Officials contend that bright lights and booze are the biggest threats to residents navigating golf carts at night on the multi-modal paths in The Villages.

For more than a decade, elected supervisors representing community development districts in The Villages have been unable to see eye-to-eye when it comes to striping the multi-modal paths.

Cliff Wiener, chairman of the Community Development District 4 Board of Supervisors and leader of the Property Owners Association, chaired another meeting of the Multi-Modal Path Discussion Group on Tuesday afternoon at Savannah Center. Joining him were representatives of CDDs 2, 5, 8, 9 and 10, as well as Sandy Mott of the Amenity Authority Committee.

Striping remains as divisive as ever.

William Elwood, who lives in the Sumter Heritage Villas in the Village of Bonnybrook, has been in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown for almost a decade.

“I was a youngster when I first got here,” Elwood said. “Now, I don’t drive at night as much anymore.”

He said the reflective pavement markers, nicknamed RPMs, have made a huge difference in helping him navigate the multi-modal paths, particularly at night.

He urged the committee to look hard at using RPMs, and even striping, to improve the safety on the multi-modal paths.

“We’re talking about safety,” Elwood said.

However, Jim Shields, also of the Village of Bonnybrook, challenged the group members to define the problem they are trying to solve. He dismissed striping as a “cosmetic” measure that might create the illusion of safety. He said bright lights are a bigger problem on the paths at night and striping would not help golf cart drivers blinded by the overly bright golf cart headlights.

Members of the group agreed that bright headlights on golf carts are making it tough to drive golf carts at night on the multi-modal paths.

CDD 5 Supervisor Jerry Knoll said statistics from law enforcement show that alcohol is frequently a factor in golf cart crashes, particularly at night.

CDD 10 Supervisor Steve Bova said that costly increases being absorbed by CDDs due to the huge SECO Energy pole rental hikes are leaving little room in budgets for luxury projects like striping. He said his district is facing a $300,000 increase from SECO, which will eat away at reserve funding.

Bova said CDD 10 supervisors “have no appetite” for spending money on striping and his board remains “absolutely opposed to striping.” He added that CDD 10 supervisors also have safety concerns about RPMs.

Wiener vowed that the Multi-Modal Path Discussion Group will continue to press on and hinted that CDD boards may soon find residents attending their meetings, lobbying for striping.

“We need to look at what is really best for all of the residents,” Wiener said.