JULY 2022
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OCEAN PINES
PROGRESS THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY
Sports complex petition succeeds
T
he group of Worcester County residents who have been gathering names in a petition drive to force a county referendum on the county government’s plans for a sports complex near Stephen Decatur High School apparently have succeeded, with signatures to spare. To Page 3
COVER STORIES
Viola signs new contract with OPA
Cost of new firehouse climbs to $8.6 million OPVFD asks the board to schedule community referendum
Employment renewal is for two years, with option for a third year By TOM STAUSS Publisher ohn Viola, general manager of the Ocean Pines Association since April of 2019, has signed a new employment agreement with the OPA. The term is for two years from July 1, one day after the contract was signed by Viola, OPA President Colette Horn, and Linda Martin, the OPA’s assistant secretary. There’s an option for a third year at the discretion of the parties. In a statement announcing the contract, Horn said that “after an extensive search [for a new general manager], the Board was able to interview very qualified candidates. During this process, John and I had additional conversations about his interest in continuing to serve Ocean Pines. I was very happy that our conversations led to the Board authorizing me to negotiate with John to continue in his role as General Manager.” Viola voiced similar satisfaction with the new contract, which will allow him to continue working on a litany of projects that he would like to see to completion. “There a lot of challenges ahead but I believe the team is up to the job,” he said. Viola said he has always been clear that if a board majority wanted him to stay on as general manager, he would do so. “I’ve never said no to a board majority,” he said, “and in this case, I To Page 3
J
Court lifts Janasek suspension ~ Page 18
By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer t a new estimated cost of $8.6 million, the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department is proposing a complete renovation and expansion of the Southside fire station that could cost property owners an additional $42 per year on their annual property assessments. During a June 30 presentation, representatives from the OPVFD outlined their proposal to upgrade the aging and inadequate existing facility with a new fire station that includes an additional ambulance bay, decontamination areas, bedding and multiple bathrooms for staff, training spaces and administrative offices, and community meeting space, but no one is sure yet how to pay for the building. The OPVFD has some ideas, of course. “I want you to look at this an investment in the future of Ocean Pines,” Fire Chief Steve Grunewald told members of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors and property owners who gathered to learn about the plans to replace the nearly 40-year-old fire station. OPVFD President David Van Gasbeck said the fire department has completed its feasibility study for a new building and is moving into the design phase. The feasibility study is or soon will be posted on the OPVFD Website for those who want the detail. The next step, at least from the point of view of the OPVFD leadership, is for the OPA Board of Directors to move forward with scheduling a referendum vote for the community share of the cost. After $1.6 million in state funding and another $1 million from OPVFD reserves, the cost to be financed would be about $6 million, with OPA members footing the bill through an increase in the annual base lot assessment. To Page 8
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COVER STORY
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 3
Viola contract
Ocean Pines Association General Manager John Viola and President Colette Horn on June 30 signed a new two-year employment contract for Viola with an option for a third year.
Sports complex petition From Page 1 Ocean Pines resident Slobodan Trendic, spokesman for the group, said the group has delivered a second batch of 2,170 signatures. There were a total of 5,457 signatures collected in the campaign, compared to the 4,4494 needed, ten percent of the registered voters in the county
The first batch collected was sufficient to earn the group a 40-day extension to gather the remaining names needed to qualify for the ballot in November. The group wanted to gather more than the required number in case some signers were not eligible voters in the county. “Nothing is official yet,” he said in a July 1 text message. “The next step is the review and validation [of the signatures] by the Board of Elections.”
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From Page 1 believe six if not all seven current directors wanted me to stay.” He also said that all six candidates running for the board in this summer’s election, including two sitting directors, favored him staying on. “That certainly made the decision easier,” he said. The Board had a dual track in place in the event Viola did not agree to a new contract. The Board had narrowed down applicants to three candidates from a larger slate of candidates submitted by a national search firm. Interviews were conducted, but for some time it’s been evident that a solid Board majority was in favor of retaining Viola if he was interested and a deal could be struck. Viola had announced his resignation after a reported unpleasant employee annual review conducted by then OPA President Larry Perrone last November, after which a press release was issued saying Viola was retiring to spend time with his family. He rescinded the resignation shortly after, saying he would stay on at least through this year’s annual meeting. That in turn was changed to a non-contractual, open-ended understanding in which Viola agreed to stay on until such time as a To Page 5
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COVER STORY Viola contract
From Page 3 replacement was hired. At the time, he said it was designed so the OPA wouldn’t have to pay overlapping GM salaries during a transition. More than a month ago if not even before, it became evident that there was solid support on the Board to retain Viola. Frank Daly, the OPA vice president, said in an interview with the Progress in late May that the choice facing the board was similar to a professional football team having to choose between a 33-year-old Tom Brady as quaterback over a first draft choice. That statement was made before interviews were conducted with the top three applicants, which should have signalled to those applicants that even with a positive interview experience, the Board preferred the GM already on board, right after Viola oversaw the most successful year financially in the history of the OPA. The Board made it easy for Viola to say yes to a contract, proposing an increase in base salary from the current $165,000 to $175,000 and then $10,000 annual increases up to $295,000 if he stays on for three years.
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 5 There’s also an additional $5,000 payment in lieu of Viola continuing to opt out of OPA medical insurance. The contract also awards Viola an immediate one-time retention bonus of $25,000. It also makes him eligible for an additional $40,000 incentive bonus every year in the contract, which is called a “performance appraisal bonus.” The first component of the bonus is a retention payment of 25 percent, or $10,000, upon completion of each year in the contract on the anniversary date of June 30. He would be eligible for up to $30,000 over three years should he stay on for all three years possible in the contract. In the second component of this bonus, he would be eligible to receive the remaining 75 percent of the $40,000, or $30,000 per year, depending on whether he meets certain performance benchmarks as determined by the Board. If he achieves a score of 3.5 or better in his annual performance review, in which he is rated by each of seven directors with a top grade of 5, then he would be entitled to receive the full $30,000 bonus. If his score ranges between 3.0 and 3.49, then he would only receive a $15,000 bonus. Below 3.0, there would be no bonus payment.
The contract also details a retirement benefit should he not be able to participate in the OPA’s 401(K) because of certain requirements of the federal ERISA law. The OPA would pay him a stipend of 3 percent of his annual base compensation in that event, “grossed up” to cover payroll and income taxes due on that. Before the so-called gross-up, payments would be $5,250 in year one, $$5,550 in year two, and $5,850 in year three. Should Viola participate in the 401(k) plan, the OPA would match his contribition up to three percent. Other benefits in the new contract include up to four weeks of vacation/personal time per year, with no more than four weeks of accrued leave time eligible to be carried over to the following year, and up to 12 days per year of sick leave, with no carry-over. When the contract ends, OPA will pay him accrued unused vacation/personal time. The OPA under the contract will continue to provide Viola with a business use vehicle, and, for him and his family, a 50 percent discount on food and beverages at OPA amenities and free use of all OPA amenities. These benefits are unchanged from his previous contract. Viola said he did not actually have to negotiate terms of the agreement. To Page 7
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COVER STORY
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 7
Viola contract From Page 5 “I just told them I would like the compensation package to be what my predecessors would have been eligible for were they still here,” he told the Progress. “I think they met that, and I am very appreciative.” Viola agreed with a suggestion that he’s not motivated by money, that retirement income from previous jobs is adequate to sustain a decent lifestyle if he was not employed by the OPA. “I very much want to continue work on projects that are under way,” he said. “I’m excited by the challenges ahead.” High on the list of priorities is the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department’s proposed new Southside firehouse. Other objectives including continued progress in boosting racquet sports, similar to what has been accomplished in golf, once a perennial financial drain on OPA resources but beginning last year a net positive operationally that has continued into 2022-23. Coming soon are new pickleball courts in a sport that has already been growing its membership and participation. “These new courts will take us to the next level,” he said. He wants to continue to focus on drainage improvements, and is looking forward to the installation of transient use t-docks at the Yacht Club marina in July. “That’s going to be a boost to the Yacht Club,” he predicted. He said his close working relationship with Ralph DeAngelus of the Matt Ortt Companies, the OPA’s food and beverage contractor, means there’s good communication between them. “We’re always on the same page,” he said. He’s working on a proposal to renovate the Administration Building, including an expansion of the Board room with raised platform seating for the directors and more space for OPA members to attend meetings. The pending restriping of Ocean Parkway will include upgraded reflective crystals for safer night driving, he said. He also said the OPA will soon be making a huge dent in the refurbishment of cluster mailboxes in Ocean Pines, with materials -- pedestals and replacement clusters -- having recently arrived. “Public Works will be starting in on installation very soon,” Viola said.
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8 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
COVER STORY
Insurance The first and second floor plans of the new and renovated Southside fire station as envisioned by architect Gary Campbell of Manns Woodward Studios of White Marsh, Md. Total square footage of the building would 19,300, at an estimated cost of $8.6 million.
New fire station
From Page 1 Before the meeting on June 30, the cost had been estimated at $7 million, with an estimated community cost of $4.4 million. Inflationary pressures will continue to escalate estimated construction costs, OPVFD leaders said. If a referendum passes, the OPVFD would begin the actual design work, Van Gasbeck said, by hiring a project manager who would coordinate the obtaining of design specifiations, going out for bids, permitting issues, and the constrution phase. Van Gasbeck said he believes the project would be subject to a referendum votes of property owners because the $42 per lot would be added to the annual property assessment. He said the OPVFD is planning to borrow much of the money required to fund the construction, with a 30-year mortgage likely. The mortgage is predicated upon funding for the project being included in the OPA assessment and since it’s predicated on the assessment, it has to be approved by community, he said. John Viola, OPA general manager, said wheth-
er or not the project is subject to a referendum depends on who signs the loan documents. If the OPA is party to the loan, then it would need to be voted on by property owners, he said. But if not, and the OPA is simply paying for the project through assessment dollars, then it may not be necessary to have a referendum, according to Viola. OPA President Colette Horn said there needs to be dialog between the Board and the OPVFD “to negotiate what the terms of this arrangement would be.” She said the two entities will need to discuss who owns and maintains the building in order to determine how to proceed with funding for the project. The current building is owned by the OPVFD. She added that in light of the fire station project, the OPA and OPVFD have discussed updating a memorandum of understanding that already exists and provides association support to the fire department. “We’re not going to play fast and easy with interpretations of our governing documents,” she said, adding that legal counsel would also need to be consulted. Gary Campbell, architect with Manns WoodTo Page 10
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 9
Reelect Commissioner BERTINO Ocean Pines District 5
Neighbors and Friends, Ocean Pines is home. Since arriving here more than 30 years ago, Susan and I reared our three children who attended and graduated from our local public schools. We enjoyed attending countless school plays, seasonal children’s concerts and sporting events. Susan taught Sunday School for 18 years and was a volunteer softball and soccer coach with Ocean Pines Parks and Recreation for many years. We started a business and have been active in local organizations. This is our community. I am running for reelection to continue representing our Ocean Pines district and to serve the entire county as I have during the past eight years with a conservative approach to county government. During my time in office, I believe I have demonstrated a responsive, accessible, responsible and effective approach to public service; valuing community involvement and taking a conservative perspective on taxpayer funded allocations. I seek your support for another term to: continue advocating for the best interests of Ocean Pines and the county as a whole; to continue advocating for a limited county government role in the lives of county citizens; and, to work through important community issues including ensuring the proposed sports complex is not a taxpayer-funded burden, shepherding the county-wide broadband initiative, managing the impact of the Blueprint for Maryland education mandates and developing a stable funding formula for Fire/EMT operations. There is a prevailing belief that taxpayer money is an unlimited funding source for projects and initiatives that I believe fall outside taxpayer responsibility and expectation. As a consistent fiscal conservative and small business owner, I believe government must demonstrate a need for each taxpayer dollar spent. The County treasury is not an ATM! And I have voted accordingly. Unfunded state legislature mandates and funding formulas unfairly siphon from the wallets of county taxpayers millions of dollars annually. Worcester is often victimized by Annapolis state lawmakers and activists who sidestep personal accountability, espouse dependency over self-reliance and who celebrate, promulgate and legislate wrong-headed ideas that threaten Worcester County values and local control. I have and will continue to oppose these efforts! Whether it’s hosting town meetings, responding to constituent concerns, speaking before different organizations, testifying in Annapolis or asking tough questions during Commissioners’ meetings, I take seriously the trust and confidence placed in me by our community and I’d like to continue that work. It has been a pleasure and privilege to serve on your behalf. On Tuesday, July 19, I ask for your vote in the Republican Primary Election. Early voting will take place at Worcester Preparatory School at the Field House located at 508 S. Main Street in Berlin betweeen 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. July 7 through July 14 (including Saturday and Sunday). If you have any questions or comments or would like a lawn sign, please contact me at 410-251-2082. Thank you for your consideration.
Authority: Bertino for Commissioner; Susan Bertino, Treasurer
10 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022 New fire station
From Page 8 ward Associates, said the average cost to build a fire station is $450 per square foot nationally because special equipment and more durable materials are necessary. An initial estimate puts the construction cost of the southside station at $7. 5 million, with additional expenditures for equipment, furniture, design fees, and permitting bringing the total estimate up to $8.615 million. The OPVFD has $1 million in
COVER STORY reserves to commit to the project and will receive a $1.6 million state grant through the governor’s office for $1.35 million, and two State bonds, one for $150,000 and another for $100,000. That leaves a deficit of $6 million for the OPVFD to figure out how to fund. It is proposing a 30-year loan at 3.99 percent for an annual payment of $334,461, or an additional $42 per property per year in the OPA lot assessment. Van Gasbeck lauded State Senator Mary Beth Carozza and State Delegate Wayne Hartman for their
support in lobbying for the state funding. Hartman, a former Ocean City Council member who said he now lives in Ocean Pines, spoke favorably about the project. OPA directors attending the meeting -- Horn, Amy Peck and Josette Wheatley -- were there in information-gathering mode, asking a series of questions that OPVFD answered. Peck asked if the OPVFD has plans for a capital campaign to help raise money for the new south station, clearly suggesting she’s reluc-
tant to rely on the OPA assessment as the sole source of funding. Van Gasbeck said the issue of a capital campaign was broached with Viola, who told the OPVFD to wait for that discussion until after that meeting and feedback from the community. Wheatley also signalled interest in a capital campaign, near the conclusion of the meeting presenting an enlarged check for $1,000 from her and her husband intended as a kickoff for a campaign that has not been launched by the OPVFD. Van Gasbeck indicated interest in such a campaign, but continued to insist that a referendum would be needed to establish a financing mechanism for a new building. One resident suggested approaching Ocean Downs casino, Atlantic General Hospital, Tidal Health, Royal Farms and other local businesses, as well as individuals, to help cover the cost of the new building. When asked what the OPVFD’s plans are, if they can’t raise the money for the new building, Van Gasbeck said there is no alternative. “We have no plan B at this point in time,” he said. Grunewald said the existing fire station is in poor repair with gas pipelines having fallen out of the ceiling in the apparatus bays and the building sinking, causing flooding in the kitchen whenever it rains. There is no room for growth to accommodate additional apparatus or personnel in the existing building. The bunk room does not separate the sexes. The existing building also doesn’t provide any space for decontamination of personnel or equipment after responding to a call. He said all four personnel on duty, men and women, share the single bunk room and one bathroom. The current south station is located on 1.34 acres of property and was originally built in 1981 and added onto in 1985 and 1987. Since then there have been no major renovations to the building. Grunewald said trying to bring the existing south station up to current building codes for fire stations is not feasible or cost effective. “We want them to invest in something that they’re going to be proud of and be able to call their fire department,” he said of Ocean Pines property owners, volunteers and paid emergency medical technicians. The proposed new building would add one new drive-through equipment bay, and the existing three
COVER STORY bays would be renovated. The rest of the existing building would be demolished and rebuilt as a two-story structure with an enclosed turnout gear room in the heart of the structure and separate decontamination space. It would include six bunkrooms including space for more EMTs, five bathrooms, a new kitchen, day room, and dining room for personnel on the first floor. The second floor would contain offices, storage, a conference room, and training room and would be accessible to the public for use. “This is first and foremost a fire station and we worried about response time,” Grunewald said. That’s why all response-related and living spaces are proposed for the first floor and administrative and community spaces are on the second floor. The building would be designed to last 50 years, with a durable stone and cement exterior and standing seam roof. “There is absolutely no sense in trying to build something for five years,” Van Gasbeck said. He added that because it is an emergency response space “it has to be constructed to be the last building standing,” and that means it has to be 20 percent stronger than any other building designed similarly. He said the OPVFD worked with consultants to do an extensive feasibility study and narrow its options down to three potential designs, ultimately selecting the two-story option. Horn asked about the suitability of the site for a new station since the existing building is sinking. Van Gasbeck said that will be addressed as part of the site preparation for the new structure. “We’re built on a swamp, everything sinks,” he said regarding Ocean Pines, but added that part of the feasibility study was to ensure that the building will not sink in the future. Horn also asked about another potential option for a larger south station that would include two new equipment bays. She wanted to know why it wasn’t being considered. Van Gasbeck said cost and size of the facility for the property. “We can’t fit it.” When asked by a resident why the OPVFD does just make better use of the north side fire station which appears to be unused, fire department officials said the north station is used regularly but cited response time as a primary reason for rebuilding the south side station.
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 11 Van Gasbeck said the north side station is an operational station but is not the primary station because response times to certain sections of Ocean Pines would be longer directly from that station. Currently the OPVFD has a six-minute response time to anywhere in Ocean Pines from the south station, he said. He said the nature of volunteer stations like the north station is that they are used when there is a call out. Then emergency personnel
response to the station, go out on the call, come back, and then go home. “That’s how a true volunteer house works generally in rural areas.” It leaves the parking lot vacant for days and weeks between calls that use that station. The south side station is already a combination fire-EMT station with personnel on site, offices there, and community spaces active. Grunewald added that the old north fire station was located in the community center building. When it
was moved to its new location, there were never plans to use it as the primary station. He said the response time would double to 12 minutes from that station to the far south side of Ocean Pines. Campbell said the new building design is driven by a need to prioritize first responder health and safety. Therefore, there will be a clear distinction between the response and living areas, and public areas of the structure. He said that will To Page 12
12 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022 New fire station From Page 11 improve safety and operational efficiency. “They should be able to function as two completely separate buildings in one,” he said. He added that a new fire station that is appropriately designed can aid in recruitment and retention of personnel because it creates excitement about the space. He cited a fire department in White Marsh, home base of Manns Woodward Studios, where the department is having to turn away applications because so many people now want to serve. Grunewald said construction of the proposed new building will be completed in phases so the south station can remain operational. He said the new equipment bay would be built first, followed by the other bays, and then the remaining new space. Personnel will work out of a trailer during construction. “Everything would still operate out of here with fire and EMS,” he said.
COVER STORY
Estimated square footage of proposed new firehouse corrected by architect Size reduced from 21,000 square feet to 19,300 By TOM STAUSS Publisher nformation initially released about the size of the proposed expansion and renovation of the Southside firehouse has been rescinded, with new disclosure reducing the square footage substantially. Architect Gary Campbell of the Manns Woodward
I
The exterior view of the proposed Southside firehouse.
Studios of White Marsh, Md., told those attending a community gathering at the firehouse June 30 that the square footage of what essentially would be a new building was roughly 21,000 square feet. That was amended the following day after Campbell did some new calculations. To Page 14
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 13
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COVER STORY Campbell, wanting to be responsive to Horn and others who asked for that number, did a rough calculation and came up with 21,000. In a conversation with the Progress after the meeting, he based the 21,000 square foot estimate on a projected 4,000 square feet in the existing three bays, 2000 square feet in a proposed new ambulance bay, and 15,000 square feet, or 7,500 square feet per floor, in the proposed addition. In a follow-up email to the Progress on July 1, Campbell corrected
Size correction
From Page 12 Initially, during the June 20 presentation, Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department President Dave Van Gasbeck said the square footage number was unavailable. During questioning by Ocean Pines Association directors, OPA President Colette Horn’s first question was about proposed square footage. That number is needed to calculate a cost per square foot of the proposed facility.
his estimate from the night before, reducing it from 21,000 down to 19,300 square feet. He said the three existing bays to be renovated are 4,000 square feet, the proposed new ambulance bay and support space would be 2,900 square feet, the first floor addition would be 6,800 square feet, and the second floor addition would be 5,600 square feet. At the latest cost estimate of $8.6 million for what essentially is a new firehouse, that comes out to $445.60 per square.
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11304 Manklin Creek Road, South Gate Ocean Pines (Manklin Creek Road & Ocean Parkway)
That’s close to the average cost of new firehouses nationwide, according to Campbell. But the OPVFD is not rebuilding the three existing bays; it is only renovating them, presumably with new HVAC equipment to replace the overhead gas lines that recently fell off their moorings. A local builder, who has asked that his name not be printed, estimated the cost of installing new HVAC equipment in the old bays at roughly $100,000 and the new ambulance bay at $200,000. Campbell did not offer cost breakdowns for various components of the proposed building, although he did say during the presentation that not all components cost the same. The $450 per square foot is a composite nationwide average, he said. But the local builder said that if $300,000 for the four bays is taken off the estimated $8.6 million, and 6,900 square feet allocated to four bays is subtracted, then what remains is an $8.3 million estimated cost for 12,400 square feet of administrative, housing, training and kitchen space [19,300-6,900]. That works out to $669.35 per square foot, above the national average. The local builder also is wondering why the square footage allocated to the various project components is as a large as it is, adding that until building mechanical specifications are drafted, potential building costs will be difficult to nail down. Back in May, the Progress had been told by a reputable source who had seen the OPVFD’s feasibility study that a new building would be 3,720 square foot in footprint, not including the new ambulance bay and the existing bays. The existing building is somewhere close to 2500 square feet, built in phases during the 1980s, according to the then president of the OPVFD, Lee McClaflin. Fire chief Steve Grunewald back in May declined to confirm the 3,720 square foot number, saying details such as that would be released during the pending town hall. It turned out that 3,720 was way off. The footprint of the new building would be 6,800 square feet, according to Campbell, more than 3,000 square feet larger than the May estimate of 3,720 and more than 4,000 square larger than the existing building. Campbell told the Progress following the June 30 meeting that he To Page 16
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 15
• RETURN TO REGULARLY SCHEDULED BOARD MEETINGS
WE NEED THIS!
Saturday Morning Board meetings at Community Center to enable residents, as in the past, to plan attendance, open dialog with the Board, and interact with other Ocean Pines residents! Regular meetings in locations large enough to permit residents to be present encourages participation. Virtual still permitted, of course.
• ELIMINATION OF BOARD APPOINTMENTS
As vacancies occur, open position should be filled by former candidates in order of OP votes cast, not by Board appointments with no OP resident input. This provides fully vetted, background checked replacements based on OP requirements and eliminates favortism.
• SPECIAL BOARD MEETINGS
Establish stringent guidelines for use of “Special Meetings” with residents given sufficient notice. MD State HOA guidelines currently permit special meetings for two reasons: Contract negotiations and personnel/individual security. Current OP practices find many, many special meetings called, some wih appearance of avoiding transparency and scrutiny by OPA members.
• OP BOARD ONLY POSTING SITE
To contain Board meeting dates/locations, special meeting dates/locations, minutes of all Board meetings, GM budget, reports and announcements and posted responses to resident questions made at meetings. ONE SITE
containing only these posts. Questions and comments can continue to use social media sites.
Yes, I am asking for your support and vote to keep Ocean Pines moving forward. Let’s keep Ocean Pines as great as it is and can continue to be! Questions: pjgray180@gmail.com • STAY informed, STAY involved! STAY SAFE, Paula Gray
16 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
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Size correction From Page 14 believes there is sufficient land on the OPVFD-owned firehouse parcel to fit the ground floor footprint of a 6,800 square foot addition to the existing bays, after the existing building is demolished, but that there would be some loss of parking. “That’s the trade-off,” he said, “but we felt it was a worthwhile one.” He said he did not anticipate any insurmountable permitting challenges in expanding the existing building footprint to 6,800 square feet, that additional stormwater management would be needed to meet county and state environmental standards. Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen, as permitting authorities in Worcester County are known to be sticklers for the rules and the permitting process often seems to take longer than applicants believe it should. The OPA learned that in spades with the proposed pickleball courts in the Racquet Sports Center off Manklin Creek Road, not too far from the Southside firehouse site. OPA General Manager John Viola told the Progress in a July 1 interview that he would be forming of brain trust or working group of local builders and experts to help him evaulate plans presented by the OPVFD. He said he believes he has a close working relationship with OPVFD leaders, forged during the annual departmental budget process, that will enable the process to move forward cordially and professionally. Among names he mentioned as joining the working group are former directors with contractor experience during their working careers, Ted Moroney and Frank Brown, as well as local builder Marvin Steen, all of whom have helped on previous OPA construction projects. The OPA Board of Directors will also be taking a keen interest in details about the project, with Viola taking a lead in direct discussions.
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 17
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18 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
Board imposes, judge lifts Janasek amenity suspension
OCEAN PINES
Former OPA director allowed back into OPA food and beverage venues pending a court hearing on the merits By TOM STAUSS Publisher t didn’t take long for Judge Sidney Campen to reverse the 90day suspension of former Director Tom Janasek’s right to access Ocean Pines Association food and beverage venues. Janasek’s attorney, Bruce Bright of the Ocean City law firm of Ayres, Jenkins, Gordy and Almand, filed suit in Worcester County Circuit Court June 20 against the OPA and four directors -- OPA President Colette Horn, Vice President Frank Daly, Amy Peck and Larry Perrone -- to reverse the suspension. Judge Campen did so, issuing a temporary restraining order one day after the suit was filed, pending a June 29 court hearing in Snow Hill. That hearing was subsequently canceled on a motion by the defendants’s attorneys, who are identified on the state’s case search page as Stanley Reed and Caitlin Grant of the Lerch Early law firm, of which OPA counsel Jeremy Tucker is a member. As part of the decision canceling the June 29 hearing, the Court set a new date of Aug. 25 for a hearing
I
on the plaintiff’s motion for a prelimnary injunction. The court also extended the temporary restraining order granted on June 21, meaning that Janasek is free to access any of the OPA’s food and beverage amenities at least until the scheduled Aug. 25 hearing. Janasek told the Progress after the hearing cancelation and TRO extension that he understands they were handled not by Judge Campen but by Judge Brian Shockley, the administrative judge for the county circuit court. There is no indication yet on which judge will be assigned to preside over the scheduled Aug. 25 hearing. Nor is it clear whether Lerch Early attorneys or attorneys assigned by the OPA’s insurance company will handle the case for the OPA defendants. “Poor Larry won’t be able to keep me from the amenities this summer,” Janasek said, a gibe at Perrone, who was the driver behind the Board majority’s efforts to suspend Janasek in response to a much-publicized incident at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club.
Perrone initially had wanted to suspend Janasek for a year, but four other directors apparently were disposed toward the shorter penalty. Perrone will no longer be an OPA director on Aug. 25, the scheduled hearing date. He retires from the Board as of the annual meeting of the OPA earlier in the month. Temporary restraining orders are issued when the Court believes that there is a likelihood that the plaintiff will prevail on the merits when the issues brought up in the case are litigated. The 90-day suspension had begun June 10, when an Ocean Pines police officer delivered the suspension notice to Janasek at his home on Lookout Point in Ocean Pines, following a special meeting of the board the day before in which the board voted 5-2 to suspend Janasek’s right to use the OPA food and beverage amenities. Prompting the suspension was the incident at the Yacht Club tiki bar in which Janasek used profane language to verbally accost Josette Wheatley for the way she voted when the directors chose officers for the OPA last summer. She favored
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Horn as president over Director Doug Parks. There was no physical violence in the incident and Janasek was not arrested. Wheatley was not named in the suit, out of an abundance of caution and a footnote in the suit that naming her might result in a claim that Janasek was violating the terms of a six-month protective against contact with Wheatley. That protective order was sought by Wheatley and agreed to by Janasek, who under terms of the order is allowed in the same room as Wheatley but is not permitted to engage her in conversation or otherwise make contact with her. Janasek told the Progress he was OK with the protective order and the matter should have ended there. Instead, he said the Board of Directors “needlessly and at the legal expense of Ocean Pines members” escalated the incident “out of dislike for me personally” and in a “misguided” attempt to improve Wheatley’s electoral prospects. She is a candidate for a three-year term on the Board this summer. In addition to Wheatley, not named as defendants in the Janasek lawsuit are directors Parks and Rick Farr, both of whom voted against the suspension on grounds that OPA governing documents don’t permit it. The day after the suit was filed, Judge Campen, the same judge who ruled against the OPA in the Farr vs. OPA candidate eligibility case, issued the temporary restraining order in Janasek’s favor, lifting the suspension for a period of ten days. He set a Wednesday, June 29, hearing on Janasek’s motion for a preliminary injunction in Snow Hill Circuit Courtroom #2 beginning at 9:30 a.m., later postponed. The TRO was issued even before attorneys for the defendants were entered into the court record. To Page 20
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 19
20 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
OCEAN PINES Suspension lifted From Page 18 Because of the short notice given for the June 29 hearing, it was not surprising that the OPA asked for a postponement to allow its lawyers more time to prepare. A copy of the TRO was mailed from Snow Hill the same day it was issued, but a copy was provided to the OPA on Wednesday, June 22, by Bright’s office. Janasek was able to access the OPA’s venues as of 11 a.m. that day. In his TRO, Judge Campen said it appeared from specific facts in an affidavit by Janasek that “immediate, substantial and irreparable harm will result” to the plaintiff if no TRO would be issued prior to the June 29 hearing. Judge Campen noted that the “purported ban” was preventing Janasek’s use of important OPA amenities “which he regularly and routinely uses ... as he is and has been entitled to as an OPA member in good standing.” He also justified the TRO on the prospect that the suspension “may
expire before a full adversary and evidentiary hearing can be scheduled and concluded, and by then the harm to plaintiff, specifically the denial of his use of OPA amenities for which he has paid and is paying through OPA dues and charges, will likely be irreparable.” Judge Campen ruled that enforcement of the suspension “shall be immediately stayed and enjoined” by the Court, and that any access by Janasek of the amenities “shall not constitute and may not be treated by the OPA, its Board, its employees, or its law enforcement agency as a trespass or other criminal matter.” Key points in the suit include: • an allegation that the plaintiffs harbored “personal animosity” toward Janasek stemming from his outspoken opposition to the Board majority’s handling of the Farr case. Indeed, much of the text of the suit recaps the proceedings in the Farr case, in which Judge Campen determined that the board had exercised bad faith in attempts to remove Farr as a candidate in the 2021 election. • a contention that there is no To Page 22
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July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 21
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22 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022 Suspendsion lifted From Page 20 provision in OPA governing documents that allow the board to suspend an OPA member’s access to OPA amenities because of a verbal altercation. • A rebuttal of Horn’s contention in a June 9 statement that OPA governing documents are 50 years old and that Ocean Pines’ “founders did not foresee the presence in our community of somebody whose behavior
falls so far outside the norms” of the community. Bright argues in his filing that OPA by-laws specifically are not 50 years old -- in fact they have been amended on several occasions, including in a referendum vote earlier this year -- and “Horn has no knowledge as to what may or may not have been intended, by the developer [founders of Ocean Pines] or any former board, in regard to the OPA charter, the OPA declarations, and/ or the OPA by-laws, other than what
is expressly stated in those governing documents. Horn’s statements in this regard reflect her ends-oriented approach in this matter, motivated by personal ill will and animus toward” Janasek, Bright says. He cites these documents in his contentions that the action to suspend Janasek “violates and contravenes express provisions of the OPA charter, by-laws, restrictive covenants and OPA board resolution M-02.” The OPA charter, Bright says,
OCEAN PINES
provides that that no OPA member “may be expelled from membership in the Association for any reason whatsoever; provided that the board of directors of the Association will have the right to suspend ... the right to use the parks and other recreational facilities and amenities of the Association of any member [who has not paid Association or is in violation of OPA covenants].” Bright says the charter “states further ... that there shall be no other preferences, limitations, or restrictions with respect to the relative rights of the members.” That provision suggests that not only is there no provision in the governing documents that expliclty authorize suspension for offensive behavior at an OPA amenity. In addition, it would seem to explicitly prohibit the Board from taking the action it did to suspend Janasek. Citing Board Resolution M-02 which he says gives the OPA general manager the authority to suspend the use of amenities by any person for infractions of the rules, Bright says that General Manager John Viola hasn’t done so “and could not take action to suspend plaintiff’s use of the OPA amenities because plaintiff has not violated any rules, regulations or policies of the Association.” Citing section 5.132 of the OPA by-laws, Bright contends that the board is authorized to suspend access rights only when a member hasn’t paid OPA assessments or has continuing violations of OPA covenants as declared by the board of directors. That language is similar to verbiage in the charter. Bright also argues that the OPA has never banned anyone from OPA facilities for any period of time and that some members not in good standing with the OPA have not been banned. The suit includes four counts. The first is for a declaratory judgment from the Court that Janasek has not violated any OPA governing documents and that the defendants “acted improperly, arbitrarily, in bad faith, incorrectly, unlawfully, against legal advice, and knowingly in contravention” of OPA governing documents. This count also asks the Court to award to Janasek costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys fees, in the case. The second count is a request for a temporary restraining order, preTo Page 24
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 23
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From Page 23 liminary injunction, and/or permanent injunction against enforcement of the ban. “There is a likelihood that plaintiff will prevail on the merits of his claims,” Bright writes. Count three alleges a breach of contract and a breach of fiduciary duty by the board. In imposing the ban, the defendants “intentionally acted outside the scope of their proper duties, with a reckless and wanton disregard for the rights and interests of the plaintiff, with personal animus, malice and ill will toward the plaintiff, and in an intentionally wrongful manner.” Here, Bright asks for compensatory damages not to exceed $75,000, for attorney fees, and punitive damages in the same amount. Count four alleges tortious interference with the business relationship between Janasek and the Matt Ortt Companies through AC Beverage, which has hired Janasek as a private contractor to service bar equipment, specifically cleaning and maintenance of 43 draft beer lines, at OPA venues covered by the ban. “In imposing the wrongful and knowingly unauthorized ‘ban,’ defendants intended to interfere with plaintiff’s business/contractual relationship with AC Beverage and/or fully understood that such interference would result” from the suspension,” the suit contends. The concluding paragraph in the suit repeats the request for $75,000 in compensatory damages and the same in punitive damages. Janasek told the Progress in a June 22 text that if he is awarded
Daly says Tucker legal advice discussed options and risks, no definitive recommendation By TOM STAUSS Publisher hile it’s the norm for OPA directors not to comment on pending litigation, Ocean Pines Association Frank Daly Daly told the Progress in a June 23 telephone interview that contrary to some reports on social media, OPA Counsel Jeremy Tucker did not issue a definitive recommendation to the board not to suspend Former Director Tom Janasek’s access rights to certain amenities. “He gave us options, and discussed the risks associated with them,” Daly said of Tucker. The Board of Directors in a June 9 special meeting voted 5-2 to suspend Janasek’s right to access the OPA’s food and beverage amenities, in response to a much reported incident at the Yacht Club tiki bar. Janasek sued, and a Worcester County Circuit Court judge issued a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the suspension, pending a hearing on the merits of the case. Dissenting directors Doug Parks and Rick Farr are correct when they suggest they were following legal advice in their vote against suspending Janasek, Daly acknowledged. The five directors who voted to suspend were also following legal advice, knowing full well the risk of potential litigation, he added. He also said the board would consider possible amendments to OPA governing documents should the Court ultimately rule against the defendants in the case. The defendants are the OPA and four of the five directors who vote to suspend Janasek. Should the OPA prevail, it may not be necessary to amend governing documents, Daly said. “It all depends on the outcome of the case,” he said. “As in the Farr case, we will follow the guidance of the Court and take action accordingly.”
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damages in excess of attorney’s fees, he will donate them to charity. While it is too soon to know what the OPA’s defense will be as the case proceeds, some clues might be found in the statement issued by Horn after the board’s 5-2 vote in a special meeting June 9 to suspend Janasek from food and beverages venues. The emphasis seems to be on the health and safety of OPA members. “Tonight the board made the decision to restrict access to the food and beverage amenities for Tom Janasek for 90 days,” Horn’s statement reads. “It was a difficult decision, and one To Page 26
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OCEAN PINES
Ortt Companies mired in Ocean Pines politics DeAngelus says chain of bullying includes statements by Amy Peck and Josette Wheatley, who are running for election to the OPA Board of Directors this summer By TOM STAUSS Publisher he last thing the Matt Ortt Companies would ever want is to become embroiled in Ocean Pines politics, particularly Ocean Pines electoral politics. But this is what has happened, initially triggered by the much publicized incident in May in which former director Tom Janasek confronted Josette Wheatley, an appointed director and candidate for the Board of Directors, at the Yacht Club tiki bar. Her offense according to Janasek: Support for Colette Horn over Doug Parks for the presidency of the Ocean Pines Association last year. Both Wheatley and her board colleague, Amy Peck, also a candidate in this summer’s board election, have been accused by MOC managing partners of bullying, Peck for an assertion that MOC would be held “personally responsible” for any repeat incident involving Janasek and Wheatley for suggesting that another local restaurateur should be giv-
T
Suspension lifted
From Page 25 that was not unanimously approved. Those who voted in favor of the restriction weighed our responsibility as a Board to provide immediate
protections to health and safety of Association members against the risk that in doing so we would be judged to have stretched the limits of authority granted to us in our governing documents. “Neither we nor the founders who
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en an opportunity to bid on the Ocean Pines Association food and beverage contract. It all has unfolded on local social media and in leaked text messages that the posters and senders probably thought were private. In Ocean Pines political skirmishing, nothing is private. Janasek’s alcohol-fueled, vulgarity-laced confrontation with Wheatley resulted in Yacht Club staff escorting Janasek off the premises -- he subsequently returned, according to reports. Three weeks after the Ralph DeAngelus incident, the OPA Board of Directors in a 5-2 vote suspended Janasek for 90 days from OPA food and beverage amenities, a suspension he’s fighting in court, so far successfully. There was some question initially about whether Yacht Club staff To Page 28 wrote those documents foresaw the occurrence of behavior of a member falling so far outside the norms set by society that we would be required to contemplate a decision for such a restriction. Having faced this decision, as a next step, the Board is now working to strengthen the language in our governing documents that articulates our authority to enforce the constraints already in our Declaration of Restrictions against such behavior,” her statement said. The Board’s decision to suspend Janasek came roughly three weeks after the tiki bar incident, with the board initially taking a more circumspect attitude. Perrone had offered a motion in a meeting several days after the incident calling for a year suspension, but he then tabled it for later action, on the grounds that the board needed more time to consider legal advice. At the June 9 special meeting, two residents spoke out in favor of
taking no action against Janasek. One, Joe Reynolds, spoke in favor of a suspension, quoting vulgarities reportedly used by Janasek. OPA member Mark Thomas suggested that the punishment was excessive, adding that he didn’t want to see any disruption in the close working relationship between the OPA and the Matt Ortt Companies, who he said was the best food and beverage manager in the history of Ocean Pines. OPA member Donna Dunn took the board majority to task for targeting Janasek, accusing the majority directors of pursuing a personal vendetta against Janasek. Director Doug Parks expressed the view that suspending Parks was not authorized by OPA governing documents and that “continually disregarding these documents” in decision-making is “not the way to manage, run or oversee this organization.”
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28 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022 Mired in politics From Page 26 handled the incident properly, including whether it had the power to ban Janasek from the Yacht Club for a period of time. Later statements by OPA Attorney Jeremy Tucker, Horn and others indicated that the Matt Ortt Companies followed its own policies and OPA rules for disruptive behavior in dealing with the Janasek-Wheatley incident. They said any decision to ban Janasek from OPA food and bever-
OCEAN PINES age venues had to come from the board. There the matter could have rested, were it not for controversial statements by Wheatley and her board colleague Amy Peck that angered the Matt Ortt Companies, which in April had just completed a record-breaking year financially for the three food and beverage venues the company operates for the OPA. In a June 2 email to Ralph DeAngelus, a managing partner in the Matt Ortt Companies, Peck asked him to reconsider banning
Janasek from the Yacht Club and other venues managed by MOC. She said she was writing as an Ocean Pines homeowner, not as a director. “If I experience any abuse from Mr. Janasek at your venues, I personally am holding you responsible,” her email concluded. Peck referred to an hearing she attended the previous day in a courtroom in Snow Hill in which Wheatley was granted a six-month protective order from any contact with Janasek. The order does not preclude Janasek from being in the
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same room with Wheatley, only that he can’t initiate any conversation with her. “This order will protect her at the Clubhouse and the Yacht Club and her residence; however, it will not protect her at other locations. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wheatley was the only Director unable to attend the Memorial Day Program as Mr. Janasek and his companion made a point of attending and standing in the hot sun directly in front of where the Directors were seated. The situation was scary enough that Mrs. Wheatley left and went home. “Mr. Janasek’s behavior was not apologetic at the hearing,” she continued. “He actually said it was normal Ocean Pines politics that has been happening for 40 years. He bragged that he had done twice as much for the Community than Mrs. Wheatley while he was testifying. It was strange.” Previously, Janasek had sent what he said he was a five-paragraph letter of apology to Wheatley for the incident. Although Peck was not present during the incident involving Janasek and Wheatley, she told DeAngelus that “at this point, I do not feel safe attending the Matt Ortt food venues in Ocean Pines unless I know Josette is going to be in attendance and her protective order would make Janasek leave. This really doesn’t seem fair.” In fact, the protective order does not make Janasek leave when in the presence of Wheatley. Peck’s email triggered DeAngelus to send an email to Viola. “In light of the recent threat made against Matt Ortt Companies by Director Peck,” DeAngelus requested a copy of the protective order and “clear instructions from OPA’s attorney on how he wants us to handle a situation when either Mr Janasek shows up on OPA F&B property while Ms Wheatley is present, or, when Ms Wheatley shows up on F&B property while Mr Janasek is present.” Viola responded that the situation had been elevated to the Board of Directors for review and decision-making. The clarification sought by DeAngelus came during the special meeting in which Janasek’s access rights were suspended for 90 days. According to comments by OPA Director and Vice-president Frank Daly, MOC staffers were to call to the Ocean Pines Police Department To Page 30
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 29
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30 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022 Mired in politics From Page 28 should Janasek show up in OPA food and beverage venues during the suspension period. A couple of days after the special meeting, Janasek was served by an OPPD police officer with a notice that should he show up at an OPA venue, he would be cited for trespassing. In an extraordinary and unprecedented statement published in a local weekly, DeAngelus and partner Matt Ortt expressed their outrage over Peck’s email to DeAngelus. “As you know, we received an email from Director Amy Peck regarding her opinion about what Ocean Pines Association ‘policy’ should be for Tom Janasek, which contained clear misstatements and a direct threat to me personally, my business partner, and my company. Frankly, [we’re] baffled by her e-mail,” the statement said. “She says that the Matt Ortt Companies should set a policy that bans Tom Janasek from all OPA food and beverage properties. However, she is on the Board, and she knows we
OCEAN PINES don’t have the power to arbitrarily set OPA policy. She also knows that I was directly told by General Manager John Viola, President Collette Horn, Vice-President Frank Daly, Police Chief Leo Ehrisman, and OPA attorney Jeremy Tucker that, in response to the incident, we handled the situation exactly as we should have when we walked Mr. Janasek off the property after his encounter with Board member Josette Wheatley.” The MOC statement said that actions taken to escort Janasek off the property that “were appropriate to most, weren’t enough for her. “In addition to directing us to take arbitrary action, Ms. Peck said in her e-mail that should she get harassed by Mr. Janasek, she is going to ‘hold us personally accountable.’ How is this even possible? [We are] not aware of any issues she {Peck] has had with Mr. Janasek, and even if [we] did, how can she hold us accountable for someone else’s actions?” The statement said that “it seems abundantly clear that she’s trying to bully us into doing something that she knows would open us up to civ-
il litigation. She is a board member and, as such, is in control of our livelihood. She has the ability to vote for or against new contracts -- contracts that would keep our company and its 200 OPA employees working, or not working, for years to come.” The statement said “it is unclear what she is trying to accomplish by bullying a vendor that has worked so hard every day to better the Ocean Pines community — a vendor that, through covid’s darkest hours, had its entire management team personally deliver thousands of family meals, at their own expense and in their own vehicles, to Ocean Pines residents who were too worried to go out.” DeAngelus and Orr said that Peck had “created a hostile work environment; at worst, she has a vendor that sits back and has to think to themselves why are we working so hard for someone who cares so little about us.” They said the words in her email “were neither honorable nor responsible.” They alluded to Peck’s presence on the OPA board through appointment, rather than election by OPA members.
Amy Peck
Josette Wheatley
“If she took on the responsibility of a Board member, she should live up to it, and living up to it starts with an apology, at a bare minimum,” they said. They went on to say that it’s not “our place to give our advice or opinion on politics. We stand by that to this day. We are a vendor, working for Ocean Pines. A vendor that, as of April 30, 2022, set an all-time record for combined food and beverage yearly profits. A vendor, whose hard work has not only paid off financially for Ocean Pines homeowners but has brought the Yacht Club to the highest levels of customer satisfaction it has ever achieved. That’s what we stand behind. And we are very proud of it.” In a response to the MOC stateTo Page 32
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32 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
Directors adopt electronic voting in this summer’s Board election Paper ballots retained for those who want them By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer cean Pines property owners will be able to vote electronically in this summer’s Board of Directors election, and in future elections and referendums. Those who want to cast their votes using traditional paper ballots may do so. During a June 27 special meeting, the Board unanimously approved amendments to Resolution M-06, which governs the election process,
O
Mired in politics From Page 30 ment, Peck said her private email to DeAngelus had been leaked to a social media site active in Ocean Pines . “They got the letter and I didn’t, and I’m on the Board. That’s a little concerning,” she told a local weekly. “I was informing (Matt Ortt officials) of updates in the [Janasek-Wheatley] situation because I had just got back from the hearing that I attended with Josette.” She said she was concerned “about the liability threat the association could face if there’s a repeat incident,” adding that liability and safety were her primary concerns prompting the email to DeAngelus. She also was quoted as saying that she did not feel safe in Janasek’s presence. The drama continued when Wheatley in a leaked text message suggested that a local restaurateur, later identified as Paul Supplee, owner of the Boxcar restaurants in Berlin and Pittsville, perhaps should submit a management bid
to allow electronic voting and a $3,414 contract with Vote HOA Now to conduct this year’s electronic election process. Along with the announcement of the annual meeting, for the 2022 election eligible property owners will receive the bio insert for the six candidates vying for seats on the Board, and a paper ballot and return envelope, as well as individual random codes to access the online provider’s Website to vote. Directors initially discussed the revised
when another MOC contract extension comes up for renewal. “Maybe Paul and his group should bid on working for [the] OPA,” Wheatley said in a text to Missi Morris Dancy. She expressed support for MOC in two recent candidate forums, but it was too little, too late for DeAngelus. Supplee is a former executive chef at the Yacht Club under former Food and Beverage Manager Pudge Ruppert in the administration of former General Manager Dave Ferguson in the early 2000s. Wheatley replied to Missy Morris Dancy with heart and OK emojis. Supplee, contacted by the Progress for a comment on whether he would be interested in bidding on an Ocean Pines management contract, demurred. “We’re very supportive of what Matt Ortt has done for Ocean Pines,” he said. “It’s been an amazing turnaround.” Wheatley’s text triggered another response from DeAngelus, who called Wheatley’s call for possible
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resolution at the June 22 monthly meeting but wanted more information about the electronic voting process, including assurance that the contractor could conduct a recount of the electronic ballots if necessary and more precise information about where election materials would be stored. Following a brief discussion and a few tweaks to the resolution at a special meeting June 27, they approved the revised resolution. With respect to the Board’s concerns about the mechanics of a potential recount of electronic votes, Carol Ludwig, Elections Committee chair, assured the Board during the special meeting that the contractor can recount ballots submitted electronically should the results of any election or referendum be challenged. “The process and procedure is there with the To Page 34
competition in management of OPA food and beverage venues “clear retaliation for my statement towards Amy Peck insisting that we do something that open us up to litigation.” In a text to the Progress, he said that he “whole thing started with Josette being bullied by Tom Janasek. And then Amy bullies me.
Just like Josette called out Tom for bullying, I called out Amy Peck for bullying. I backed up Josette’s claim, saying that, yes, indeed she was bullied. And in return Josette bullies me back by saying maybe we should get kicked out Ocean Pines. Clear retaliation. Just unbelievably ridiculous!” he concluded.
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 33
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34 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022 Electronic voting From Page 32 vendor,” she said. Ludwig said that votes will be verified and counted using the assigned number sent out with the ballot package. The committee will not know how a property owner voted but a recount can be conducted using the verified assigned numbers, she said. Another concern was language in the resolution that discusses retention of election materials for one year. Director Doug Parks wanted to know where the materials would be stored and to have that specified in the resolution. Director Larry Perrone argued there could be problems if the resolution says exactly where the election materials are to be stored but for some reason they can’t be retained in that location. In revised language presented at the special meeting, the votes will be stored in that specific location “unless otherwise required.” He said that language is broad enough to cover any situation where the materials may need to be kept in
OCEAN PINES an alternate location. “The passage of this motion means we will be going to a new system of voting, starting with the Board election this year,” OPA President Colette Horn said. “The Board appreciates the thorough review by the Elections Committee, which allowed us to make this change. We believe this will be a benefit for Ocean Pines homeowners.” Director Frank Daly said the entire process would be much simpler if the OPA had email addresses for all property owners and they were linked to the assessment database. “I think we’d save ourselves a lot of effort,” he said, adding “I think that’s an area where we have lacked effort that we need to make the effort.” Perrone said that is not part of the Elections Committee’s process. Daly agreed but said it is a separate issue the Board should address. Ludwig said the electronic voting provider cleans up the database so when a property owner does provide an email address it is matched within the OPA’s system. Horn asked if the email addresses are captured for property owners
paying their annual dues online. General Manager John Viola said it did but then agreed to look into the matter to be sure those email addressed are then carried over to the OPA’s larger database. Meanwhile, Resolution M-06 was amended to add a new sections acknowledging that the Maryland Homeowners Association Act authorizes voting by electronic transmission and provides: “Notwithstanding language contained in the governing documents of the homeowners association, the board of directors or other governing body of the homeowners association may authorize lot owners to submit a vote or proxy by electronic transmission if the electronic transmission contains information that verifies that the vote or proxy is authorized by the lot owner or the lot owner’s proxy.” Electronic transmission can include any form of communication, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that may be retained, retrieved, and reviewed by a recipient of the communication; and may be reproduced directly in paper form by a recipient through an automat-
ed process. The revised resolution states that a ballot documents the choices made by voters and can be paper ballot or in an electronic format that allows the vote to be cast by electronic transmission. Only a single voting package is sent for each lot or unit eligible to vote. This applies to all joint owners of a lot or unit, including co-tenants, joint tenants and tenants by the entireties. The voting package will be addressed to all owners of record at the billing address used for the association annual assessment mailing or, for the purpose of voting by electronic transmission, at an email address provided by the owner of record of the Lot if authorized. If an owner submits a vote by electronic transmission, any paper ballot submitted by that owner will be invalidated. In a separate attachment, the Board established the procedures for electronic voting, including using a web-based contractor to manage the vote. All eligible voters will be provided with a random number to be used To Page 36
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Electronic voting From Page 35 to access their personal ballot on the contractor’s website. The OPA website, oceanpines.org, will post links to the online contractor instruction videos and links to the online voting Website. Paper ballots and return envelopes will be provided in the mailing which will include instructions for the paper ballot or online ballot as their
choice. Ballots returned by mail will be verified via the online contractor, before the mail contractor separates the ballots from the return envelopes. Return envelopes will be declared invalid if the section/lot/identifier numbers are obscured by the property owner and will not be opened nor counted. If an owner submits a vote on-line, any paper ballot submitted by that owner will be invalidated.
The Elections Committee will have access to how many property owners voted online, but not how they voted. The committee, after verification of no vote entered, can provide the identifier number if an eligible voter reported not receiving the voting package. The results of the ballots returned by mail, scanned by the Elections Committee, will be provided to the on line contractor who will then To Page 30
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July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 37
Directors move toward ‘hybrid’ annual meeting Perrone opposed, but other directors seem amenable if critical details can be worked out By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer he Board of Directors is inching its way toward approval of a hybrid in-person and virtual annual meeting and has tasked a work group with determining the Ocean Pines Association’s technology capabilities for establishing the presence of a quorum and member voting rights. After first discussing the proposal the prior week at their regular monthly meeting, directors picked up the discussion during a June 27 special meeting but tabled consideration pending information on the vetting process. The Board is considering a revision to Resolution B-03 that provides for the conduct of the Annual Meeting of the Members using a hybrid model, but not everyone is convinced it’s a good idea and other directors are concerned there may not be a way to determine who has the right to be considered part or a quorum and vote and who doesn’t. Director Larry Perrone argued that attendance at the annual meet-
T
ing in August has declined significantly since the association began announcing the results of the Board elections prior to that meeting. “My opinion is this is just going to make it worse,” he said “I can’t vote for this.” Perrone said the annual meeting is too important to do it virtually. “While I understand it’s allowable, I just think it’s a bad idea,” he said. Director Doug Parks expressed similar skepticism. “How are we going to validate or verify that the folks that are attending the meeting virtually are dues-paying members of the association?” he asked. suggesting that before he would be ready to vote for a hybrid meeting, he would need verification of a technology solution for ensuring everyone participating is eligible. “No one has explained to me how we are going to accurately control who is eligible to be on the meeting, who can vote, and how we are going to determine quorum,” Perrone added. As background on the proposal,
OPA President Colette Horn said in an effort to increase member participation in meetings, the OPA Board has conducted their regular and special meetings using a hybrid virtual and in person mode, yielding a increase in member participation in meetings. “In light of the challenges we have experienced garnering sufficient member participation in our Annual Meeting using the in person model, it has been proposed that the 2022 Annual Meeting be conducted as a hybrid meeting,” she said. The authority for moving to a hybrid annual meeting model resides in a revision to the Maryland Homeowner’s Association Act approved by the state legislature in 2021. The Board is considering incorporating that authority from the state into the language of the OPA’s own governing documents that address the conduct of the Annual Meeting. The OPA by-laws provide for an annual meeting of the members of the association for the validation of the results of an election of directors and for the transaction of such other
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business on the second Saturday of August of each year. Director Amy Peck is an enthusiastic supporter of hybrid meetings. “Having been a part-time owner for many, many years, I love the idea. I think this can be done,” she said. Initially the proposed revision to the resolution called for allowing meetings of the association to be held as either a virtual meeting or a hybrid of a virtual and in person meeting. Some directors balked at that idea, saying the annual meeting should never be only virtual. Horn presented revised language at the June 27 meeting to remove the option for a virtual-only meeting. Peck said having virtual only meetings could disenfranchise members who do not have access to a computer. “I don’t like the idea of not having some allowance for those who may not be able to participate virtually,” she said, adding “I think it has to just be the hybrid function for now.” But that didn’t satisfy Perrone, who said the state legislation does not address annual meetings or verification of a quorum. “Nothing in here indicates how that will be done,” he said of the resolution amendments. The resolution specifically states that any member attending a virtual meeting will be deemed present for quorum and voting purposes, as applicable to the particular meetu
Electronic voting
From Page 36 provide the final results to the Elections Committee. Ludwig said the committee had recommended electronic voting as far back as 2020. This year, she said voters would have the option to return a paper ballot, or to vote online. “Instructions for completing paper or online transmission will be included,” Ludwig continued. “Members who have provided their email to the OPA assessment database will also receive emailed information from the online contractor (Vote HOA Now). Links to instruction videos and voting website will be available at oceanpines.org.” Elections materials are scheduled to be mailed to all eligible voters no later than the week of July 12 and only one option, either paper or electronic transmission, can be used to vote.
38 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022 Annual meeting
From Page 37 ing. Carol Ludwig, Elections Committee chair, said that could be done by requiring property owners who want to attend the annual meeting virtually to register within 48 hours of the meeting. They could then be sent a link to participate in the meeting. Peck suggested using the voter number property owners receive on their election ballots as a way to check in members at the annual meeting. Perrone responded that has nothing to do with the annual meeting. But Peck said that it could because it shows that the member was in good standing to receive an election ballot. “This just doesn’t seem hard to me,” she said. Perrone persisted, saying many properties change hands between the mailing of election ballots and the annual meeting so using that ballot number wouldn’t work. Horn said it doesn’t need to be so complicated; the OPA could simply replicate its existing in-person validation process online. She said property owners logging in to the annual meeting can show their ID and get checked in virtually by the Elections Committee. “I don’t see any reason to deviate from what we’re currently doing,” she said. Director Frank Daly asked how that process could be incorporated into the proposed resolu-
tion without overwhelming an online check-in system. Ludwig said currently for in person meetings the Elections Committee simply uses a spreadsheet of eligible property owners to check in people at the annual meeting. She said whoever is checking them in online would have to verify their identification and eligibility. Daly said he is generally in favor of hybrid meetings but needs additional information to support the resolution. He said the property owner verification procedure needs to be finalized, and the association’s IT staff needs to verify that the process can be handled online. Perrone said the annual meeting is too important to change the process without the Board understanding how it will work for a hybrid meeting. “It needs to be clear,” he said. He offered a motion to table the discussion until those process questions can be answered. Parks agreed that the Board needs confirmation about the process before it approves the resolution, but he also wanted to be certain the approval isn’t unnecessarily delayed. Horn appointed Parks to work with Ludwig and the association’s IT and public relations staff to develop a procedure for the verification of a quorum and property owner’s voting status for virtual participants in the annual meeting. She said the Board needs a procedure that can be incorporated into the proposed amendments to Resolution B-03.
OCEAN PINES
Mailbox replacement to start this month
R
eplacement of some mailboxes and pedestals in Ocean Pines should start by the second week of July. New mailboxes and pedestals have arrived, and staff met with the postmaster to discuss a replacement plan, General Manager John Viola has announced. He made mailbox clusters and pedestals a key part of his Ocean Pines beautification plan, tapping Senior Executive Office Manager Linda Martin to lead the effort. Martin and staff evaluated all the mailbox sites and determined several high priority locations for replacement. The OPA worked with a contractor to have all the mailboxes in Ocean Pines cleaned. “The team is working on this as an important initiative,” Viola said. “There were a lot of moving parts associated with this project.” The next mailboxes to be replaced are on Royal Oaks Drive, Boston Drive, and Cannon Drive. Other cluster boxes targeted for replacement or repair are located at White Horse Park, Lookout Point, Sundial Circle, Crest Haven Drive, Offshore Lane, Tail of the Fox Drive, Bridgewater Road, Brandywine Drive, Fairway Lane, and Charleston Road.
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July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 39
Limited gas pumps available after leak at marina
By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer he Yacht Club marina has just two gas pumps in operation following a recent leak that spilled gas into the water and had to be cleaned up by an environmental contractor. General Manager John Viola during his June 22 report to the Board of Directors said the Ocean Pines Association will be without three of its five marina gas pumps for the remainder of the summer season. “Over the last week and a half two weeks, we have had some situations there,” Viola said of the equipment woes at the marina. First the pumps were shut down because of mechanical issues after the price of gas soared above $5 and again at $6 per gallon and then a pipe developed a leak. Viola said the OPA had to update the gears in the marina gas pumps because they did not go to a $5-plus price point. and then they have to be updated again after the price topped $6 per gallon. “Back in the day nobody anticipated that. So we were without service for a few days. Once we did that as you are probably aware gas went to $6 and I guess the gears needed to be updated again. So we did lose a few days there,” he said. Shortly after the gear adjustments were made,
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there was a line leak associated with the piping of the above-ground storage tank system. “It was identified quickly. We notified the proper authorities and got the proper company in there to assist,” Viola said, “Anything that spilled into the water was taken care of. The pipe was shut down but then we had the situation where it affected our gas pumps.” While the leak was addressed, the OPA will only have two of five pumps operational for the remainder of the season. Once the boating season closes, Viola said the old pipes will be replaced. “We are able to handle the amount of boats that are coming in. But we will be without those [three] pumps for the remainder of this season,” he said. The OPA reported the leak to Maryland Department of the Environment, which requires submission of a work plan that details the current piping layout and corrective actions proposed to address the compromised piping. Viola said OPA staff acted quickly to contain the leak, placing booms around it, and contacted the outside company to come in for cleanup.
Pickleball courts under way
Construction of four new pickleball courts is
under way with the sub-base installed by Public Works crews and the contractor on site pouring paving and concrete. The contractor was scheduled to pour footers for the fences and nets in late June and then to install the surface asphalt and coating. Viola said the courts are on schedule for completion in late July. Repairs to cracks on the existing pickleball courts will also begin soon as a consistent temperature of 75 degrees or more is need for that work to commence. After the cracks are filled, the courts will be repainted and will need seven to ten days to dry. Viola said staff is working with the contractor to maintain at least four open courts at all times if possible. “Our team along with the contractors and along with the pickleball members down there, we’re trying to ensure that we always have some amount of courts operational this summer,” he said.
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Viola said new lights and materials are now in stock for a refurbishment of the North Gate bridge and the four primary corner lights will be u
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OCEAN PINES The cost of fencing was $9,300 and finishing the concrete was $2,000.
North Gate bridge From Page 39
installed after July 4. The OPA will also replace six lower lights that are on wooden beams along the length Callable Date: (00/00/00 or your N/A) Think carefully about 07/15/2028 when to start receiving benefits. of the bridge. Those beams will be cut down for installation of the new lights, but with the four main lights 100 CallYouPrice: (000)your benefits by 39%. could be reducing installed first. There will always be light on the bridge, Aaa / AAA Rating: (XXX/XXX) he said. I am here to help make that decision easier for you. The OPA removed for old North Gate guard house Other: Please contact(Obligor) me at 410-208-1704 for a from the bridge several months ago and has installed one-on-one complimentary, no obligation * wood decking over that footprint for safety reasons and (0.00%) TAX-FREE 3.25 TAX-FREE* se contact me at 410-208-1704 for a% oneoron one complimentary, or consultation attend our seminar.no obligation, consultations continuity of appearance, he said. attend our seminar. Call for times, and location. Call for times, date anddates location Prince Georges Md (Name of MuniCnty Bond)
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Golf course benches refurbished
The OPA has refurbished 14 teak benches that are placed around the golf course. Viola said 15 benches were purchased in 2008 with an estimated 20-year lifespan but had not been maintained in all that time. 410-208-1704 (City, ST 00000) They were powerwashed and had other minor repairs, Carrie.Dupuie@RaymondJames.com (000-000-0000) I (Toll-Free: Carrie Dupuie, AAMS 800-000-0000) with one being used for parts to refurbish the other 14. Raymond James(Financial Financial Services Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC Advisor Name) (Approved Title) James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Investments advisory services offered Raymond Fax:through (000-000-0000) Viola said the original cost of the benches was (Address) $27,363.07, and they currently have a book value of (E-mail Address) (City, ST 00000) (000-000-0000) I (Toll-Free: 800-000-0000) $19,900.45. (Website) Fax: (000-000-0000) Maturity Date: 07/15/2036 (00/00/00) (Approved Title) 215 North Main Street 07/15/2028 Callable Date: (00/00/00 N/A) 215 North Mainor Street 100 Call Price: (000) Berlin, MD 21811 Berlin, Aaa /MD AAA 21811 Rating: (XXX/XXX) (Address) Other:410-208-1704 (Obligor)
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Yacht Club pool fence replaced
A fence around the Yacht Club swimming pool was replaced prior to the Memorial Day weekend, Viola said. He said there was a problem with the structure on the ocean side and the footers had failed in the concrete, leaving the fence was loose and leaning. be subject to federal alternative minimum tax (AMT), and profits and losses on tax-exempt bonds may be subject to capitalThe gains tax treatment. old fence was removed and the posts reattached Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FNRA/SIPC. Moody’s/Standard & Poor’s. A credit rating of a security is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the security and may be subject to review, (c) 2015 Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC 15-MFI-0113 ICD BS 8/15 spension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by the assigning Rating Agency. Insurance pertains only to the timely payment of principal and interwith a stronger anchoring system.
Subject to availability and price change. Minimum purchases may apply. The yield is the lesser *Asofof 06/07/2018 00/00/00. of* Asyield to maturity or yield to call. Interest is generally exempt from federal taxation and may Subject to availability and price change. Minimum purchases may apply. The yield is the lesser of yield to maturity or yield to call. Interest is generally exempt also be free taxes for forinvestors residing thelocality state locality where from federal taxationof andstate may alsoand be freelocal of state and local taxes investors residing in the stateinand/or whereand/or the bonds were issued. However, bondsbonds may be subject to federal alternative minimum taxbonds (AMT), andmay profits be and losses on tax-exempt bonds mayalternative be subject to capital tax treatment. the were issued. However, subject to federal taxgains (AMT), and Ratings by Moody’s/Standard & Poor’s. A credit rating of a security is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the security and may be subject to review, profi tssuspension, and losses tax-exempt bonds mayRating beAgency. subject topertains capital treatment. Ratrevision, reductionon or withdrawal at any time by the assigning Insurance only togains the timely tax payment of principal and interest. No representation is made as to any insurer’s ability to meet its financial commitments. Ratings and insurance do not remove market risk since they do ings by Moody’s/Standard & Poor’s. A credit rating of a security is not a recommendation to not guarantee the market value of the bond. 6/07/2018 buy, selloffered or through hold Raymond the security and may be subject to review, revision, suspension, reduction or 00/00. James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Securities withdrawal at any time by the assigning Rating Agency. Insurance pertains only to the timely payment of principal and interest. No representation is made to any insurer’s ability to meet its vailability and price change. Minimum purchases may apply. Thedoyield is ICDtheBS lesser of yield to maturity or yield to call. Interest is generally exempt Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., and member FINRA/SIPC 15-MFI-0113 8/15 fi©2015 nancial commitments. Ratings insurance not remove risk since they do not guarantee l taxation and may alsothebemarket free ofvalue stateof and local taxes for investors residing in the state and/or locality where the bonds were issued. However, the bond.
esentation is made as to any insurer’s ability to meet its financial commitments. Ratings and insurance do not remove market risk since they do ee the market value of the bond.
Viola highlights ditch issues
Residents are exacerbating drainage problems in Ocean Pines by putting unauthorized bridges across ditches and raking leaves into the drainage structures, according to Viola. He said there is significant cost to the OPA to maintain the ditches, especially when they are cleaned by outside contractors, but in several cases recently cleared ditches are being blocked due to property owner actions. He showed the Board photos of bridges built across ditches that are not permitted by OPA and get in the way of maintenance crews, and ditches full of leaves blow in from yards after the association had them cleaned. “Look at the amount of leaves that have been put in there,” he said to the Board, adding “There is a major cost to this. We’re going back when I’m trying to go forward.” The OPA is completing a drainage project between the 14th and 15th fairways on the golf course. Public works will be blowing out the pipes and catch basins to the outfall area at Pintail Park. “There’s an intricate, intricate system of drainage throughout Ocean Pines and lot of it goes through the golf course from the homes,” Viola said. Director Frank Daly asked how the problems with property owners blocking the ditches will be addressed. Viola said in the past crews would simply move the illegal bridges, clean the ditches, and then put the bridges back where they were. “I’ve got to tell you I’m at the point now where I’m gou
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OCEAN PINES ing to look at it differently. They’re not allowed there,” he said, adding staff will be looking at ways to address the problem including reaching out to the owners. Director Doug Parks said maybe the property owners didn’t know they shouldn’t be putting bridges over the ditches or leaves in them. “Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. But quite frankly they need to be notified that this kind of action and this kind of behavior can’t continue.”
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 41 2021-22 bulkhead replacement program and are backfilling the new bulkheads. Sod was installed and final clean up on the properties was done in June, according to Linda Martin, Public Works office manager. The 2022-23 bulkhead replacement project will begin in the fall
pending permits from MDE and Worcester County. Lots included in the project are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 North Pintail Drive and the Pintail Park bulkheads. After two years of waiting, the OPA finally received MDE and Worcester County permit approval for its 2020 dredging applications.
The contractor is expected to perform the work in July at 15 Beach Court, 31 Boatswain Drive, 12 Carriage Lane, 21 Goldeneye Court, 18 Harborview Drive, 34 Harborview Drive, 33 Seabreeze, 58 Skyline Court, 59 Skyline Court, 35 Watergreen Lane, 7 White SailCircle, 9 White Sail Circle, and 4 Windward Court.
Road repaving streets identified
The bid package for the OPA’s annual road repaving program will be put out for bids in July with proposals due back in August and work to begin after Labor Day. Roads to be repaved include Barnacle Court, Battersea Road, Beach Court, Birdnest Drive, Canal Road, Dinghy Court, Fosse Grange, Garrett Drive, Ivanhoe Court, Liberty Bell Court, Little John Court, Moonraker Road, Moonshell Drive, Rabbit Run Lane, Surfer’s Way, Watergreen Lane, Weeping Willow Court, Wharf Lane, and Willow Way. Ocean Parkway will also be edged and restriped using reflective materials that he hopes will improve safety of the nighttime driving Viola has said that the roads reserve is building for the eventually resurfacing of Ocean Parkway, a major expense.
Guard staffing shortage affects pool hours
Due to staff shortages, the hours at the OPA’s swimming pool may vary this summer. “We had it last year at the pools not being consistent,” Viola said. The hours of operation at select Ocean Pines pools have been adjusted, but posted hours are subject to staff availability, Viola said. “This is across the country with lifeguards. I believe we’ve done a good job. There will be some closings. The main pools will be open but there will be closings based upon if we can get the lifeguards or not,” he added. He said the information on pool hours and closings will consistently be communicated to residents.
Bulkhead replacement for 2021-22 ending
Contractors are finishing the
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42 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
OCEAN PINES
Candidates pledge to do what it takes to serve if elected to Board Lakernick questions quality of legal advice in recent cases
, but By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer he six candidates for the Board of Directors in this summer’s Ocean Pines Association election all say they are prepared for the
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Paula Gray
Steve Jacobs
commitment of a three-year term on the OPA’s governing body and touted goals that include maintaining infrastructure, ensuring financial stability, and growing community involvement.
Stuart Lakernick
Amy Peck
In the two candidate forums hosted by the Elections Committee in June, there were few if any discernible policy differences among the candidates. Questions posed were softball in nature, with a somwhat
Monica Rakowski
Josette Wheatley
odd format of giving each candidate an opportunity to answer the same set of questions but not in the same sequence. The forums are available on the OPA Website for viewing. Initially it seemed as if each candidate was being asked different questions, but it soon became apparent that there was an effort by the committee to mix up the order, perhaps with the intention of making the forums appear more interesting and less repetitive in the give-andtake than they really were. One moment where a candidate stepped out of the norm occurred when Stuart Lakernick in the second forum questioned the quality of legal advice recently received by the Board. He didn’t elaborate, and no other candidate weighed in on that question. It’s possible that he was referring to the Farr vs. OPA and the Janasek vs. OPA cases that did not go well or aren’t going well for the OPA.
Water taxi and water shuttle off to fast start
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arly returns have been strong for the new water taxi and water shuttle services in Ocean Pines. The water shuttle – like a bus on the water – makes regularly scheduled stops throughout the day at several locations along the bay, including Ocean Pines. The water taxi – like an Uber on the water – is a point-to-point service that riders can schedule at their convenience. Both are run by OC Bay Hopper. “The water transportation services that the OC Bay Hopper is providing makes it very easy for people to get to and from Ocean Pines,” OC Bay Hopper co-founder Steve Butz said. “It takes the hassle out of driving and parking in Ocean City. The water shuttle and taxi services can pick-up or drop-off at most restaurants and bars on the bay.” Butz said the response, so far, has been very positive. The shuttle service started just after Memorial Day, and the taxi service kicked off in June. “We had a ton of people last Saturday from Ocean Pines and many who were going to the Yacht club. Things seem to be cooking,” Butz said. “Ocean Pines had more traffic in and out on our boats on Saturday than any other location by far. People seem to be eating it up.” This summer, the water shuttle is scheduled to travel from Ocean Pines to locations southbound each day at 12:45 p.m., 3:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. Boats will return to Ocean Pines heading northbound at 2:15 p.m., 5:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. The shuttle will make stops in Ocean City and West Ocean City. One-way shuttle tickets cost $15 per person and round-trip tickets run $25 per person. The water taxi service runs Thursday through Sunday, from 9-11:30 p.m., for those who need to travel outside of the water shuttle’s schedule. The boats travel as far north as Fenwick Island and south to Assateague Island. There is a $60 minimum for the water taxi, which will cover up to four passengers for a one-way trip. For groups of five or more, there is an added $15 charge for each additional passenger. There is also a small surcharge per passenger.
The OC Bay Hopper is transporting Ocean Pines residents to and from most bayside restaurants in Ocean City this summer.
OC Bay Hopper also offers a sightseeing trip from Ocean Pines to Assateague on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. “We pick up riders at the docks in Ocean Pines at 9 a.m. and whisk them down to Assateague for a tour of the island by water,” Butz said. “They’ll get an amazing view of the wildlife and then return to the Yacht Club at about 11:15 a.m., just in time for lunch.” Ocean Pines General Manager John Viola said he sees the OC Bay Hopper partnership as both a service for residents and a potential benefit for Yacht Club business. “We encourage Ocean Pines residents to take a trip over to Ocean City and stop by the Yacht Club for a drink or bite to eat, before or after their ride,” Viola said. “We see this as a service for our residents and we believe it will be a benefit to us.” For more information or to book a seat on the OC Bay Hopper, download the OC Bay Hopper Mobile App. The OC Bay Hopper Mobile App is available for both Apple and Android devices.
OPA FINANCIALS
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 43
OPA starts out the year with a financial bang Positive variance to budget of $371,000 is driven by substantial revenue growth in amenity memberships
By TOM STAUSS Publisher fter closing out the 2021-22 fiscal year April 30 with an unaudited operating fund surplus of close to $2 million, the Ocean Pines Association started off 2022-23 with a bang, recording a positive operating fund variance of $371,347 in the May, the first month of the new fiscal year. The results exceeded a “flash” estimate for the month of $163,000, which General Manager John Viola had disclosed during the June 22 monthly meeting of the Board of Directors. The difference between the flash and actual estimate was more than $200,000. “We didn’t have a lot of our amenity membership revenue available for the flash estimate,” Viola told the Progress. “We kept getting updates from Ruth Ann (Meyer, membership and assessment supervisor) that the numbers were rapidly growing.” Indeed, a membership report for the first month of the year shows a very fast start for membership, with some departments already meeting their goals for the year. Beach Parking is 78 per cent of goal through May 30, with Aquatics at 87 percent, golf at 120 percent, tennis at 79 percent, platform tennis at 91 percent, pickleball at 123 percent, and combo racquet sports at 141 percent. Through May 31, total membership is 91 percent of goal, generating $924,820 in revenue compared to the budgeted $1,012,928, with less than $100,000 needed to meet the annual goal. May’s $371,347 operating fund surplus was generated by net revenues over budget by $348,235 and expenses under budget by $23,122, according to OPA Controller/Director of Finance Steve Phillips. Total revenues collected for the year so far were $6,720,879, compared to $6,681,753 for May of last year. Every amenity recorded an operating surplus for the month, and all but two, the Clubhouse Grille and marinas, exceeded their budgets. The
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Ocean Pines Association - Net operating by Department - May 2022
Source: OPA Controller/Director of Finance Steve Phillips
negative variances to budget for the Clubhouse Grille (-$2,032) and marinas (-$1,727) were nominal. Beach parking led all the amenity departments for the month with $358,177 in net earnings, followed by golf operations with net revenue of $303,064, Aquatics with $230,950, marinas with $206,707, pickleball with $51,749, the Yacht Club with $36,379, tennis with $26,229, the Clubhouse Grille with $13,796, platform tennis with $10,268, and the Beach Club with $8,569. Another way of measure financial performance is actual net earnings compared to budget. Aquatics led all amenity departments with a $99,897 positive variance to budget, followed by golf ($69,280), the Yacht Club ($36,395), the Beach Club ($26,118), beach parking ($20,124),
pickleball ($16,409), tennis $8,996), and platform tennis ($2,780). Reserve summary -- The May 31 reserve summary indicates total cash in reserve of $9.624 million, compared to the April 30 total of $6.142 million. The reserves were replenished with $1,710,166 in replacement reserve funding and $1,053,850 in bulkheads and waterways funding. The former source of funding is the base lot assessment and the latter source is the waterfront differential, with some general assessment dollars also allocated to bulkheads and waterways for common area bulkheads. The replacement reserve balance at the end of May was $6,431,304, bulkheads and waterways at $1,547,748, roads at $704,673, drainage at $788,044 and new capital at $152,119.
Ortt Companies set OPA sales record
he Matt Ortt Companies officially set a new high mark for Ocean Pines’ food and beverage profits for a single fiscal year, topping $400,000 for the first time in Ocean Pines Association history. Fiscal year 2021/2022 combined facilities profits, based on the unaudited report, were $403,554. “With the Clubhouse Grille, Beach Club, and Yacht Club combining for over $400,000 in bottom-line profits, not only did we set a record, but have now established a profit goal to break in 2023,” Matt Ortt Companies co-founder Ralph DeAngelus said. The good news continued in May, with the Matt Ortt Companies setting yet another record
for combined bottom-line profits for that month. That includes all three food and beverage operations, plus weddings and banquets. “Our banquet and event department are selling that beautiful Yacht Club ballroom at breakneck speed,” DeAngelus said. “Additionally, this year’s entertainment schedule is packed with unbelievable talent.” DeAngelus gave credit to his upper management team, including Lynda Huettner, Kearston Frey, Lia Isel, and Judie Scotti. “Lynda at the Beach Club, Kearston at the Yacht Club, Lia in events, and Judie at the Clubhouse have exceeded my expectations,” he said. “They have put their entire heart and soul into
their jobs and it shows, not only in profits, but in customer satisfaction levels as well.” OPA General Manager John Viola said the continued success of the Matt Ortt Companies is a credit to their entire team. Among his first acts as general manager in 2019 was to extend the Ortt Companies management contact. “Since they started here in 2018, the Matt Ortt Companies have transformed our food and beverage operations,” Viola said. “They’ve done an excellent job in terms of service, quality and financial stewardship, and the numbers speak for themselves. So do the crowds every weekend at the Yacht Club.
44 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
The coming of Royal Farms won’t close snowball stand Popular business to remain in place dispensing colorful treats to loyal following By SUSAN CANFORA Contributing Writer he Snowball Stand had a cool surprise Fourth of July weekend weekend -- a peanut butter and jelly creation to add to the popular Ocean Pines landmark’s already generous list of flavors. “The new flavor is going to debut and it’s really good. It has a strawberry puree, a fruit puree, on the snowball and a peanut butter ice cream topping from a squeeze bottle,” said owner Danielle Pohland before the holiday weekend. There also was a red, white and blue snowball to celebrate Independence Day. “I like to make the pretty ones,” said Pohland, who has worked there since she was a pre-teen. When she was 12, her father, Craig Pohland, bought the Cathell Road business and Pohland has been running it as her own since she was 17, with her father as her business partner. Open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily during the summer, and with shortened hours in the off season – including when Valentine’s Day flowers, autumn pumpkins and Christmas trees are for sale -- the Snowball Stand caused loyal customers to worry when word spread that a new Royal Farms was going to be built in that area. “Don’t worry. We are definitely not closing,” Pohland said. Her business is located on the edge of the property now owned by Royal Farms. “I was very worried when I heard Royal Farms was going to build here but it doesn’t own the property I’m on, that I rent from Debbie Hileman. She’s a Realtor who owns Hileman Real Estate. That is Royal Farms’ property behind me, where I park the snowball truck, but Debbie has extra parking. “I will lose some land where I put Christmas trees and pumpkins but cars can still pull around to the left of the stand, closer to Cathell Road. “There is going to be a car wash next to us. Royal Farms’ property is an L shape but the building will not be right up on us. There will be parking lot next to Royal Farms and from what I hear, the gas pumps will be closer to the Walgreen’s side, although I’m still not completely sure. “But whenever you see a Royal Farms, they leave grassy areas and nice landscaping. “I’m just sad I didn’t have enough money to buy that property. If I could have bought it, I would have continued to grow my business, with Christmas trees and pumpkins,” she said. Ice enthusiasts can rest assured snowballs will continue to be made fresh and individually flavored at the stand, with egg custard, a sweet vanilla flavor, the most popular choice. Other best sellers include blue raspberry, rain-
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LIFESTYLES try, including toasted coconut, wedding cake, watermelon, peach, mango, lime, kiwi, grape, fuzzy navel, Almond Joy, fireball, coffee infused, caramel apple, butterscotch and bubble gum. “We used to be very small. We used to be one window and I was working by myself. We grew and now I have a mobile truck for events like weddings, birthday parties,” she said. Today, there are shelves and racks inside to hold all the bottles of flavors added to shaved ice for a cost of $3.25 for small and $4.75 for large, all
bow, chocolate, mango, pina colada, root beer, spearmint and peppermint. “Kids like anything blue. It’s one of their favorite colors. They just like colors. They choose by the color. Kids say. ‘I want a blue one’ or ‘I want a green one.’ It’s pretty interesting,” said Pohland, the mother of a 4-year-old son, Kaden, who has a fondness for ice tea snowballs with fresh lemon juice. “Everybody has different ways to eat their snowballs. I like it very light. I don’t like very much flavor. I like the ice,” said Pohland, who comes up with innovative ideas to keep the Snowball Stand fresh. On Saturday of the holiday weekend, the stand featured karaoke for the first time, in the parking lot, with a disc jockey. “Adults and kids want to have fun. We’re very kid-friendly, so we thought we’d try karaoke. We might have it regularly. We’ll see how the weekend goes, then maybe we’ll have it once or twice a month,” said Pohland, whose fiancé, Dakota, helps her run the business. The family lives on a farm in Whaleyville with animals including don- Jessica Delisi, an employee at The Snowball Stand, hands a cuskeys, horses and miniature horses, tomer a colorful Snowball with marshmallow topping and a little and she said the next adventure is to decorative umbrella. offer private events on that farm. “My son grew up there at the Snowball Stand. in biodegradable cups. Pohland’s favorite flavor is strawberry cheeseHe likes to help make snowballs. He’s a very good pourer. He knows how to take the bottle and pour cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and marshhis flavors but he doesn’t spill it. He is so partic- mallow on top. “But it changes. Peanut butter and ular about things. His hand-eye coordination is jelly might be my new favorite,” she said. During a typical summer day, a couple hungreat,” Pohland said. Another favorite among youngsters is the dred to up to 400 snowballs are sold, made with Shark Attack snowball, with a gummy shark and 10-pound blocks of ice that are shaved by three strawberry sauce to mimic blood, Pohland said, ice machines. The ice blocks are stored in a cooler behind the stand. laughing. When Pohland was 12 years old, she probably Many customers like the sour spray over their ice, marshmallow fluff, sweet cream topping or didn’t realize her venture would be so successful “but I knew I always wants to own my own busihand-dipped ice cream. At Christmas, Pohland adds a frozen hot choc- ness and be an entrepreneur and see it grow,” she olate snowball to the menu, an eggnog flavor, ap- said. “And then I realized I could keep growing and ple pie, pumpkin pie and carrot cake. “Starting in February, we’ll have Valentine’s do new things. I love my Snowball Stand. If you Day flowers, baked goods and specialty snow- ever talked to my dad he’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh. She balls. We’ll have the Easter Bunny here, and San- could sell you a pencil,’” she said, about her fata will be here. All the dates and times will be on ther, who owns C.L. Pohland Construction. “My dad is my best friend,” she said. our Website, at www.thesnowballstand.com,” she “He teaches me everything -- honesty, integsaid. There are also Facebook and Instagram ac- rity. He always says you have to treat everybody counts popular with customers who often visit with respect and dignity. If you do that, you’ll get the stand and decide which of the 80 flavors to far.”
OPINION
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 45
COMMENTARY A flawed rationale for Janasek’s suspension
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he short-lived suspension of former Director Tom Janasek from Ocean Pines food and beverage amenities for some offensive, over-the-top behavior at the Yacht Club targeted at Director and Candidate Josette Wheatley should surprise no one. Within a day of seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent further enforcement of the suspension, Janasek attorney Bruce Bright got exactly what he asked for pending a hearing on a permanent restraining order. Bright is the attorney who defeated the OPA in the Rick Farr candidate eligibility case and the Slobodan Trendic referendum case. Years ago he fought the OPA’s use of the Swim and Racquet Club campus as a bulkhead replacement staging area. Apologies to Bruce Bright if we’ve omitted some of his Court triumphs. When the Board of Directors voted 5-2 in a June 9 special meeting to suspend Janasek for 90 days, the board majority knew there was risk involved. One local weekly editorialized that the matter had been concluded, or at least should have been, but of course that was an unrealistic appraisal of Janasek’s character and resolve when under duress. He would have let the matter drop after a judge issued a six-month protective order precluding him from interacting with Wheatley. He had issued a five-paragraph apology letter shortly after the incident, but during the hearing on the protective order he was less conciliatory. When backed into a corner, Janasek’s isn’t one to meekly accept the situation. When told he couldn’t access amenities that he visits frequently, he construed it as an insult and a challenge and just piling on by the board majority for political purposes. Had his name been anyone other than Janasek, the incident at the Yacht Club would never have escalated to the point that it did. Of course he was going to fight it in court and hire a local attorney with an unblemished record in legal skirmishes against the OPA. Once Bright took the case, the outcome was virtually pre-ordained. Bright reads the OPA governing documents with skill and precision, resisting interpretations that bestow on the directors authorities that do not exist.
By Rick Menard And in Judge Sidney Campen he found an old-school jurist from the Eastern Shore’s Talbot County, the same judge who presided over the Rick Farr case. Here is what OPA President Colette Horn had to say about the board’s divided vote in favor of a 90-day time-out. “Tonight the Board made the decision to restrict access to the food and beverage amenities for Tom Janasek for 90 days. It was a difficult decision, and one that was not unanimously approved. Those who voted in favor of the restriction weighed out responsibility as a Board to provide immediate protections to the health and safety of Association members against the risk that in doing so we would be judged to have stretched the limits of the authority granted to us in our governing documents. Neither we nor the founders who wrote those documents foresaw the occurrence of behavior of a member falling so far outside the norms set by society that we would be required to contemplate a decision for such a restriction...” In his suit seeking to enjoin enforcement of the suspension, Bright made short work of Horn’s rationale. He quoted Horn at the June 9 meeting as saying that “the [OPA] governing documents fall short of this situation” and “don’t give us any immediate relief.”
According to Bright, “this is an admission that the Board had no basis in any of the OPA governing documents” for the Janasek suspension. Governing documents have been amended numerous times since they were drafted more than 50 years ago and Bright argues that “Horn has no knowledge as to what may or may not have been intended, by the developer [founders of Ocean Pines] or any former board, in regard to the OPA charter, the OPA declarations, and/ or the OPA by-laws, other than what is expressly stated in those governing documents. Horn’s statements in this regard reflect her ends-oriented approach in this matter, motivated by personal ill will and animus toward” Janasek. Perhaps the most devastating refutation of the Horn thesis is wording in the OPA Charter that expressly prohibits the directors from taking the sort of action it did against Janasek. The charter in Section 8 says that “no [OPA] member may may be expelled from membership in the Association for any reason whatsoever; provided however that the board of directors will have the right to suspend ... the right to use parks and other recreational facilities and amenities of the Association of any member [who has not paid Association charges or is in violation of OPA covenants].” The coup de grace in the charter says this: To Page 46
46 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
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OPINION
COMMENTARY New Viola contract a welcome devlopment
he Board of Directors acted commendably and in the best interests of the Ocean Pines Association membership in negotiating a new employment contract for Ocean Pines’ most successful general manager ever. John Viola’s new contract is in direct response to the best secret never kept: He never was all that keen on leaving, except perhaps for a brief moment or two after an unpleasant meeting with the then OPA President Larry Perrone last November over Viola’s annual performance review. Details have never really emerged from the ether of rumor and speculation about that meeting, but perhaps it will in the fullness of time. Suffice it to say that whatever it was that annoyed him that day, enough to prompt a precipitous resignation letter, he soon overcame that episode and realized that he had much to work toward if he stayed on. All it really took was for someone to ask, and in this case the entire Board, perhaps with one exception, perhaps not, made it clear in individual meetings that they wanted him to stay. Same with all six candidates for the OPA Board summer, two of whom had made their opinions as sitting directors clear enough. The terms of the contract that Viola accepted are generous, but reasonably so, given the financial and operational results Viola has delivered for the membership with the help of the compe-
tent stable of department heads and other staff assembled under his leadership. It’s not every year that the OPA delivers an operating fund surplus of roughly $2 million, built on the foundation of an operating fund surplus of $1 million the previous year. Deficits inherited from his predecessor, an acting GM for one year, have been eliminated. A $100 reduction in the base lot assessment is in place for 2022-23, made possible in part because amenity operations that in years past required huge operating subsidies no longer need them. It’s an accomplisment of the entire community of Ocean Pines, even delivered in the teeth of a pandemic, but continuing apace now that lockdowns and covid fear porn are mostly behind us. Financial details of the contract are reported elsewhere in this edition of the Progress. He’s receiving a salary increase of $10,000, and annual increases of the same amount in years two and three, a retention bonus of $25,000, and the possibility of earning another $40,000 per year depending on scores received in his annual performance review conducted by the Board. It’s an incentivized package guaranteed for two years, with a renewal option for a third year. If Viola continues to outperform, meeting goals the Board sets for him and personal goals he sets for himself, he will be rewarded accordingly. That’s how it should be. In an interview about the new contract pub-
Janasek
the norms set by society” is a real stretch given the general coarsening of the language and the culture that is evident everywhere. The f-bomb employed by Janasek unfortunately is very much the norm these days. As just one example of that, the mayor of Chicago the other day in reaction to the Dobbs abortion decision said “F... [Clarence] Thomas,” and Broadway shows and award shows on network TV feature foul language so routinely that it fails to shock or garner much attention, so inured we are to vocabulary that can be traced to the gutter. Janasek’s language weaponized against Wheatley may have been “outside the norms” in generations past, but we are not in the 1950s anymore. Yes, we are devolving culturally. The Janasek suspension and the predictable blow-back to it in Court does not bestow credit on the Board; nor does is exonerate Janasek. Of course, if he’s somehow able to coax some legal fees out of the court, usually a long shot, then arguably he can be proclaimed a winner. If not, having to pay the legal fees of a top notch lawyer could be construed as a suitable penalty for boorish behavior. But the lesson to the Board is this: Adhere strictly to the text of the governing documents. Don’t invent authority you don’t have to justify desired ends. If you expect the membership to obey the letter and spirit of the governing documents, set the right example. -- Tom Stauss
From Page 45 “There shall be no other preferences, limitations or restrictions with respect to the relative rights of the members.” Or as Bright argues: “This is an explicit charter provision making clear that a member’s right to use OPA amenities may not be suspended or limited, except for the stated reasons” of non-payment of annual assessments or violation of OPA covenants. Horn’s rationale for the suspension is that the Board majority was intending to provide “immediate protections to the health and safety of Association members,” as if keeping Janasek out of the Yacht Club for 90 days would provide that protection. That rationale is overblown. Janasek’s encounter with Wheatley, offensive as it was, did not threaten the health and safety of Association members; as it was a verbal altercation only, involving no physical contact with Wheatley, it arguably did not threaten her health and safety either, though certainly it had to have been an acutely uncomfortable and unwelcome situation. No one goes to the Yacht Club tiki bar expecting that degree of offensiveness to occur. Moreover, the claim that Janasek’s verbal vileness as inappropriately quoted by a resident blogger at the June 9 meeting is “so far outside
lished in this edition of the Progress, Viola was less verbose about personal financial details than about a long list of projects he’d like to see accomplished during the next two or three years. It’s an ambitious agenda, but all items are doable, with the support of the Board of Directors and the rest of management. In the published interview, he listed those projects, all which more or less stay on the front burner simultaneously. Skillful management and people skills are necessary to keep all of it moving in the right direction. OPA President Colette Horn ably handled contract negotiations with Viola and then was transparent on the details. A day after the announcement of Viola’s contract renewal, a copy of the agreement was released to the Progress, no questions asked, no pulling teeth, just a genuine desire to keep OPA members informed. Of course, that degree of cooperation is predicated on the certain knowledge that withholding contract details would result in rumors, gossip and unbridled speculation that would benefit no one, and indeed could diminish the good deeds that occurred in Ocean Pines since Viola became GM in April of 2019. Prior boards have not always released sensitive information of this nature as skillfully, which is to say, have not embraced the bracing liberation of sincere, as opposed to transactional, transparency. Viola’s act will be hard to follow, but who better to attempt it than Viola himself? -- Tom Stauss
The Ocean Pines Progress is a journal of news and commentary published monthly throughout the year. It is circulated in Ocean Pines and Captain’s Cove, Va. 127 Nottingham Lane Ocean Pines, Md 21811 PUBLISHER-EDITOR Tom Stauss stausstom@gmail.com 443-359-7527 ADVERTISING SALES Frank Bottone frankbottone@gmail.com 410-430-3660 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rota Knott 443-880-3953 Susan Canfora 410-208-8721
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 47
Wheatley post verbally assaults OPA member
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cean Pines Association elections can be vulgar affairs, bringing out the worst in candidates or their supporters. It’s a wonder anyone would open up themselves to this tawdry underbelly, filled as it often is with anonymous letters and emails, lies, distortions, and meritless calumnies against opponents. This toxic mix was evident in last year’s board election, with Stuart Lakernick and his wife Esther Diller the recipient of much of it. He captured 1,500-plus votes despite it, enough for third place, only 60 votes separating him from second place finisher and victor Frank Daly. Lakernick is trying again this summer, hoping to build on last summer’s campaign. Any hope that this summer’s contest would avoid a descent into the gutter has been dashed. Already an anonymous email under the moniker of readykilowatt@proton.me has gone to who-knows how many OPA members, attacking Lakernick and Monica Rakowski for their performances at the June 25 Elections Committee’s candidates forum. With a dash of invective thrown at Diller for old time’s sake. As if it matters what anyone says at these poorly attended affairs with their softball and repetitive questions that fall short of a meaningful debate. As the gutter-dweller is afraid to reveal his or herself, the content of the email matters not at all. Proton emails are sent from email servers holed up somewhere in Europe and are reportedly heavily encrypted to protect the spineless from being unmasked. If this anonymous email is Exhibit A, then Exhibit B for this rush to the bottom is a recent posting on the ROC Facebook page from sitting director and candidate Josette Wheatley, herself the target of a vile verbal attack at the Yacht Club tiki bar by a former OPA director, Tom Janasek, who in an alcohol-and profanity-laced altercation made it clear he didn’t like her vote last year for the president of the OPA. Janasek apologized to Wheatley shortly after the encounter, and she obtained with Janasek’s concurrence a protective order precluding him from any contact with her for six months. End of the story, right? Hardly. Not satisfied with a protective or-
LIFE IN THE PINES An excursion through the curious by-ways and cul-de-sacs of Worcester County’s most densely populated community By TOM STAUSS/Publisher
der, she went all-in playing the victim, voting with the 5-2 majority to suspend his access to Ocean Pines food and beverage amenities for 90 days, which stuck for a week and a half before a circuit court judge struck it down in a temporary restraining order prior to a scheduled court hearing. TROs are usually granted because a judge believes there’s a good chance that the underlying arguments will prevail at trial. Janasek isn’t exactly a sympathetic figure here, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a solid legal case. He has Ocean City attorney Bruce Bright, who’s at least 3-0 in past legal wrangling against the OPA. Given all this, it might be expected that Wheatley would exercise a little more caution before herself engaging in offensive verbal excess. Alas she did not, as a ROC posting that stayed up for a few days before it was unceremoniously removed, amply demonstrated. It appears on this page as it was posted on ROC. Let’s unpack it. Apparently it was Wheatley’s response to a 22-year-old misdemeanor assault charge whose Maryland case search page also appeared on the ROC page for a few days before it was taken down. The same materials also appeared on the Get Involved Facebook page, which suffice it to say is not supporting Wheatley’s candidacy this summer. The assault charge or charges were stetted, meaning that the case never went to trial. She wasn’t convicted of anything. It was a 22-yearold case back when her last name
was Rabichaud. It might even be described as a nothing burger. It could easily have been deflected, explained away, spun in such a way to be an after-thought in this summer’s election. An OPA member, Janeen, who asked that her last name not be published for fear of retaliation by Wheatley, sent copies of the case search to ROC and Get Involved. She had some questions of Wheatley, including why someone who herself had been accused of misdemeanor assault decades ago would take such a hard, unforgiving line when something similar happened to her years later, not involving an arrest. Though perhaps not of great significance, given the declining state of American English, Wheatley’s post constitutes a grave assault on the language, chock full of misspellings, omitted words, a subject-verb disagreement that offends the ghosts of English language nazis of prior generations. Those of us of a certain age have fond memories of the spinster school marm with a weaponized red pencil or pen. Here’s a list: Lets - should have been Let’s Dont -- should have been don’t Low lifwe - should have been low life Verse - should have been versus My child that -- should have been My child who Janeen ... are a piece of crap, should have been: Janeen ... you are a piece of crap My child ... certainly appreciate this stuff should have been: My child ... certainly appreciates this stuff.
god - the Almighty is always capitalized when it refers to the Big Guy (or woman, or gender binary) upstairs. So eight language atrocities in an eight-sentence verbal assault on an OPA member. If only that were the end of it. These are the words Wheatley used to describe her interlocutor: Piece of crap, low lifwe and lower than dirt. Oh the indignity! But then she pretends that she has some intimate knowledge into the thought processes of the Almighty, who she believes will intervene in this sordid spectacle, taking her side in it, of course. She even makes a promise on behalf of the Almighty, as though she has a direct pipeline Oh the hubris! But there’s more. In the second sentence, she invites her supporters to do a case search on Monica, presumably Rakowski, with whom she is competing against in this summer’s election. This is little more than ugly retaliation against a competitor who was miles away from posting anything negative about Wheatley, preferring simply to run her campaign with a dash of humility and integrity. Catalin apparently is a daughter of Janeen, also a possible target of a hostile case look-up. This post is a classic example of how NOT to respond to an OPA member during a board election campaign. If it had been Janasek when he was a director who composed such a vile post on social media, he would have been tossed from the Board in a New York minute. Double standard anyone? Wheatley similarly succumbed to a retaliatory instinct when she suggested in an on-line post that perhaps Paul Supplee, of Boxcar restaurant fame and a former Ocean Pines Yacht Club chef in an earlier life, should bid on the food and beverage contract when it next comes up for discussion. Matt Ortt Companies executives were incensed, understandably so. During both candidate forums, she tried to cover up her thoughtless comment by offering a full-throated statement of support for the MOC, but it didn’t fool anyone aware of her previous suggestion. Once out of the tube, a comment like that can’t be squeezed back in.
48 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
CAPTAIN’S COVE
CURRENTS
Seven Cove residents sue board, CCG Note Allege self-dealing and breach of fiduciary duty; Hearn offers rebuttal
By TOM STAUSS Publisher even Captain’s Cove residents are suing the Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club and CCG Note, the Cove’s developer/declarant, asking for “declaratory relief” from the way issues related to the proposed Hastings/Mariner townhome project were handled. All seven plaintiffs are members of the Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove. The plaintiffs are Teresa Birckhead, president of the group, Jim Hayes, William Leslie, Barry Magrogan, Joyce Platterspiel, Linda Reece and Tom Reidy. They’re represented by Douglas Kahle of Bannight, Kinser, Leftwich and Nuckolls of Chesapeake, Va. Members of CCCC, during county hearings on the proposed townhome development at the socalled back entrance into Captain’s Cove fronting on State Line Road, made clear that they would
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be taking the matter to court should the Board of Supervisors ultimately approve rezoning and conditional uses for the project. The suit filed on behalf of the seven plaintiffs does not directly challenge the county’s decisions approving the project, but instead seeks to undermine them by challenging certain decisions made by the CCGYC Board, dating back to the sale of the former Captain’s Cove Utility Company, then owned by Cove association president Tim Hearn, in 2015. Also challenged is the use of Captain’s Corridor as an access point into the proposed mixeduse development and the potential use of lots in Section 13 that back up to Fleming Road as a possible site of a future firehouse and ambulance site. The plaintiffs allege self-dealing and breach of fiduciary by the controlling bloc of the Cove board who are investors and/or officers in CCG Note.
“By virtue of its position, through its representatives as a controlling block of the Association’s Board of Directors, and as the Declarant, CCG Note’s past actions ... and its proposed actions, represent self-dealing in breach of its fiduciary duty owed to the Plaintiffs and other Captain’s Cove property owners,” the suit contends. “The plaintiff’s property rights, as property owners in Captain’s Cove, ... have been damaged and are subject to further irreparable damage, as a direct result” of past and future actions of the board, the suit alleges. The plaintiffs are seeking a court determination of their property rights, a finding that CCG Note controls the association, damages to be awarded against CCG Note “in an amount to be determined as a consequence of CCG Note’s self-dealing and breach of fiduciary duty,” an injunction against CCG Note and the Cove Assou
Tim Keefer of Captain’s Cove captured this photo of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds that landed in Wallop’s Island days before the annual Ocean City Air Show in early June.
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS Lawsuit
From Page 48 ciation “taking any actions that interfere with or damage the plaintiff’s property rights, and “a grant of such further relief as this cause merits.” Hearn said he believes the latter remedy is designed to remove the directors with ties to CCG Note from the Cove board. In support of the plaintiff’s allegations, the suit claims that Captain’s Corridor is a privately-owned road and that the developer intends “to convert Captain’s Corridor” to public use. Regarding the sewer system, the suit says that in 2014, Hearn in his capacity as president of the utility company signed a purchase agreement with Aqua Virginia. The purchase agreement, according to the suit, obligated the utility company to convey “a tenacre parcel, more or less, for use as rapid infiltration basins (RIBs) to provide wastewater treatment for residential lots in Captain’s Cove.” Here it gets complicated. The suit alleges that CCUC did not own the acreage in Sections 15 and 16 where future RIBs
could be located, and Hearn, in his capacity as president of the company, signed an agreement of sale with CCGYC in which sold to CCUC a ten-acre area in Captain’s Cove for future RIBs. The suit seems to be suggesting that Hearn used his position on the Board to arrange the sale of the lots to CCUC in order to facilitate the sale of the company to Aqua. The suit further alleges that the sewer system in Captain’s Cove does not have sufficient capacity “to provide sewer service to the townhome project “in addition to providing the sewer needs of the platted residential lots in Captain’s Cove.” In a recent telephone interview, Hearn challenged the assertions in the suit, calling the description of the Aqua sale and the acquisition and sale of the future RIP areas “bizarre.” He said that all CCG Note investors who served on the Cove Board at the time recused themselves from any decisions related to the transaction. “There was no self-dealing or breach of fiduciary duty,” he said. He said CCGYC benefitted from the sale of roughly four acres, receiving $175,000 in the
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 49 transaction. He also said that the sale of the RIB lots “limited” future potential uses of the site to RIBs only, a benefit to property owners in the area. “Contrary to what the plaintiffs contend, residential lots in Captain’s Cove expressly can be used for utilities, including a pump station, treatment plant, or any other use associated with a utility,” he said. “The agreement limits these lots to RIBs only, a relatively passive use compared to what could go there. This benefits property owners in the area.” Hearn also disputed the contention that the sewer system does not have sufficient capacity to provide service to Cove residents and the townhome project. A similar allegation was made with respect to the water system. “Aqua executives testified that there is adequate capacity at the current level of build-out in Captain’s Cove to accommodate the townhome project,” he said. “At roughly 50 new homes per year, it will be at least 20 years before the future RIB areas might be needed.” With respect to Captain’s Corridor, Hearn said u
Captain’s Cove resident Jan Coulbourne’s skyscape, from a recent e-blast sent out to Cove residents by Senior General Manager Colby Phillips.
50 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Lawsuit
From Page 49 that the community already has access to it, noting that Captain’s Cove is not a gated community where access is restricted. Most of the access to and from the townhome project will be off Stateline Road, he noted. “Most of our amenities, golf course and Marina Club restaurant, are open to the public, accessible from Captain’s Corridor,” Hearn said. “It will be no different for residents of the townhomes who want to dine or play golf in Captain’s Cove.” He further disputed the contention that CCGYC owns all of Captain’s Corridor from one the front entrance to the back entrance. “A quarter mile or so of Captain’s Corridor from State Line Road at the back entrance is jointly owned by the Hastings family and CCG Note,” Hearn said, “one half of the road down the center line each,” with Cove residents having right of access through an easement. He said eventually that ownership of that small segment of Captain’s Corridor could be turned over to CCGYC. As for the potential use of lots in Section 13 for a future firehouse, Hearn previously has said a firehouse and ambulance services can be regarded as utility services, and utility service easements are permitted in the Cove declarations on numbered lots. “The plaintiffs are misconstruing the declarations when they say that lots in Captain’s Cove can only be used for residential purposes,” he said. Hearn also said that the plaintiffs are positioning themselves contrary to the interests of the Captain’s Cove community if they oppose a firehouse and ambulance site that can provide much faster response time to emergencies than is currently possible. “That’s not a good place for them to be,” he said. “Having a firehouse with ambulance service within Captain’s Cove is something every-
Site plan of the proposed Hastings/Mariner townhome project. one should be supporting, even at the loss of a few building lots. Emergency response time will improve dramatically with an ambulance service within the community.” The Cove directors met on June 29 to discuss the suit and how they would proceed in defending themselves. The Cove Currents has obtained a copy of a text from Birckhead, the CCCC president, in which she says she intends to seek a legal opinion on whether board members can be precluded from using CCGYC funds to defend themselves. Hearn said the three Cove directors who are not affiliated with CCG Note will be deciding
soon on a law firm to defend the association, while Hearn and his CCG Note colleagues will be working with Pender and Coward, the law firm from Virginia Beach that is handling the townhome project for them, in their defense. Birckhead and the other defendants are contributing personal funds to finance the suit and have also set up a Go Fund Me site to raise funds. An on-line search containing the words Go Fund Me and Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove will locate the site. As of July 1 the effort had yielded $2,695 in funding support from 32 donors, with a goal of $12,500.
Ward alleges message board censorship By TOM STAUSS Publisher ove resident John Ward on June 10 filed a complaint with the Cove association, formally known as Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club, alleging that the new message board on the association’s revamped Web site allows for censorship in violation of Virginia’s property owners Act. In a recent email to colleagues on the CCGYC Board of Directors, Cove President Tim Hearn said a formal complaint hearing would need to be scheduled. That’s the way that Virginia’s Office of the Common Interest Community Ombudsman wants such complaints to be handled, he said. Once the board considers the complaint and renders a judgment on its legitimacy, an aggrieved Cove member who doesn’t agree with the board decision can appeal it to the ombudsman, Hearn said. “John has filed 20 or so of these complaints” over the years, prevailing in none of them either at the Board level or on appeal,” Hearn said. As for the allegation that the message board censors opinions of Cove association members, Hearn has said it was set up as a way of
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making sure defamatory or incorrect information is not disseminated in Captain’s Cove. Messages are pre-screened by General Manager Justin Wilder before they’re posted on the message board. In response to an email question from Hearn, Wilder informed the board that since the message board has gone active, he has not “censored” any messages on the site. No message has been edited or not allowed on the site for containing defamatory or incorrect information, Wilder said, in a likely preview of how a hearing might unfold on this particular complaint. The new member forum on the revamped Captain’s Cove Website launched back on April 25, and a notice to inform Cove association members on how to register went out the same week via email. Registrations have been growing incrementally, and Wilder has said he hopes they will pick up when summer residents are in Captain’s Cove. Under rules adopted by the Cove association Board of Directors, all posts are reviewed by Wilder prior to them going live in the forum. “All of the posts that have been made to the page were approved the same day without additional review,” Wilder said.
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
July 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 51
Captain’s Cove Model Pricing on Gemcraft Lots Bradford • $302,990
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Raised Home on Pilings 4 BR/2 BA 1792 Sq Ft
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Ranch Style Home 3 BR/2 BA 1720 Sq Ft 2 Car Garage
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52 Ocean Pines PROGRESS July 2022
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Spectrum poised to compete for Internet customers Eastern Shore Virginia Broadband Authority releases map for service roll-out By TOM STAUSS Publisher erhaps for the first time ever, it appears that Spectrum/Charter Communications is positioning itself to compete for Internet and cable television customers in Captain’s Cove, giving residents two options for high speed Internet. Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority already is offering high speed Internet service to residents who live along Captain’s Corridor, where fiber optic cable was attached to electric poles last year. ESVBA, a non-profit organization funded with government money, has released a map showing where service is currently active, indicated by red lines, and the phases in which installation will occur on streets that funnel into Captain’s Corridor. Robert Bridgham, executive director of ESVBA, announced on June 20 that he had executed the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) contract with the state the previous week, which will free up the long awaited funds needed for ESVBA to begin installing fiber throughout
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Captain’s Cove. The VATI grant of $12.3 million is in addition to another $3.3 million in other revenue sources that will make fiber broadband available to 11,091 unserved or under-served locations in Accomack and Northampton counties, with Captain’s Cove a top priority because system engineering has been completed for some time. But ESVBA is not alone in stepping up its infrastructure roll-out in Captain’s Cove. Charter/Spectrum, a national telecommunications firm, is also ramping its efforts to install fiber cable in the community and compete for business with ESVBA. While in retrospect it seems obvious that Spectrum has been intending to compete for customers in Captain’s Cove for some time, it’s now becoming clear that Spectrum is in its final planning stages for a roll-out of infrastructure, with laying of a fiber optic network throughout Captain’s Cove likely to commence sooner rather than later. Spectrum and ESVBA will be in a race to install fiber cable throughout Captain’s Cove and offer services to potential customers who have been waiting for service literally for decades.
ESVBA’s map of Captain’s Cove by section, with the planned order of service roll-out sections 3,4,2,5 and 1.
Spectrum is a full service technology company, offering not only high speed Internet but programming options traditionally associated with cable television companies. Bundled services including telephone, cable television and high speed Internet, with the latter offered as a standalone service for cable cord-cutters, those who prefer streaming services over traditional cable. ESVBA in contrast is offering Internet only. The distinction between the two service approaches is perhaps not as great as it might seem. There is a vast range of streamed programming options available through high speed Internet only, with today’s smart TVs equipped with remotes that operate similarly to remotes offered with cable television. Streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and many others are available via subscription. Sling TV offers a full-range of channels similar to what is available through traditional cable television, excluding local channels and sports networks such as MASN One and Two. A May 27 email by Digital Technology Committee chair Dawn Wagner provided details of a recent meeting she and Jim Silfee, a Captain’s Cove association board member and CCG Note’s easement agreement director, had with two Spectrum representatives. Matt McCall, Spectrum’s Captain’s Cove project manager, and Joe Richardson, the company’s construction coordinator, were the representatives who meet with Wagner and Silfee. Wagner’s email indicated that as of May 27, Spectrum was planning to survey the entirety of Captain’s Cove with the intent of developing an installation plan. “While they currently have only ... 3 to 7 customers located within Captain’s Cove, the initial work will be to complete the loop [along Captain’s Corridor], just as ESVBA has done, with their upgraded coaxial fiber. They are already working with ANEC [A&N Electric Cooperative] to use aerial placement [on electric poles] when applicable and as needed they will trench,” she said. This phase is expected to be completed within 30 days, she added. Using information gathered from measuring and surveying the rest of the community, Wagner said Spectrum will complete a plan for the full build-out of Captain’s Cove with fiber cable. “This phase will take approximately one to two weeks,” she said. Noting past experience Spectrum has had working with ANEC, Wagner said the company has asked for service maps and contact information for Aqua Virginia, the Cove’s water and wastewater treatment utility, to determine whether there any issues that might arise during cable installation. She said that Spectrum would be building infrastructure to have service available to unimproved lots as well as existing homes, “as long as the power [exists} in those areas.” The idea here seems to be that Spectrum wants to build-out the infrastructure so that when a lot owner decides to build a home, cable and high speed Internet will be available. To Page 54
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Wolff discourages Spectrum from competing in Captain’s Cove
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Opposes request for cooperation with county for another VATI grant By TOM STAUSS Publisher oard of Supervisors President Ron Wolff didn’t hold back when disclosing that Spectrum/Charter Communications is interested in partnering with Accomack County for another VATI (Virginia Technology Initiative) grant application. Although he didn’t explicitly say during the June 27 constituents meeting in Captain’s Cove that he opposed the partnership offer, the body language and the context of his comments suggested that no partnership will occur. “Spectrum opposed the earlier VATA request [that resulted in funding for the Eastern Shore Broadband Authority], and now they want to partner with us,” Wolff said. He noted that the company has “never shared” with the county details of where it currently offers service in the county, adding that an ideal roll-out out of broadband services in the county would avoid duplication of services. “If you duplicate, you’re going to split your [potential] profits,” he said, a clear message to Spectrum that in Wolff’s opinion the company should attempt to provice service where ESVBA is not similarly engaged. But “that’s not what Spectrum has done in the past,” Wolff said, adding that it “leaves a bad taste.”
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The impression given is that if Spectrum wants to apply and compete for the next round of VATI funding, it most likely is going to have do so without assistance from Accomack County government. Slight delay in 24-7 ambulance service -- Wolff announced that 24-7 emergency medical services by the Greenbackville Fire Department, initially anticipated for the October time frame, will take a little longer to implement.
funding. Wolff said. In addition to harbor funding, he said there are a number of other worthy potential ways to spend the money, which can occur over a year and a half period, he said. Among other possible uses of the money is for a Community Services Board, help for families in crisis, and upgrades to the Marion Smith school, now used as a community center, Wolff said. Cigarette tax -- A new $1 a pack
“Spectrum opposed the earlier VATA request [that resulted in funding for the Eastern Shore Broadband Authority], and now they want to partner with us.” RON WOLFF
With 12 future EMTs passing tests after months of education and training, “it looks like they will be hired and on the job by November or December,” Wolff said, quoting county emergency services director C. Ray Pruitt. Greenbackville Harbor upgrades -- While a town hall meeting several months ago probably will result in upgrades to the Greenback harbor and boat ramp facility, courtesy of an ARPA grant, the county won’t be rushing into deciding how to spend the second round of ARPA
Internet competition From Page 52 Wagner said that while most of Captain’s Cove has electric available through ANEC, roughly half of Sections 12 and 13 do not. “Jim [Silfee] indicated that was being worked on,” she said. “Spectrum is aware that CCGYC [Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club, the Cove’s property owner association] would like accessibility to be added to those areas once the lack of [electric] power is remedied.” Wagner said that McCall indicated that Spectrum will give the technology committee “the green light” once the company is ready to accept orders “and stated that their goal is to have the [installation of fiber cable throughout the community] completed by the end of the year. While we know that members are eager to have service,
cigarette tax adopted by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year went into effect July 1, to be administered by the Chesapeake Regional Tax Board for the county, Wolff said. By letting the regional board collect the tax, the county gives up 2 percent of the revenue, but Wolff said it’s a good deal for the county as a way of avoiding administrative costs. Wolff said that after vendors complained that the initial proposal of $4 a pack tax would hurt their business, the Board of Supervisors
it is a more efficient process to install backbone infrastructure in a managed order.” That is the same process currently being employed by ESVBA. “This will allow for a smooth installation process as customers are brought on board,” she said. Silfee requested monthly updates from Spectrum on installation progress, and McCall said that if any concerns or issues that crop up, Silfee and the technology committee should reach out to him directly. Actions items from the meeting include: • Silfee is to provide Aqua service maps to Spectrum and Wagner • Silfee is to provide contact information for Aqua Virginia and “intervene directly” if any problems emerge • Spectrum will provide to Silfee and Wagner existing service addresses for updating
Ron Wolff
relented. “We’ll still meet our revenue goal of just under $1 million,” he said, adding that the price per pack can always be adjusted higher if there’s a shortfall in collections. Jupiter Energy -- The Board of Supervisors in an 8-1 vote recently gave preliminary approval to the Jupiter Energy battery storage plant at the intersection of Fleming Road and Chincoteague Road, a site familiar to Cove residents. It’s located across from a Delmarva Power transfer station, Wolff said, which will make it easier for Jupiter to transfer store electricity into the grid when it’s needed. The supervisors are expected to give final approval of the battery storage facility at its next meeting, Wolff said. New library - Wolff said that the county library is still behind schedule but should be completed and open to the public in several months. He said the new historical archive room will be a major attaction, as it will house artifacts that date back to the early 1600s and birth records, which will help people researching their ancestry. The next constituents’ meeting to be hosted by Wolff is scheduled for July 25.
• Spectrum will provide monthly updates to Silfee and Wagner for distribution to residents • Spectrum will announce when it is ready to accept installation requests and will notify Silfee and Wagner when the company intends to begin marketing efforts. As for ESVBA, which has a head start over Spectrum, the company’s installation map divides Captain’s Cove into segments, or phases, but implementation is not in numerical order. The order is 3,4,2,5 and 1, Wagner said. “This means that they will work to build the infrastructure in those areas in that order. The timing of when they will start and when they will be complete has not been communicated to the Digital Technology Committee since May 13th. Regular check-ins with ESVBA have occurred,” she said, at that point advising that ESVBA’s service will be Internet only.
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Lake Ernie may require expensive fix to restore receding water levels Phillips details challenges ahead to determine causes
By TOM STAUSS Publisher eceding water levels in Lake Ernie are concerning, and there won’t be a quick, simple and inexpensive solution, Senior General Manager Colby Phillips said during the June 27 managers meeting in Captain’s Cove. Acknowledging that she only recently checked out the lake that takes up 2.66 acres within the Cove, she noted that it sits one block to the west of Captain’s Corridor and has about three dozen lots surrounding it. She said that the lake is between four and five feet lower than historical levels, and has been noticeably dropping over the past couple of years. The source of the water loss is not known. The Lake is not spring fed. While golf course ponds seem to have maintained levels, Lake Ernie has not. There could be a number of reasons,” she said. “The rainfall over the past years has been down, particularly with the absence of any hurricanes dropping significant rainfall,” she continued. “It is not clear how many of acres of the Cove drain into the Lake. There are established formulas for estimating acreage and sustainable pond sizes.” She said it’s possible that a drain may have opened under the lake itself, allowing water to escape.
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Another possibility is spillway system of pipes at the end of the lake that is dammed. “Over the past few years, a number of trees have developed at that end. It is possible that the root structures have corrupted the dam, although there does not appear to be a visible leak,” she said. Phillips noted there is visible leakage around Colby Phillips the spillway, which indicates that the piping or surrounding earth could be a source of the water loss. “And it could a coupling of many of these factors,” she added. She said she and her management team will be proposing a study that would monitor the fill rate and loss rates in the lake and correlations to rainfall amounts. “Historical records will be examined to determine is there any documentation regarding the construction and nature of the spillway,” she said. In a summary of actions or projects that the management team is working on, Phillips: • Said that the Town Center project has not
Lake Ernie in Captain’s Cove borders about three dozen homes and sits just off Captain’s Corridor.
made much progress since her last report. Bids on the golf cart barn were “high,” so “we’re looking to see what can be done in-house.” Bids are being sought on relocating the mailboxes and dumpster from their current location near the Town Center pool. • Reported that the contract on the Marina Club pool roofing project has been signed. The management team is waiting for a start date, she said. • Said that the ess-curve repair and repaving of Captain’s Corridor in the vicinity of the maintenance building is complete and is a pleasure to drive on. • Advised that the budget preparation process for 2022-23 is already under waySomewhat handicapped by the lack of financial data for the six months of the current fiscal year, she said the goal is to present a “conservative and responsible budget” as the process unfolds. • Emphasized that the outdoor pool at the Marina Club and the tiki are for members of the Cove association and their guests only, and that efforts are under way to ensure that it stays that way. During the members forum portion of the meeting, she said that if the wait time for service at the tiki bar is too long, patrons can buy drinks at the bar inside the Marina Club. • Advised that refrigerator magnets containing contact information of Cove staff will soon be available. With recent staff changes, she said that she was glad there was delay in the magnets’ release to members. • Reported that as of the date of the meeting, there were only two “no wake” signs available for posting by property owners along the canals. In his portion of the managers’ meeting, General Manager Justin Wilder conducted a tribunal of alleged bulkhead violations, resulting from a recent comprehensive inspection of the canals in Captain’s Cove. Some property owners had been in contact with Wilder and produced copies of contracts to repair or replace bulkheading, which Wilder said would be sufficient to have these owners removed from the violation list. He said he understood that marine contractors are having supply issues and that, as a result, he is giving property owners a year to make good on their pledges to repair or replace their bulkheading. “We’ll check in a year,” to see if the work contracted for is completed, he said. For those owners who have not responded to letters and other attempts by the Cove association to reach them, Wilder proposed and the management team voted to impose $10-a-day fines. Wilder also reported that the county assessment office has ignored attempts by him to obtain official denials of tax noticess filed when reassessment notices were received, making it impossible for him to appeal the denials to the county’s Board of Equalization. Wilder would like to appeal notices of assessments on Cove association-owned lots, again reminding owners that if they want to appeal their individual assessments, they have to do it on their own. Wilder said if the county assessment office continues to stonewall, he might have to “get an attorney involved.”
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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Charles Getz hired as Cove’s new food and beverage manager
Phillips releases survey of diners at Marina Club
uring the June 27 managers meeting in Captain’s Cove, Senior General Manager Colby said that a recent survey of diners in the Marina Club restaurant had a participation rate of a couple hundred Cove residents, 68 percent of whom were full-time residents and 24 percent part-time. Survey results appear below. Food & Beverage Survey Topic: Age Group:
Answers 18-44 45-54 55-64 Over 65
Percentage 10% 17% 36% 29%
Resident Status: Full Time Part Time Non
68% 27% 5%
Average Cost you would like to pay: $15-$20 $21-$30 $30 or above
47% 44% Less than 5%
Favorite Section of Menu: Appetizers Salads Pizzas Sandwiches Entrees Desserts
37% 14% 6% 19% 24% 1%
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
16% 27% 55% 37% 17%
Fine Dining Casual
5% 95%
Appetizers Entrees
38% 62%
Beer Variety Mixed Drinks/Cocktails Wine Menu
43% 41% 16%
Calamari Sliders Crab Dip Egg Rolls Onion Rings Shrimp Nachos Chicken Wings Mini Crab Cakes Quesadillas Mozzarella Sticks
24% 8% 34% 4% 0% 14% 13% 23% 5% 6% 2%
What Day do you most often come:
Preference of Menu Style:
Which is more important to you:
Which Beverage do you prefer:
Favorite Appetizers: Percentage is based on 1st Choice
Restaurateur has more than 30 years of experience owning and running restaurants By TOM STAUSS Publisher harles “Charlie” Getz is joining Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club’s management team as the Marina Club food and beverage manager, beginning July 6, Senior General Manager Colby Phillips has announced. He succeeds Jeff Landry, who abruptly left Captain’s Cove in May, just before Memorial Day weekend. The Marina Club has been managed in the interim by Sales Manager Julia Knopf, and a kitchen staff remained on the job after Landry’s departure. “We are thrilled to have Charlie join us here in Charles Getz Captain’s Cove,” Phillips said. “With his more than 30 years of experience owning and managing restaurants, we couldn’t be more pleased to have someone with his expertise overseeing operations with the dedicated team we have in place.” Getz’ last posting was general manager of the Ocean City Marlin Club. Before then, from May of 2019 to January of this year, he was director of food and beverage at the Courtyard by Marriott Captain’s Table Restaurant in Ocean City. From April of 2015 to May of 2019, he was general manager of Buster’s Seafood Grill in Salisbury. Most of his career, from 1993 to 2015, was spent as owner and president of Charlie’s Bay Side Restaurant in Fenwick Island, Del., where he created an Internet mail order business called Crabcakes Direct. He sold both the restaurant and the mail order business in 2015. In a June 27 interview, Getz said he took the Marina Club position because it offers a challenge, and is “something different” from what he did for most of his career. “The Marina Club is a not-for-profit,” he said, “primarily there to serve the members with affordable, good food. With a non-profit, you price menu items differently, trying to keep prices down and still offer members a good experience..” He said he doesn’t expect to make a lot of major changes in the operations, “because there’s a solid staff in place. I’ll just tighten it up, cutting costs where I can. I don’t want to spook people by shaking things up too much.” He said he’s looked at the latest menu and to him it looks like it’s geared to the tastes and finances of Cove residents. “I think it suits the community” he said of the new menu, adding that he might add a few specials from time to time. While Getz said he doesn’t plan to prepare food, he said that managers often have to step in when someone calls in sick or can’t come in for some other reason. “That’s what managers do,” he said. Getz said he’s really “looking forward” to joining Captain’s Cove. “Colby’s great. She really does support the staff in any way she can.” Even the commute from the Berlin area doesn’t bother him. “I was telling someone today it’s a relaxing drive, four stop signs and one traffic light,” he said.
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Captain’s Cove Community Bulletin Board
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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Cove still waiting for first half bank data By TOM STAUSS Publisher n the context of a legal battle in which Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club is attempting to dislodge six months of bank records from the grip of its former management company, Troon Golf, CCGYC is working to produce monthly financial reports in the absence of needed financial data. CCYGC President Tim Hearn said recently he is assuming at some point that Troon and its bank, PNC, will produce bank records for the period from October of last year through March of this year. the first half of the 2021-22 fiscal year. The Cove association on May 13 filed suit in Accomack County Circuit Court to obtain a court order that would force the release of banking information for those six months, from which monthly statements could be constructed. Hearn said in an early June interview that new controller Sara Shifflett has enough banking information for April and May to build financial statements for those months, with both expected to be in the hands of the Board of Directrors and Senior General Manager Colby Phillips by the end of June. April was the first full month that the Cove association regained full control of its finances, not including financial data for the first six months of the year. Hearn repeated earlier comments that the Cove association has enough liquidity to operate even with a $1 million in unaccounted for funds from the October through March period. “We had $2 million in liquidity going into the 2021-22 fiscal year,” he said. “While there’s a gap in our information base for the first half of the year, we know we have been cash flow positive since April.” The missing $1 million will be accounted for at some point, Hearn said, with a half-year audit to be conducted when the bank statements are released. Troon has said that about $250,000 of the missing $1 million is attributed to various To Page 62
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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Hearn, Phillips push back on anonymous hate mail
Cove finances From Page 60 capital expenditures, refusing to document what those capital expenditures entailed. Assuming that $250,000 turns out to be accurate, that would still leave $750,000 to be reconciled. Even without the monthly financial data it continues to demand from Troon, the Cove has come across some questionable expenditures that were no authorized by the Cove board or Phillips. “Former management bought a very expensive set of golf clubs for the former food and beverage manager,” Hearn said. Also uncovered was a $16,000 wine order along with $3,000 in wine bottle covers “Colby has been cancelling these orders as best she can, but it looks we can’t do anything about the excess wine inventory except offer it sale to the Cove membership. “Members can can take advantage or be the beneficiaries prior mistakes,” Hearn said. Indeed, the Cove is offering excess inventory for sale. [See selections on the opposite page.]
CCCC president calls out letter critical of senior general manager
By TOM STAUSS Publisher n unsigned letter published in May under the banner Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove [CCCC Community update - May 2022] and sent to residents of Captain’s Cove took a harsh position against Senior General Manager Colby Phillips of Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club. However, Teresa Birckhead, president of the CCCC, said that the “CCCC would never send out a stupid letter bashing Colby or our employees. This is not what we do. Don’t let whomever sent this out get any attention.” She called Phillips a “breath of fresh air” for Captain’s Cove. The letter purported to be written by a self-identified CCCC organizing committee, a panel that
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has not been set up by CCCC. The letter accused Phillips of denying the CCCC access to a meeting room, of refusing to work with the recently hired Cove controller Sara Shifflett in preparing missing financial statements, and of working full-time for the Ocean City Beach Patrol and part-time for Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club. Phillips is not a full-time employee of the Beach Patrol, calling her work for the agency “very part-time,” occasionally helping with recruitment and sending out an annual letter to local newspapers containing tips on beach safety. “I share that same letter every year and it has helped save lives,” she said. Phillips said she was working with the new controller of the preparation of financial statements for April and May. For documentation of the first six months of the fiscal year, the Cove association has gone to court to force the Cove’s former management company, Troon Golf, to turn over bank account information. Phillips said that every organization in Captain’s Cove can reserve meeting space in Cove facilities online, a new feature of the Cove’s recently revamped Web site. Space is not always available at the time preferred by the organizaion, she said. The unsigned letter said the committee is circulating a petition asking the Accomack County attorney to investigate Cove finances and to order a forensic audit of them. Cove association President Tim Hearn months ago announced that there would be a forensic audit done once the CCGYC obtained bank account information for the first half of fiscal 2021-22 (October 2021 through March of 2022) in its suit against Troon Golf. “It’s absurd to suggest we need the county attorney to tell us to do what we’ve been intending to do for many months now,” Hearn said. The letter also claimed that a petition is circulating to demand that CCG Note, the Cove developer, hire a “really qualified” senior GM. If such a letter is circulating, it’s not under the auspices of CCCC, according to Birckhead. The letter also asserted that Cap-
tain’s Cove has a “long record” of corruption by those running it. Hearn said it’s all seven directors of the Cove association that hires the senior GM, not CCG Note. He called the letter defamatory in its claim of corruption since 2012, when developer interests took control of the Cove board as the result of litigation and a negotiated settlement agreement. Hearn and his business associates have constituted a board majority since then, with Hearn serving as president for all but one of those years. Prior to the transition in 2012, Hearn said that those running the Cove association ran its finances into the ground, and that since then there’s been a complete reversal, even in the face of challenges resulting from the Troon divorce. Hearn said that the board has complete faith in Phillips, who he said is “eminently qualified” to serve as Cove senior general manager by virtue of her experience as a senior department head in Ocean Pines. She called her performance since her hiring in March of last year “exemplary, exceeding our expectations in every way.” Although Hearn was aware of Birckhead’s disavowal of the letter, he said it very well might represent the views of a least some CCCC members, who he said are consistently negative about anything the board or senior management is attempting to do. Phillips in an email said she was “not going to put any thought or wasted energy into something that is full of lies, because someone has nothing better to do with his life than wrote anonymous letters about people. That person is a coward, and not worth my time or attention. My direction is forward, in a positive way. I know who I am and how I do things, and that’s what matters to me.” She thanked Hearn and the board for continuing to support her and the management team. Hearn said he has a strong suspicion of who the author of the letter might be, noting that it is similar to communication received by the CCGYC by a particular individual he declined to name.
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WINE BOTTLE SALE Pre-Order at the Marina Restaurant
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