A nearly $300,000 Fenney-style nature path dubbed the Lake Miona Trail would offer a picturesque walk for Villagers along the Black Lake Preserve.
The nature trail is part of a budget plan under consideration by the Project Wide Advisory Committee, which supports shared infrastructure in Community Development Districts 5 through 12 in The Villages.
The 6-foot-wide nature path would be a 1.3-mile roundtrip, out and back. It would not be accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act as it would be classified as a nature path. An entry point would be near the Lake Miona Recreation Center on Buena Vista Boulevard.
“It’s not for bicycles, it’s not for dogs. It’s for walking,” said Project Wide Advisory Committee Chairman Peter Moeller during a budget presentation Wednesday night at the Savannah Center.
Such nature trails have proven to be very popular down in the Village of Fenney, at the southern end of The Villages.
Moeller encouraged his fellow PWAC members to go walk the planned path.
“It’s gorgeous,” he said.
PWAC member Dennis Hayes of Community Development District 8 wanted to know about any potential long-term expense of the trail.
“What kind of maintenance costs would we be inheriting?” Hayes asked.
Interim Director of Property Management Blair Bean said the envisioned concrete path would not require much maintenance.
“The life expectancy would be lengthy,” Bean said.
The first step in the process would be the expenditure of $18,000 for engineering and surveying. That would be expensed in the 2020-21 fiscal year. If the estimated $260,000 project is to move forward, it could be part of the 2021-22 PWAC budget.