At our General Meeting (October 18, 2008), we were asked to authorize the spending of $4000 for building permits from the town. The rationale was the town may be increasing the lake setback from 100 to 200 feet and if we get our permits now… we will be able to build regardless of the setback change. As I understand the brief proposal we were considering:
1. Replacing the retaining walls and access stair for the Jr. Docks.
2. Removing the Butler Building
3. Removing the current Utility Building
4. Constructing a new Utility Building (1056 square feet)
5. Constructing new Covered Racks for small boat storage
We were given a general overview map of the property with no measurements.
With only a few minutes to take in this proposal, we were asked to vote, for which I did in the affirmative. With a bit more time to digest the proposal, I now regret my vote and wish to have this reconsidered based upon the following issues.
A. We were given no cost estimates for this construction.
1. My contractor son-in-law reports that general construction costs for this type building run somewhere between $60 - $100 per square foot. So, under the best of circumstances… the new building alone would cost at least $60,000.
2. Retaining wall construction is even more variable (my brother does this type work in Minnesota). Figure between $25 and $50 per square foot. The drawing “scale” suggests we have over 100’ of retaining wall and I would guess more than 8’ of height, which suggests a cost of $20,000 to $40,000.
3. I have no idea what covered boat racks cost to construct, but even the smallest sheds cost more than a $1000 (and that does not include concrete foundations). Multiply that by the six racks shown in the drawing.
4. I have no idea what demolition and landscaping costs would be.
B. We were given no budgeting referents to wisely base our decision.
1. Totaling this all up is difficult due to the guessing that went into it, but it appears we are setting ourselves up for a commitment of at least $80,000 and probably more than $100,000!
2. If what I heard is correct, our permit will allow up to three years to be well into these projects (the new Utility building is not something that can be done piecemeal) and probably finished.
3. Meanwhile, we have real maintenance on our clubhouse that requires attention. The womens bathroom needs major plumbing work and a general upgrade (anyone done a bathroom for less than $10,000 these days?); we need to budget for a new (or completely rebuilt) tender, which could cost $20,000 - $30,000; the Race Boat needs repairs… and, we don’t know how much our property tax bill will be!
Given these outstanding maintenance requirements, I would suggest we attend to necessities before we tear down two buildings (that still have many years of life in them). Frankly, even if the setback was changed to200 feet, we have more than enough property to build in the future.
By the way,
I would by the way, strongly support funding the retaining wall as this too is a pressing maintenance issue.
More information about improvements
At our annual meeting the membership approved expenditure of an estimated $4000 to $5000 for design and permitting of possible improvements to the club. Most of the estimated cost is for a Survey and Engineering required to obtain a permit for new retaining walls and permit filing costs. Also included are design fees for working out the construction details of a possible replacement for the Butler building and Utility shed, design of a better system for dingy storage racks, and cost estimates. No expenditures toward construction were approved. A vote on those expenditures will come before the membership as early as the January 2009 Change of Watch.
Construction costs for the projects were not available at the meeting because the design has not progressed far enough to know what materials or methods will be used for construction. It is my hope that any construction project can be designed to be built almost entirely by the members, similar to our work on the ramp to the main dock. The dingy racks and maybe even a new building could be designed as modules that can be erected as we have funds to add more structure(s).
There are also permit questions that will need to be answered before we know a final location for any proposed new structure or if loss of parking spaces might affect our mooring permits. I was not willing to approach the town to ask these questions until the membership had voted to proceed. I will update you all in the November issue of the Binnacle with any answers to our questions about permitting.
The Board of governors will thoughtfully consider any proposed projects before they are brought to the Membership for a vote. We also track all probable capital expenditures related to maintenance and get realistic estimates from vendors. A full financial report will be given at the change of watch before any other actions are requested.