POA board replaces McKee
There was a sense of deja vu when the POA board met in a work session on Thursday. Once again the board chose a new director to fill the term of a director that had been removed from the board. For the second time in three years, their choice was Mike Abb.
Abb ran for the board in 2018. There were four seats open in that election and it drew nine candidates. When the votes were counted in May, two incumbents were reelected and two new directors, Jerry Hover and Mary Sinkus, joined the board. But by then there was another seat vacant. In April 2018, the board voted to remove John Nuttall. Since the ballots were already out, it was up to the board to appoint a member to serve until the May 2019 election.
According to the governing documents, the board isn’t limited to choosing from the field of candidates on a recent ballot. In 2018, the first time he was appointed, Abb was part of that field along with other candidates that had gathered more votes. Abb
chose not to run for reelection in 2019 and wasn’t on the 2020 ballot.
Steve McKee was removed from the board after the ballots went out for the May 2020 election so, once again, the board had the option to appoint a director. At the work session, the announcement was made that they would appoint Abb.
General manager Tom Judson told the board that the city will probably use eminent domain to take possession of a tract of land the POA had leased to the city previously. When the city got ready to build a fire training structure on the land, it realized it could not build on leased property.
It doesn’t make sense for the POA to block the eminent domain, Judson said. The city has already valued the land at $110,000 and will pay that amount to the POA. The city has also checked with the nearest neighbors who have no objection. He reminded the board that all residents may save some money on insurance costs with the training center.
The land would probably never be used by the POA, although it’s surrounded by common property.
The city understands that the POA can’t sell a property without a membership vote and that would delay the process. The decision to pursue eminent domain will help both the city and the POA, attorney Doug McCash explained.
The board heard about a policy change for open forum comments. An addition to policy 1.07 details how open forum comments are handled during a virtual meaning. Those comments need to be written and sent to the corporate secretary 24 hours before the meeting. The comments will be read out loud, but can only take three minutes. The reading ends at the three-minute mark.
Another new section encourages members to email questions to the board. Those questions will always be answered and may be shared at the board meeting.