Lely Country Club Property Owner’s Newsletter		December 2025
	President’s Message By Paul Labonte, President As we conclude 2025, I’m pleased to report that our Board now consists of 11 dedicated members including 2 new members, Elli Taylor and Cindy Jepsen. Volunteer service remains essential to our community’s success. In my first year as President, following my previous roles as a Board Member in 2023 and Treasurer in 2024, I have focused on maintaining and enhancing our Association to preserve property values. This year, the Board reviewed the condition of our monuments, prompted by damage to one on St. Andrews Blvd caused by county contractors. The faded/stained paint and outdated stonework highlighted the need for modern upgrades. The Board has approved the renovation of all 4 monuments and the addition of landscaping to our medians. With the upcoming sewer project and water line upgrades scheduled for 2027 and beyond, these improvements cannot be delayed further. A notice regarding the 2026 budget and dues was sent out earlier. Dues (which are due by Jan 31, 2026) will increase by $15 per household next year, our first increase in 3 years. This is primarily due to increased costs of efforts to collect overdue dues, including placing liens on properties when necessary. Our Reserves remain strong, and further neighborhood enhancements are planned, including additional landscaping. Members are reminded to respect property boundaries and refrain from altering landscaping that is not on their own property. The Royal Palm Golf Course is a valued neighbor and maintaining mutual respect benefits everyone.		Table of Contents President’s Message Monument Upgrade  Field Trip to Collier Seminole Park  Architectural Review Requirements Reminder    Sign up to receive our email newsletter by contacting: Philippe Gabart pgabart@resortgroupinc.com

 

To give you all an idea of the important and meaningful highlights of the accomplishments that our Board has achieved for the benefit of our entire community during 2025, please review and consider the following:

 February 2025

• Held our annual member meeting and established our budget for the year – which focused on improvements and enhancements to the look and feel of our community

March 2025

• Hired a new Attorney, Cheryl Hastings of the Gunster Law Firm to represent Lely Country Club. Hastings is a specialist in Real Estate Law
• New financial institution (Wintrust) added to our portfolio to expand our investment options
• New ARC guidelines for Villa Roofs established
• New Compliance effort to enhance and bring consistency our mailboxes
• Threat of Litigation – (resolved)
• Website updates and changes put in place

April 2025

• New “Code of Conduct” introduced to Board Members with unanimous acceptance
• Strategic Planning process introduced

May 2025

• Monument damage assessed & compensation settlement with county completed
• Holiday lighting contract canceled, and board will manage holiday lighting and décor

June 2025

• Confirmation of Street Covenant validity by our Attorney
• Another litigation issue pending re: short term leasing

July 2025

• Board approved new monument upgrades
• Mediation date set for pending litigation

October 2025

• Litigation Case resolved @ Mediation
• Review, update, and execute a contract extension with our community management company – Resort Management

November 2025

• Review of a new mailbox proposal
• Field Trip to Seminole Park scheduled (additional information included within this newsletter)
• New Speed Indicators installed on Augusta Blvd (both directions)
• Update of Monument Project and infrastructure begins
• Upgrade of Electricals and Well Controls

You can see – we got a lot done this year.  Looking ahead, I am optimistic for an even better 2026. Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New year!

Warm regards,

Paul R. Labonte

President/Treasurer

 

Monument Status and Upgrades

By Sharon Sutton and Bart Andersen, Board Members

The Board of Lely Country Club Property Owners Association is excited to share this artist rendition for updates to both our entrance monuments.

What started as a simple County sewer maintenance project on St. Andrews turned into an extended multi-stage project that disrupted our St. Andrew entrance and significantly damaged one of our St. Andrews monuments.  Most importantly, it delayed our planned work on our monument upgrade project.

We did receive financial compensation from the County to repair the damaged monument and were able to proceed with the repair and the start of our monument upgrades late this fall.  You may see the results coming together on St. Andrews, which as of this writing, priming and painting is in process on St. Andrews, and re-installation of lighting is coming to the damaged monument.

We are repurposing all of the landscape (shrubs and bushes) from the monuments and placing them within the center medians.  You will also see improvements, with palms being added to some medians on both St. Andrews and Augusta.  Front entrance medians of both streets are also receiving landscape updates.  We are adding color and flowers to both Lely Country Club entrances. Monument renovations are now in process on Augusta.  All of this monument work has collided with the holiday season, and we have unfortunately been forced scale back and adjust planned holiday décor at the front monuments.  We will adjust holiday lighting and décor as renovations allow.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as this process continues to unfold and hope monument construction will reach completion before the Christmas barring any other delays.  This monument upgrade is the start of a plan to update the look and feel of our front entrances and medians.  Landscape work will continue into the new year and we look forward to continuous landscape improvements throughout our community going forward into 2026.

Field Trip to Collier Seminole Park

By Cindy Jepson

We are happy to invite those that have interest in our area State Parks to a wonderful experience exploring Collier-Seminole State Park.

The 7,271-acre Collier-Seminole State Park lies partly within the great mangrove swamp of South Florida, one of the largest mangrove swamps in the world. A wide variety of wildlife, including several imperiled species, inhabit this unusual blend of temperate and tropical native plant communities.

Collier-Seminole State Park features vegetation and wildlife typical of Florida’s Everglades. Although rare elsewhere, the park covers one of three original stands of royal palm in Florida, co-existing with large areas of mangrove swamp.

The park is the site of a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, the last existing Bay City Walking Dredge. Built in 1924, it was used to build the Tamiami Trail Highway (U.S. 41) through the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp, linking Tampa and Miami and opening Southwest Florida to travelers.

To reserve your spot click here to sign up online or text Penny 508-612-0928 or Cindy 651-329-2012 with the date you’d like to attend and number in your party.   Carpooling recommended

 

 Are you considering making any exterior modifications to your home – do I need an ARC for that??

By Dana Finnegan, Board Member and Lead ARC Committee Member

First, what is an ARC?  “ARC” is an acronym for the “Architectural Review Committee”.  This committee’s primary function is to review submitted requests for Approval of Exterior Modifications”.  Should a Lely Country Club homeowner consider making any modifications to the exterior of their property, an ARC request form must be submitted (additional detail below) for consideration and approved prior to any modifications being attempted.  The ARC “form” can be found on our Association website – https://lelycountryclub.com. You can complete and submit your request to our community property manager, Resorts Management.  Resorts will distribute your request to the ARC committee members for review.  Committee members will review the request and in most cases can respond to the interested homeowner within 14 days.  Responses will be followed up with an email confirmation.  (It is very important the you assure that Resorts Management has your correct and current email on file).

So, when do you really need to submit an ARC request?  Here are some general guidelines:

• For just about every exterior modification you plan for your property. We do not review any interior modifications (unless those modifications impact the exterior of the home.  e., changing sliding doors that lead to the outside).  However, if you are in doubt, it is always best to submit your modification request, so it is properly recorded.
• This includes (but not limited to) all major projects such as the replacement of; roofs, windows, doors, and garage doors.
• All additions and demolitions.
• All exterior painting projects, unless the new colors remain the same.
• All landscaping changes, including (but not limited to) the addition or removal of trees, bushes, shrubs, or major lawn work.
• Changes to your driveway; location, material, or color.
• The addition or change of outdoor equipment, such as generators, propane tanks, and pool equipment.
• Changes or updates to your lanai, pool cage or pool barriers.

The mission of the ARC Committee is simple; we are working to uphold the community’s protective covenants, preserve property values and assure a consistent look throughout the development.  We are here to help if you need us.  We are your neighbor’s and want what’s best for all of us.  Reach out to Resorts Management should you have any questions.