Dear fellow Cypress Bend 1 Unit Owner:

The primary opposition to the Board seems to come from those unable or unwilling to pay the assessment. 

Inability or unwillingness to pay an assessment does not constitute justification to subject the rest of the unit owners to unwarranted financial risk.

As a group of Cypress Bend Condo 1 unit owners we call ourselves 'Real Friends of CB1' (Real Friends) because real friends would not knowingly jeopardize our community with a risky, expensive it effort to modify, cancel or rebid the existing concrete restoration contracts.  The ridiculous and dangerous campaign by the group known as ‘Cypress Bend Owners’ (CBO) is described at https://cypressbendowners.com/condo1/.

RECOMMENDED CANDIDATES (Real Friends)

Real Friends of CB1 recommends the following candidates who we understand have a position to Continue the progress under the current set of concrete restoration contracts;

1.   Celine Corriveau: 30-year experienced Property Manager

2.   Joan Edison: RN BSN with strong organizational skills, detail oriented, internal audit

3.   Wendy Elder: Experienced board president with proven complex decision making and results, Realtor

4.   Derek Fuelling: Experienced board member, Certified Financial Planner

5.   Tracy Inverso: Business Manager with strong business operations and diverse people skills

6.   Ted Jagusztyn: Experienced board member with master’s degree in business administration

7.   JoAnn Murphy: Experienced board member, banking, budget management, estate planning 

8.   Douglas Paul: Experienced board member, Financial Services

9.   Annette Pelletier: Experienced board member, Licensed Community Association Manager  

CLICK HERE FOR REAL FRIENDS DETAILED BIOS

CONTINUE WITH EXISTING CONTRACTS (Real Friends)

The current Board has done an excellent job at moving the concrete restoration effort forward.  The Board has used sound judgement and provided transparency, contrary to the false allegations of CBO. The Board hired two experts to handle the complex process for the 50 Year Certification. There has been no fraud, no embezzlement nor any big mistakes. Fines were averted. This board hired first rate contractors, not shoddy firms which is so rampant in South Florida. Work started recently in the second building. The project is underbudget.  The repairs to date visually show that the buildings were in great need of repair.  The City of Pompano Beach staff even complimented the CB1 effort for their high-quality work.

The Board has been blamed for the high assessment but the big factors are;

1. raging inflation, 

2. sky-high insurance rates, and 

3. an overly aggressive implementation schedule in the state law has lots of condos competing for a limited supply of contractors which drove up the prices. 

Many unit owners fail to grasp the importance of the Board's fiduciary obligation to follow the certification laws and that obligation was very past due.

These uncontrollable factors have contributed to a high assessment which causes all of us a lot of pain. Realize too that many condominium associations throughout the entire state have the same, if not worse, problem.

MODIFY EXISTING CONTRACTS (Cypress Bend Owners)

While CBO contends the accepted bid was an outrageously high outlier, the fact is that the $15.8m bid for concreate restoration was the median of the 3 bids received;

$17,271, 772.41 - Restore Construction

$15,857,159.0 - Paradigm Construction Group (Accepted bid before it was stripped to minimum requirements)

$11,343,592.87 - The Chosen Group

The CBO group contends that the cost should have been substantially less as expect to somehow make the project cost $8m, which is unlikely and absurd.

Modifying, cancelling, delaying or rebidding signed contracts would be a huge financial fiasco for the many reasons.

There are all sorts of high costs and legal restrictions to modify existing contracts or credit line.  

Costs of delaying the ongoing project could be an ADDITIONAL;

1. Retroactive fines; $406,200 (As of March 2025, See Fines, one-time)

2. Monthly fine; $57,000 per month  (See Fines, every month until project complete, potential $1,387,000 if two yrs.)

3. Contract cancellation settlement fees, $3m?

4. Attorney fees to defend against contract cancellations, $750K?

5. Re-engineering of plans and permits, $500K?

The fines from the City of Pompano Beach are certain, retroactive and immediate.  

While some may consider the estimates to be high, high additional costs are likely to some extent.

A legal remedy to unpaid contractors could be a construction lien on your property.

We could face an additional $5 million or more, beyond on top of the funds already spent and the new rebid price.

There is no assurance that a rebid would result in a project cost less than $15m and a rebid could easily result in an estimate higher than $15m.

It is easy to make inflated claims about real estate and contracting skills, the reality is that red tape, infighting, and lawsuits would undoubtedly delay certification one to two years. 

There are other considerations from a prolonged time-frame too like, inconvenience, damage to buildings, and danger from falling concrete.

The new bidder might do shoddy work, which is so prevalent in S. Florida.

NO COMPREHENDIBLE PLAN FROM CBO

 In 2024 the CBO group’s Action page stated their goals including; 

“Unwind decision approved by the Board regarding the Assessment.” 

In 2025 the CBO group’s Action page states their goals including;

“Review decision approved by the Board regarding the Assessment" and "Establish a Committee to address requirements of the milestone Certification as an focused and affordable project”

It seems as though this group has inconsistent, ambiguous plans.  What kind of Board operation can be expected from the CBO slate?

If the CBO faction were to take over, will unit owners feel secure to turn over access to a $15 million line of credit to a largely unknown group?

This CBO effort has red flags for even greater costs and possible negative impact on our peaceful community environment.  Cypress Bend 1 needs resounding support of all unit owners to continue moving forward with the project.  This obstructionism from CBO needs to end once and for all, for the benefit of our lovely Cypress Bend 1 community.

We urge unit owners to oppose the CBO effort in order to protect our environment, our assets, and support Real Friend’s effort toward finally fulfilling the 50 Year Certification.

Paid for by David W. Caulkett, Real Friends of CB1