.png)
Congratulations. And thanks: It’s been a busy and highly successful summer season. I’m pleased to report success on many fronts: We hosted more than 100 world-ranked athletes for the 2017 Resort Quest Pro Women’s Tennis Tournament. Our summer activities were very popular, and more than 50,287 residents and guests visited the Freeman Fitness Center. Our trams kept trekking all summer, and more than 14,000 passengers followed them on our new Tram Tracker mobile app. We produced new well-received videos, and improved the efficiency of our visitor check-in system at the Sea Colony Beach Shoppe. Our housekeeping department kept the property neat and attractive, and our security team began checking non-authorized vehicles on Westway in addition to their many other duties. Finally, and happily, our swimmers had no serious injuries this summer and all of the children reported lost were found.
Our Hardy Beach: Although recent storms that affected Florida did not have a direct impact in our area, the wave action has been stronger and the tides higher than normal. The towns of Bethany Beach, South Bethany and Fenwick will participate in a $17.2 million beach replenishment program over the winter. We’ve opted not to join that project since we’ve experienced minimal storm damage in recent years. Our dunes are in great shape. Our beach is in fine shape. As in earlier years, our facilities team will place additional fencing “fingers” on the beach this winter to help contain sand already on our beach and catch windblown sand. Fit, Friendly and Very Full: We’ve topped off a very busy Freeman Fitness Center summer with a highly successful winter membership drive that attracted more than 400 seasonal members and we’re still counting! Congratulations to Jen Neal and her team for maintaining a full summer schedule and for developing and promoting the winter program. We’ll continue to utilize social media, word of mouth and local newspaper advertising. If you know anyone looking for a friendly place to swim or exercise, send them our way!
Terrific Tennis: In addition to our June tournament, Thomas Johnston and his tennis team conducted 4,000 hours of classes, clinics and camps. The number of summer and winter memberships continues to grow, a nice validation of the crucial role to Sea Colony home values that tennis plays at Sea Colony. Offseason visitors may notice work near the Tennis Center as we resurface the parking lot, install a new gutter system, and address some drainage issues with the facility.
Keep Clicking! The www.seacolony.com website is a busy place. We’ve had 140,000 page views since June, including 22,000 new users this summer. The Beach cam icon brings our viewers beach side for a first-hand look at conditions. The Tram-Tracker was extraordinarily popular, and helpme@seacolony.com continues to provide assistance to owners and guests alike. Beach rentals were easier, and we’ve outfitted the Edgewater Fitness Center with a scanner that allows entry when the room is not staffed. We invite advice and suggestions. In addition, our Facebook presence is also growing with over 4,000 followers. Security Update. In addition to checking owner, visitor and pet passes, our security team regularly monitored vehicle passes along Westway between Kent Avenue and the Coastal Highway. Since June, over 10,000 cars were checked for proper passes; over 3,000 were denied access. This surveillance will continue over the winter and next summer. This process will improve safety for Sea Colony walkers, bikers, etc., as well as move authorized vehicles through the property expeditiously, while lowering wear on our road surfaces. Speedy Swimmers! Captain Dave Griffith and his team of lifeguards finished fourth in this year’s National Lifeguard Association Championships, a terrific accomplishment. That’s in addition to protecting swimmers on the beach and in the 12 Sea Colony pools. The aquatics program finished another successful season of lessons, water aerobics and Sea Colony swim team success.
HGTV/Beachfront Bargain Hunt: The HGTV crew visited Sea Colony and promises a Sea Colony feature will be broadcast – probably during the offseason. We will be sure to alert owners when we hear that the feature has been scheduled.
Landscaping. We are extending our maintenance contract with the Sposato Landscaping Co. We are also increasing our oversight of the firm’s work with several new contract checkpoints and a semi-annual review. Our objective is to maintain Sea Colony as a premier vacation location. That includes attractive and healthy lawns and landscaping. Looking Ahead – The Big Changeover to Comcast: The conversion is complicated, though certainly manageable. New cables are being installed now, and the first homeowner conversions will begin in early November and will be completed by Jan. 1. Almost all owners have provided the necessary authorization and direction for this conversion. The current plan is for Comcast workers to remove existing connections and install new equipment. The Mediacom equipment will then be delivered to the Mediacom office. Appropriate instructions will be left in each unit. Answers to frequently asked questions are being updated on the Seacolony.com website. We had a great summer here at Sea Colony and our fall projects are being completed to make sure next summer is even better! We appreciate your support as we make these improvements to our community. Finally, as we set our sights on the upcoming Holidays, on behalf of the Board, Management and the entire Team, we extend to you our Best Wishes this Holiday Season...and...May the New Year bring you Peace, Prosperity and Renewal the whole year through!!
See you soon!!