Sinkus, Hover elected

Two incumbents reelected.

Only 65 members attended the Annual POA membership meeting on Tuesday to hear the results of the annual board of directors election. In April, 33,602 ballots, representing lots with annual dues up to date were mailed. By election night, about 23 percent had been returned.

Nine candidates vied for four seats at last week’s election, including one that will last only one year. It belonged to a board member who had resigned.

When the votes were counted, Mary Sinkus who had 4,076, Jerold Hover (3,875) and incumbent David Whelchel (3,664) were the winners of the three full threeyear terms. Pat Laury, came in fourth with 3,341 and will serve the one year term.

The chairman of the POA election committee, Tom Throne, presented some portions of the bylaws concerning empty seats on the board. After the ballots were mailed, a fifth seat was vacated when the board voted to remove John Nuttall. According to the governing documents, if a seat becomes empty after the

ballots have been created, it will be up the new board to fill that seat. Usually, the new board asks for resumes from interested parties and then interviews potential candidates, he said. However, a board-appointed candidate only serves until the next annual election and then the members vote to fill the remainder of the term.

There are no mechanisms for write-in candidates, Throne said, but he added that the write-ins that were received would not have changed the results of the election.

Before the election results were announced, general manager Tom Judson presented the annual financial statement and

reported on some board activities.

The POA had received a clean audit, he said, and all the numbers are available on the POA website.

Current assets and investments were both down because some cash and funds from CDs were used on capital projects including the renovation at the Country Club and the beach at Lake Avalon. Property and equipment were up, partly because of the purchase of land from Cooper.

Current capital projects include the renovation at Branchwood, a new trailhead at Branchwood, a new check-in hut at Blowing Springs Park and some upgrades to the RV slots. Metfield received a new deck around the pool, some renovations in the pool house and an upgrade to the restrooms outside in the park. Tennis had two courts resurfaced. Several

areas received new playground equipment, and some money was budgeted to pay for the design of a new community center, although construction may be some time in the future.

Some capital projects were undertaken for golf, including new bunkers at Dogwood and the hydrology study that helped decide the fate of the valley courses. The renovated clubhouse at the Country Club was also listed as a golf expense.

One big project will be paid for with funds from the water department, which are separate from the rest of the POA. New meters are planned for all water company customers.

Both Lakepoint and BV’s at the Country Club have been performing over projections, Judson said.

Judson also spoke about the recent decision to close Scotsdale golf course. It was an unusually cold

winter, Judson said, and the tarps that cover the sensitive Bermuda Greens were not heavy enough. As a result, 14 of the 18 greens need to be reseeded. Brittany, the nine-hole course in the Metfield area, has the exact same greens, but the Brittany greens have had time to become established and were not as badly affected.

Golfers have asked why the POA can’t move the greens from Berksdale, part of which has been permanently closed, but Judson explained that those greens are bent grass and unlike Bermuda, Bent Grass doesn’t do well in warm weather. It’s the wrong time of year to move Bent Grass turf, he said.

After the election results were announced, the meeting was opened up for comments from members. None of the 65 members in attendance had a comment.