Star Island Pelicans

PLEASE NOTE: THIS MESSAGE IS BEING SENT BY BRIAN WINTERS ON BEHALF OF AMY LOCKWOOD. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMMUNICATE WITH AMY, HER EMAIL ADDRESS IS alockwood@starisland.org.

Greetings Star Island Community Members:

First, let me say that I wish I were able to write updates much more frequently than time is allowing. All the senior management is working close to around the clock on working with fire professionals, contractors, Pelicans, and many others on the current problems for Star Island.

The priorities we are using in this work are a) work that is actively getting the island open, b) communications and as much support as possible to conferences being directly impacted at the time, and c) communications to the broader community. I deeply apologize for the resulting seemingly inevitable truth right now that communications to the broader community are slower than any of us want. I can assure you the entire senior management team is working well in excess of 80 hours per week to get Star open and communicate with you, and will continue to work as hard as we can to meet your needs.

A brief update from the island:

As you may know, on Wednesday Star Island Corporation was conclusively informed that prior to opening it must complete an electrical survey of the island to map where our electricity comes from and runs to, and detect any areas where circuits might be overloaded or other electrical problems may exist. This project has been on a long term list agreed upon between SIC and fire officials. Star Island Corporation has spent over $780,000 in the last five years alone on fire safety projects. Fire officials feel that this mapping project is a necessary next step to assure the island’s safety before we have guests on the island. As you have probably heard we estimate a timeline of one month to complete the project.

As we have with every step in the process over the last few weeks, within the afternoon of learning this conclusively, we a) arranged all the professionals needed to conduct this project in the most time-efficient manner possible and b) started contacting conference leadership of groups that would be impacted.

Many conferees have asked if we are dedicating enough resources to shortening this timeline. We have contracted with en electrical engineer who is intimately familiar with Star Island’s systems as he has been assessing them on the consultant team originally put together in 2002. He is bringing a work team with him , and in addition we have retained a minimum of six electricians to be on the island over the next month to address any issues as they arise (as well as address issues we already know about). Our electricians, who have been doing Star’s electrical work for over five years, have committed to bringing in extra electricians should we discover any other significant issues as we proceed. We have also committed Pelicans to provide set up and staging assistance when needed. We began project set up work with the electrical engineer on Thursday by giving him planning information he needs. He has confirmed that this team will work every day (that is, including weekends ) for the duration of the project; we have, of course, offered him the opportunity to stay here at the island to the extent he feels that would enhance his ability to perform this work.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to a very positive start with the new interim fire chief in Rye, Skip Sullivan, as he arrives at the island for a visit and collaborative check in on this project on Tuesday. Chief Sullivan took over for Chief Richard O’Brien on Friday as Chief O’Brien moves to a similar position in another New Hampshire community. This visit is a real opportunity for dialogue early in the project to assure we are all working toward similar goals, will allow Chief Sullivan to see the work that is going on firsthand, and will minimize any chances for miscommunication on what those goals should be as we proceed.

We are also working with statewide press as they carry interest in this story. Overall, I am very pleased to have worked collaboratively with all fire officials and the press in this matter. Unfortunately this morning the Portsmouth Herald, which has been carrying this story regularly, issued a story that could imply otherwise. As I missed a reporter’s response deadline by one minute yesterday evening, the Herald decided to run with their own story and hence, the Star Island Corporation did not have the opportunity to state in the article its responses to fire official’s statements. In actuality, Star and fire officials have discussed all the issues in the article extensively and have reached a mutually satisfactory understanding on how they are being addressed. We look forward to having our responses to these statements printed in the Herald as soon as possible.

Six months ago the board of directors had fortuitously scheduled an on-island retreat for this week. They arrived Thursday evening and have been spending intensive time beginning review and dissection of what has happened, the financial impact on the island, and talking with experts to assist them in assessing and selecting proper courses of action. By the end of this retreat today they will announce the results of much of that work in ongoing updates.

One sure decision they assessed and decided upon at this time is that, given all the financial information we have right now in hand, the best course of action is to work as aggressively as possible toward an August opening. The board has done a full assessment of the resources we know we have in hand such as emergency reserves, and those resources have been deployed. The board is in conversation with the board of the Permanent Trust already and will be continuing a conversation about how the Trust can assist the Corporation with short and long term needs successfully.

The brightest spot in all of this challenge is the Star Island Pelicans. I consider myself fortunate to be here on the island where I can be exposed to their energy – some anxious with understandable reasons, but on the whole, amazingly positive and wonderful. This will not surprise you, but their commitment to being the successful front line of stewardship for Star Island in this crisis seems to have no bounds. I was more pleased than I can say to be able to inform them yesterday that our plan is to continue progressing toward an August opening. In the one month window between now and then, we intend to house and employ Pelicans to the level they need. Many have indicated they would welcome voluntary time off during some of this time which we will work to honor. We are currently working on a work plan that will keep daily functions moving along, keep the fire safety work on the highest level of importance, and tackle some large scale, but low-to-moderate expense projects that we’ve dreamed about having time to do for the island for some time – catching up on exterior painting being just one of them.

In other notes, conference deposits are all in the process of being returned now. Many conferees and conferences have asked about whether they can receive reimbursement for expenses they incurred planning on their conference. Please send all such requests in writing with as much specific back up as you have (such as receipts) to Kristi Vazifdar, Finance Manager, at the Star Island Corporation office (kvazifdar@starisland.org). The board of directors is mapping out a reimbursement policy and will announce it as soon as it is complete. In the meantime, Kristi will collect information sent so we are able to respond to you fully.

Finally, as someone new to Star, it is of course difficult for me to imagine the frustration, pain and fear many of you may be feeling at the loss of your conference or, more importantly, the potential devastating impacts of this event on Star Island’s future. Because we are still fully engaged in two tiers of work, getting the island open and beginning assessment of the impact for the island, we simply do not have all the answers you feel you need on how this happened and how it can be prevented. As you may have heard, the board is in the process of establishing a committee that will be broad-based to assess these questions. Dave Boynton, Vice President of the board, is chairing the committee (d.boynton@comcast.net). These answers will come together, and the information gathering process has started already. If you have questions you would like to see answers to, or your own insights as to what has occurred, please contact Dave and he will be sure to get your thoughts into the committee’s mix.

In the meantime, I have one request of the community. I ask that you pause and be thoughtful about where and how you direct your fear and anger, as justifiable as it may be. The Star Island Corporation office and other front-line communications staff are taking the brunt of many people’s anger at this time.  They have been subjected to angry messages found on the office door, angry and even abusive email messages, and angry phone calls. They do not deserve this, and such anger is inappropraite for the community of this religious and educational conference center. So I ask that you please bear in mind the thought that the person you speak with on the phone or via e-mail in the office could not possibly have caused the problem at the root of this frustration. In addition, all staff members do truly have the best updates there are at the time. If they do not have the answer to your question it is because we, even in the upper management and board, are still seeking and developing the answer to your question. We have received overwhelming support from many Star Island community members for which we are deeply appreciative.

Now that we are settled on clear plan of work and timeline, my expectation is that we will have more time for regular communications and updates to you. Please know that is a goal, second only to the efforts we are putting into helping Star get back to what it should be – full of conferees enjoying it’s special place in their lives.

Sincerely,
Amy Lockwood
Executive Director

–
Brian Winters
Development Associate
Star Island Corporation
10 Vaughan Mall, Suite 8, Worth Plaza * Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 430-6272 * bwinters@starisland.org * www.starisland.org

Dear Friends,

I appreciate your patience and your frustration during this crisis that has caused us to cancel or relocate three of our first weeks of conferences. It is awful. And no one of us on the Board or throughout the Staff feel anything but grief.

What we undertook as a determined and no holes barred effort to correct the list of deficiencies reported to us by the Rye Fire Chief and the State Fire Marshal has failed, at this point, to achieve the desired results.

The State electric engineer did a major report on the needs of much of the Island in 2001. Many of the things on that list have been attended to in the interim. But not all.

The State Fire Marshal informed us officially today that we cannot open until there is a full study of all electrical systems on the Island and work on them to date. We may also need to complete certain projects identified in that report if they are high priority in terms of safety. We have already hired an electrical engineering consultant to do that work. We are arranging with our electrician contractor to follow the consultant and fix everything that he finds deleterious.

The electrical engineering consultant estimates that this work will be complete in a month.

This is horrific news. That our Island home is deemed to be so far from achieving occupancy for our conferences. That our awareness of this is just now being asserted after 5 years of work. That in spite of our intentions we failed to do all we could in the 5 years to assure this would not happen. That so many of us for whom this Island is home to our annual religious retreat will not be able to experience that special time. That not being able to house you and our other conferees on the Island for so many weeks could raise havoc with the plans of 100 Pelicans who are counting on the summer for income and an important personal experience. And that it will create a financial crisis for our beloved Island that will tax us to the limits. This is horrific news.

We are doing everything in our power to be sure that there is no other course that can be taken in these coming weeks. We would not for a moment more wish to put any of you, our conferees and friends, at risk. This is all about safety. Yet we want to be sure there are not alternatives to this horrific situation.

I have appointed a committee to ascertain why we are in this crisis and to recommend needed changes to Board policy and process and to Staff practices and staffing. They will report to the Board in August.

Our grief, yours and mine, is very real. I, we, are deeply sorry for suffering that this crisis has caused so many of us. You and I know that it will take some serious time and effort to repair all the damage that has been. Let me dare to mention to you that it will also take money. There is no doubt in my mind that if we had had sufficient funds, we would never have failed to make our Island compliant with the safety codes. We are well begun on making it safe. We have a long way to go to have sufficient funds to do so. We need everyone to help, more, in that regard.

In the spirit of the Island,
Brad
board@starisland.org / uubrad@aol.com
(603) 430-0969

–
Sent by:
Brian Winters
Development Associate
Star Island Corporation
10 Vaughan Mall, Suite 8, Worth Plaza * Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 430-6272 * bwinters@starisland.org * www.starisland.org

With 55 registered conferees there are two more days til the conference is open to anyone. During a meeting with Laity a few weeks ago, they told us that they are filled and already have a waiting list! Let’s get going people! On time registrations are vital to the growth of this conference. Please follow the link http://www.pelicansarepelicans.com/reunion
or give us a call with any questions. 603-436-9392

Hope to see you on the Island!

Rebecca and Jonathan

Star Island Community Update from Amy Lockwood, Executive Director, and Brad Greeley, President.

22 June 2007

As anticipated, Star Island Corporation has been preparing for a facility inspection on Thursday, June 21. In the course of these preparations there was some fairly in-depth research and assessment needed of progress on our hotel electrical systems. We were pleased to learn that a contracted electrical engineer who has inspected the facility today was pleased with the progress that has been made on bringing the 130 year old building up to code. As always there is a great deal to do to assure the safety of our conferees and each phase of our work is an element in arriving at the goal.

Unfortunately the time needed to conduct this assessment delayed our fire inspection. We now hope that inspection will come early next week, and we will be open for conferences no later than the middle of the week.

We will look forward to welcoming the Natural History Conference, which focuses it study and discussion on aspects of the natural environment of the Islands and issues of stewardship and living a religious life. YRUU has been welcomed by Ferry Beach in Maine, which will allow them to preserve the full week experience together. A third conference, the Isles of Shoals Historic Research Association (ISHRA) has canceled its summer conference (although will keep its annual fall conference), and all ISHRA conferees are invited to attend as NHC conferees and enjoy that conference’s programs.

We continue to be deeply grateful to the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island. They have been in close touch and strongly supportive of our staff as we have worked to complete the necessary improvements.

CONTACTS:
Affected ISHRA Conferees: Amy Cook, registrar, ptilota@yahoo.com or (603) 440-8010
Affected YRUU Conferees: Rebecca D. Hutton, registrar, kimreef@hotmail.com or (978) 362-1149
Offers of volunteer assistance: Irene Bush, volunteer coordinator, SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Star Island update for the morning of June 22, 2007", url: "http://pelicansarepelicans.org/star-island-news/star-island-update-for-the-morning-of-june-22-2007/" });