STAY IN THE BAY Pelican Bay enters 2023 a bit hobbled but unbowed. This community is home — either full time or part time — to more than 15,000 people and 17 commercial entities including hotels, malls, a worldrenowned arts center, restaurants, grocery stores and a church. All have been impacted by Hurricane Ian, which inundated much of our community in September. But the sun still shines in Naples and hard work is underway to get all our amenities back to their pre-storm condition, or even better. The impact of Hurricane Ian on our community was unprecedented and the return of all our amenities will take time. Ian was the deadliest storm in Florida in more than 85 years. What made it truly unprecedented was the storm surge. The real-time tide gauge monitors installed throughout the Clam Bay system recorded between 9 and 13.2 feet of surge. Pelican Bay experienced storm surge 1 to 1.5 miles inland and, on Pelican Bay Boulevard, the water was 6 feet high. The mangrove estuary and water management berm that runs the length of most of the community undoubtedly prevented the surge from being even worse. The cleanup of our community started immediately following the storm. During the first six weeks, our staff and disaster recovery team spent 20,000-person-hours to collect and dispose of 33,000 cubic feet of debris. The Community Center, which sits at the highest elevation in Pelican Bay, was the quickest to be restored. Along with Fitness &Wellness, it reopened five days after the storm. North tennis required debris removal and redressing. It reopened 12 days after the storm. The south tennis courts, which were underwater for a long period of time, had to be entirely rebuilt. They reopened as of mid-November. At that same time, group fitness classes returned. Social activities are being added at the Community Center as something of a substitute for activities that cannot take place at the beach restaurants. Bridge, Men’s Coffee and Women’s League activities are back as well. The Commons building, which was under 5 or 6 feet of storm surge during the storm, is the final element of our landside amenities requiring substantial repair. Most of us are familiar with the second level of The Commons, where the business of Pelican Bay is conducted. It was the lower level, which houses large refrigerators and freezers and where food deliveries are received and sorted for conveyance to the beach restaurants, that was impacted by the surge. All the food and appliances were lost. The area also provides centralized services for transportation, security, beach, maintenance and storage of all operational supplies. Trams were stored there to protect them from hurricane winds. When they were covered by salt water, their batteries were destroyed. All this equipment is being replaced. In the near-term, smaller substitute trams are being deployed. But the real issue for Pelican Bay is the rebuilding of our beach restaurants. Unlike land-based repairs, our beach restaurants are subject to regulations from federal, state and county entities. We need to comply with rules from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Wildlife and Conservation and Collier County, among others. The totality of these regulations may narrow our options but will not eliminate them. The plan is to restore Marker 36 as built along with north-side beach access by late summer or early fall 2023. South Beach restoration will start immediately following the completion of Marker 36. We will use the time between now and then to figure out ways to reconfigure some elements that members have indicated they would like to see changed, including the size and direction of the bar, the beach take-out facility and the availability of seating. The Facilities Committee is working hard to develop options for member consideration. We would also plan to harden our MESSAGE FROM THE PELICAN BAY FOUNDATION CHAIR By Jane Brown, Pelican Bay Foundation Chairman Jane Brown Pelican Bay Member Guide 2023 30 PelicanBay.org
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