I've decided to vote yes on the Yacht Club referendum. 

Given the eroding physical condition of the building we must make a decision to rehab or rebuild sooner rather than later.  I choose the rebuild route for three primary reasons (I can and have argued with myself about all three points but in the end I support the build option).  I like having the YC in OP.  I believe that it does add value to the community.

1 - The re-hab option concerns me primarily because of the "what's the next surprise" potential. I believe that a re-build reduces the risk for the community in the long term. In order to have a real chance of revenue improvement I believe we need to change the footprint location of the building.  A re-hab doesn't do that.  The improvement in the outside seating, I believe (hope), will significantly increase head count during the outdoor seating time of year. 

2 - When I look at the financial statements (focusing on YC operations) over the past five years, and take a leap of faith that a new facility will improve efficiency and revenue, a 10% improvement in both significantly closes the gap between income and expenses.  I know that it is a leap of faith.  I may be naive but my discussions with our new YC manager had some positive influence on that faith. My leap of faith, in part, is extended to a credible business plan being acted upon.  Marty - Your election (thanks for serving) helps me have this leap of faith.  I believe that you are diligent with the details and will push the BOD and YC management to adhere to the necessary fine tuning. I believe that this improvement will help hold down future association assessments.

3 - I don't want to push this issue down the road.  A delay likely adds cost. The BOD obtained at least two proposals (perhaps more)  that I believe were credible. One was from the firm that delivered the OP Community Center that, my guess is, most would agree was worth the cost. $4.5 million (you may as well say) is a big price tag. I'd like the number to be lower.  Perhaps it is possible that with another round of bidding........ changes in design......etc. we could lower the cost.  Perhaps we couldn't. 

I've decided that the cost amount is reflective of a competitve market and that our best opportunity to provide better control over managing our future risks is to proceed with new construction.  As an aside I'd investigate financing some fo the cost.  We'd be able to borrow at very attractive interest rates.......... could always accelerate the payoff if we wanted...... and preserve our financial strength.

It's nice to be part of the OP community.

Don