Waterfront working group considers options to bolster depleted reserve account

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Awork group established to figure out ways to bolster

Captain’s Cove’s waterfront reserve account met June 15 to consider five proposals, all of which if implemented could impose significant costs on canal-front owners.

The waterfront reserve was created to pay for annual canal dredging costs. Individual owners in Captain’s Cove are responsible for installing and maintaining their own bulkheads.

At the Board of Directors June 19 meeting, Director George Finlayson told owners that no decision has been made at the Board level to approve any of the five options.

During the Member Forum segment of the meeting, Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club member Carol Pedrick suggested that a portion of annual dues collected from property owners be allocated to the waterfront reserve. She said that estimated costs associated with the five options are all too burdensome for 336 canal-front owners.

The work group, chaired by CCGYC Director Mark Majerus, has not yet made a recommendation on which, if any, of the options should be accepted by the Board.

But the work group might be getting closer to coming up with a recommendation. The panel was scheduled to meet again on June 29 to consider these competing options.

Majerus outlined the five options in a slide presentation during the June 15 meeting. He advised that some of the costs contained in these options may need to be updated with revised estimates.

“Some of the numbers are estimates as we await refinement [of these costs]. Others are based on quotes received in the past six months, which may no longer be valid. None of these numbers represent the final proposed fee. Timing of events can reduce some of the anticipated costs or change the payback period,” he said. A greater level of detail will emerge in a second pass of possible options.

“There are elevated costs of the [waterfront fund] for the next several years, but once the immediate costs are absorbed, it is anticipated that funding requirements should return to historic norms,” he said.

Complicating the matter is the fact that the Treasure Island dredge spoil site can no longer be used to store dredge spoils, unless its contents are removed. The work group and the Board are also grappling with costs associated with the association’s vandalized dredge boat.

Option 1 would use a third party vendor to continue the Cove’s annual dredging program.

Estimated vendor costs would be $425,000, with preparation of a new spoil site on developer-owned property in Sections 14 and 15 estimated at $100,000. Other costs include $90,000 for a bulkheads default cure, $20,000 for allocated depreciation of dredge equipment, $20,000 for Treasure Island spoil site closeout, and $50,000 to replenish the waterfront reserve account.

The total estimated cost of this option is $705,000. If the entire cost is assessed on 336 canal-front lot owners, the waterfront assessment in fiscal 2023-24 would be $2,098.

Option Two would repair the existing dredge boat rather than hiring an outside vendor.

Estimated costs include $50,000 in payroll expense, $10,000 in supplies, $40,000 in repairs, $90,000 in a bulkheads default cure, $20,000 in allocated depreciation expense, $150,000 in Treasure Island cleanout, and $75,000 to replenish the waterfront reserve account.

The total estimated cost of this option is $435,000. If the entire cost of this is assessed on 336 canal front owners, next year’s waterfront assessment would be $1,295.

A third option would be to rent a dredge every year, as was done during the most recent dredge season because of vandalism to the Cove’s dredge boat.

Estimated costs of this option include $50,000 in payroll, $10,000 in supplies, $120,000 for rental, transportation and insurance, $90,000 in a bulkheads default cure, $20,000 in allocated depreciation, $150,000 in Treasure Island spoil clean-out, and $50,000 to replenish the waterfront

Waterfront reserve

From Page 59 reserve.

Estimated cost of this option is $490,000. If assessed against 336 canal-front owners, next year’s waterfront assessment would be $1,458.

Option 4 would be for the purchase of a new or used dredge boat, resulting in three years of higher costs paying for the dredge.

Estimated costs include $50,000 in payroll, $10,000 for supplies, $90,000 for a bulkheads default cure, $120,000 in four years of allocated depreciation, $25,000 in interest costs, $150,000 to clean-out Treasure Island, and $50,000 to replenish the waterfront reserve.

Total estimated cost of this option is $495,000. If levied against 336 canal-front owners, next year’s waterfront assessment would be $1,473.

Option 5 would be a decision by CCGYC to discontinue the canal dredge program, but that is not without complications. Under CCGYC Articles of Incorporation, the Cove developer/declarant, CCG Note, could decide at its sole discretion to take over the program and bill CCGYC for the costs.

Estimated costs of this scenario include a CCG Note invoice of $664,125, $90,000 for a bulkheads default cure, $20,000 in dredge depreciation, $20,000 in Treasure Island spoil site close-out, and $50,000 to replenish the reserve account.

This option carries an estimated cost of $844,125. If charged to canal-front owners only, next year’s waterfront assessment would be $2,512.

Majerus said that Option One would result in the two largest cost items never going down. Option Two would eventually in the need to acquire a new dredge. Option Three would require annual dredge rental costs after the spoil site clean-out goes away. Option Four would result in three years of higher costs paying for the dredge.

Majerus said that under Option Five, CCG Note could dredge every year with no likelihood of reduced costs for CCGYC.

He added that insurance payouts, determination of unknown costs, and additional time phasing of expenses will further impact these estimates. Waterfront expenses never go to zero under any of the options under any timeline, but “but on a relative basis, it is clear that internally dredging is a more effective cost option.”

Property management team is hopeful that there will be minimal impact

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

The property management team and the Board of Directors are responding to a recent challenged by former Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club President and current director Tim Hearn to find ways to cut costs and increase revenues as a way of improving the association’s cash position.

“The Board of Directors and Property Management Team are currently evaluating multiple options to improve our cash position which has been impacted by multiple pending legal litigations. Our goal is to have a minimal impact on the members u