BSU board elects officers

The Bonita Springs Utilities Inc. board of directors has elected its officers for the 2023-24 term. The board re-elected Brian Farrar president and elected Wayne Bauman vice president, Richard Garner treasurer and Vincent Marchesani secretary.

Farrar, who joined the board in 2016, is president/managing member of BCF Management Group, LLC and is currently serving as a commissioner on the Lee County Mosquito Control District and the Lee County Hyacinth Control District boards. Farrar is also vice chair of the CREW Land & Water Trust board of trustees.

Bauman, who joined the board in 2022, is a retired construction and engineering professional with experience in groundwater collection and containment, infrastructure systems for water handling and treatment, and sediment removal/remediation, wetland creation and mitigation, contaminated soils, and demolition. Bauman also serves as a trustee for CREW Land & Water Trust.

Garner is a retired banking executive and real estate professional. He was president and CEO of First National Bank of Bonita Springs, now First National Bank of Florida; founding chairman and CEO of CNL Bank of Southwest Florida, now Valley National Bank; and founding chairman & CEO of Southern Community Bank of Southwest Florida, now Fifth Third Bank. Garner has served as chairman of the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce, now SWFL Inc., as well as president and treasurer of the chamber’s foundation.

A board member since 2017, Marchesani is a retired vice president of corporate health, safety and environmental affairs with global chemical company Basell. He is an active member of the City of Bonita Springs Technical Advisory Board and has previously served as chairman of the VillageWalk of Bonita Springs Safety Committee.

BSU members elect nine directors to the board to govern the utility. Other board members are Robert Bachman, Lawrence Kosilla, Mike Malloy, James Murphy and Paul Attwood.

The board expresses their gratitude and appreciation to former director Ben Nelson for his valuable service to BSU and the community. Nelson served on the BSU board 1990-2001 and 2016-2023 and held multiple terms for all officer positions throughout the years.