If you have grandchildren, or guests with children who love to drive your golf cart, you need to be aware of this new legislation.

As of October 1st, any minor driving a golf cart on public roads in Florida must be at least 15 years of age and have at least a learner’s permit to drive. At the age of 16-17, a driver’s license is required. At 18 and over, a government issued photo ID is required but a driver’s license is not.

Violates of the new law will receive a non-criminal traffic infraction with a fine of up to $108. However, it is unclear to me whether the child driving or the owner of the golf cart would owe the fine. Also, be aware that since golf carts are not required to be registered and carry insurance, if an accident happens and there is damage or injury, you could be liable and open to lawsuits with no insurance coverage.

The new law is intended to curb the danger of children operating golf carts without knowing traffic laws, especially without an adult accompanying them. As reported, in Hillsborough County, 16 or 17 children have been injured driving golf carts, and in another county, a three-year-old child driving a golf cart killed a seven-year-old child.

Presumably, lawmakers in Tallahassee thought adults would know and follow traffic laws without a driver’s license and just need to be able to produce a valid ID, but wanted to find a way to restrict children driving them to those who at least have some evidence of the needed knowledge.

Driving on private property is not affected by the law, only public streets.

Please see the link below for a report.

New Law Cracks Down on Teen Golf Cart Drivers

Hillsborough County has changed the days on which residents can water their lawns and increased the times per week from one to two. The basics are below, and also a link to the web page for more information.

Days

• Addresses ending in 0, 1, 2 or 3
  • Mondays and Thursdays
• Addresses ending in 4, 5 or 6
  • Tuesdays and Fridays
• Addresses ending in 7, 8 or 9
  • Wednesdays and Saturdays
• Common areas with or without addresses, locations with no address, and locations with mixed addresses (such as office complexes and shopping centers)
  • Wednesdays and Saturdays

Times

All watering must be done either between midnight and 8 AM OR between 6 PM and midnight, and only once on your designated days.

Link to the Hillsborough County Water & Sewer page

SCC residents are fortunate to have the Security Patrol that not only drives patrols seven days a week but provides a host of other services from golf cart registration to wellness checks. The Security Patrol recently held a briefing which included important information about those and many other topics, like the laws about pet ownership, registration and vaccination. Click the links below to see the briefing slides or to go to the Security Patrol website.

Security Patrol Briefing

Please note: the Briefing is a 14 page PDF that can be read online or downloaded.

Security Patrol Website

Peter Pullen, Treasurer of Wedgewood Owners’ Association Inc. addresses the question “Why do we have a Homeowners Association (HOA)?”

Please click on Link below. Thanks.

https://www.wedgewood1.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-07-20-Wedgewood-Owners-Association.pdf

We will continue to post updates here regarding the Sandpiper Golf Course as we receive them. Thanks.

https://www.soco.news/april-2022-news-is-hot-off-the-press/

To see the information the Sun City Center Community Association is posting, including a link to the Clublink presentation to the membership, click the link below. Click the word “Clublink.”

Wedgewood’s Recycling Day is going to change as of Jan 31, 2022. 

Beginning in February, the Recycling Day will be on Saturday. The other pick-ups will remain the same.

Wednesday – Trash
Saturday – Trash / Yard Debris / Recycling

Link to verify pick up days:

https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/residents/property-owners-and-renters/trash-and-recycling/find-my-trash-collector-and-collection-schedule

We mourn the Wedgewood community members who passed away in 2021. We remember them with fondness and sympathy for their loved ones.

Bill Broberg died February 22, 2021 (Click here for obituary)

Debra Smith Mitchell died February 25, 2021 (no obituary or photo provided)

Joanne Bauer died on August 19, 2021 (click here for obituary)

Kathryn Berry died October 28, 2021 (no obituary or photo provided)

Bille Jean Ward died November 13, 2021 (click for obituary)

Chuck Reese died in December 2021

(no obituary provided). Please see an interview with Chuck on Youtube by clicking here

The Wedgewood Owners’ Association, Inc. held its annual meeting on December 2. Many thanks to Cindy Vellante for serving on the board for two years. At this meeting, Peter Pullen was re-elected and Angelika Hamilton was elected to her first two-year term. The board met following the annual meeting and voted on the officers for 2022, who will take office on January 1. The slate of officers is:

Becky Scaringe        President
Laurie Stevenson    Vice President
Ken Buckel.                Secretary
Peter Pullen.              Treasurer
Angelika Hamilton  Director

Lawrence Robert MacAlister was born in Worcester, Mass., in 1935, and grew up to be a Renaissance man, tuning his skills in a variety of careers. An engineer who graduated from MIT, he also raced cars (including an early Carroll Shelby Cobra) and motorcycles, earning trophies that he discarded along the way. For a while he worked for the Atomic Energy Commission, delving into the properties of heavy water, a field that influenced his entrepreneurial efforts in later life. He spent many years as a general contractor, building communities, shopping centers, and commercial buildings in Massachusetts, Florida and North Carolina. And in the middle of that career, he took several years off to be a charter boat captain in Cape Cod.

When he moved with his wife Carol to Sun City Center, he didn’t quite retire, reactivating his general contractor’s license and lending his expertise to a variety of projects. He also returned to painting, one of his early loves, and earned Best of Show in the very first art show he entered locally. And he became a Pelican Player, serving as vice president and acting in the mainstage production of “Angel Street,” as well as in Reader’s Theatre and variety shows.

Lawrence passed away September 23, 2020. In addition to his wife, he leaves three children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Photo and tribute courtesy of Carol MacAlister 11-29-2020