Dear Members,

This is to follow-up on the last blog from two weeks ago to update you on the status of the renovation and to explain a little as to why it couldn’t be done all at one time. I want to thank everyone for being so understanding of the mess during this process. It will get better soon!

Currently, the Lakeview Room, Club Room, Grill Room, and Hallways are painted. Over the next week, they will go back over it and do the detail touchup work to finish those areas up. They are working on the Ladies’ Restrooms and Greens Room now, and will finish those up so we can have more usable member space before tearing up new areas. Speaking of, the Lobby will be the next focus now that the floor is down. And about that…the tile is not finished in the corners on each side where it butts up against the Amtico flooring because we are waiting for a nice bronze strip to be delivered that will separate the two floors, rather than use the standard aluminum strip. Once it is installed they will finish cutting and installing those remaining pieces.

The Lobby fireplace will get a new modern look, losing the extraneous wood trim and getting a new paint job. Lighting fixtures will be here and installed next week in the Lobby, Grill, and Club Rooms, and then the artwork will start to go back up. Windows will get some treatments, but it will be minimal. We really like how open and bright the rooms feel now without the coverings.

After the Lobby, and once the restrooms are both ready, they will address the single restrooms, the foyer outside the Pro Shop, and the Conference Room. By then, the carpeting should be delivered, hopefully by Sept 15, and all the chairs, tables, artwork, and furnishings will start arriving immediately after that. Then we will be done, except for the new Lobby furniture, which may take til the middle or end of Oct now.

I was asked today why we didn’t try to complete this whole project when we were closed, as ideally, you would want to be totally ready to go once we reopened. Well, that was the plan. However, we all know about plans. Let’s step back to April…

The Board had just approved the redecoration plan, and we were preparing to lock in contractors for August shutdown. However, due to a movement to revisit the project and alter the design, we found ourselves in mid-June before the entire House Committee could get together to discuss it and agree on a new design palette. Long story short, the entire project had to be requoted. By then, we were well past the deadlines on lead time for carpeting and furnishings, and we had to readjust our plan with a new emphasis on finishing by Oct 1. Also, the painting was always going to take several weeks, so there was never really a viable way around some dust and disruption. And that brings me to the main point, which is that if we had decided to stay closed during this project until it was finished, the golf course and clubhouse would have been unavailable to the membership for at least a month (longer based on the alterations to the design), and that was not feasible. We determined that a little mess would be acceptable in order for members to have access to their club, and so therefore, you all get to see the changes as they are being made in slow-mo!

Mike

Dear Member,

We have just begun the Interior Redecoration Project, spanning the Grill Room through the Lobby and all the way out to the Office Foyer. Essentially, most everything will be redone except for the Dining Room. Just about all areas will be touched in some fashion, such as new paint in the Restrooms and new carpeting in the Offices and Pro Shop. It has been 6 years since any updating has been done from the last renovation, and 12 years for the areas that we use the most, such as the Grill Room, Club Room, and Hallways. Styles and trends have changed drastically in recent years, and we feel that this facelift will bring our clubhouse current with all the other new and recently renovated clubhouses around SWFL. It will be very exciting!

Tuesday and Wednesday, the Lakeview Room was closed and prepped for painting. All pictures and valences were removed and holes repaired, and primer was sprayed on the trim. All Lakeview Room and Greens Room chairs, and 5 bar stools have been taken away to be reupholstered already. We expect them back by the time we reopen from shutdown on Aug 23^rd.

Here is a brief schedule for the project as we know it to be right now:

• Currently:  Painting and re-carpeting the Lakeview Room and Club Room. Chairs being reupholstered in Lakeview and Greens. Tables being touched up. There will only be 5 barstools through this weekend.
• Next week (during shutdown): Painting the Grill Room, Hallways, Bathrooms, Conference Room, Greens Room, and Foyer. Messy part should be finished by the time we reopen Aug 23^rd.
• After Aug 23^rd: carpeting needs to be installed in the Greens Room, Hallways, Conference Room, Offices, and Pro Shop. I will notify the membership when I find out an installation date, and will make every attempt to do it on a Wednesday when we are closed
• New Chairs and Tables in the Grill and Club Rooms will be delivered. Date TBD
• New Lighting fixtures and Furnishings to be delivered and installed. Date TBD
• Lobby work is being scheduled now. I will provide details as we go along

The main takeaway at the moment is that most of the work is being done swiftly and unobtrusively. That said, carpeting and chairs will take a few weeks, and I do not have dates for installation yet. Please be patient while we get this done as soon as possible, and keep an eye out for more information.

I would be remiss if I did not thank Lauren McGarvey and Jack Noller of Noller Design, House Chairman Paula Lockhart and her Committee: Fran Bussey, Patti Fitzgerald, Jessie Lovatt, Peggy Shick, Dick Pilc and the prior House Committee members Patty Kraska and Binnie Bragg.

More improvements: Paving

Asphalt repaving of Spring Run will take place over a couple years, starting with the most critical areas, which, according to our engineering study, are those where we run the greatest possibility of damage to the limerock road bed. Next Tuesday, Aug 14^th, Ajax Paving will begin to mill and pave Spring Run Blvd at Sandy Creek Terrace west past Winding Stream and Maintenance, through Willow Creek. Then, down Sandy Creek to SRB again. Milling will take 2 days (Tuesday and Wednesday) and paving 2 days Thursday and Friday). There will be plenty of flaggers, signs, and cones to keep traffic moving and allow access to units. If you have any concerns, please feel free to reply back below.

Hope your summer is going well!

Mike

Dear Spring Run Member,

Please join me in welcoming Benjamin S. Hanshew as our brand new Golf Course Superintendent. Ben was the Assistant Superintendent, and after working with him this past year, as well as observing his skill sets over the past month in the interim position, he was the obvious choice!

Ben was born in Oklahoma City, OK and grew up in Wichita, KS. He graduated from Kansas State University in 2007 with a BS in Horticulture, emphasis in Golf Course Management, and a minor in Business and a minor in Hotel and Restaurant Management.  He has been in the golf industry for about 22 years at high end country clubs as well as public courses. His internship was at Bellerive CC in St. Louis, MO which has hosted several PGA Championships, US Opens and various other PGA events in its history, and was involved in the prep work for the BMW Championship hosted there in 2008. He spent the next 6 years as an Assistant and Superintendent at clubs in MO. In 2014, he and his wife, Devin, moved to Fort Myers, where he worked at Gateway Golf and CC until coming to Spring Run in June 2017.

I am very happy that Ben has accepted this position. When you see him out on the course, make sure to stop and say hello!

Dear Spring Run Member,

If you were near the clubhouse Monday, you would have seen Ryan Golf begin the renovation of the practice green. If not, we have some pictures included that can give you an idea of what it looked like. It was quite surreal looking as the sod and a corresponding inch of root zone was sliced uniformly in contours around the green. Many people commented it didn’t look real and were surprised at what the slices of turf looked like when they held them up close.

The construction crew wasted no time as they used a bobcat to scoop the slabs of turf into the middle of the green, and then used a loader to carry them to a dumpster. We saved several cart loads of sod to use at the sod nursery behind #3 green, but the rest had to go.

Next, the soil was extensively tilled by a tractor with rototiller mechanism, and was then shaped by a loader that adjusted the soil elevations to match the design created by course architect John Sanford. Tuesday morning, fine shaping will continue, supervised by an architect from the Sanford Design firm. Once the exacting contours and are achieved, the architect will sign off on it, and the contractor will begin to sprig the green with Tif Eagle Bermuda grass at a rate of 35 bushels per acre. The sprigs will be cut into the soil and will begin to grow in about a week. The grow-in period will last approximately 8-12 weeks before it is ok to putt on it. Throughout this period, the maintenance staff will be applying fertilizer and keeping a watchful eye while watering the turf throughout the day.

The goal of the project is to remove the severe ridge along the back portion of the green, and smooth out the dip at the bottom by the drain. Ultimately, there will be two flatter surfaces, an upper and lower, which will more closely resemble the undulations of the current greens, and most importantly, the speed, so you know what to expect when you go out there to play.

The project was paid for entirely through the reserve fund, and will not require any additional cost to the members. It should cost less than $20,000 in total to complete it.

If you have any questions, please reply back.

Thank you.

Mike

Dear Spring Run Owner,

Despite several reports at Board Meetings and even the most recent Neighborhood Representatives Meeting this past Tuesday, the rumor of a Hurricane assessment persists. Just this morning, another concerned owner stopped by the office to confirm the charge. I informed him that there will be NO hurricane assessment to the Membership following the damage from Irma.

Spring Run’s hurricane deductible came out to $412,000. Our expenses came close but as of this time, have not exceeded it. Despite that, we did receive Insurance proceeds of $250,000, and we had reserved $50,000 for hurricane damage, leaving us with approximately $100,000 in expenses to the Club. The Board felt strongly that due to the assessments for damage in other neighborhoods, we could handle this cost and provide some relief to our owners.

Please help spread the word.

Thank you

Mike