EFTA00523411.pdf

SAINT JAMES ISLANDS SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Ideas and suggestions Visit Week 1/2017 John Christensen W/ Dwight Thornton, Butler EFTA00523411 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Arrived Monday, January 2^4 with helper Dwight Thornton who is a formally trained Butler. Initial impressions, compared to earlier visits to the Island: Overall the Island is kept in good shape, but with a few trouble areas. What stood out as great: Landscaping, areas looked clean and manicured. Grass was nicely trimmed, beaches were kept clean of debris, Boat dock looked nice with visible wood instead of carpet. New white siding on dock. New stone gate to master compound and attached wall looked impressive. Nice addition Pools looked clean and well maintained Interior housekeeping very well done The following was standing out as lacking maintenance: Little C is in rough shape. Needing paint and gel coat repair Lots of stone work in disrepair along roads and decorative stone walls. Lights on entire island. Timers off, missing and dead bulbs, not pointed at trees, visible wires Cushions for pretty much all outside furniture, ripped, moldy, dirty Maintenance vehicles. Extremely dirty, flat tires, lots of rust Captains office, inside and out. Dirty and in disrepair Improvements recommended: EFTA00523412 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS MAINTENANCE SUGGESTIONS Lights on the island are in surprisingly bad shape. It needs major attention. Timers needs to be set pretty much everywhere. Some lights are on in daytime, other do not come on at night. Light bulbs should be standardized. At Flag pole Pool office sconces I counted 4 different types. Two of those were incandescent and burned out. My checklist for Danny Vicars includes the correct type of bulbs to use. Available locally at Home Depot The palm tree lights and statue lights needs major adjustment ones brought in working order. They point in all different directions Art ift.) Danny Vicars excuse for the state of the lights was that he told his guys to fix it and that Brice screwed it up. Danny is a procrastinator and will not take any personal responsibility. It is always someone else's fault. Anna tried to rectify the situation by bringing in an outside contractor to get caught up. He was told by Danny not to touch the lights. Danny Etienne is close to having the same knowledge level as Danny Vicars since he is the guy doing the actual work. The atmosphere on the island would greatly improve if Vicars was gone. And a new engineer would greatly improve the condition of systems. VEHICLES: g 3 EFTA00523413 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Tap is very responsive to get broken down vehicles repaired, but the number of vehicles constantly needing attention leaves little time for preventive maintenance. Vehicles left outside year round is creating massive maintenance needs. Everything rusts to pieces in short time. A large enough shed for inside storage would do wonders. Kawasaki's are great for most tasks, but when landscaping uses them to haul rocks and pull equipment, the belt drive breaks. The landscape managers need to make it clear that these are for tool and people transport only. I would recommend letting each user be responsible for cleaning their own work vehicle at the end of the day. Have them stop 10 min early and hose down the vehicle before parking it for the night, hang tools in correct place and leave everything nice, clean and organized. To expedite this cleaning, I would construct a "car wash" with a pressure cleaner and sprayer hose mounted on the wall (See picture of area) so it is a matter of parking the vehicle, spray it down and park it without having to hook up hoses. When all vehicles are clean, two guys clean the area for mud and small rocks before getting on the boat. Flat tires is another issue. Install a compressor so staff can inflate tires as well after vehicle is cleaned if needed TOOLS: EFTA00523414 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Tools missing and needing replacement all the time is expensive. My solution to the tool situation is something I've implemented elsewhere with success Each worker starts with a fully stocked set of tools as of January A $500 tool purchase escrow is offered each person (amount is my typical suggestion) At the end of the year, if all tools are in place, the worker will get to keep the cash. If tools where purchased to supplement, purchase amount is deducted from tool escrow. Tool purchases due to wear and tear not included Each worker receives tools that are individually marked for him (epoxy paint marked or with initials engraved. (Cheap engraving tool can do this) This typically makes workers much more responsible and protective about their tools. A $20 Dremel engraver and everyone can enter their initials on their tools. They may also need a way to store their tools under lock and key to prevent othesr stealing them. MARINE: on 5 EFTA00523415 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS It seems to me that an unnecessary amount of boat traffic is taking place. Captains leave to transfer staff and vendors, shopping trips and who knows what. It does not seem that any scheduling is done. I'd implement a log book on each vessel. Everyone going somewhere enters date, time, purpose of trip. After a month, enough date will be collected to make an assessment if the marine operations can be optimized better. Little C is taking a beating from all the heavy materials it is used to carry. Especially lumber and cement blocks beats up the boat. When I was there, epoxy paint was spilled over seats and interior With 2 islands, the staff will increase in size and material runs will increase as well, Little C can't handle that. I know there have been talks about new boats for a while. The ideal fleet would look like this: 20+ seat catamaran for crew transport only. This boat leaves Red Hook in the morning, makes a stop at GSJ and then stays at LSJ until the end of the day. Then LSJ — GSJ - Red Hook 35 Foot Munson landing craft. Flat bottom and small enough to do a direct run the shortest distance between LSJ and GSJ with most smaller vehicles. Will also be the materials boat for both islands. Will handle a Ford 250 with a load. PRD is Managers boat, security boat and vendor transport Sport IS t lives on GSJ as boat for Chris and his crew needs Nanna and Nautica JEE and guest transport Barge Existing barge seems well suited for both islands Manager on Island should be a trained captain as well to fill in where needed STAFFING: EFTA00523416 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Attached to this note is a separate file with flow chart with my primary recommendation for Island staffing. I have also attached job descriptions for the new suggested hires as well as a job description for Ana's suggested role as Field Manager. Brice and Karen recommended Ana that she starts working at the office instead, but I think that would be a huge mistake. She has a great working relationship with the staff and vendors in particular. And while she may not be the best Manager, I think this reduced role will give her a better chance of succeeding. She simply has too much on her plate right now. I have a couple of suggestions for the House Manager position. A person with experience in fine homes is needed, and cooking skills would be great as well. I can find that person for you. I think you badly need a person in the Director of Properties role. I know several have failed, but it is not impossible. The key is to not expect the Director to take over the running of the island, but be a support role for the managers, implementing better training for all staff, procedures and guidelines. Should you decide to send Brice and Karen to the Islands, I would put them in the role described as the house manager and still let Ana handle the field. I don't know if Brice can be trained to interact better with vendors and do less self repairs which I understand is causing problems. This could just be rumors, but his reputation is not stellar on the island. LANDSCAPE STAFF: It is hard for me to see how much landscaping crew is needed now that you have two properties. It depends on how much improvement you plan at GSJ. But, LSJ is suffering in several areas since the addition of GSJ. Roads needs more attention Stone walls needs attention Your idea of two landscape managers seems good. I think it is a good idea to the split the responsibility. When LSJ staff is sent to GSJ when you want quiet time, my only concern is that landscaping will quickly deteriorate on LSJ. It needs daily upkeep. If my org chart is approved, then the household manager will manage the Main Compound Landscape crew. I think they should remain on LSJ at all times to keep your areas top notch. Household manager will coordinate so they operate away from where you currently are. HOUSEKEEPING: EFTA00523417 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Overall impression is that Dulce and her team is doing a great job, especially inside. Dwight spent a lot of time with the girls and corrected the area he found needing the most improvement: An arrival and departure check list was produced and is attached with this document. I will have it translated into Spanish. Dulce is a very hard worker and very efficient. Unless illness or vacation situations occur, the current housekeeping team is sufficient to clean the existing buildings on both islands. Dwight got the big rotary iron working and this will save the girls a lot of time ironing sheets. A number of harsh chemicals were removed from the inventory and replaced with products that are less smelly and tough on the surfaces. Better and more efficient deep cleaning procedures implemented SERVING STAFF: Training performed getting Anna and her daughters to follow more correct procedures. After some tries, the basic principles where taught. You will not have the same level of expertise as in NYC, using young school kids, but they got the concept. Anna was provided with pictures of correct table setting options, using existing cutlery and china ware SECURITY S EFTA00523418 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS GSJ seems much more likely to have people trespassing than is the case on LSJ due to the nice beach at the dock and not at least Christmas Cove. Christmas Cove is a famous stop over for cruisers to the Virgin Islands and will always have a large number of boat visitors. It is listed in every cruise guide as the perfect stop because of the shelter provided and the free mooring. Pizza Pi and numerous tour boats with snorkelers make it a famous stop as well. USVI Law regarding beach usage from V.I. Open shorelines Act of 1971 The area along the coastlines of the United States Virgin Islands from the seaward line of low tide, running inland a distance of fifty feet; or to the extreme seaward boundary of natural vegetation which spreads continuously inland; or to a natural barrier; which- ever is the shortest distance. Whenever the shore is extended into the sea by filling or dredging, the boundary of the shorelines shall remain at the line of vegetation as previously established. With the public legally having access, there are ways to discourage this: A security vehicle parked near the beach and moved on a regular basis. This can be a Kawasaki Mule painted Blue with SECURITY stickers, a police light bar and a search light on top. Make it even more efficient by writing K9 unit on the vehicle and have a Dog cage mounted on the cargo bed. A security boat as we already discussed. This boat should do a daily trip or two into Christmas Cove and slowly cruise by. I've included paint scheme suggestion. Dogs. Best deterrent there is. But it also opens up for a potential law suit if they attack. A big enough dog to look scary but not trained as guard dog. The island manager should train the dogs to only poop in designated areas. This is easy training if they are raised as pups. Dogs will need to either live with manager or have a kennel. Breeds that stay active in hot weather and are well suited for the tropics: Doberman Australian Koolie (Not Collie) German Shorthaired pointer. And these breeds of dogs would also love to follow you around the island even if you are on a bike. Motion detectors with flood lights. Motion detectors with dog bark (Speakers 50 feet away to sound realistic) Beware of Dog signage EFTA00523419 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Absolutely No open Fire signage Solicit help from Pizza Pi crew? Make them a Christmas Cove ambassador, paying them a fee to help encourage cruisers to stay off the island and respect the area, not leave trash, light fires? They are pretty popular among the cruisers, so they would be an asset to have on your side. PUNCH LIST ADDITIONS: EFTA00523420 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Items I found while walking the island. Anna is already informed Island roads are not in good shape. Large stones on road in several places. You can see weeds growing around them, so they have been there for a while. Also, quite a bit of debris on both roads leading to kite house as well as water erosion. Flagpole pool equipment room door (Facing GSJ) does not latch so the wind opens and closes it, with dirt and leaves flying in. Fix latch Flagpole office equipment room door does not properly close. Needs trimming EFTA00523421 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Flagpole office pool equipment storage needs organizing Office sconces at Flag pole has 4 different kinds of light bulbs installed, 2 of them burned out Flag pool office wall switch missing screws and detached from wall I2 EFTA00523422 Captains office steps needs rehab. New coat of paint of more durable surface, storage room full of trash EFTA00523423 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Storage room in tunnel for irrigation fittings needs better organizing/shelves Kite house generator room door needs paint and weed trimming the area in front EFTA00523424 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Basket in front of dock needs to be cleaned and trimmed Stone median right in front of south service area entrance gates has exposed wires and lots of weeds. EFTA00523425 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS A large number of missing rocks in walls at master compound. I think it would beneficial if a rock falls off, that it is put on top of the wall and then once a month someone mixes a bucket of cement and does stone repairs Door handle to Master bedroom needs to be fixed. It is loose Unless telephone in Master Bath needs to be able to be moved all over the room, the wire should be shortened and neatly bundled ;n 16 EFTA00523426 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Furniture on back patio by master bed is moldy and the slip covers are in need of repair Light bulbs out in outside bath area Light switch covers are yellow and not looking very good on MBR patio EFTA00523427 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Planters by Master Compound and by the gym should be relocated on a regular basis. If left in the same spot, the coral stone gets moldy and dark. All 4 cabanas have a strange mix of window shutter hardware. Different patinas, missing hardware and wrong lengths I • 4 gammon.' Iguana crossing sign to Master Compound is just a white surface. Replace? :. I3 EFTA00523428 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Standing water under Tiki hut kitchen seems to have left mold underneath. Should be pressure cleaned and well. Lots of debris underneath. Furniture next to Tiki hut should be under tarp when JEE not in residence. All furniture is rusted and cushions are moldy pg 19 EFTA00523429 SAINT JAMES ISLANDS Tennis court doors need adjusting Floor mops should be sanitized and then hung in appropriate racks for drying/storage after use. Dwight has shown housekeepers how to correctly sanitize. pg. 20 EFTA00523430