Minutes 2007

REPORT ON THE MEETING BETWEEN PROPERTY OWNERS AND PIL April 27 – April 30, 2007 Long Caye, Belize

HELLO EVERYONE, Thanks for hanging in there while I tied up some ends that had become unraveled while I was gone. (It was actually my second trip to Belize in two weeks!) I also want to thank Harriet, Taylor, Fred, Ricki, Cheryl, and Bill for being awesome traveling companions…especially Cheryl who worked so hard to organize the boat, diving, meals, accommodations, etc. Blake and Jackson and the folks from Pleasure Island also went above and beyond to accommodate us, particularly in helping with transportation out to the island.

IN ATTENDANCE: Blake Ross, PIL Director & Jackson’s brother-in-law Jackson Edwards, PIL Director, inherited shares in PIL from his father Rob Trujillo, government liaison Elizabeth, Jackson’s niece and Blake’s step-daughter Ron Hardwick, PIL maintenance supervisor & owner of lots #103, 104 Cheryl & Bill Steinmeyer, owners of Calypso Beach Retreat on lot #180 Harriet Fisher, Long Caye Chat Group moderator and owner of lots #48 & #67 Taylor Le Claire, Harriette’s daughter Fred & Ricki Goodrich, owners of lot # 570 Elaine de Man, owner of #422

PIL UPDATE Pleasure Island Limited, a Belize Company, was founded in 1967. Blake and Jackson are the directors and there are 20 additional shareholders including individuals who purchased shares from Jackson’s father. PIL also has five full-time employees and one half-time employee (Rob Trujillo). Santiago Gomez, who owns International Services Ltd. in Belize City, is PIL’s corporate secretary. International Services functions as PIL’s “back office” and collects the maintenance fees for PIL. (FYI: Cheryl also uses International Services to manage her business in Belize.) Larry Schneider is no longer part of PIL. Though Jackson was not at liberty to discuss it, my feeling was that Jackson is much happier with the current situation. The Pleasure Island Limited, Inc. that was incorporated by Larry and Adam Schneider in Florida was simply a place for them to collect checks in the U.S. It is no longer in existence and does not affect us. Larry does, however, still own the resort (currently for sale) and about 50 lots on the island. (And yes, according to Blake and Jackson, he does pay maintenance fees for all those lots.) Not all of his lots are currently for sale, but those that are are listed on his website (www.belizeislandrealestate.com), where it looks as though he’s having a fire sale. (Prices on

some lots have dropped by as much as 41% since he listed them in July of 2006.) He’s also offering major incentives (i.e. 20% discount for cash) and interest rates of 1.99 - 4.99%. Public structures on the island include the dock (in need of maintenance), the visitor center (very nice, no power or running water(?), 2 bathrooms, a large “meeting” room on the ground floor, and two rooms upstairs), the service pier (I didn’t visit it but Fred says it is in pretty bad shape), and boardwalks, which now circle around lots 199 – 215 and extend down the east side of the island as far as #233. Buildings owned by PIL include the “worker’s dormitory” (#160) and the building that was going to house the “medical center” (#161), a very nice building. PIL also owns the hyperbaric chamber which is on the island, but is in storage. I don’t know what happened between the people who were going to operate the medical center and PIL; we did not discuss it at the meeting. Other buildings on the island include the Calypso Beach Retreat, Mark Orth’s Luckydog Bunkhouse, Ron Hardwick’s house and rental unit, and Nick Freed’s house (#233), which is the model home on PIL’s website. No other owners have submitted a formal application to PIL for final review. I’ll talk a little about the “resort” and its three buildings a little later. DIVE SHOP As far as the meeting goes, I’m going to start with what I think is the most exciting news. We all agreed that, for the time being, the best use for the Visitor Center would be as a dive-fishingsundries store (a.k.a. dive shop). So, we are soliciting proposals from existing property owners who would like to be involved with that. The idea is for the dive shop to support those people visiting the island and staying on the island and to encourage other people, visiting locations in the immediate area, to visit Long Caye. No games. No bait and switch. We want this facility opened as soon as possible. Priorities for the dive-fishing-sundries shop are (in order): Compressor for filling scuba tanks and on-site, full-time manager Rental scuba (and possibly fishing) gear Flies for fly fishing Dive master (could be same person as manager) Various sundries for sale, including cold drinks, snacks and gelato (just kidding about the gelato, but wouldn’t it be lovely?) Skiff for transporting people locally Repair shop Fishing guide The dive shop operator must pay an annual maintenance fee (in advance) that would cover the cost of maintenance for the entire visitor center so that the burden does not fall to the other property owners or PIL. PIL is in the process of determining what that figure is. Other than the maintenance fee, the operator must install adequate solar power to the building and maintain the public bathrooms on site. To be determined is whether any improvements to the building (i.e. solar power) would remain at the end of the “lease”.

The lease would be for an initial period of two years with an option to renew in 6-month increments after review. It is understood that this is a temporary situation until another building or site is established. Preferably, the operator would start construction of a permanent facility at the same time. Proposals must include proof of financial ability to open and operate the facility even though traffic may be negligible for the first year. We are looking for a well-thought-out, well-financed plan to ensure its success. If we do not receive what we think is an adequate proposal from a property owner, we will seek proposals from established dive operators elsewhere in Belize. We will not accept any proposals from property owners whose maintenance fees are not current. Mortgage payments must also be up to date. The individuals who would review the proposals are Harriette Fisher, Elaine de Man, Blake Ross, and Jackson Edwards, (assuming they are willing and do not have any financial interest in the operation.) The arbitrary deadline is June 1, 2007. We all believe that this is the anchor that will help establish Long Caye as a destination until other facilities on the Caye are up and running.

ERB (Environmental Review Board) The other significant agreement is the inclusion of a property owner on the E.R.B. (There is also, apparently an A.R.B, Architectural Review Board, but I don’t recall mention of that in the Eco-Guidelines.) The E.R.B. is currently composed of four members: Blake, Jackson, Robert Cotherman (with experience in construction management), and Bob Barton (with experience in environmental energy and finance). These are friends or friends of friends of Blake and Jackson’s and I’m not sure whether the two Bob’s have even visited the island! As near as we can tell, the E.R.B. is (for the time being) fairly inactive and is not wielding the heavy hammer it is granted by the Eco-Guidelines. In any case, it seemed to us that there should also be a scientist on the E.R.B. and a property owner. We also felt that Blake and Jackson needed to look beyond their own circle of friends and family to fill those positions and that the property owner representative, at least, should be chosen by the property owners. They were most agreeable to that. We did not, however, come up with a set of criteria for establishing how these individuals would be chosen. In the interim, and in the interest of getting representation on the E.R.B. as soon as possible, I would be happy to represent the property owners and serve in the scientist capacity (I have a master’s degree in marine biology) until we have our next meeting (ideally a year from now) and can properly nominate and elect those individuals. I guess I would need to know if that’s OK with everyone, or at least a majority of you. I would not participate in the review of my own building plans if I were to submit them during this period.

TRANSPORTATION I wish I had something more definite to announce about this. But, based on our conversations I feel confident something more regular and affordable will be in place by the end of 2007. We discussed all of the available options at length, including helicopters, float planes, a possible landing strip on Long Caye, and linking to the resort and the private landing strip at the northern caye. Without going into all the details on these other options, I’ll focus on what look like the two most promising prospects for the near future. Cheryl is communicating with the directors of PIL, the Belize Audubon Society, and Island Expeditions (www.islandexpeditions.com) about coordinating transportation out to Lighthouse Reef, something which hasn’t been done in the past. While PIL, Audubon, and Cheryl have a somewhat irregular transportation schedule (Cheryl has to find ways to get her guests out to the B&B), Island Expeditions offers week-long trips out to Halfmoon Caye and publishes a schedule of them well in advance. (When I was in Belize at the beginning of April, Island Expeditions was quite willing to let me and my family hitch a ride out and back with them for $50 each on their travel day, but we would have only had about 20 minutes on Long Caye and a two-hour ride in the boat each way.) According to Cheryl, however, Island Expeditions is thinking about doing two trips a week next year and possibly extending their season. (It currently runs from January through April). That means one could get a ride with them and stay for 3, 4, 7 or more days and pay some reasonable rate. By coordinating everyone going out to Lighthouse Reef, we will start to get something that looks like regular service, at least for the period from Dec - April. For the time being, I think we should let Cheryl continue to manage the negotiations with the parties involved and report back to us when she has something worked out. This would be great information to carry on the property owners’ website (www.belizelongcaye.com), when we get it up and running. In the meantime, PIL is also in the process of purchasing a boat (aluminum, forty-two feet long, twin diesel engines) for the purpose of bringing its crew and other interested parties out to Long Caye. (The same boat is could also be used as a dive and or fishing boat while it is out at the reef.) Their plan, too, would be to offer transportation out to Long Caye on a regular basis at a reasonable cost (actual price and schedule to be determined at a later date). Unfortunately, the boat they are thinking about apparently has some structural problems which need to be addressed. Until they get this resolved, it would great if PIL would let us know when they are moving crews back and forth from the island so anyone planning a trip to Long Caye could possibly connect with one of their trips. Again, this is the kind of information we would hope to be able to announce on our website. Other than that, the helicopter is an option, albeit an expensive one, and can be combined with aerial tours of Halfmoon Caye and the Blue Hole. We aren’t sure about the existing private airstrip at the northern cayes, but it doesn’t seem realistic to pin our hopes on something over which we have absolutely no control. Rob is checking into permits and certification required for floatplane operations out to Lighthouse Reef and will let us know what he finds out. An airstrip on Long Caye is out of the question for the time being if for no other reason other than that PIL needs to focus its attention on building boardwalks.

BOARDWALKS Speaking of boardwalks, boardwalks currently extend down the east side of the island as far as lot #233. The current plan is to continue down the east side and finish there before moving over to the west side. PIL has had a number of setbacks but claim all systems are now in place to complete this task. They have promised to deliver a schedule for the completion of the boardwalks by May 15 and know that we are all waiting to see if they live up to this promise. I will let you know when I know. Again, this would be good information to post on our website.

MOSQUITO ABATEMENT Mosquito abatement is ongoing, though PIL’s sprayer broke down two days before we got there. They are now using a product that they feel is effective but not damaging to the other wildlife. Abatement practices will improve as more pathways are cleared and boardwalks are built, opening up the interior of the island. Those concerned about the welfare of the mosquitoes will be happy to know that the bottom 75 acres of the caye have been set aside as a permanent wildlife preserve and will provide a safe haven for them. (In Hawai‘i we’d call that Pu‘uhonua, place of refuge.)

MAINTENANCE According to PIL, maintenance is ongoing and integrated with all the other activity on the island. This, they believe, gives them greater cost efficiency. (I.e. they are repairing old boardwalks while they construct new ones.) The problem we have had with this in the past has been the inadequacy (or lack ) of the reporting mechanism and lack of distinction between maintenance and infrastructure costs. PIL assured us that they do not use money collected for maintenance on infrastructure. They have promised to send a full report with more detailed Maintenance and POA information when their financials are done 60 – 90 days from now. In the interim, it was my understanding that a Property Maintenance Summary that would show the various expenses associated with individual maintenance activities and that would clearly differentiate between maintenance and infrastructure costs would be sent with the bill for 2007 maintenance fees. In addition they will be sending us quarterly maintenance reports, though we did not establish a format for receiving those reports. (Here’s another thing that could be posted on our website.) The existing boardwalks and visitor center did appear to be properly maintained, though it’s not clear with the limited scope and “newness” of the boardwalks how much that should actually cost. We were all disappointed with the condition of the main pier and asked that repainting it be moved to the top of their maintenance schedule. (That beautiful yellow pier is a welcome sight after the long ride out there, and it is your first impression of the island.) The service pier is also, apparently, in need of some major attention.

PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION (POA) The POA was established in 2004 as a Belize Corporation. Blake and Jackson are in the process of completing the creation of the financial books and creating by-laws and association documents, which should all be completed in the next 60 – 90 days. When it becomes active, the

POA will be responsible for administering the Eco-Guidelines. PIL currently has control of the POA but and would be willing to relinquish it to the property owners. We all agreed, however, that we weren’t ready to accept that responsibility and that the topic should definitely be revisited next year. PIL has promised to get us a more accurate accounting of the actual number of lots sold and the actual number of property owners. PIL has also promised to get tougher on collecting maintenance fees from those who have not paid them. All property owners (including Jackson and family and Larry Schneider) are expected to pay maintenance fees. There’s a lot more that could be said about the maintenance fees, but until we get the more detailed report that Blake has promised, we will be talking in circles.

RESORT Larry Schneider owns the three buildings of the resort and it is currently listed for sale at $1.95 million, though rumor has it that Larry would sell it for much less. The three buildings are basically in great shape and I understand Larry has done whatever is necessary to protect the wood. But, right now, there is no power to it. The entire complex was originally run off a single, huge generator that was very expensive to operate. From my perspective, the “resort’s” biggest asset is the deck and bar which is in a great location and with a little work could have a wonderful ambiance. I’d drink a frozen Margarita there any day. I have an idea for how to make Building #3 (the “dorm rooms”) profitable, if someone else wants to buy rest of the resort……..

OTHER NEWS Lou Maraschiello (#255) has agreed to host a website (www.belizelongcaye.com) on behalf of property owners. This would provide us with a less public forum for communication than the existing Yahoo chat group and more pertinent information specifically for property owners than PIL’s website (which is more about selling property than serving people who have already purchased property). Our website would have password and log-in protection so that it would only be available to people who actually own property on Long Caye. Among other things it would be a place to post transportation schedules and contacts, the boardwalk completion schedule and maintenance reports, links to accommodations, transportation, fishing guides, etc., and links to building contractors and suppliers. I’m leaving it up to Lou to let us know what we need to do to next to get this operational. And, finally, Melissa and Ray Lopez have asked me to let everyone know that they just had a baby and their lives have taken a slightly different direction so they have decided to sell one or both of their lots (#299 & #300) for $22,000 each. Pass the word.

Elaine de Man, May 9, 2007