Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Bird shelter reopens, but future unclear

By CRISTINA SILVA
Published February 10, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Ted McLaren] Rick Gechter, avian care specialist, administers fluid nourishment Friday to a great blue heron at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores. Gechter and other employees worked as volunteers while the sanctuary was closed. [Times photo: Ted McLaren] Jaclyn Schenning, staff aviculturist, feeds fish to a group of white pelicans Friday. The sanctuary was closed temporarily over questions about state workers' compensation insurance.

INDIAN SHORES - The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary reopened Friday afternoon, just two days after it was shut down for failing to pay workers' compensation insurance.

But even as the waterfront refuge's door again opened to the public, environmentalists and employees say the sanctuary is still teetering near financial ruin, with charitable donations at an all-time low and its next insurance payment looming.

The charity's financial troubles were further agitated when a management power struggle broke out Friday.

The shelter's longtime public relations director resigned Friday afternoon after president and founder Ralph Heath neglected to tell his staff he had allowed an outside environmentalist to move into the charity's property and start an emergency fundraising campaign.

"It's time to move on," said spokeswoman Suzanne Gilmore-Sakal, who handled much of the refuge's daily responsibilities. "I hope and pray that things will get better and smooth out."

Last week, Melinda Lindsey, president of Earthfriends.org, a nonprofit group created Wednesday, rented out a home on the sanctuary's property and begin contacting potential donors.

Gilmore-Sakal said she was surprised Lindsey had taken such an active role in the organization's future.

The shelter was closed Wednesday after officials from the state Department of Financial Services received an anonymous tip that the sanctuary had been operating without workers' compensation insurance. A brief investigation revealed the shelter's insurance policy that covers its 21 employees had lapsed Dec. 7.

On Friday, the sanctuary proved to officials that it had made the payment of $2,731.93.

The Suncoast's bill payments are handled by Helen Heath, Ralph's 97-year-old mother. Both she and her son were unable to be reached for comment Friday.

Gilmore-Sakal, who spent 18 years at Suncoast, said she grew uneasy when she learned the Heaths had failed to make the insurance payment.

"I was waiting for the other shoe to drop," she said.

The Suncoast's finances have been in the red for some time, IRS records show. The charity's expenditures have consistently exceeded revenue, and by the end of 2005 it only had $40,000 in savings, according to the most recent available tax documents.

[Last modified February 10, 2007, 05:58:57]