Fisher Island Homeowners Council Requests COVID-19 Loan

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The owners association of Fisher Island, the private paradise near Miami that recently purchased enough COVID-19 antibody tests for all of its residents and employees, requested a loan under the federal government’s massive stimulus package to bail out small businesses.

At its meeting scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m., according to an agenda obtained by the Miami Herald, the association’s board of directors will vote on whether or not to accept a loan through the Paycheque Protection Program, which is designed to help business owners pay their employees and weather economic turmoil caused by the novel coronavirus.

The agenda indicated that the board would discuss and vote on the approval of the application and the execution of the loan documents with Regions Bank.

As of Tuesday, it was not immediately clear why the Fisher Island Community Association – the richest postal code principal homeowner group in the United States – would need the loan, or how much money the association was looking for.

Through a spokesperson, the association declined to comment. Several board members did not respond to inquiries.

The loans are intended for companies with 500 employees or less to cover wage costs, interest on mortgage bonds, rent and utilities, according to the US Treasury. The government did not take into account the financial situation of a given company in the distribution of funds, asking only for the average monthly payroll of a company and the number of employees, plus some other basic information.

The first round of paycheck protection funding allocated $ 350 billion to small businesses. The US Senate on Tuesday approved a deal that would replenish that pot with an additional $ 310 billion, and it is expected to be approved by the House of Representatives later this week.

On Fisher Island, the main responsibility of the community association is to “manage, maintain and improve the common areas”, according to its website. It’s a labor-intensive task for employees on a 216-acre island full of pristine swimming pools and tennis courts.

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Fisherman’s Island.

Ana Tinsly, spokesperson for SEIU Florida, said the union represents around 130 guards and security guards who are employed directly by the association. So far, she said, it appears the group has been treated well during the pandemic. There have been no layoffs, Tinsly said, and the association has given workers additional paid days off and has been attentive to social distancing practices.

“Honestly, no complaints,” Tinsly said.

The average annual income of island residents was $ 2.5 million in 2015 – the highest of any zip code in America, according to Bloomberg. The Owners Association, which oversees more than 20 small condo associations, is a separate entity from the upscale Fisher Island Club, where memberships cost around $ 250,000.

Residents of Fisher Island are not immune to broader economic forces. In January 2009, during the Great Recession, the The New York Times reported that about a quarter of the island’s 700 condos were for sale and that sellers were cutting prices.

But even then, the general manager of the homeowners association said it had a balanced budget and ended 2008 with a surplus.

“None of the associations on the island are in financial jeopardy,” former association CEO Mark James told The Times.

Fisher Island does international headlines last week after The Herald announced that it had reached an agreement with the University of Miami Health System to make rapid blood tests for COVID-19 antibodies available to the approximately 800 families who live there and of all the workers who maintain the property and patrol its streets. The news has sparked frustration among some, as the availability of tests for the novel coronavirus, including antibody tests, remains limited nationwide.

The island purchased 1,800 tests at $ 17 each – for a total of $ 30,600 – which were administered by doctors at a UHealth clinic stationed on the island. The cost came from the island’s annual operating budget, a spokeswoman said.

Although the tests produce results in about 15 minutes, they are not recommended for diagnosing COVID-19 as it can take weeks after a person has been infected to detect antibodies in the bloodstream, causing false negatives . Still, the tests are invaluable in tracing the spread of the disease and helping health experts determine who has fought it before.

Testing on Fisher Island was due to be completed last week, according to a spokesperson for Fisher Island, and UHealth planned to trace contacts to determine if there has been community spread of the disease on the island.

Lisa Worley, spokesperson for UHealth, said Monday that the conclusions drawn from the tests will not be made public for “several weeks”.

This story has been corrected to say that the Fisher Island Community Association is considering whether or not to accept a loan under the Federal Paycheck Protection Program. An earlier version incorrectly stated that the association was considering applying.

This story was originally published April 21, 2020 8:40 pm.

Aaron Leibowitz is a municipal government reporter for the Miami Herald. He writes about local politics in every city, town, and town in Miami-Dade County and sometimes beyond.

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