Private island was approved for $2M small business loan. Residents voted to reject it.
The wealthy residents of Fisher Island near Miami have directed the island’s homeowners’ association to turn down a $2 million forgivable loan from the federal government.
On Monday, the association was approved for a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, a stimulus plan intended to help small businesses pay their workers during the economic shutdown caused by COVID-19. But on Wednesday, the association asked the island’s 800 or so families to weigh in: Should the luxury island accept the stimulus money or not?
After the votes were tallied, the Fisher Island Community Association’s board of directors met Friday at 5 p.m. and voted unanimously not to accept the $2 million payout, according to a spokeswoman for the board.
Matt Barnes, a Fisher Island resident, told WPLG earlier Friday that he didn’t want the island to take the money.
“There’s small businesses that are in this country right now that need money,” Barnes said. “We need to make sure that they get the money as quickly as possible. I don’t think Fisher Island needs $2 million.”
In the Wednesday email to residents, the homeowners’ association president, Roberto Sosa, said it was important to the board to consider its members’ views.
“It is also important to the board that the right decision is made for the island,” Sosa wrote.
The community association is responsible for maintaining common areas on the 216-acre island full of pristine landscaping, swimming pools and tennis courts, and it directly employs people to do that work.
Ana Tinsly, a spokeswoman for SEIU Florida, said Tuesday that the union represents about 130 groundskeepers and security workers who are employed by the association.
So far, she said, it seems the group has been treated well during the pandemic. There haven’t been any layoffs, Tinsly said, and the association has given workers extra paid days off and has been mindful about social distancing practices.
Average annual income among the island’s residents was $2.5 million in 2015 — the highest of any ZIP code in America, according to Bloomberg. The homeowners’ association, which oversees more than 20 smaller condo associations, is a separate entity from the ritzy Fisher Island Club, where memberships cost about $250,000.
Fisher Island made international headlines last week after the Herald reported it had worked out a deal with the University of Miami Health System to make rapid blood tests for COVID-19 antibodies available to the 800 or so families that live there, and to all the workers who maintain the property and patrol its streets. The news sparked frustration from some as the availability of testing 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 from a UHealth clinic stationed on the island. The cost came out of the island’s annual operating budget, a spokeswoman said.
The antibody tests are valuable in plotting the spread of COVID-19 and helping health experts determine who has already fought it off.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 6:24 PM.
