The Marsh Creek Board of Directors, meeting in its current configuration for the last time Tuesday, stopped short of immediately appointing a new director to fill a recent vacancy. It handed off that choice to the next Board with three new elected members to be announced December 6th.
Currently, six candidates are competing for three vacant Board seats, and the campaign to fill those seats took an unexpected turn when a fourth seat opened up with the recent resignation of Rick Cozby. The Board is claiming it can appoint that position rather than select the next top-ranked homeowner candidate in the election currently underway.
“It is impossible for the 4th candidate to be named director because that would remove the discretion of the next board”, said Director Brent Burkey, in reference to some homeowner suggestions that the Board appoint the 4th top vote-getter chosen by homeowners.
Pushing a harder line was Board Member Ken Gentile, who asserted that the Marsh Creek bylaws are “clear” that the Board “has the discretion to choose whom we want”, suggesting the Board has no need “to discuss it with the community”.
In an indication that the Board had already zeroed in on its choice of candidates, Board President Barbara O’Connor reminded directors to “keep the names private”.
The Board meeting, held in a room at the Marsh Creek Country Club, drew a small smattering of interested homeowners who either attended in person or by Zoom.
A May Management representative reported receiving 25 unsigned ballots among the 200 received, and said an effort is underway to reach out to those homeowners to visit their offices on A1A to validate their choices. Ballot counting will begin at 3pm on December 6th, and finalize once the last homeowners arrive for the General Meeting.
RECYCLING TRASH
Homeowner Peter Clayton asked what plans the Board had to address the accumulating heaps of yard waste on Marsh Creek’s narrow streets and the failure of Waste Management to fulfill its county-contracted weekly yard debris pickup. His concern was immediately echoed by several Board members. One noted “the neighborhood looks terrible, the piles are bigger and bigger”.
The discussion volleyed back and forth between whether or not Marsh Creek should hire its own pickup crew. Board member Mike Williams said even the community’s contracted landscape company, Brightview, “wouldn’t be interested”.
Other suggestions revolved around urging homeowners who do not fall under the Villas/Patio homes contract with Brightview – which does remove debris – to curb their trimming until the New Year. The prolonged discussion finally led Board President Barbara O’Connor to agree to “give them (Waste Management) another call tomorrow and see what the status is”.
