Five candidates, including three incumbents, are running for five seats on the Bonita Springs Utilities Inc. board of directors.
The candidates are:
• Paul Attwood, BSU board member since 2001 and current secretary, who served for 20 years in the oil & gas regulatory section of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
• Brian Farrar, BSU board member since 2016 and current president, who is president of BCF Management Group LLC and treasurer of the Lee County Mosquito Control District board of commissioners.
• Lawrence Kosilla, a licensed residential contractor and vice chairman of the Bonita Springs Fire Control & Rescue District.
• James Murphy, CEO of Illinois Coal Sales Inc. and Bonita Springs Fire Control & Rescue District commissioner.
• Ben Nelson Jr., owner/operator of Nelson Marine Construction and former mayor of Bonita Springs, who served on the BSU board from 1990-2001 and since 2016.
Candidate bios and applications are available for review at www.bsu.us/election.
Members will elect five directors to the utility’s nine-member board. The three candidates with the highest number of votes will each be elected to a three-year term. In addition, due to recent vacancies on the board, two additional seats are open. The candidate with the fourth highest number of votes will be elected to a two-year term and the candidate with the fifth highest number of votes will be elected to a one-year term.
The utility will mail ballots and candidate profiles to members in late February. Completed ballots must be received no later than Thursday, March 12 and are not accepted at BSU’s offices. A third-party election monitor receives and counts all ballots and will announce the election results during the utility’s annual meeting Tuesday, March 17, 7 p.m. at the Customer Service Center, 11900 East Terry Street, Bonita Springs.
Other board members are Robert Bachman, Frank Liles Jr., Mike Malloy and Vincent Marchesani. The board of directors holds public meetings at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. In addition, each board member serves on various subcommittees and task groups, working with the utility’s management and staff.
Bonita Springs Utilities Inc. is a not-for-profit water and wastewater utility cooperative founded by local citizens in 1970. The member-owned utility provides service in the City of Bonita Springs, the Village of Estero and unincorporated South Lee County. The utility is recognized as an industry leader with awards from the American Water Works Association, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Water Environment Association. For more information, visit www.BSU.us.
