Developer to reshuffle board seats
Sun City Hilton Head's developer will soon re-gain a majority vote on the seven-member Community Association Board of Directors. Pulte Homes general manager Jon Cherry will announce at today's board of directors quarterly meeting that he will replace two resident board members with Pulte representatives, according to a letter he wrote and distributed to board members Tuesday. Cherry will be one of the new Pulte representatives, the letter said.

Developer to reshuffle board seats

Pulte Homes general manager Jon Cherry will announce at today's board of directors quarterly meeting that he will replace two resident board members with Pulte representatives, according to a letter he wrote and distributed to board members Tuesday. Cherry will be one of the new Pulte representatives, the letter said.

One of the elected members who could be replaced works as the liaison to the Property and Grounds Committee and has raised questions about lagoons in the development. Some residents think there might be a link between lagoon overflow and storm water drainage and today's member replacement.

When the two resident-elected members are replaced, Pulte will hold a 4-3 majority on the board.

The board currently has two Pulte representatives and five resident board members-- two of whom were elected last spring, when Pulte officials said they wanted to prepare for resident leadership of the association, Cherry wrote in the letter.

The developer sees retaking majority control of the community association as a way to sell more homes in Sun City, where they are not selling as briskly as predicted, Cherry said in a phone interview Wednesday. Pulte could be in the community for up to seven years, he added.

"We have to protect our investments and attract new Sun City residents," Cherry said.

Current homeowners want to protect their investments as well.

Some of them said Pulte's board takeover isn't the way to do that.

Sun City resident John Ott, whose backyard faces a lagoon that has threatened to flood his home twice, said Pulte has been ignoring his concerns since early fall.

Earlier this month,Barbara Lenta, the board member who works with the Property and Grounds committee and is likely to be replaced today, inspected the lagoons and presented a report to Pulte, Ott and his neighbor Rick McCollough said.

Pulte doesn't "want to tackle the issue because they believe it goes beyond a few lagoons," Ott said.

Ott called the timing of the replacements

"suspicious."

Less than a week ago, Pulte representatives said they'd look into the lagoon issue. Cherry said Wednesday the replacement plans were not related to any property problems, including the lagoon issue.

Some residents also wonder about the reasons for the majority takeover when Pulte already reserves the power of veto.

"With the veto power the developer has within the current structure of the board, Pulte does not suffer from having a minority position on the board," Sun City resident and board president Bob Hooper wrote in response to Cherry's letter.

Cherry said Wednesday, "Pulte doesn't want to veto folks. It's not conducive to a positive relationship."

When asked how he expects residents to react to a decrease in their board representation, Cherry said, "People will act like something's been given, then taken away."

Resident Lynn Strudercq said he doesn't expect residents to take the official announcement lightly.

"It's like the federal government saying South Carolina is no longer going to have their given number of representatives," he said. "Residents are upset."

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