Members,

My wife and I evacuated Fort Myers Beach late Thursday afternoon prior to Irma’s arrival. Irma kept following us every where we went. We were finally able to get back on the Island on Thursday. Several of you brave souls stayed and weathered the wrath of Irma. We are so happy you are all safe.

Our Maintenance Director (Gary Workley) stayed on property through the storm, and I was in contact with him several times a day. Once the storm was over, he began clearing Bay Beach Lane. He also got some help from Michael Keegan, (President of Vallencia Villas) who with his Jeep and winch removed the large limbs from the road. Thanks Michael. The road was cleared on Monday and the cleanup has begun. Gary also patrolled the property into the evening hours, and had to ask intruders to leave once he identified that they were not residents of Bay Beach. The next time you see Gary don’t forget to thank him for being so vigilant . Some intruders were taking advantage of the situation to trespass and go fishing, and others may have been looking for other opportunities.

On Monday after Irma, I talked with Tim Sullivan (owner of Everyday Maintenance) about getting crews to our property to clean up fallen trees, debris etc. His father had just passed away so he was not in the area, but he did assemble and dispatch a skeleton crew to begin clean up of our property on Tuesday. Many of his employees had lost or had damage to their homes. Most all of them did not have electricity. We are thankful their promptness in starting the cleanup, and uprighting fallen trees recently planted, etc. This crew worked Tuesday through Saturday, and will be back on Monday. It is important that each Association have their Landscapers take care of the cleanup on their properties also, but please don not place the debris of individual Associations on the EBIA property . This action only causes more stress and impedes the process of the EBIA landscapers. Have your landscapers haul the debris away. FEMA nor the Town of FMB will haul debris away from Bay Beach Lane, as it is a private road.

Some damage was recognized in some of the buildings, but it was minimal. There was some water intrusion in some of the buildings, which is usually expected. A couple of boats sank and their was some damage to a few of the boat docks.

I have also contacted Suncoast Environmental who will asses the damages to trees on the Stormwater Property and provide the cleanup crews. This process cannot begin until the property becomes dry enough to do so. We will all have to be patient and realize this will take some time. The important thing is that we are all safe, our buildings to did not experience any structural damage and we will get this mess cleaned up and move forward.

I have been in contact with our Property Manager ( Lee Ann Rosengarten) and she has been on the property assessing damages and working with suppliers, such as waste disposal, FPL, etc. Everyone is doing their best to clean up after Irma. Realize also, most of these people have homes of their own that have been damaged, or they don’t have electricity, or still have water intrusion do to flooding.

Thomas Taege
EBIA/ Pres.