Suppose a fire breaks out in the Prairie Lodge kitchen and shuts down all operations in Jameson’s and Drendel Ballroom, and/or nearby activity areas?
What if a tornado takes out Meadow View Lodge? Or damages the Millgrove Woodshop or Whisper Creek Golf Course? What happens if flooding or a storm takes out a parking lot?
Are there contingency plans in place to operate the daily needs of residents and the management staff of the Sun City association, if a common area facility goes down?
The immediate answer to this last question is no. So, the CAM board of directors has decided to do something about the situation. The board is creating a business continuity plan, so Sun City is prepared to continue operations if one or more of the major common areas or facilities goes down. It is forming an ad hoc committee to develop such a plan in the next 4-6 months.
Bill Ziletti, current board member and also a member of the Finance Advisory Committee, will be chairman of the committee and is actively recruiting 5-7 resident members to serve on it. This project has been on the board’s “to do” list since the transition process from Sun City developers to resident control took place about seven years ago, Ziletti said.
“The latest initiative was triggered by a report from a recently hired property and casualty insurance firm,” he said. “They sent us a form asking us to fill out and describe our ‘plan,’” he said.
Ziletti said a preliminary list of common area facilities includes indoor facilities such as Prairie and Meadow View lodges, the wood shop, and possibly the outdoor swimming pool and bath house next to Meadow View.
“It’s time to do this,” he continued. “One of the things we’re concerned about is a fire in a kitchen, especially at Prairie Lodge. That could shut down a lot of facilities that we normally use. We need a plan for what we do with our clubs and activities if that happens. There also could be tornado or storm damage, flooding, or anything that disrupts our activities, so we have to make adjustments in how we do things.”
Ziletti said the committee so far includes two board members and two residents who have volunteered.
The group will meet one or two times a month until the plan is complete and the board has approved it, and then the committee will be dissolved.
“We need to be prepared in case something happens to our facilities,” said Executive Director Lauren Lee. “If residents are interested in serving on this group, they should send a letter of interest to me.”
