Another view of EBIA meeting
To the editor:
In response to a letter in the April 15th Beach Observer by Bill Morris, I have to seriously question if I was at the same meeting that Mr. Morris is discussing. I will take a few minutes to rebut or refute the comments and innuendos that Mr. Morris purports to be accurate.
The first item is the statement that purchasing the property is the EBIA Board’s obsession with doing so. The reality is that 15 of the 16 association’s presidents voted in favor of pursuing the purchase of the property, not the Board.
Second is the comment that the EBIA Board wants to change the by-laws to allow for assessments, which is not a true statement as to what was said. What was said is that currently the EBIA Board does not have authority to charge assessments for purchasing land and in order to do so the owners would have to approve a change in the by-laws to do so.
Third, we all agree as to the environmental benefits of the property and also agree that the courts have ruled that the owner must allow the runoff to be filtered through the property. What Mr. Morris failed to mention is that whoever becomes the owner will incur costs that we will need to pay for by all EBIA members going forward.
Fourth, to continue the lawsuit benefits no one but the lawyers. Any assurance of an outcome is pure speculation and a so-called “win” does not finalize anything. Appeals, secondary suits, third party actions and other ramifications will not go away in October if we are lucky enough to finally get to court. The only way for us, as owners, to have the lawsuit go away and control our future is to have ownership of the property in a structured settlement.
Fifth, Mr. Morris’s comment stating that the 55-acre purchase would not qualify for a 20-20 purchase is UNTRUE (in his words) would therefore mean that it would qualify. We were told that the reality is that the initial investigation pointed to the fact that it would not qualify.
Sixth, Mr. Morris states that the EBIA Board admitted that they are considering proposals to lease some or all of the land for commercial use. What we actually heard was that the Board has been made aware of some possibly beneficial opportunities that could also be financially positive to us as owners.
Seventh, the so called “back of the envelope” analysis was not an expert study. That is true; however, it was not done in a coffee shop either. The cost quoted included taxes, maintenance fees, landscaping, insurance and other ancillary fees: all gotten from third party providers.
Eighth, Mr. Morris stated that the EBIA is being forced to allow a vote to change its by-laws. Again, the Board is not being forced to do anything. The meeting I was at had a large majority of those in attendance directing the Board to follow their wishes to move forward with a vote on amending the by-laws to be in a position to purchase the property if it makes sense to do so.
Lastly, Mr. Morris claims that if EBIA wins the by-laws change it will levy fees forever. Totally untrue. The plan would be to purchase the property and pay it off over a 10-year period at which time we would own it free and clear and the only cost would be for maintenance and water handling, costs we would have anyway.
The takeaways that I heard at the meeting were:
1. The major issue behind this entire issue is the disposal of storm water discharge from EBIA owner’s properties. We, as owners, need to feel secure as to a long-term plan and not be controlled by the whims of any third party, including a governmental agency.
2. Property values and sales of condos have been and will continue to be affected until this matter is settled in its entirety.
3. There is no winner in this lawsuit as it does nothing to address items 1 and 2 above.
4. The by-law change only allows EBIA to asses for the purchase if the majority of its members agree to do so. Any future action on other issues is controlled by spending limits in the by-laws.
5. If the main concern is cost (which it usually is), what many current owners don’t realize is that, over the past two years, you have been assessed an average of $35 per month for the ongoing lawsuit. Since this started, we have incurred more than $1 million of cost with no solution in sight. Using a middle of the road estimate, the cost to buy the property, maintain it, insure it and, within 10 years, would be roughly the same $35 per month that you are currently paying. At the end of 10 years we would own it free and clear and our assessments would drop to maintenance costs as well as adding another jewel to our unique community of Bay Beach.
Mike Langenhorst
Fort Myers Beach