RIVER GARDENS

Condominiums

Recovering and Rebuilding

Six months have passed and River Garden is making progress with insurance claims.

What's New

• PRIMARY FLOOD: We received close to $2.9 million from our Primary Flood Insurance, after the deductible. We have been told by attorneys and ​public adjusters that we are fortunate to have received such a good determination. Additional work is being done to recover all funds possible.

• EXCESS FLOOD: We haven’t received an official determination from the Excess Flood Insurance carrier yet. However, they did provide us with ​some highly preliminary numbers suggesting that we might receive only $70,000 (excluding deductibles).

• WIND / HAZARD / PROPERTY: We haven’t received a determination from the Wind / Hazard insurance carrier. We suspect that any future ​determination will not exceed our deductible.

• PUBLIC ADJUSTER: We pursued three different attorneys (Frontier Law, Hahn Loeser, and Hurricane Law), and all three said that recovering ​anything more from the Excess Flood policy would be a very arduous process, and not one that they want to pursue. All three of them declined a ​10% contingency fee. They would have preferred to collect $270,000 (10% of $2.7 million) – but we weren’t ready to hire them until we received ​an initial determination. So in essence, we saved $270,000 by waiting.
  

• ENGINEER: We have been advised by legal counsel that we need to engage an Engineer to evaluate electrical and the building infrastructure, ​including the lanai stacks. Each of the three prospective public adjusters essentially told us the same thing. So, that will be among our next-steps.

• GENERAL CONTRACTORS: We are obtaining detailed bids from three prospective General Contractors to help us with the build-back. They ​include DSW Homes, Elias Bros, and Blue Daube.

Recovering and Rebuilding Continued

• MANDATORY INSPECTIONS: We have notified everyone of mandatory access to all of the lower level units so the General Contractors can ​conduct full site inspections for their bids. The first one completed their site visit on Friday, March 31st. The second one was onsite Tuesday, April ​4, and the third one will be here Monday, April 17th.
  

• BUILD-BACK PROCESS: The General Contractor that we select will set-up their shop in our Community Room, and they will have an on-site ​supervisor monitoring the work and process. We anticipate that the River Gardens board members will serve as your intermediaries and ​ambassadors, with support from Coastal Association Services.
  

• BUILD-BACK RESPONSIBILITY: Because the association is responsible for restoring the “white box”—drywall, plumbing, and electrical —owners ​are not authorized or approved to do any build-backs. More details will be emailed by Coastal soon.
  

• INSURANCE PROCEEDS: The board has been meeting with two legal firms (Hahn Loeser and Becker) to obtain legal counsel and formulate a ​project plan and allocation of insurance proceeds in a way that is both fair and legally defensible. We anticipate customizing the plan for units that ​have already been rebuilt; and for owners that want upgrades to a standard build-back.
  

• LANDSCAPING: Since there’s no lawn to mow, we’re negotiating with our landscaping contractor (Instant Impact) to complete other helpful tasks, ​such as trimming trees, shrubs, and palms; raking the easements; and keeping the grounds cleaner. Katricia Rodgers will coordinate all tasks with ​Instant Impact. If you have requests, then please communicate them to Katricia and do not interfere with the workers.
  

• LAWN IRRIGATION: We also are getting bids to repair the well pump and assess the magnitude of damage to the irrigation system. Meanwhile, ​volunteers have been watering some parts of the lawn up to the current capacity of the well. We are postponing significant landscape and lawn ​improvements until the build-back is done, because the work could be messy and hard on the grounds.
  

• STRANDED BOAT: We have asked Coastal to increase its efforts in finding a resolution to the abandoned boat. The owner, dept of motor ​vehicles, city, county, and coast guard have all declined to help. We are still exploring possible assistance from FEMA and the FDEM. If that ​doesn't work, then we might need to pay for a crane and tow truck to remove it ourselves.
  

Communication Channels

Staying Informed

The River Garden Neighbors group is a ​communication channel for neighbors in our ​condo community to communicate and get to ​know each other. We encourage neighbors to be ​respectful and communicate in a professional ​manner to share ideas and find solutions for ​challenges that affect our community. Owners ​and renters are all welcome.

Facebook Group

Owner Portal

Quicklink for maintenance >

Remember to provide complete details when submitting any new request.

Reminders

Owners are encouraged to use the online portal through ​Coastal Association Services to:

• Report a rules violation
• File a maintenance request
• Update contact information

Renter Reminder: Please communicate with your landlord ​regarding rule violations, maintenance or other requests.

Note: If you have a complaint about your neighbor, attempt to ​resolve it with them before reporting it in the online portal or with ​your landlord.

Pets

• Except for special circumstances stated in the rules and ​regulations, the maximum pet weight is 25 lbs.
  

Gratitude Corner

A special thank to everyone ​that has been helping to ​recover and make River Garden ​great again. Everyone can make ​a difference by sharing a little ​time and energy to repair our ​community. Upcoming ​volunteer opportunities will be ​announced in our group.

Board Meeting Reminder

Please stay tuned for more and note ​that we will have a board meeting to ​discuss our progress on April 18, 2023.

Giant African Snails

The giant African land snail (GALS) is one of the ​most damaging snails in the world and ​consumes at least 500 different types of plants.

In December 2022, a detection of giant African land snail was ​confirmed in the Edgewood neighborhood. This regulatory ​incident required increased survey and voluntary treatment in ​the area. Continued survey resulted in an increase in the ​number of snails found, dead and alive, requiring FDACS to ​enact a quarantine in March 2023. FDACS will continue to use ​the same treatment methodology for this pest, which is a ​metaldehyde-based molluscicide (snail bait) and is approved for ​residential use. In the map you'll see that the Edgewood ​neighborhood circled in red, has been ground zero for search ​and destroy missions by the department of agriculture.