As 2024 comes to a close, it is a great time to reflect on our accomplishments over the past year, celebrate the great people who have contributed so much to our community, and commit to the future opportunities that will continue our upward trajectory. 2024 was a year of “Transformation.”
In January, the Board of Directors committed to an aggressive plan for infrastructure improvements, community updating, and lifestyle enhancements. In a community that is over 25 years old, there was no shortage of places to invest money. Thanks to the Vision 2025 team, under the leadership of Glenna Benson, we had our first blueprint to help us focus.
Our initial focus was to do the things that “HAD” to be done. These are the expensive fixes that nobody wants to do, but if left undone can have a tremendously negative economic impact. Projects like securing the bulkheads around the community irrigation pond, road resurfacing or drilling new wells don’t sound very sexy for sure. These are all necessary if we want to keep our landscape beautiful, have nice roads that are free from potholes, and insure we can continue to replenish our water supply. These three initiatives alone cost us almost $900,000. The road resurfacing is a three- year project, continuing in the summer of 2025 and 2026. We signed the contracts on the wells, which are scheduled to be done in January 2025.
Many of our projects this year involved updating antiquated equipment at Linkside Café, the fitness center, the resort pool and our irrigation pump house. Our community amenities are aging, and many of these buildings still have original equipment. Things like air conditioners, pool heaters, kitchen appliances, and water pumps all stopped working right when we thought we were finished. It’s kind of like what we all run into at home or with our vehicles, except that there are a lot more things to go wrong. Fortunately, we made it through all these challenges, and still have a healthy financial story to tell.
We are blessed to live in a beautiful community that affords us the opportunity to experience the best of lifestyles. Whether it is boating, golf, pickleball, tennis or socializing, Burnt Store Marina has something for everyone. Our community made a big investment in 2017 to purchase the golf course, restaurant, tennis and fitness center, community irrigation and the resort pool. In early 2026, that note should be retired and wewill own these assets outright. This investment gave us control over these assets, and the ability to chart our own future. Even with all of the building going on around us, nobody will have what we have at BSM. With these purchases come the responsibility of upkeep and improvement. Our fresh new look, together with outstanding landscape enhancements, make our community a showplace. Maintaining this high level of luxury is a challenge that will require creativity and forward thinking.
2024 also gave us a chance to do a few “FUN” things. I define fun things as investments that improve our lifestyle and quality of life. If you haven’t been over to Linkside and seen the new tiki huts, you will be impressed. The new structures enhance the esthetic appeal, provide much-needed shade, and expand our ability to create new dining opportunities. Add to this a new sound system for outside music, and we have created an oasis that allows everyone to enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Inside the lanai we have refinished the floor, provided hurricane shutters on part of the lanai and hopefully, in the near future (county permitting pending), will have glass garage doors finally installed on the rest of the lanai to provide protection and greater comfort in any weather. The Linkside ladies’ restroom was updated and new chairs in the lanai were purchased. This place is rapidly becoming the “hub” of the community.
Much work has been done at the fitness center, pickleball and tennis facilities including resurfacing courts, shade covers installed, and a new tennis viewing area. Landscaping continues to be done and more changes are forthcoming. Inside the fitness center new flooring was installed in the aerobics room, and new air conditioning was installed. Also, some new pieces of equipment have been purchased.
The long-awaited Burnt Store Marina dog park (Barking Lot) became a reality in November. The dog park project began with former Section 22 President Joe Averdick pushing the discussion. Under the leadership of Debbie Sage and a fabulous team of volunteers, they brought this project from the idea stage to completion. Getting the fences up is just the beginning. This group continues to fundraise, and plans for improving the facility are exciting. Real estate investors and realtors strongly support the investment in a dog park. This newest amenity is another differentiator between BSM and many other communities.
REMINIDER
Section 22 HOA Board Meeting Tuesday, December 24 at 9 a.m. | Location: Linkside Patio
Section 22 HOA Annual Meeting Tuesday, January 28 | Location: TBA
Section 22 HOA Board Workshops Every Tuesday at 9 a.m. | Location: Linkside Patio
Hurricanes Helene and Milton threw a couple of unwanted challenges at our community. The storm surges caused significant damage to many docks, boats, vehicles and some houses. Other parts of the country fared much worse, but it still hurts when anyone has water intrusion or damage to their homes. Fortunately, we had no reports of anyone getting hurt. The community came together quickly helping one another, clearing away neighborhood debris, and dozens of residents stepped up immediately to clean up the amenity areas. The CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) was mobilized and ready to provide support where needed. Our community access gates were up and running in 24 hours thanks to Major Scott and his team. Major Scott literally rode his bicycle to BSM because some roads were impassable. That dedication was also apparent as Steve Hocker, Jen Tait and John Abbott worked with their teams before the storm to secure everything. We had some damage in the community, but thanks to good planning and hard work before the storm, we were able to avoid big losses.
We started the year with 18 financial priorities. As prices soared and labor was in short supply not all of these goals were achieved. In the coming year, we will discuss several large projects that will need to be approved and funded.
Those projects include:
- Add two new pickleball courts
- Expand parking at the fitness center
- Secure permanent access to the irrigation pump house
- Expand the size of the fitness center
- Extend the cart paths to include the whole golf course
- Update the street lights from the industrial ones currently, to a more architectural style
- Convert existing irrigation meters to a blue tooth system
These are just some of the plans that have already been discussed, but not yet implemented. There will be other projects we don’t know about yet. Rest assured, something else will break. Planning for the future but anticipating the unexpected is a necessity.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the many volunteers that make Burnt Store Marina a great place to live. I can’t mention them all, and I apologize if I forget someone, but here goes: Maggie Hart and her team on The Beacon and the Resident Directory work all year to bring you information. Barry Groesch and his ARC (architectural review committee) work tirelessly to maintain our community to the highest standard. Steve Hocker and his fitness center ops team work all year to maintain and improve all our facilities. Lynda Vail, who is a valued section 22 board member, is also a huge reason that we have so many social activities over at Linkside. Together with teammate Kathy Knudsen, they have put together an entire season of food trucks and music on Thursday nights, and with Chef Seth, have put together a fantastic schedule of dinners and events all the way through May 2025. Bob Paul and the gang at the golf course have been running great leagues and golf events for years. Rich Hallowell, the sexiest man in Burnt Store, who runs the Men’s golf league and Sue Wright who handles the ladies’ league. All of these people are leaders who decided that there was a need, and chose to step up. When I talk about stepping up, two people stand out because of their time, effort and talent given to enhance our community. Rocky Mansfield and Mike Lemon are in a league of their own. Whether responding to water main breaks in the middle of the night, supervising the many projects we have going on in the community, overseeing hurricane clean up, managing construction projects or putting jobs out to bid, these two guys do it all. Rocky’s focus is on the irrigation, which is almost a full-time job between the billing, infrastructure and the maintenance of our waterways. Mike oversees virtually every construction, maintenance, and landscaping project in BSM. These guys are the real stars along with a great supporting cast. Thank you doesn’t seem quite enough. Our community owes all of these people listed, and many not listed, a tremendous debt of gratitude. Without all these people, we would pay a lot more for a lot less. Burnt Store Marina wouldn’t be half of what it is.
There are four Board of Director seats coming vacant in January. If you’ve ever thought you’d like to get involved with helping to steer the community, this may be your chance. Please submit your name and information to Alliant Management. We need great people to help maintain great community.
Lastly I want to thank the Board of Directors for all their work. Jerry Newmin, Lynda Vail, Mark Murphy, Mike Sage, Greg Beaton and Jon Ackerson have been involved behind the scenesinn everything that has taken place. They meet weekly all year to oversee progress and help solve problems. Their commitment to this community and willingness to get involved is commendable. It is my firm belief that we are heading in the right direction and the best is yet to come!
“Without all these people, we would pay a lot more for a lot less. Burnt Store Marina wouldn’t be half of what it is.
