In May 2012 three new faces came to the POA Board. After the May 2015 election none will be left.
Board Chairman Charlie Teal said after last week's board of directors meeting that he's looking forward to returning to retirement. He chose not to run for a second term, but he may be active on the committee level, he said.
He was elected with Mike Erixon who resigned in January when he moved out of the area. Also elected that year was Randall Gnant who resigned in February 2012 after the board cut an automatic assessment increase of $1 a year from their assessment increase proposal. The proposal failed even without the automatic increase.
Joan Glubczynski was appointed to finish Gnant's term. Last night she said her employment situation changed recently so she can't dedicate enough time to the volunteer job.
The candidates for the May ballot are Stephen McKee, Patrick Laury, Ron Stratton and Joshua Hart. Ballots will be mailed to members this spring and the results will be announced at the annual meeting of the membership in May.
McKee had already addressed the board about the restaurant at the Highlands Clubhouse during the open forum.
In January, dozens of members spoke during a meeting at the Highlands Clubhouse in support of a full-service restaurant in the building. Mulligans, the most recent lessee of the restaurant space, moved out in August. Several other restaurants have failed in the same space in the past.
The board was considering adding a snack bar near the pro shop and turning over the larger restaurant space to the Recreation Department, but after the January meeting and last week's work session, the board abandoned that plan.
"Clearly members want a restaurant at the Highlands. We get that," Teal said after listening to several speakers during the open forum portion of the work session.
The staff was negotiating with McKee in January, but rejected some of the conditions he proposed including a penalty paid by the association if their equipment is not repaired quickly. McKee had also asked the board for an expense subsidy of up to $3,000 a month, if the restaurant's gross operating income is not higher than the gross operating expenses -- including salaries for McKee and two managers.
The board asked McKee to share the cost of updating equipment in the restaurant, something, McKee said, that had never been asked of other operators.
After the meeting, General Manager Tommy Bailey said the negotiations with McKee were suspended while the staff advertised for other parties. He said there is some concern about McKee's experience and potential relationship issues, but the POA hasn't yet turned him down.
McKee said he is prepared to continue negotiating, although he doesn't believe he can be both a restaurant operator and a board member at the same time.
Meanwhile, an organization of neighbors around the Metfield Clubhouse welcomed the idea of a snack bar in their building. ZaDean Auyer told the board her neighbors understand a full-service restaurant won't be successful in the clubhouse, but they would like to have some food available. The last restaurant in Metfield moved out at the end of 2012.
The restaurant space at Metfield is occupied by the Membership Services Department. Although that department moved in on a temporary basis, no decision has been made on a permanent location.
Bailey was directed to hire an architect who can develop plans for a snack bar in the Metfield building.
General News on 02/25/2015