As many of you know, the CDS has fallen on difficult times courtesy of the School Sink lawsuit. The bills are relentless and have eviscerated 40 years’ worth of savings. As custodians of the NSS-CDS your board is often charged with difficult decisions which must be made to serve the best interests of your organization.
An unexpected opportunity has arisen which affords us a chance to enjoy the best of two worlds. An offer has been made to purchase Cathedral from the NSS-CDS. The purchaser(s) are avid cave divers and explorers and will continue to allow NSS-CDS members to dive the cave (obviously with waivers / permission) and will give the NSS-CDS a right of first refusal should they ever decide to sell the property. They will also do the maintenance we have not been able to do and place a plaque on the property honoring the memory of Sheck Exley.
About now some of you may be wondering why we are doing this. The answer is that our cash is all but depleted and we need funds to pay the attorney fees. Also, it takes money to make money. Our webstore has been operating at a net loss for some time now and this is not acceptable. We need to revamp the store and stock it with viable merchandise that people need and want to buy. All of this takes cash which we no longer have. If the CDS is to survive we need to restructure our operations in such a manner that they will generate a predictable revenue stream which will allow us to not only survive, but thrive in the future. Should the worst happen, we need to be able to negotiate a payment plan that is acceptable to all concerned. We cannot do this in our present situation.
Now I realize that some of you may have other ideas about what we could have done and how we could have accomplished it but consider that CDS members will still have access to the system, the property will be repaired and maintained and the memory of Sheck Exley will be honored. I hope you understand why this is being done and whether you like it or not, at least realize it is being done out of necessity and with good intent. If any of you wish to make an offer on this property please do so by contacting our property manager, Al Clements on or before Wednesday, November 4th. Otherwise we will move forward and accept the offer we have in hand.
Respectfully,
Joe Citelli, Chairman NSS-CDS