Bailey removes Yacht Club ‘pirate ship’ playground One “legacy” landmark erected during the relatively brief Brett Hill era, controversial “pirate ship” playground equipment installed on the Yacht Club outdoor deck roughly halfway between the building and the Oasis swimming pool, was removed by General Manager John Bailey, Hill’s successor as GM, during the middle of the week of Feb. 18. Bailey confirmed the equipment’s removal during the Board of Directors’ Feb. 25 monthly meeting, saying he had made the decision for what he said were safety reasons.
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Engineering firm nears completion of Country Club specs In an update delivered to the Board of Directors during its Feb. 25 monthly meeting, General Manager John Bailey said that the firm hired to do engineering drawings for the renovation of the Country Club’s second floor was 90 percent complete in the design work. Bailey said the engineering firm, Davis, Bowen and Fridel of Salisbury, would have the designs completed shortly, after which the board will be asked to approve the plans and a request for proposals from contractors.
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OPA issues RFP for forensic audit Less than a week after the Board of Directors voted to solicit proposals for a forensic audit of potential fraud and embezzlement in Ocean Pines Association departments, starting with food and beverage operations, the OPA posted a notice on its Web site for that purpose. The vote was 6-1 in favor of the audit. ~ Page 18
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March 2018
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress
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THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY
CONTROVERSY OVER OPA FINANCES Hill rebuts board timeline, affirms $200,000 in possible losses from theft and fraud
OPA members rally, urge board to outsource OPA management
Former acting general manager renews charge of inaction by last year’s directors
Meeting facilitator vows to organize petition drive if board majority fails to act
By TOM STAUSS Publisher war of words over how much fraud and theft has occurred in Ocean Pines Associations departments in recent years and whether last year’s board was too eager to keep incidents of theft and fraud under wraps continues to roil Ocean Pines. Former Acting General Manager Brett Hill continues to take issue with the current board over financial corruption issues, while two directors, Cheryl Jacobs and Slobodan Trendic, have pushed back hard against some of Hill’s assertions. Other directors were less confrontational, but a majority seems to believe there’s no foundation to Hill’s assertions of $200,000 in possible losses from theft and fraud. Trendic acknowledges that Hill’s revelations, initially published in the Progress’ February edition, were a primary factor in pushing the board to act favorably on Trendic’s proposal for a forensic audit of OPA departments, action taken during a Feb. 25 board meeting. But Trendic said Hill’s version of events last summer overlook a key fact. According to Trendic, Hill, as acting general manager with two strong director allies, effectively controlled the board last summer and could have taken stronger action against incidents of theft and fraud that occurred. More specifically, he said a board majority could have responded to his push for a forensic audit and
By TOM STAUSS Publisher oncerned about recent disclosures of theft and fraud that former acting general manager Brett Hill has said could have cost property owners up to $200,000 in losses, a crowd of about 85 people attending a meeting inthe Assateague Room of the Community Center March 10 coalesced around a remedy proposed by meeting facilitator Esther Diller. Also of concern is an estimated $2 million operating loss in 2017-18, which critics say the Board of Directors has done little to address. The solution to what ails Ocean Pines, she said, is for the board to seek proposals for the management of the OPA from homeowner association management firms, such as Legum and Norman that runs the Parke homeowner association in South Ocean Pines. The solution, not a new one, is essentially to replace in-house management of the OPA with an out-source model, but one that still would have an on-site general manager who would report to the OPA board of directors and executives of the management company. This outsourcing model was explained by Diller, a non-resident Ocean Pines property owners who owns multiple businesses in the Philadelphia area, in a telephone interview with the Progress March 7 and repeated during the March 10 meeting. The meeting was promoted on oceanpinesforum.com and was also mentioned by OPA Director Tom Herrick briefly during
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