ESTERO BAY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Edit page

Winter Is Over!

Wow.  Easter has already come and gone, Bay Beach has recently experienced a few rain showers, and the rainy season will commence mid-May.

As the southwest Florida “high season” transitions to spring, the EBIA board would like to wish the Bay Beach community a great spring, summer, and fall wherever you land.

While seasonal owners are returning to their northern domiciles, key full-time EBIA board members are preparing for a busy spring and summer, as there is much to do to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season (June 1 through November 30) and continue our recovery from the lingering impacts of Hurricanes Ian, Helene, and Milton.

First up will be the implementation of the hurricane preparedness measures outlined in the recently adopted EBIA Hurricane Preparedness Plan.  (You can review the plan by clicking on Hurricane Preparedness in the website’s main menu.) The plan’s Pre-Season Planning Checklist guides volunteers on the many March through June preparatory efforts including:

• Annual Infrastructure Inspection
• Vegetation Management
• Water Systems and Irrigation
• Equipment and Supplies
• Insurance Image Repository

These efforts focus on reducing the extent and cost of hurricane wind and surge damage.

With the annual infrastructure inspection full-time board members will evaluate key infrastructure – street lighting, sidewalks, walking paths, parking lots, courts, pier, drainage system, and pond system – for needed summertime repair.   Additionally, board members will begin to remove and store vulnerable amenity items like tennis and pickleball wind screens, putting and pitching green flag sticks, and small signage.

In the area of vegetation management, we will be identifying and marking dead, diseased, or structurally compromised trees and palms in preparation for the annual spring palm and tree trimming by our certified arborist.  The annual spring tree and palm trimming thins hardwoods so that they don’t collect quite as much wind damage during heavy storms.  Palms and trees are trimmed to remove potential high-wind projectiles like coconuts, mahogany nuts, and seed pods.

Additionally, the water systems and irrigation are checked by volunteers and our irrigation vendor for proper operation and hurricane-damage prevention actions, while the EBIA equipment and hurricane supplies and insurance image repository are reviewed and replenished for hurricane response readiness.

And finally, the Bay Beach Lane recovery re-landscaping will continue down the lane from the EBIA parking lots to the turn in the road at the Royal Pelican crosswalk.  The Bay Beach Lane multi-year re-landscaping effort is focused on re-sodding, palm installation, and shrub planting to address that which was left barren and weedy by hurricane damage.  This work won’t be nearly as extravagant as the 2016 London Bay landscaping program, as the available funds won’t accommodate it, but it should make the drive down the lane more attractive.

If you are a full-time resident and would like to volunteer some of your time and effort to Bay Beach summer projects, please let us know by clicking on Contact Us in the website’s Main Menu.

If you are transitioning to northern climates, we wish you safe travels and a delightful off-season!