Spanish Main Yacht Club heads in new direction with new board

Spanish Main Yacht Club on Longboat Key is a community still recovering from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, a community currently without residents. Now, there are new board members in charge. 

The association held its annual meeting on April 10, during which there was an election for the board positions and resulting in a completely new board. 

According to information received from a property owner’s resident portal, the new board members include board president Janet Burmeister, vice president Shawn Mahoney and treasurer Ross Wenum. 

Spanish Main residents still can not return to their properties, but Cleremont Property Company is conducting electrical and plumbing work throughout the community. An update posted on Spanish Main’s website said, as of April 7, 92 units passed the electrical phase, 38 units passed the plumbing stage and 26 units had framing completed.

Spanish Main is a 55-and-older community with 212 homes, some single-family and some duplexes.

The update also stated an adjuster was continuing to negotiate with the community’s insurance company.

The Longboat Key town commission’s strategic planning retreat on April 21 highlighted Spanish Main’s rebuild progress. 

Town Manager Howard Tipton said the town met with previous board members about the community’s permit applications. 

“When they shared with us their permit requests, I would guess we were somewhere in the 90-95% range of having issued the permits that they requested,” Tipton said. “We do have a list of their full-time residents and we have been working with them to prioritize them.” 

A spreadsheet available on the Spanish Main Yacht Club’s website shows a progress report and schedule for the units split up, with full-time residents toward the top and with a closer completion date. 

According to the schedule, some units may reach the “whitebox” stage toward the end of April and early May. 

Photo by Carter Weinhofer

Adrienne Scott and her husband, Bill Anderson, are Spanish Main residents who are looking forward to living in their home again. 

The couple shared fond memories in their home, including getting married on the porch of their Spanish Main residence about five years ago. 

Scott said the focus on full-time residents gave positive momentum to the rebuilding process. 

"All through the process, everyone agreed that full-time residents should be prioritized," Scott said. "Now, the town has stepped up." 

With the town on board to prioritize full-time residents and the contractor working on those repairs, Scott said progress picked up since earlier this month when her home didn't have drywall yet.

"We now have drywall, baseboards, door frames," Scott said. "There is definitely progress. It's great." 

As Scott and Anderson are looking forward to no longer leasing and spending money on rent, Scott shared concerns about moving in this summer while the next hurricane season looms.

Joseph Gutmann, an owner in Spanish Main Yacht Club, said having a new board has its pros and cons. While the new members bring new perspectives, Gutmann said they are taking over during a turbulent time in the community. 

“This board is trying to figure out the best way to move forward, but at the end of the day they need to make a decision,” Gutmann said. 

Following the significant flooding damage sustained by the community, the previous board hired a Servpro company from Saginaw, Michigan, to complete the initial emergency response. 

On Jan. 20, Cody Michael from Servpro of Saginaw, Michigan, filed a $13.5 million lien against the Spanish Main community for unpaid invoices. 

Bermeister, the new board president, did not respond to the Observer’s calls before the print deadline of April 22.