Rear Commodore report March 2020
• Work is ongoing at the gate. Jack, with the help of Gaines Johnson, has completed the berm side with the exception of some mulch. We plan on getting the other side complete as soon as enough dry weather cooperates.
• Many thanks to Jim Paschal and Jack for yeoman work on the roads; opening drains, re-routing and diverting water, and patching things up, mostly with pick, shovel, and tamper. If it will EVER quit raining, Greg Hatcher will do the machine work needed for culverts and stone replenishment.
• Jack has been cleaning up the “junk” east of the gatehouse. Rain has been a hinderance of course, so we are a few weeks behind where we would like to be with that project.
• We had yet another major expense with tree removal on the East Point. Stitch pointed out three huge pines that were missed in the last survey of dead and dying trees. As a reminder, we do not remove healthy trees, nor are we obligated to trim trees to improve someone's view. Our sole goal and obligation is removal of trees and limbs that may pose a safety hazard. It works out to about $750 per tree for removal. I am guessing $400/hr. for men and machinery on all day jobs, $500/hr for half day jobs, so it is easy to understand why we only do what is necessary for safety, in addition to the fact we take advantage of the tax breaks offered for timber conservation status and can't cut down healthy trees without cause.
• The Poole task force (The Pooles, Greg Hatcher, Tom Renard ) have completed the tidy up trim work needed after the countertops were installed. Johnnie and friends are undertaking to re-stain cabinet fronts to get the new piece matching and clean up old dinks, dings, and damage. Thanks all for the good work.
• I believe most everyone is aware that we had a scare with two volunteers on race committee when their chase boat capsized in heavy weather. Thank God they came through unscathed, but the boat didn't fare as well. It is still an open matter on insurance decisions and the fate of the boat. The vice commodore has called a meeting to review the incident and come up with ideas on improving our processes to avoid a future occurrence. A final after action report will be forthcoming.
• Ted Gimble's camper has been moved, which opens some space for us to start moving ahead with plans to rearrange that side of the camper “street”.
• Spread the word. Jack and I will be needing some labor and skill help from time to time. We don't need the same six people with 100 hours already stepping up time and again, we need fresh faces to get involved. The alternative is hiring the help, which I am happy to do, but it costs money and if that is where we are going then members need to be prepared to pay more for it. Social media is a good vehicle to post these needs as I see many, many views on posts in our Facebook page, So I don't think “I didn't know about it” is a valid excuse for the most part.