President’s Report: August 2024
Dear Members,
I hope that you are all enjoying your summer. As with much of the country, we experience temperatures at or near record highs daily. We had a “tropical storm” last week that dumped incredible amounts of rain on Southwest Florida on August 4 and 5. As most of you know, Hurricane Debbie made landfall near the “big bend” in northern Florida and traveled east over the entire state, continuing to wreak havoc up the east coast with torrential rain and flooding. We took every precaution to protect the club, never knowing what a hurricane would do. We had the club secured 36 hours before the storm’s projected arrival. The water did NOT breach the sea wall nor damage our boats. Our biggest concern was possible damage to our new metal stored in the parking lot. Improperly secured materials, from aluminum to wood to nails, could easily become missiles that could cause significant damage to anything or anyone in their path. All materials were properly tied down, and construction debris was removed or secured. One day after the storm, we were back open for business.
Unless you witness it, you would not believe the amount of work it takes to secure our facility from any hurricane threat. Once again, I must commend our General Manager, Chad Edmonds, his managerial staff, and our employees for a terrific job protecting our club and your boats. We are blessed to have him as our GM for almost 20 years! Chad, our great board of directors, and I take great pride in SHYC and treat it like we own it. All of our Board members have successfully owned multiple businesses and manage the club like the business that it is, putting the interest of the owners as the number one priority.
LITIGATION UPDATE
It has been almost two years since the hurricane almost destroyed our club. The long climb back has been a journey that none of us want to relive again. The most challenging and frustrating aspect of it all was dealing with the insurance company. We have paid Velocity Risk Insurance Co. millions of dollars in coverage over the years, and they have totally refused to honor the coverage of our policy. We have been in litigation with them for a year, and they have delayed all aspects of the case as long as they legally could. We have a top law firm representing us as well as experts in making our case against the company. We finally have an agreement for mediation of our case, which should happen by the end of this year. It is a non-binding mediation, so we may not reach a fair settlement with them, leading to binding arbitration. However, I want to assure you that we are committed to fighting them at every turn to get a fair settlement. The Board will keep you informed of the case’s progression, and we will not rest until we achieve a just outcome.
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS ON SIDING
We are getting close to completing the reconstruction and replacement of the metal siding of our storage barns. We are not there yet but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Upon reflection, I realize that this job is perhaps the most difficult and challenging process that I have ever undertaken in my life. I cannot describe the countless hours of stress, setbacks, delays, problems, and frustrations of the project. Our in-house labor on this project has been over 25,000 man-hours. This does not include our management, the Board members, and the dozens of contractors needed to perform specialty work. Chad, our management, employees, and your Board of Directors, V.P. Fred Walters, Sec/Treasurer Randy Manning, and Directors Dr. Gary Aspenwall and Mike Chilelli worked together to keep the job moving forward. I can’t thank them enough. I want to include retired Board Member Nick Amelio for his invaluable input and many years of service.
EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH JUNE AND JULY
The June Employee of the Month is Fidel Prado Nunez, who has been with us for 8 years and has been the recipient of the Employee of the Year award multiple times. He performs many tasks, including training new employees.
The July Employee of the Month is Andrew Weichert. Andrew is our newest valet and is quickly becoming an invaluable department member. He works hard and performs outstandingly. Congratulations, Andrew and Fidel! We appreciate your outstanding performances.
SUMMER PROJECTS COMPLETED
Our summer projects are underway. Because we have rebuilt so much of the club after Ian and budgetary concerns, this year’s projects are not as extensive as previous years. The biggest project is repainting our clubhouse’s exterior walls to match our new metals’ beautiful colors. We think that you will really like the new look of our club’s exterior. It takes great planning and expense to keep our club looking great. We are fortunate to have extremely diligent management about keeping SHYC a facility we can all be proud of.
SUMMER PROJECTS COMPLETED
Our Labor Day weekend, our hot dog giveaway will be held on September. Free hotdogs and snacks for all. Chad will send out details before the event.
In closing, thank you again for supporting the Board in keeping SHYC one of the premier Yacht Clubs in SWF. If your experience at SHYC is exceptional or if it fails to meet your expectations, please let me know. I am always available to help members in any way.
Sincerely,
Peter Mazzagatti, President
Sanibel Harbour Yacht Club
239-470-9577 Direct Line
pmazzagatti@comcast.net