Thank you to everyone who sent me very kind emails congratulating me on my impending move to Arizona. As a city with my namesake, it seems only fitting that I will find myself residing in Scottsdale. After visiting Scottsdale several times recently, I was amazed how eerily similar it is to Naples, minus the beautiful beach of course. I jokingly say that if you were to take Naples and move it out west and drop it in the desert, you would have Scottsdale. Many of you have also commented about the excessive heat that I will encounter during the summer. Yes, it is hot, but I will take the dry heat any day over our humidity. On my last trip, the temperature was a sweltering 111 degrees but the humidity was 5%. I was actually standing in the middle of an asphalt road with our real estate agent and explained to her that if we were in Naples we would not be having this discussion outside. With that said, I am sure my family is in for some major adjustments, but we are ready for the challenge. Thanks again for your kind comments.
I think one of the things I will miss most about Saint John the Evangelist is writing my weekly column. While writing, I take every opportunity to address the recent weather phenomena that may be affecting Southwest Florida. What a deluge we had this past Monday! Actually it was the wettest single day since July 23, 1985 and the most rainfall ever received in the month of August. That is quite a statistic considering that we have had more than our share of tropical systems over the years during the month of August. Our campus didn’t receive the 6.71 inches they did in downtown Naples, but it was more than enough to recharge our lake at the front of campus.
As you may have read in an email blast from the parish or possibly on the website, we have closed the parish office and relocated to the Claussen Center due to a discovery of mold in the office. We are currently in the process of remediation and hope to have the office re-opened by the August 18. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we ensure that the facilities are safe to be occupied. As it turns out, the mold was caused by a plumbing leak of which we were unaware because it was inside of an interior wall. We have contacted our insurance company and filed a claim. Because the mold is a result of the plumbing leak, we are covered!
Ironically, during my first 15 years at the parish, we never had an insurance claim. For the past two years, we are a perfect two for two. Hopefully, this streak will end at two years.
Have you noticed that we have replaced the signage at the entrance to the Parish Life Center office? We had to remove the letters when we repaired the fascia but now everyone will be able to easily locate the parish office.
Although we have had a slight delay because of our mold issues, we are in the process of renovating the bathrooms in the Parish Life Center classroom wing. We are totally gutting the restrooms and installing new travertine flooring. Once again, Ovidio Moreno (our very talented employee and stone worker) is heading up this project. Although the installation process with travertine is very time consuming and delicate, the cost of the material is actually much less than the best ceramic tile. Because our staff is taking care of the labor, we will recognize no expense for installation. It is amazing how dated the old bathrooms were after 17 years. Guests to the PLC will now be greeted with an amazing floor and granite countertops.
All of the new AC units have finally been installed on the roof of the Parish Life Center. Although this project was delayed several times, we now have very efficient systems in place. The next step will be to connect the units to our Metasys system. After that, we will be able to tie the systems into our master calendar. The units will run in conjunction with what is scheduled in each particular zone. Therefore, if we have a wedding reception in the ballroom from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the units will kick on at 5:00 p.m. and then shut off at midnight. This new technology will recognize us some serious savings moving forward.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA, General Manager