All of us are delighted that we dodged hurricane Joaquin.  We have not had any reports of damage to homes in the Pines from the storms over the weekend.  If you have suffered any damage, please let us know immediately.  

The hurricane served only to underscore how necessary the FIMI project is.  The good news is that the project is chugging along.  It was announced last week that the communities of Saltaire and Kismet will be getting sand in the next few weeks as part of contract number 2 which is providing dunes for the light house.  The real estate phase in the Pines is fully underway at this time.  Almost all the surveys are out.  The project is having more impact on our ocean front homeowners than had been originally anticipated.  FIPPOA is doing all that we can to help the homeowners prepare for their negotiations with Suffolk County which is responsible for the real estate phase of the project.  Our goal is to minimize impact on Pines residents.  The county has given us every indication that they are very willing to co-operate with the homeowners in this process.  Access walks to the beach will be rebuilt at the conclusion of the project and three disability ramps will be added east, west and in the center.  The Pines will be in the third phase of this project, encompassing the communities from Ocean Bay Park and Davis Park.  The project will move east to west and the Army Corps is committed to delivering sand to the Pines in the fall of 2016.  While there may be some slippage here, it seems reasonable to expect preparations for the project to be under way in the summer of 2016 and for the project itself to be under construction in the Pines in the winter of 2016/2017.

It was announced at our fall annual meeting that FIPPOA will undertake a greater community clean up in response to homeowner requests.  We are promoting the sale of mail boxes to residents to minimize mail litter.  A spring cleanup by residents will be organized for next April.  We will have more details on this later in the winter.  We are already working with our garbage contractor, Tommy Esposito, with the goal of greater community cleanliness.  FIPPOA is considering hiring a part time employee for next season to further improve our efforts in this regard.  

FIPPOA also announced at the fall meeting that the Alan Brockman bequest will be placed in a reserve fund which will constitute an endowment.  The endowment earnings will be used to help FIPPOA fund its operations while maintaining the inflation adjusted value of the principal of the endowment in perpetuity.  Up to $250,000 will be available to fund a onetime project in the community at the board's discretion.  We feel that this endowment helps to secure the Pines long term and that there will be adequate funds to help protect the community and maintain our lifestyle.  We are interested in growing the endowment to other planned gifts.  FIPPOA hosted a Lobster Dinner on September 26th sponsored by US Trust to begin a conversation about this subject.  It was a fun evening.  Many thanks to US Trust for sponsoring and making a generous gift to Whyte Hall.


Nicole Eisenman, one of BOFFO's Pines' artists in residence, was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.  Nicole was interviewed by Roberta Smith, Co-Chief Art Critic of the The New York Times.   I am told that Nicole received word of this honor while buying bacon at the Pines Pantry.

The 2015 closing party will be October 17 from 5 pm to 7 pm at Whyte Hall.  This is a nice community tradition and I urge everyone to attend.
 Jay