New faces to fill Ranch HOA boards

LAKEWOOD RANCH — When the final tallies come in for Lakewood Ranch’s homeowner associations’ elections Dec. 10, five of six seats will be filled without competition.

Elections for the Country Club/Edgewater Village Association, also known as SEVA, were held Nov. 10. Bill Mariotti and John Byrne were elected into office, filling seats vacated by longtime board members Jo Anne Dain and Jack Kerber.

Elections for Summerfield/Riverwalk, also known as SERVA, will be held today, and elections for Greenbrook will be held Dec. 10.

Country Club/Edgewater Village
Starting in January, newly elected board members John Byrne and Bill Mariotti will join Robert Thompson, Dave Kostura and Joe Sander in serving homeowners in the Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club and Edgewater Village area.

Byrne, resident of Edgewater Cove, has been serving on a neighborhood committee for several years and as chairman for the last 18 months.

“(This board is) involved in making some changes in the homeowner’s manual, and I would like to be involved in the changing of it,” said Byrne, a native of western New York.

Mariotti, owner of Bill Mariotti Site Development Co., moved to Lakewood Ranch from downtown Sarasota last August in what equated to be a house swap.

Before moving, he had served on his community’s HOA board for the last five years, he said.

“I figure since I was new, the best way to find out about things is to go ahead and dive into something,” Mariotti said. “It’s a quick way to learn.”

Summerfield/Riverwalk
Although two seats are open on Summerfield/Riverwalk’s board, only one individual is running — incumbent Tom Cofer.

Having served on the HOA for the last two years, the Summerfield Woods resident said he’d like to continue making progress on issues affecting residents, such as the budget.

“I just want to serve,” Cofer said. “It’s kind of just maintaining what we’ve kind of accomplished over the last year or so with getting the budget fine-tuned and being very careful on what we are spending.”

Because no one stepped up to fill the seat of outgoing president Carol Frankland, the board will appoint someone to the post.

Other board members are Vicky Horswood, Shirley Surowiec and Marlene Van Pelt.

Greenbrook
In Greenbrook, incumbents Carlene Smith and Joe Sidiski will be running for reelection without competition for a Dec. 10 vote.

“There’s still a certain amount of work to be done,” Sidiski said of his decision to seek reelection. “I feel it’s an ongoing commitment.”

He and current HOA President Tom Headley said over the next year, the Greenbrook HOA likely will continue refining how it handles foreclosure properties in the community.

“It’s been an ongoing concern for us because we wind up having to maintain some of these properties and we don’t get any income from them,” Sidiski said.

Headley also said the HOA may reinstitute its own landscape and safety committees, which were dissolved. The committees would meet and send a representative to CDD supervisors workshop meetings.

Other Greenbrook HOA members include Rodney Beggs and Steve Balazic.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].