Ian Recovery Info
Recovery Status Information Page
The board is providing weekly (roughly) updates on the status of repairs to the resort. These are hosted on a different web location at the current time, but nonetheless is official information.
Go to http://caribbeanbeachclub.org/hoa-provided/cbc-hoa-board-home.htm to access this information.
Elevator Waiver Form – must sign in order to occupy units
Until the elevator is back in operation, you MUST sign the waiver below in order to be allowed to occupy your unit. Keys will not be issued unless you sign the waiver. To save hassle at check-in time please print, sign, scan, and send to the office before you arrive. Contact the office if you have any questions.
Hurricane IAN Update 3/25/2024
a. UPDATE 3/25/2024 – We will be open beginning on Saturday, 3/30/2024
Beginning Saturday, 3/30/2024, our North and Middle buildings will be available to our owners of units in those buildings.There will still be gaps when we open as we will NOT have an elevator but willhave porters available to help with luggage on Saturday and Sunday, 3/30 and 3/31.Please read the following information carefully so that you understand our process as we fill open units with eligible South building owners in any given week.If you haveany questions about this process, please contact Tricom or a Board member to provide clarification.
The board has devised a program to allow South Building owners to use Available North and Middle building unit weeks until the South Building is reopened. Here is a summary of the program.
- “Available Unit Weeks” are North and Middle Building unit weeks that are (1) HOA-owned or (2) where the maintenance fees have not been paid or (3) where the owner is not using, renting, or depositing their week and is willing to donate their unit week to the program.
- Only South Building owners are eligible to receive an Available Unit Week. Only owners who have paid their maintenance fees are eligible.
- Only Available Unit Weeks in the same week as the owner’s owned week can be provided. If there are no Available Unit Weeks for the owned week, none can be provided.
- There will be no charge for using one of the Available Unit Weeks.
- There will probably not be enough Available Unit Weeks for every South Building owner who wants one. To be fair, a random selection process will be used to offer Available Unit Weeks to owners.
- Priority will be given to South Building owners who specifically request to receive an available unit in their owned unit week. If there are still units left for a given week after all who requested a unit have received one (or declined an offer of one), other South Building owners for that week will be contacted to see if they want to use one.
- No South Building unit week owner who owns more than one unit in each week will receive more than one Available Unit Week until each South Building owner in that week who wants an Available Unit Week has received at least one week or declined an offer of a week.
- Those South Building owners who do not receive an Available Unit Week will not receive any kind of compensation from the Association.
- Only owners who have paid all their maintenance fees on all owned units will be allowed to receive an Available Unit Week.
- The program will be repeated in 2025 in the event the South Building is not reopened by the end of 2024.
Important additional details of the process for administering the program follow:
- South Building owners will be invited to submit an email request to use an Available Unit Week, with an initial deadline of April 5. Requests can be submitted at any later time, but the chance of receiving a unit will be lower as time goes by. No offers will be made to owners who are not on the request list until everyone on the request list has been offered a unit. To request a unit, it must be in the same week that you own a South Building unit and you may email Mary Allison at mallison@tricommanagement.com.
- As soon as possible, the management company will proactively reach out to all Middle and North building owners to determine if they are planning to use their 2024 unit week(s), rent them, or deposit them. If none of these, they will be asked if they are willing to donate their week to the program. Also, if their maintenance fee is unpaid, they will be advised their unit will be placed into the program for others to use unless they pay their fee now.
- The Available Unit Week pool will consist of donated weeks, weeks where the maintenance fees have not been paid, and HOA-owned unit weeks.
- Additions and subtractions to the pool can be made over time as unit week status changes.
- Beginning as soon as the request list is assembled, the management company will assign Available Unit Weeks in each week as follows:
- If there are no Available Unit Weeks in each week, no contacts with owners are needed, and the steps below are not needed for that week.
- If there are Available Unit Weeks, an owner from the request list will be randomly selected and contacted by phone and email with an offer to receive an Available Unit Week. Three attempts will be made to contact the selected owner over two days, and if no response is received, the owner’s name will be removed from the request list with a note they did not respond when contacted.
- When contacted, the owner will be given their choice of remaining Available Unit Weeks for the given week. If they select one of those units, appropriate steps will be taken to assign them that unit week and it will be removed from the pool of Available Unit Weeks. If no week in the pool is acceptable to the owner, the owner’s name will be removed from the request list with a note that they declined the offer.
- After all owners in the given week on the request list have received at least one Available Unit Week, owners on the request list that own more than one unit in the week can be offered additional Available Unit Weeks.
- If no owners in the given week on the request list want any of the Available Unit Weeks remaining, other South Building owners of that week will be contacted if they are interested in receiving an Available Unit Week. If no owner wants the remaining Available Unit Weeks, they will be put up for rent to owners of other weeks or to the public.
Hurricane IAN Update 10/30/2023
After a year, the resort is fast approaching the opportunity to reopen our North and Middle buildings. We have replaced the roofs that were damaged due to the Hurricane, have replaced the pavers in the pool area and are now finishing up the installation of pool equipment as well as the Elevator. Pool furniture is being delivered and put around the area with landscaping coming next. All rooms are getting a final touch up as they are being prepared for your visit. Grills will be available and the parking lot is getting some basic updates for limited parking. Plans for the South building construction are in progress and we will be posting a rendering of that new project as soon as we have City approval. Stay tuned for news of our Grand Opening date and know that while we will be “home” – it is not the same as the Island has many more years of repair and reconstruction ahead of it…….#CBC Strong, #WewillBeBack
Update 2/28/2023
Recapped below are the latest updates on repairs and rebuilding at the Caribbean Beach Club resort.
- Contract bid accepted and permits granted for the installation of a metal roof on both the North and Middle buildings. This work is anticipated to be complete by the end of March 2023. The metal roof on the South building had NO DAMAGE and showed us that investing in a metal roof for all buildings would be both fiscally responsible as sustainable for the future.
- Due to damage from the water and wind, all door locks are being replaced by the latest version of our electronic door mechanisms. These are like the ones we already have but due to upgrades in technology will give us some abilities that we have not had in the past making it easier for all of us in case of accidental lockouts, lost fobs, etc. These should be complete by the end of April if all equipment arrives in March.
- We are working through bids on our pool and spa equipment and railings and anticipate signed contracts in March. We will then apply for permits while the materials are being gathered and once all are received, will get the work done to get our pool up to speed (heat, chemicals, filters).
- We are working with the inspector on planting requirements and will have final bids corresponding to the required work on removing the final plant debris as well as grading, leveling, and paving the property. This must be completed before we can finish the pool and install the railings so that too is targeted for April-May.
- The final detailed elevator bid will be submitted to the insurance company and with their approval, and the receipt of permits, this work will get started and is mostly likely not to be complete until early May. Thanks to our insurance, we only have the deductible expense ($25,000) with the insurance company paying out the balance of the bid (close to $250,000).
- We have engaged a licensed engineer who is creating the plans for the repair of the South Building. Once complete, these plans will be presented to the city for approval. We have had preliminary meetings with the city to ensure that the plans we are developing will be accepted. There will obviously be some back and forth with the city, but we are confident that we will ultimately get our approvals and can then begin the work needed to make the South building habitable. More details and updates will be coming as they are approved and available.
Our goal is to open the property to our owners as soon as it is safe and reasonable. This may mean that some units open before others but know that our focus is to be “back in business” for everyone as soon as it is safe to do so.
Summary Status (as of 1/27/23)
To summarize what happened to us during Ian: there was extensive roof damage to the north and middle buildings — though not enough to cause much water leak damage – and the elevator was destroyed, but otherwise these buildings were undamaged. The contents of the first floor of the south building were almost all washed away by the storm surge, but the structure remained sound. The second floor was nearly untouched, and the metal roof held with almost no damage. Everything outside on the ground was damaged or washed away, but the pool and spa themselves survived intact.
Engineers, insurance adjusters, and our management team were on the ground as soon as possible, and once it became clear our building structures were sound, work began on getting estimates, making plans, and making the required repairs to get the resort back in shape. The biggest issue is what to do with the south building so that the destroyed units on the first floor are replaced (which we are obliged to do by the legal structure of the association).
Our insurance coverages were the best we could obtain from insurers, all of whom are skittish about covering coastal properties at risk of hurricane damage. We will have some recovery costs covered through insurance claims, but most expenses will have to be covered from a combination of our accumulated operating surplus and settlement funds (our rainy day funds, which now will be very welcome) and some amount of special assessment to all owners. No board member or other owner welcomes an assessment, but there is no other way to get the funds needed. Preliminary financial modeling indicates the assessment will probably be much less than the assessments levied when the north building had to be torn down and rebuilt many years ago, but beyond that nothing is yet definite.
With so much destruction on Estero Island and an overwhelmed town government, it is hard to plan schedules with certainty. The board and management company are diligently planning and sequencing the work needed to obtain approval to reopen. The north and middle buildings almost certainly will be able to open before the south building. We have good reason to hope those buildings will reopen in 2023. Some creative design alternatives are being discussed for the south building that we hope will speed its return to occupancy, possibly in 2023 but more likely in 2024.
In making decisions about how to repair the damage, the board is balancing multiple factors: the desire to open quickly, to regain the high quality visual appeal of the property, to protect us even better against future storms, to avoid unnecessary expense now but also avoid the risk of avoidable expense in the future, and to make sure the special assessment to come is really needed and “worth it”.
We are incredibly fortunate that in this most destructive storm imaginable we suffered such comparatively minor damage and are in a position to relatively easily return CBC to its status pre-hurricane.
There are many, many details behind this status overview. Please see the two web pages below for some of those, and come back here often for updates.
Update (1/13/2023)
We have continued to make progress on our resort as it relates to repairs and remediation. There are several projects that are in process and the Board has approved the following:
- Pool equipment and replacement – we have one bid from the Company that originally did all the pool work in weeks 36 and 37 but are waiting on a second bid for comparison. For any large purpose, at least two bids are expected to ensure we get a good balance of pricing and timing.
- We received multiple bids for the roof repair. Those bids were for the shingle roof replacement needed for the repair as well as for the full roof replacement to a treated aluminum roof similar to what is on the South Building. The Shingle repair bid was $80,000 and the roof replacement bid was $185,000. The Board made the decision to replace the roof of both the North and Middle building with the treated aluminum due to the impact to future expenses, including insurance and repair. Because the roof damage was caused by a named storm, no insurance payments will be made as our deductible is higher than both bids. For the shingle roof repair, we would have a 5 year warranty on the work that is done to repair the roof. There is no warranty on the actual materials and if there is subsequent damage due to a named storm, we will have to spend our dollars for that repair. We have spent dollars to repair this roof in every named storm in the past several years. For the treated aluminum roof, there is a 25 year warranty on installation and materials with an additional 50 year warranty on the coating of the aluminum. For the same storms of the past several years, no repairs have been needed or made to the metal roof on the South building. Both repair costs and warranties contributed to the Board’s decision to invest in the metal roof. There is no incremental cost or assessment to owners as a result of this decision as this expense is covered in existing funding.
- Timing for the roof repair will be approximately 3 weeks after permits are received and permits are currently taking 3 weeks to obtain. Submission for the permits will be made the week of January 16th, 2023.
- We are waiting on a second bid for the elevator repair in an attempt to get a more timely repair. The current bid will require up to 9 months to repair and so we are trying to see if we can get a shorter timeframe. This repair will cost us the $25,000 deductible on our insurance with the balance ($200,000) being paid by insurance.
Additional updates will occur as new information and timing is received.
Update (12/20/2022)
Wishing all of our owners and previous guests a very joyful, healthy and safe Holiday season. Your Caribbean Beach Club is working on repairs and updates from Hurricane Ian with good milestones achieved in the past 90 days. We have both power and water to our North and Middle buildings and we are working closely with contractors to repair the roofs, provide for a new elevator in the North building, to replace our pool equipment to ensure both pool and hot tub are working and replacing all of the railing washed away from the storm surge. Keep visiting this site for more updates on when we will be open and ready for you to return to your “home away from home.”
Update (11/14/2022)
Platinum Interchange
We are here for you!
As a result of the devastation from the hurricane we would like you to know we can assist with your deposit and exchange needs.
Until November 30, 2022 we are taking use time deposits within 60 days with no late fee.
Call us today at 1-800-854-2324 , we are ready to get you back to traveling when you are ready.
Update (10/10/2022)
Important Update!!! You may have heard the good news that property owners and business owners will be allowed on the island starting tomorrow. THAT DOES NOT MEAN US!!! Mary and our management company will be going Monday to meet our insurance adjusters and start the process of determining the stability of our buildings and property. If any of us (individual unit week owners) decide to show up – it could VOID our insurance. Please stay tuned for updates here but do not plan to go to the property until we are ready for our owners to be there. Thank YOU so much for understanding.
Update (9/30/2022)
The Caribbean Beach Club team is safe.
We appreciate your concern and ask that you not contact the staff by phone or text at this time.
Caribbean Beach Club is currently closed until further notice.
We ask that you not arrive unless you have received confirmation from the Resort staff.
Please check back for updates.
Thank you for your patience.
You are entitled to view many of the resort’s documents and records, such as board meeting minutes and the budget, and can do that when at the resort, or by calling or emailing the office to request a copy. Due to regulatory constraints, the Association is no longer able to place those materials on this website. Some are being made available on-line by the owner-run email group described above however. Contact the office for details.
Updates Page – We will post updates to status and announcements from the board on this page as they become available. Some updates will go out by email and paper mail as well, but the website will have the most current information.
FAQ Page – This page has a list of Questions and Answers to address the most common questions about the process of recovering from Ian damage. It is a work in progress, and will be updated from time to time.
Owner Questions – This page lists questions received from owners and the board’s response. It will be added to over time.
Owner-run Information Resources: Three owners have set up information resources intended to help other owners get the most from their CBC ownership. These are NOT official resources of the association, and are run completely independently by these owners. All are restricted to current owners, and contain only information that is legally available to owners.
Each has a different purpose, and you may want to use all three. They all have some relevant information regarding the hurricane recovery.
Facebook page – For owners who know how to use Facebook, this is a place to have discussions about CBC, to offer / request units for rent or sale, to share photos, etc. The group is called “CBC Owners Classified” and is administered by owner Sarah McElwee, who will ensure you are an owner before approving your request to join the group. Make your request via Facebook or contact Sarah. smcelwee.88@gmail.com
Groups.io email listserve – For owners who use email, this “listserve” lets members send an email that reaches all other members, so it is good for offering / requesting units for rent / sale and for discussions about CBC. Owner John Vary is the administrator, and will ensure you are an owner before you can become a member of the group. Email John at oldbufflo@gmail.com
Caribbeanbeachclub.org website – This website has general resources about CBC, but more importantly has downloadable materials such as past newsletters and meeting notes, mailings, budgets, and other materials relevant to CBC ownership. There is no interactivity – just materials to download that all owners are entitled to see. Owner David Siktberg maintains this – contact him for access credentials. David.siktberg@webility.md
Other Information Sources
Beach Talk Radio – https://beachtalkradionews.com/ very frequently news about Fort Myers Beach in general, and especially the recovery efforts and status
Fort Myers Beach town website – https://fortmyersbeachfl.gov/ and in particular
https://fortmyersbeachfl.gov/1251/Hurricane-Ian-Recovery-Resources
Lee County website – https://www.leegov.com/
Becker lawfirm briefing – https://beckerlawyers.com/hurricane-ian-webinar-series-fort-myers-beach/