After two personnel committee meetings and two votes, Elmwood Township has a new administration to operate its marina.

The Elmwood Township Board in a split vote Tuesday evening named a retired journeyman electrician with DaimlerChrysler as its harbormaster, and promoted a township marina employee to assistant harbormaster.

Mark B. Benedict, who resides on E. Lincoln Rd., was appointed harbormaster on a 5-2 vote of the board. He declined comment until receiving official notification of his hiring when contacted early Wednesday morning.

Benedict will bring “harbormaster experience” during his work at the Elba-Mar Boat Club in Grosse Isle, Mich., to his new job, according to his resume. He enjoys boating, fishing, swimming, skiing and camping.

It’s that experience that caused board members to flip-flop the vote of its personnel committee, which recommended in a 2-1 decision on April 4 that 2006 marina employee Peter J. Moon be promoted to harbormaster and Benedict be offered the assistant harbormaster position. Clerk Connie Preston opposed fellow committee members supervisor Derith Smith and trustee Paul Walter.

A vote to enact the committee’s recommendation Tuesday failed 5-2, with Smith and Walter casting the only “yes” votes.

“I like Peter Moon a lot,” said treasurer Debbie Street, “but his experience is on the light side when you put it up against Mark Benedict …”

“I would be happy to reverse order,” offered Walter after the failed vote.

The motion to name Benedict to the top post and Moon his assistant was approved 5-2, with Street and trustee Terry Lautner still voting “no.” Casing “yes” votes were supervisor Smith, clerk Preston and trustees Walter, Jeff Howell and Jim O'Rourke.

The 2006 harbormaster, Fred Leddy, interviewed for the position but was not recommended by the committee.

Lautner made it clear he preferred that 2006 assistant harbormaster John Ferdinand be offered a position, but Preston said Ferdinand had taken himself out of the field of candidates.

Ferdinand, who has feuded with supervisor Smith at past meetings, applied for a harbor position in November, then withdrew his application, said Preston. Ferdinand reapplied after a Feb. 19 deadline, and along with one other applicant was not interviewed.

The process to select new harbor personnel came under as much scrutiny as the selections themselves. The Elmwood marina has been a near-constant source of controversy since Smith fired former harbormaster Chuck Lessard and assistant harbormaster Dick Eldred shortly after the 2005 season began.

“The controversy of last year’s boating season has spilled into this season’s boating season,” said Jack Kelly, who helped organized a group of slip holders at the marina into an advocate group calling itself United Boaters for Elmwood Township.

Also speaking was just-appointed Elmwood Marina Commission member Ron Culp, who warned that the township could face a legal challenge for its hiring practices in choosing new harbor personnel. “I think that would be pretty solidly upheld in court,” said Culp.

But former Harbor Commission chair Dave Darga, who failed to be reappointed by the board, said the process was being over-scrutinized.

“It’s interesting to me that Elmwood Township has become a target for its personnel committee,” he said. He added that too many slip holders had been appointed to the marina committee.

Benedict will face a tight deadline in taking over reigns of the marina, which is scheduled to open for business Sunday.

Both harbor positions have paid about $14,000 per season, which extend into October. The board also ratified a personnel committee recommendation authorizing township attorney Jim Young to draw up new contracts for harbor master and assistant harbor master positions which will not allow the seasonal employees to collect unemployment benefits. However, they will for the first time be able eligible for the township retirement program.

In a related action, the board voted 7-0 to reimburse Ferdinand $75 for opening the gate to the marina three times in the off season. Treasurer Street sought the payment, saying that former harbormaster Leddy had kept a $25 payment from an off-season boater to open the gate as his reimbursement while Ferdinand had turned over funds collected by him to the township.