In a sequel to the failed effort of the board of the Quansoo Beach Association to frustrate access to two large parcels of south shore conservation land, the association’s annual general meeting has replaced its chairman, James B. White.

But Mr. White’s legacy remains, in the form of environmental damage caused by the necessity to bulldoze a new section of road to provide access to the conservation land, and a legal bill of more than $30,000 incurred by the beach association in its dispute with the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation.

Early this year, Sheriff’s Meadow was forced to build the new road because of the beach association’s objections to allowing access to the 150 acres — given into conservation by the late Flipper Harris, a former beach association member and office holder — via the existing road, which passed through property owned by three association members, including Mr. White.

The standoff between the beach association and Sheriff’s Meadow came to a head two months ago when the conservation group sued the association, accusing it of trespass and intimidation over its maintenance of a locked gate on that road on foundation property.

The legal case is now on hold, after the beach association board finally agreed to move the gate further down the road.

But Saturday afternoon’s meeting of 40-odd members made apparent the depth of concern among association members about Mr. White’s intransigence, his failure to communicate with members, the perceived waste of beach association funds and damage to the association’s public standing.

The long and sometimes contentious meeting saw three new members elected to the five-member board. All three have previously served on the board.

A former president of the beach association, Peter Huntington, led the coup, saying a series of issues over recent years had shown the need for “new faces” on the board.

“I feel it is time for a new slate because at this juncture we have lost a lot of credibility within ourselves and within the community,” Mr. Huntington said.

He offered himself as a candidate.

Mr. White declared that he would step down, as did the beach association’s treasurer Bonnie George. A third board member, Warren Holland, had earlier announced his decision to stand down left the meeting early to catch a ferry.

After considerable discussion as to how a new board should be elected, the meeting compiled a list of five people willing and able to serve. They were Mr. Huntington, Susan Silva and Lucy Mitchell, as well as two of the sitting members, Peter Kramer and Richard Kleinberg.

Tony Horwitz was pressed to stand, but declined. Kate Warner’s nomination was rejected on the basis that she is not a property owner, her mother is.

Mr. Kleinberg was elected treasurer by the meeting; the board later determined Peter Huntington would be the new chairman and Ms. Mitchell the secretary.

The evening saw Mr. White defeated at almost every turn. It began with a presentation by the Army Corps of Engineers, who were seeking legal permission to search beach association land for unexploded ordnance.

Mr. White repeatedly interrupted the Army Corps presenter and attempted to bring discussion to an end. He announced the board would not give permission for the search, and that the Corps would have to negotiate with individual landowners.

“Speaking for myself,” he said, “I’m not prepared to sign.”

Nor was he at first prepared to allow the meeting to vote on whether the search should be permitted.

Eventually, after considerable discussion about legal liability, and hearing more from the Army Corps representatives and a testimonial from Chris Kennedy, regional director for The Trustees of Reservations whose Wasque property yielded almost 1,000 pieces of old ordnance to a similar search last year, a vote was taken.

Without dissent, the floor of the meeting approved a motion to recommend that landholders should allow the Army Corps in.

Mr. White also was defeated in an attempt to have the Gazette ejected from the meeting.

When he unilaterally ordered this reporter out, he was challenged by Geraldine Brooks, who moved the press be allowed to stay. Speaking to the motion, Tony Horwitz said it was only because of the press that members of the association were made aware of the lawsuit and that they were liable for “tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.”

Mr. White at first declared the motion out of order. Under pressure from the floor, he then allowed a vote, which went heavily against him. Later he attempted to have the meeting re-vote the matter and was ignored.

He declined to give his chairman’s report, saying he was concerned about the general public being informed about a private meeting of a private organization.

In his place, Mr. Kramer delivered what he called a memoir of winter, in which he defended the board’s actions and attempted to explain the legal intricacies of the issue. He was critical of both the reporting of the matter, which he called “amateurish” and of Sheriff’s Meadow, which he called “a very difficult organization to deal with.” He suggested collusion between the Gazette and the foundation, on the basis that the late Henry Beetle Hough had once owned the paper and founded Sheriff’s Meadow. He said the board had resolved not to speak to the press.

He said the lawsuit brought by the conservation organization “looked like a public relations stunt,” and suggested that negotiations were “not that contentious” and had seemed close to a resolution in the months preceding the legal action.

But he also said, “Other people on the board would give other versions of this story.”

And Adam Moore, executive director of Sheriff’s Meadow, did just that. He referred to an e-mail his organization had received at one point, denying it access to travel through the gate at any time of year, whether or not it was locked.

He noted also that the new road had been put in at Sheriff’s Meadow’s expense, on Sheriff’s Meadow property, and would mostly be used by beach association members.

Mr. Moore’s tone was conciliatory, and he expressed optimism that the two organizations would reach a permanent agreement about access to the land. Given they would be neighbors for a long time, he said, it was important to get along.

Mr. Kramer later betrayed a stressed and divided board with another comment: that he had probably “threatened to resign more often than any other board member.”

Outgoing treasurer Bonnie George said the board had not always agreed, but had tried hard.

“We’re tired, if you want to know the truth,” she said.

The board was unable to provide questioners with a precise amount spent on legal fees, but Mr. Horwitz eventually elicited an estimate he summarized as “$30,000 plus change.”

A motion to assess members an additional $300 each to replenish beach association reserves, which have been depleted by the legal costs of the fight with Sheriff’s Meadow, passed by a single vote.

It took two tries. Mr. White called for a vote, quickly declared the motion passed, then was forced to do it again after members demanded a standing vote. The majority of members on the floor voted against it, but four votes from the board made the tally 11-10 in favor. Most people abstained.

Members also questioned the costs of security at the private beach, doubting the need for the locks and keys at the beach to be changed each year, given that the keys now used could not be copied. Mr. White also took on board a suggestion that it was not necessary to have a guard on duty during the summer months, at a cost of some $12,000.

By the time the meeting got around to the board election, the writing was on the wall.

“I think this will be my final act. I think I’m causing a lot of the problems,” Mr. White said.