New Turkey Creek homeowner’s association president wants to improve relations with city of Alachua
By Andrew Tan
For the Herald

ALACHUA -- Improving relations between Turkey Creek and the city of Alachua is a priority, said John Tingue, newly elected president of the Turkey Creek Master Owners Association board of directors.

The lines of communication between the city and the area's largest development already exist, but Tingue would like to make them better, he said.

For example, he said, Turkey Creek and its Plantation Oaks Golf Club can offer a lot to the city of Alachua.

The city could work with Plantation Oaks to increase awareness about programs for kids involving the golf club's pool and other recreational entertainment, Tingue said.

But he said he'd also like to work with the city on addressing problems ranging from security to flooding to utilities. He said it's important that the city remembers that Turkey Creek is a community of more than 800 homes and that "those numbers in this size of a city carry a voice."

He'd also like to see a plan for both the city and the community in case of emergencies like a hurricane, he said.

There's a bridge that connects to the rear of Turkey Creek, and when it flooded during hurricane season, people were not able to get out to U.S. 441, he said.

Tingue introduced himself to city commissioners at a recent city meeting and said he'd like to work with them. As president of the Master Owners Association Board of Directors, he acts, in part, as a conduit between the city and the community.

Tingue's election to the Board of Directors was not a typical one. Tingue and six other new board members were elected on May 10 -- with a big chunk of the votes coming through proxy votes. These are votes that people make when they can't attend the annual meeting.

Tingue said that for several years, the old board remained because there wasn't a quorum, which requires 25 percent of Turkey Creek's residents to vote. Proxies allowed people to vote but they didn't have to attend the meeting.

Athena Smith said getting people to sign over the proxy was easy because it can be less time consuming than going to the board meeting.

A lot of people were cooperative in signing proxies, she said.

Dan Rhine, vice president, said gathering votes took a couple of months. Some people would even knock on his door and bring proxies to him, Rhine said.

He isn't sure how many proxies were turned in, but "if we had not had the proxies, we wouldn't have had a chance," he said.

Rhine said each homeowner gets 100 votes and that each owner of a vacant lot gets one.

The old board occasionally took too long to get things done, he said.

However, former board member Lewis Irby said it was rules and regulations that slowed down the old board. He added that there is no animosity between the new and old board and that the old board supports them.

Two members from the old board remain.

"They're good board members and offer a lot," Rhine said.

John Fradd is one of the two board members. He said the new board has impressed him. He said they have set some new ground rules and make sure that everything is done in writing.

He said he respects anyone who serves as a board member because "anyone who serves on a homeowner's board puts in a lot of time that they don't get paid for."