Visibly, Tolomato Island was completely unprepared for Hurricane Idalia. We were very lucky. By God’s grace we avoided a disaster.
In another life I used to meet with first responders. The police said they had to be first to protect responders and keep order, the EMTs said they had to be first to save lives, the firemen said they had to be first to save lives and property. The truth was, the road people had to be there first, or nobody else could get there. In that place they were concerned about plowing snow, but they used the plows to push downed trees out of the roadways even in the summer after violent thunderstorms; they used the trucks as barricades to route traffic around major accidents; and they used the road crews and equipment to trim trees, and dispose of debris. Tolomato has no trucks, no heavy equipment, no designated first responders that I am aware of, nor limb trimming plans. We don’t even have enough open space to land a life flight helicopter.
We live in a community where there is one road in and out. Most of the private roads can be blocked with a single tree. Emergencies happen during natural disasters. Think about where you live. Think about who needs care in your immediate area. Are there older people, kids, visiting grandkids?
While I applaud and admire the ladies with a chainsaw, and neighbors helping neighbors, there needs to be workers and equipment standing by to call upon to keep the roads passable. Further, residents need to know what their responsibilities are before a disaster. If non-residents are responsible for picking up debris, they probably need to be notified.
We are only mid-way through hurricane season, the time to make plans and notify owners is now.
Visibly, Tolomato Island was completely unprepared for Hurricane Idalia. We were very lucky. By God’s grace we avoided a disaster.
In another life I used to meet with first responders. The police said they had to be first to protect responders and keep order, the EMTs said they had to be first to save lives, the firemen said they had to be first to save lives and property. The truth was, the road people had to be there first, or nobody else could get there. In that place they were concerned about plowing snow, but they used the plows to push downed trees out of the roadways even in the summer after violent thunderstorms; they used the trucks as barricades to route traffic around major accidents; and they used the road crews and equipment to trim trees, and dispose of debris. Tolomato has no trucks, no heavy equipment, no designated first responders that I am aware of, nor limb trimming plans. We don’t even have enough open space to land a life flight helicopter.
We live in a community where there is one road in and out. Most of the private roads can be blocked with a single tree. Emergencies happen during natural disasters. Think about where you live. Think about who needs care in your immediate area. Are there older people, kids, visiting grandkids?
While I applaud and admire the ladies with a chainsaw, and neighbors helping neighbors, there needs to be workers and equipment standing by to call upon to keep the roads passable. Further, residents need to know what their responsibilities are before a disaster. If non-residents are responsible for picking up debris, they probably need to be notified.
We are only mid-way through hurricane season, the time to make plans and notify owners is now.
Thank you for your e-mail and thank you for the initiative.
First, I want to give you a bit of history of which you may already be aware.
When I was on the Board with April, she did a pretty good job of informing the residents, having people lined up (volunteers and contractors) and coordinating with the County. The last two since (volunteers and County) as she was so plugged in the certain people. David and Chris always helped clear roads for immediate access and then one year urged the County to clean up with FEMA funds.
Second, as part of our agreement with Simply Beautiful, they can do an initial small pick ups and we could pay if we wanted them to do more but we could count on them to be in the neighborhood every week. By the way as head of Landscape Committee, Jenny called and said Susan asked her for a bid for clean up and they were getting them from other companies. Jenny asked what had changed? Susan of course would never coordinate with me or anyone else who had past experience and she would certainly NEVER work with the committees.
Third, when Warren headed up the Security Committee with Archie Davis and Don Drost, they developed several concepts to deal with hurricanes. They listed volunteers who would be a quick reaction force (essentially volunteers who were around and had chainsaws and would be willing to cut fallen tree of roads for immediate access, they developed a clean up protocol, coordination plans with the county and developed a list of vendors for clean up. They also inquired about what it would cost to be the first on the list.
They also asked the Board to consider several items such as providing pick up for the community for their personal yards (i.e. each owner is responsible to keep their yard clean and neat. But this requires enforcement from the Board.
Fourth, I believe we used to have money in the annual budget for storm clean up. Do we still have that?
I believe none of this was ever utilized or moved forward by the Julia/Tom Board. Susan is just following suit. They have killed the committees and no one wants to work with them because of their dictatorial control. Susan does not want committees to do any of the leg work so she has not even produced any liaisons, procedure or protocols.
YES, we do need a Storm Committee to develop plans and protocols and take action if needed. I fully support this and will be vocal about the support.
Also, we should put this on the TolomatoOwners website.
Thanks,
Krista
Hi George,
Thank you for your e-mail and thank you for the initiative.
First, I want to give you a bit of history of which you may already be aware.
When I was on the Board with April, she did a pretty good job of informing the residents, having people lined up (volunteers and contractors) and coordinating with the County. The last two since (volunteers and County) as she was so plugged in the certain people. David and Chris always helped clear roads for immediate access and then one year urged the County to clean up with FEMA funds.
Second, as part of our agreement with Simply Beautiful, they can do an initial small pick ups and we could pay if we wanted them to do more but we could count on them to be in the neighborhood every week. By the way as head of Landscape Committee, Jenny called and said Susan asked her for a bid for clean up and they were getting them from other companies. Jenny asked what had changed? Susan of course would never coordinate with me or anyone else who had past experience and she would certainly NEVER work with the committees.
Third, when Warren headed up the Security Committee with Archie Davis and Don Drost, they developed several concepts to deal with hurricanes. They listed volunteers who would be a quick reaction force (essentially volunteers who were around and had chainsaws and would be willing to cut fallen tree of roads for immediate access, they developed a clean up protocol, coordination plans with the county and developed a list of vendors for clean up. They also inquired about what it would cost to be the first on the list.
They also asked the Board to consider several items such as providing pick up for the community for their personal yards (i.e. each owner is responsible to keep their yard clean and neat. But this requires enforcement from the Board.
Fourth, I believe we used to have money in the annual budget for storm clean up. Do we still have that?
I believe none of this was ever utilized or moved forward by the Julia/Tom Board. Susan is just following suit. They have killed the committees and no one wants to work with them because of their dictatorial control. Susan does not want committees to do any of the leg work so she has not even produced any liaisons, procedure or protocols.
YES, we do need a Storm Committee to develop plans and protocols and take action if needed. I fully support this and will be vocal about the support.
Also, we should put this on the TolomatoOwners website.
Thanks,
Krista
There is a disconnect between the community’s needs and the Board’s Officers. On Sept 1, a day and a half after the hurricane, we all received a kind of scolding sounding letter from the Board about putting debris on Mission Drive for the county to pick up. On Sept 7th, 8 days after the hurricane we received an update on the storm clean up efforts. I appreciate the report, but many of us want information before the event, for example: Who is responsible for fallen trees blocking roads? Who do we call to get one removed? What do we do with the stuff in the road, that we took action to clear? What do we do if a tree falls on our house? ….. Basic, but important information, that may save a life.
George Bigham the only “at-large” member of the Board volunteered to form a committee that would put together a plan that would help prepare residents and owners and provide them with pertinent information BEFORE a forecasted event. The President’s response was less than enthusiastic. George and his volunteers should proceed with an owner-initiated committee, and we need to support the effort.
There is a disconnect between the community’s needs and the Board’s Officers. On Sept 1, a day and a half after the hurricane, we all received a kind of scolding sounding letter from the Board about putting debris on Mission Drive for the county to pick up. On Sept 7th, 8 days after the hurricane we received an update on the storm clean up efforts. I appreciate the report, but many of us want information before the event, for example: Who is responsible for fallen trees blocking roads? Who do we call to get one removed? What do we do with the stuff in the road, that we took action to clear? What do we do if a tree falls on our house? ….. Basic, but important information, that may save a life.
George Bigham the only “at-large” member of the Board volunteered to form a committee that would put together a plan that would help prepare residents and owners and provide them with pertinent information BEFORE a forecasted event. The President’s response was less than enthusiastic. George and his volunteers should proceed with an owner-initiated committee, and we need to support the effort.
Kudos for getting the amenities back in order so quickly.
Landscapers did a good job on easement cleanup. That said, cleanup policies for unimproved vs improved lot easements are less clear.
Comments
Carl
on Monday, 04 September 2023 16:52
Visibly, Tolomato Island was completely unprepared for Hurricane Idalia. We were very lucky. By God’s grace we avoided a disaster.
In another life I used to meet with first responders. The police said they had to be first to protect responders and keep order, the EMTs said they had to be first to save lives, the firemen said they had to be first to save lives and property. The truth was, the road people had to be there first, or nobody else could get there. In that place they were concerned about plowing snow, but they used the plows to push downed trees out of the roadways even in the summer after violent thunderstorms; they used the trucks as barricades to route traffic around major accidents; and they used the road crews and equipment to trim trees, and dispose of debris. Tolomato has no trucks, no heavy equipment, no designated first responders that I am aware of, nor limb trimming plans. We don’t even have enough open space to land a life flight helicopter.
We live in a community where there is one road in and out. Most of the private roads can be blocked with a single tree. Emergencies happen during natural disasters. Think about where you live. Think about who needs care in your immediate area. Are there older people, kids, visiting grandkids?
While I applaud and admire the ladies with a chainsaw, and neighbors helping neighbors, there needs to be workers and equipment standing by to call upon to keep the roads passable. Further, residents need to know what their responsibilities are before a disaster. If non-residents are responsible for picking up debris, they probably need to be notified.
We are only mid-way through hurricane season, the time to make plans and notify owners is now.
Amason
on Thursday, 07 September 2023 19:56
Hi George,
Thank you for your e-mail and thank you for the initiative.
First, I want to give you a bit of history of which you may already be aware.
When I was on the Board with April, she did a pretty good job of informing the residents, having people lined up (volunteers and contractors) and coordinating with the County. The last two since (volunteers and County) as she was so plugged in the certain people. David and Chris always helped clear roads for immediate access and then one year urged the County to clean up with FEMA funds.
Second, as part of our agreement with Simply Beautiful, they can do an initial small pick ups and we could pay if we wanted them to do more but we could count on them to be in the neighborhood every week. By the way as head of Landscape Committee, Jenny called and said Susan asked her for a bid for clean up and they were getting them from other companies. Jenny asked what had changed? Susan of course would never coordinate with me or anyone else who had past experience and she would certainly NEVER work with the committees.
Third, when Warren headed up the Security Committee with Archie Davis and Don Drost, they developed several concepts to deal with hurricanes. They listed volunteers who would be a quick reaction force (essentially volunteers who were around and had chainsaws and would be willing to cut fallen tree of roads for immediate access, they developed a clean up protocol, coordination plans with the county and developed a list of vendors for clean up. They also inquired about what it would cost to be the first on the list.
They also asked the Board to consider several items such as providing pick up for the community for their personal yards (i.e. each owner is responsible to keep their yard clean and neat. But this requires enforcement from the Board.
Fourth, I believe we used to have money in the annual budget for storm clean up. Do we still have that?
I believe none of this was ever utilized or moved forward by the Julia/Tom Board. Susan is just following suit. They have killed the committees and no one wants to work with them because of their dictatorial control. Susan does not want committees to do any of the leg work so she has not even produced any liaisons, procedure or protocols.
YES, we do need a Storm Committee to develop plans and protocols and take action if needed. I fully support this and will be vocal about the support.
Also, we should put this on the TolomatoOwners website.
Thanks,
Krista
Carl
on Saturday, 09 September 2023 19:30
There is a disconnect between the community’s needs and the Board’s Officers. On Sept 1, a day and a half after the hurricane, we all received a kind of scolding sounding letter from the Board about putting debris on Mission Drive for the county to pick up. On Sept 7th, 8 days after the hurricane we received an update on the storm clean up efforts. I appreciate the report, but many of us want information before the event, for example: Who is responsible for fallen trees blocking roads? Who do we call to get one removed? What do we do with the stuff in the road, that we took action to clear? What do we do if a tree falls on our house? ….. Basic, but important information, that may save a life.
George Bigham the only “at-large” member of the Board volunteered to form a committee that would put together a plan that would help prepare residents and owners and provide them with pertinent information BEFORE a forecasted event. The President’s response was less than enthusiastic. George and his volunteers should proceed with an owner-initiated committee, and we need to support the effort.
JimandGinny
on Sunday, 10 September 2023 15:14
Kudos for getting the amenities back in order so quickly.
Landscapers did a good job on easement cleanup. That said, cleanup policies for unimproved vs improved lot easements are less clear.