[When a new Board is seated, the nomination and election of officers often moves very quickly -- sometimes too quickly for a recorder of events to keep up with the action. That was the case this morning, when we recorded in our notes that Don Fentzlaff was elected Vice President of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors, and then reported that this evening.

In fact, it was returning Director Melinda Scott who was elected Vice President during the SLLA Board's organizational meeting.

The Times regrets the error and extends our apology to VP Scott; the story below has been amended to reflect Scott's election to the post.]

Three of the four new Directors seated at the Annual Meeting will also fill executive officer positions on the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board this year, following an Organizational Meeting held Monday, March 28. The meeting was called to order by outgoing President Randy Zielsdorf.

Bob Darr was elected President by a majority vote of four, while votes of acclamation seated Conrad Meyer as Treasurer and Bob Racine as Secretary.

Scott was nominated to the post of President, but failed to secure that seat. Director Bud Shaver declined a nomination to serve as Vice President.

Four new directors -- who will constitute a majority of the Board -- were seated during an election finalized at the Sunday, March 27 Annual Meeting of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA].

Conrad Meyer drew the highest number of votes [404], followed by Don Fentzlaff [391], Bob Racine [386], and Bob Darr [381].

Voters were clearly in an anti-incumbent mood this year, perhaps influenced by a contentious decision to outsource landscape maintenance or the Board's tacit acceptance of a set of Country Club covenants that failed to deliver promised protections. Incumbent Director Bruce Keyser received only 101 votes; SLLA President Randy Zielsdorf, only 71.

A total of 445 ballots were cast, more than last year's 380, but still fewer than the 539 cast in 2009, when a dues increase was on the ballot. Approximately ten of the ballots cast were proxy votes.

Zielsforf and Keyser were recognized for their service, as were the other two outgoing Board members: Kent Droppers, who did not seek a second term of office, and Denny Galford, who resigned his position as Director and Treasurer earlier this month.

Also recognized for their service were the members of the Election Committee, including Chair Brenda Massimo, Ione Katz, Wayne Burris, Ed Sanchez, and Laurie Werner.

Mick Herdrich was elected President of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] by a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors in a brief meeting Tuesday afternoon, March 22.

John Hoffmann, the sitting Vice President, presided over the election of officers; former President Ron Shepard ended his term on the Board at Sunday's Annual Meeting.

Hoffmann nominated Herdrich for the President's slot, a motion seconded by Adam Wimberly.

Hoffmann himself was re-elected Vice President; Jane Sessler was elected Secretary.

Don Freiert, who was only recently named to the Board and the Treasurer's post, replacing Joe Sikes, was re-elected Treasurer.

All officers were elected by unanimous votes of the Board.

Jack Stevens, Jim McCarthy, and Jim Ferguson were elected to the Board of Directors of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Sunday afternoon, March 20, in balloting concluded during the Association's Annual Meeting.

Stevens, a semi-retired nurse anesthetist and active member of the Lake Auman Sports Club who moved to Seven Lakes West in 2006, was the top vote-getter, with 440 of the 586 votes cast.

McCarthy, who captured 417.5 votes, is a retired New York City Police detective who has lived in the community for three years. Community Manager Joan Frost explained that there are twelve lots in the community used strictly for septic fields -- septic lots -- and these are allowed only one-half vote.

Ferguson retired to Seven Lakes in 2009 after 23 years with the US Government Accountability Office; he attracted 411.5 votes.

Patti Cleary, a well-known community volunteer who has owned property in the community since 1997 and moved to Seven Lakes West in 2002, failed to win a seat, with 357.5 votes.

Turnout was light, with 36 percent of the 1638 qualified lots casting ballots. Frost explained that Seven Lakes West includes 1866 total lots; but 151 of these are developer lots with no vote, and 71 are more than thirty days behind in dues payments and thus are not qualified to vote.

Last year, with a controversial dues increase in the budget, nearly 1,000 Westsiders participated in the balloting. This year's budget easily passed, with 443 for, 133 against, and 19 abstentions.

The membership gave a standing ovation in appreciation of the service of the three retiring members of the Board: President Ron Shepard, Secretary Karen Milligan, and Legal Affairs Director Ed Silberhorn.

[Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] President Randy Zielsdorf read the letter below during the March 14 Board Work Session, responding to reporting about and criticism of the covenants recently filed by Seven Lakes Country Club to protect its Golf Course property.]

March 14, 2011

I appreciate the Times article dated March 13, 2011, entitled “Zielsdorf: Country Club’s Covenants Are Consistent with 2007 Agreement “. This article was an addendum to their article on March 10, 2011 concerning the Country Club Covenants filed on February 15, 2011 in Moore County. Please consider this letter as my final thoughts and comments pertaining to this issue.

The agreement signed on July 13, 2007 between the Country Club (SLCC) and the Landowners Association (SLLA) was comprised of five bullet items (see attached). For the record, this agreement was not an attorney generated document, but was a good faith effort by some members of both boards to bring an end to a long and contentious dispute between the SLCC and the SLLA concerning the use of the old driving range. Because this document was not drafted by someone with legal expertise, it contains language that is nebulous at best and contradictory at its worst.

Bullet #1 states:

“The Seven Lakes Landowners Association will grant the authority to the Seven Lakes Country Club to establish its own covenants limiting the use of all Country Club property to the operations of the golf course and country club. Hunter Stovall will have the right to review the Seven Lakes Country Club covenants to insure compliance with this requirement.”

Bullet #4 states:?"Upon the sale of any Seven Lakes Country Club property for residential purposes such properties will be subject to the South Side Covenants."

While these are contradictory statements, bullet #4 clearly specifies “any properties”, not just the old driving range. (At the time of this agreement it was the existing driving range). While bullet #4 cannot trump bullet #1, neither can bullet #1 trump bullet #4.

Unfortunately bullet #4 has been ignored by everyone who has looked at the original agreement, myself included. The wording in the SLCC Covenants is consistent with the wording of the original July 2007 agreement. Attorney Stovall's value to the association was that he emphasized that "should" any SLCC property be developed, that it must fall under the South Side Covenants. This is emphasized in the SLCC Covenants document.  The July 2007 document has received judicial review and has been a matter of public record since the April 2008 decision. While the original agreement can be modified, as was recently done, it cannot be changed.

The current board stands firm in our decision not to make the same mistake as the previous board. To that end, we relied on the expertise of legal counsel who reviewed and revised the covenants that were developed by the SLCC attorney. The end result was a document that complied not only with the July 2007 agreement but with the court decision of 2008 as well.

Some have argued that if the SLCC covenants had been released to the public for review, this error would have been found. It is NOT an error. The July 2007 agreement has been in the public record for 3 years and 8 months, and no one has mentioned the contradiction between the first and fourth bullet items. If anything, bullet #4 is perhaps the most clearly worded of any of the statements in the July 2007 document.

Bullet #2 of the July 2007 agreement provided that the SLCC grant a ten (10) foot easement to the SLLA to run along the entire old driving range and South Side mail house property. This easement was signed on February 14, 2011 by the presidents of both boards, and filed with Moore County on February 15, 2011. The easement assures that a future developer cannot cut an access into the South side from Seven Lakes Drive thereby bypassing the gates. That piece of property had never been protected by the 10 foot buffer which surrounds the rest of Seven Lakes North/South. The current President and Vice President of the SLCC worked very cooperatively with SLLA board member Melinda Scott and me to make a modification to bullet #5 in order to accomplish this task (i.e. to complete bullet #2).

We need to be realistic regarding the SLCC Covenants. That document is not an SLLA document. It was written by the SLCC attorney, reviewed by the SLLA attorney, and approved by both attorneys. The SLCC has worked very hard to keep their course within the top 100 golf courses in North Carolina for the last three years. I believe they will continue to work very hard to keep the golf course viable. But let’s assume the worst case scenario that the SLCC goes bankrupt. It is highly unlikely that the SLLA will ever be able to afford to purchase the entire golf course, let alone maintain it for green spaces. It is better for the SLLA to have the agreement of 2007 and the SLCC Covenants which clearly specify that any development on any of the SLCC properties must conform to the South Side Covenants.

The Agreement of July 2007, between the SLCC and the SLLA resulted in the SLCC and SLLA being sued, along with four SLLA board members. That suit was heard in court in April 2008. The judge ruled in favor of the SLCC and the SLLA. The suit firmly established that the SLLA cannot dictate to the SLCC what they can do with their property. The cost of that suit was $200,000, of which $100,000 was billed to each of the SLCC and the SLLA. Fortunately each side was only required to pay their $5000 deductible along with any time billed by their respective attorneys. When I first became a board member in March 2007, there was board debate and discussion as to whether the SLLA should sue the SLCC over the fate of the old driving range. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed which led to the July 2007 agreement. But had the SLLA sued, it would have lost and borne the entire cost of that suit. There would have been no insurance protection since the SLLA would have initiated the suit.

In conclusion, I would not be surprised if the next seated board, particularly the newest members receive pressure from some within the community to revisit this issue. My advice to the next board is to consider this ugly chapter in the history of Seven Lakes North/South closed, as did the overwhelming majority of our residents back in April of 2008 once the lawsuit was concluded.

Randall A. Zielsdorf, President, SLLA