OP GM shares updates on recruitment, maintenence

By Cindy Hoffman Staff Writer

(April 20, 2023) Ocean Pines General Manager John Viola provided a rapid-fire report on the association’s successes over the past month, focusing on police, racquet center and maintenance at Saturday’s board of directors meeting.

Viola said the police department has seen some successes, which uses a new process for police testing.

“We get the applications and we test them before they go to the academy. We have had success with this. We have three top candidates presented to Lt. Toppin and have been submitted for the July 5 academy. I am excited about this,” Viola said.

“We also have a potential dispatcher, who could possibly go to the next academy.”

“This is the best I have seen in the past five years. We are competitive in compensation and moving in the right direction,” Viola said.

“The golf course is in the best shape it has been in the 15-18 years I have been here,” said Viola.

“If I look at the past six months of golf: the Bob Beckelman era. Look at those numbers, compare them to the same time last year, revenue is up 15 percent. This is not our busy season. That is about $45,000, the operating profit line is up $36,000.

“All the maintenance has been done, the place is packed,” Viola said.

Viola announced the hiring of the new racquet center manager, Tim Johnson. Viola said the job description was developed with guidance from the racquet sports committee. He said Johnson is eager to give lessons and provide a wealth of professional experience to the position.

He noted that he received numerous questions on the salary for the position.

“We paid him what was in the budget, and he gets a percentage of his lessons,” Viola said.

Viola also provided high level sketches of a proposed new racquet center design, with options for a oneand two-story building. The two-story building has a wrap-around deck because the input he received from the racquet sports advisory committee suggested a deck for watching matches.

He met with the racquet sports advisory committee over the past two years to understand their needs. The committee will be given these sketches and provide feedback.

“This is to be a working document. This is how we started with the golf club house,” said Viola.

See GM Page 5

THE TOWN OF BERLIN, MARYLAND NOTICE OF A PROPOSED REAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASE

The Mayor and Council of the Town of Berlin, Maryland proposes to increase real property taxes.

1.For the tax year beginning July 1, 2023, the estimated real property assessable base will increase by 4.4%, from $515,257,481 to $537,944,112.

2.If the Town of Berlin maintains the current tax rate of $0.8150 per $100 of assessment, real property tax revenues will increase by 4.4% resulting in $184,897 of new real property tax revenues.

3.In order to fully offset the effect of increasing assessments, the real property tax rate should be reduced to $0.7806, the constant yield tax rate.

4.The Town of Berlin is considering not reducing its real property tax rate enough to fully offset increasing assessments. The Town of Berlin proposes to adopt a real property tax rate of $0.8150 per $100 of assessment. This tax rate is 4.4% higher than the constant yield tax rate and will generate $184,897 in additional property tax revenues.

The proposed real property tax rate will be introduced at 7 pm on April 10th at Town of Berlin, Town Hall, 10 William Street, Berlin, MD 21811.

A public hearing on the proposed real property tax rate increase will be held at 7 pm on April 24th at Town of Berlin, Town Hall, 10 William Street, Berlin, MD 21811. The hearing is open to the public, and public testimony is encouraged.

Persons with questions regarding this hearing may call 410-641-2770 for further information.