs 5 – 10): $174,000 to $270,000.
The AAC will discuss the idea at its meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Savannah Center. CDDs 1 through 4 meet Friday, also at Savannah Center.
After the meeting, there was enthusiasm that “at long last” something was being done.
CDD 7 Supervisor Jerry Vicenti, a long-time advocate of safety, said he was impressed.
“It’s good we are moving ahead with this,” he said. “I am proud of the people on this committee.”