County ends planning for golf course spray irrigation As recently reported by Joe Reynolds on oceanpinesforum. com, Worcester County officials have informed Ocean Pines Association officials that planning for the possible use of treated wastewater from the Ocean Pines Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Ocean Pines golf course has ended. OPA General Manager John Viola confirmed that the OPA is in receipt of a letter indicating that the county is no longer interested in pursuing the proposed construction of a new irrigation system on the Ocean Pines golf course costing about $3 million, with another $1 million or so in debt service costs. The project also would have included an underground piping system to send treated wastewater from the treatment plant to the golf course. The OPA Board of Directors had given the project a tentative nod of approval for planning purposes, contingent on many details to be worked out. There was considerable behind-the-scenes and public opposition to the project. Ocean Pines resident Grant Helvey made several presentations to the OPA board in opposition. In the end, opposition by county commissioners Chip Bertino and Jim Bunting helped kill the project, which would have been paid for by Ocean Pines homeowners in higher quarterly utility bills.
March 2022
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COVER STORY
Approved budget reduces assessment by $100 to $896
Directors approve spending plan at Feb. 23 monthly meeting By TOM STAUSS Publisher ust when it seemed he and his staff would be taking some well-deserved bows for offering up a revised budget that would lower the 2022-23 lot assessment by $71, General Manager John Viola upped the ante and recently posted a revised budget that would lower the assessment by $100, taking it down from the current $996 to $886. The Board of Directors liked what Viola and Controller/Director of Finance Steve Phillips proposed in the second revised “proposed” budget for the fiscal year that begins this coming May. 1. The directors unanimously approved the revised budget including the lower assessment at the board’s Feb. 23 monthly meeting. Viola had presented the first iteration of the “revised proposed budget” back on Jan. 19. The final version was
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posted on the OPA Website Feb. 19, along with detail on how he and Phillips arrived at the additional $29 reduction in assessments. It was a mix of additional revenue in golf greens and carts fees and more food and beverage profit at the Yacht Club. But most of the additional assessment decrease is coming by using more of the accumulated operating fund surplus at the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year for “one-time assessment reduction.” The transfer from the operating fund to General Administration will be $650,000, equivalent to $77 in a lower assessment, according to a reconciliation schedule included in the approved budget. In the Jan. 19 revision of the budget, Viola had proposed that $450,000 would come out of last year’s operating surplus to fund the assessment decrease, the To Page 3
OPA Board OKs 30-plus by-law changes for referendum vote; controversial proposals targeting Farr, Lakernick withdrawn ~ Special four-page report begins on Page 34 ~
2 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
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COVER STORY From Page 1 equivalent of $53 on the assessment. The additional $200,000 transfer out of last year’s accumulated operating surplus is the most significant change from the Jan. 19 version of the budget to the latest and final one. According to the reconciliation schedule, there were two other changes in the final budget over the previous version. The golf revenue increase over what had been proposed in the second version of the budget is estimated at $50,000, or $6 in a lower assessment. The Yacht Club revenue increase is more modest at $10,000, or $1 off the assessment. Viola and Phillips added another $60,000 for property/liability insurance coverage, or $7 on the assessment, and $15,000 in “potential” cost related to a referendum, presumably one related to proposed changes in OPA by-laws. That change was a $2 increase on the assessment, The first iteration of the budget unveiled this past December had a nominal decrease in the assessment of $1, which became $71 in the second version and ending up at a $100 reduction, There is no proposed increase in the waterfront differential paid by owners of privately-owned bulkheaded property. It would remain at $615, for a total assessment of $1,511. The assessment
for non-bulkhead waterfront property would be set at 986. The $615 waterfront differential has remained the same in all three versions of the budget. At the same time that the assessment ended up with a historic reduction, the final draft of the budget adopted changes in amenity fees that were reflected in the second version. Beach parking, aquatics and racquet sports membership fees are increasing about ten percent over current rates. No increase in these fees had been included in the initial draft, while dues increases in golf memberships had been initially budgeted. The Budget and Finance Advisory Committee had recommended the increase in these fees so that all amenities would be treated consistently. The one-time assessment decrease of $100 will be funded out of the $1.1 million operating fund surplus recorded through April 30 of last year. It could be construed as a payback for the assessment increases used to reduce an operating fund deficit of about $1.6 million accumulated during a period of operational and financial challenges known as the Brett Hill era, named after a former acting general manager and OPA director. Although Viola said that this year’s operating fund surplus should be well north of $1 million, it’s not been officially recorded and thus was not available for use in an assessment decrease
in 2022-23. But in an aside that may not have been picked by those attending the Jan. 19 meeting, Viola hinted that some of the current year’s projected surplus might be available for another “one-time” assessment decrease next year as well. Even with the approved reduction in the assessment, OPA reserves appear to be heading toward an improved condition at the end of 202223 over 2021-22 projections. Total reserves would increase from $5.472 million on April 30 of this year to $6.699 million on April 30 of next year. The key replacement reserve, which is expected to carry a balance of $4.7 million on April 30 this year, is projected to end up with a $5.98 million balance at the end of 2022-23, mostly attributable to $1.71 million in new revenue from assessment collections related to the funding of depreciation on OPA assets. That’s within the approved range of 22 to 28 percent of the value of OPA assets as determined by the DMA reserve study that was updated last year. Only $492,255 in replacement reserve spending is projected for 2022-23, with another $1.17 million in bulkhead reserve spending. Other previously identified factors making it possible to reduce the assessment include a decrease in general replacement reserve contributions (-$14), a reduction in bad debt expense To Page 5
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18 Martinique Circle • $450,000 COMING Assessment decrease
From Page 3 (-$12), a change in operating income for food and beverage operations (-$72,193), and a decrease in projected legal expense (-$1). In addition: • the approved budget shifts $350,000 back into the roads reserve that previously had been shifted into drainage. This is in addition to $350,000 in casino funds that traditionally have been allocated to roads. Viola has said he’s working toward meeting a goal of $1 million for the roads reserve as recommended by the B&F committee. • the approved budget shifts $60,000 out of the operating fund surplus to the New Capital Reserve to pay for new transient use t-docks at the Yacht Club. Association Treasurer Larry Perrone introduced the formal motion to approve the budget, setting total revenues of $13,951,508, operating expenses of $13,951,508, bulkhead, drainage and replacement expenses of $1,169,921, and capital expenditures of $1,302,255. While the approved budget lowers the base lot assessment, amenity membership dues and daily user fees have been increased across the board. [See story on Page 6 in this edition of the Progress for details.] In remarks during the Feb. 23 board meeting, OPA President Colette Horn called the decrease in assessments historic, just the second time it’s happened and by far the largest. Horn said the last time the assessment was reduced from the prior year was in 2014, when it dropped $5. “I just want to thank [Viola] and ... his team for the work that has allowed us to make this adjustment. And I want to thank this board and the preceding board for providing the leadership and support that
made those changes, those improvements possible,” she said. “And I want to thank the membership, because the organic growth in revenue has to do with membership utilization of our amenities,” Horn continued. “So, the improvements that took place as a result of the administrative team and the Board approvals accounts for perhaps some of the increased usage, but the members’ dollars, certainly, have helped this as well.” Factors offsetting budgetary reductions included a $38 increase in Fire Department funding, $32 for wages and salaries, $7 for property/ liability insurance increases, and $2 to cover a potential referendum. “That line item ... that one-time assessment reduction from current surplus, I’ve recommended that we continue this line each year,” Viola said. “And that’s something that we’d look at [during] each budget process, based upon the prior year or where we are with our retained earnings. And that could be a plus or minus.” Viola went on to say positive revenue figures were helped by “the management of expenses, organic growth, and the maintenance and capital investments that this Association has made to them, specifically Golf and Racquet Sports. It’s certainly showing the benefit there,” he said. Organic growth is the term Viola uses to explain increased fees from use of the amenities as measured both by increased membership and daily user fees. Also included would be revenue growth at Ocean Pines food and beverage venues that are managed by the Matt Ortt Companies. Ocean Pines amenities have bounced back in a big way from the covid pandemic, as evidenced by an operating surplus this year that could reach $1.5 million or more.
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6 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
Board approves increases in amenity dues
By TOM STAUSS Publisher s part of the 2022-23 Ocean Pines Association budget approved by the Board of Directors Feb. 23, new amenity membership dues and daily user fees have been approved as well. The proposed increases in membership dues of about 5 percent in most membership categories are less than the $100 decrease in the base lot assessments approved by the board Feb. 23 in the 2022-23 budget. Aquatics yearly memberships are increasing from $600 to $630 for families and from $385 to $405 for individuals. Summer memberships are increasing from $325 to $340 for families and from $195 to $205 for individuals, Winter memberships are increasing from $460 to $485 for families and from $300 to $315 for individuals. These rates apply to Ocean Pines owners and residents, including longer-term renters. For those who don’t own property in Ocean Pines or live here, membership rates are significantly higher but the increases are still roughly 5 percent. Racquet sport membership dues are increasing by the same 5 percent. Tennis dues are increasing from $400 to $420 for families and from $250 to $265 for individuals. Tennis afternoon memberships are increasing from $165 to $175 for families and from $105 to $110 for individuals. Platform tennis dues are increasing from $280 to $295 for families To Page 8
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8 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OCEAN PINES
Daily User Fees 2022-23
Membership dues
Boat slip rates 2022-23
From Page 6
and from $170 to $180 for individuals. Pickleball dues are increasing from $280 to $295 for families and from $170 to $180 for individuals. The golf increases are $100 across all categories. Family golf memberships are increasing from $2,400 to $2,500, individual memberships from $1,500 to $1,600, family afternoon memberships from $1,650 to $1,750, and individual afternoon memberships from $950 to $1,050. Individual cart packages are increasing from $1,400 to $1,500, and from $2,100 to $2200 for families. Cart fees for members are increasing from $22 to $25 for 18 holes and from $12 to $15 for 9 holes, with guests of members paying the same. For non-members, combined cart and green fees for 18 holes are increasing from $54 to $59, with no increase in rates for owners and guests after 12 or twilight, after 3 p.m. These rates are staying at $49 and $39, respectively. Nine-hole green and cart fees remain unchanged, at $35 for owners and guests, $30 for owners and guests after 12, and $30 after 3 p.m. Marina boat slip fees are also increasing over the increases proposed in the original budget. For boats 25 feet or less, rates would be set at $2,025, compared to $1,872 currently. For boats from 26 to 39 feet, rates would be set at $2,755, up from the
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current $2,548. For boats 40 to 44 feet and liveaboards, the new rate is $3,890, up from the current $3,594. The slip rate at the Swim and Racquet Club has been set at $1,460, up from the current $1,352. Beach Club parking passes will cost more this summer. For OPA members without memberships in aquatics, tennis, platform tennis, pickleball or golf, this summer’s parking pass will cost $215 for both families and individuals, up from $200 last summer. For those with at least one amenity membership, the passes will cost $140, up from $125 last summer. Weekly passes will cost $150 for both individuals and families, up from $75 last summer, and daily passes will cost $45, up from $30 last summer. For those who are not members of the OPA or residents, nor purchasers of an amenity membership, a beach parking pass will cost $525, up from $510 last summer. Weekly rates for non-OPA members will cost $150, up from $135 last summer. Daily rates for non-OPA members have been set at $45. The daily rate for using Ocean Pines swimming pools for Ocean Pines Association members and Ocean Pines renters, adults 18 and older, has been set at $10 for daily pool use, up from the current $8. Children 5 to 17 will pay $8, up from the current $6. New rates go into effect May 1. An adult or guardian continues to be a requirement for children 1 to 4. New rates for three- and four-yearolds have been nixed for this summer. The guardian, non-swimming rate has been set at $5. For those who don’t live or own property in Ocean Pines, adult pool users will pay $15, up from the current $12, and children 5 to 17 will pay $13, up from the current $10. Because of objections raised by racquet sport members, some adjustments were made in tennis drop-in rates. The rate is $10 for tennis and $7 each for pickleball and platform tennis. For those who don’t own property or live in Ocean Pines, the drop-in rates will be $15 for tennis and $8 for pickleball and platform tennis.
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 9
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10 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OCEAN PINES
Viola continues to serve on week-to-week basis as OPA’s general manager Hints he may be available to stay on if a board majority asks him to By TOM STAUSS Publisher t appears that the Board of Directors is actively looking for a new general manager to replace John Viola, with the Progress being told that two candidates have emerged as possible front-runners, but Viola recently hinted that he would be willing to stay on if a board majority asks him to. So far, it doesn’t seem as if the board has gotten that memo. A Feb. 9 statement issued by OPA President Colette Horn made no mention of even a remote possibility of Viola remaining as GM beyond the OPA’s annual meeting this August. The impression give was Viola wants to retire as soon as the board finds his replacement, but that may be a somewhat misleading description of his actual attitude. Closer to the truth may be that his possible
I
retention is not being pursued because some directors may not interested in negotiating a new contract. Viola and OPA Treasurer Larry Perrone had a falling out after Viola’s annual performance review, former OPA Senior Executive Assistant Michelle Bennett recently told the Progress. {See article elsewhere in this edition for details.] The Feb. 9 statement issued by Horn was headlined “GM resignation date will again be Feb. 28,” perhaps unintentionally creating some confusion over his actual departure date, which was left open-ended. The statement made clear that Viola was remaining on the job a week-to-week basis after Feb. 18. Viola in late November had abruptly announced his resignation, giving the OPA three months notice to find a replacement. But after a surge of
support from Ocean Pines residents, OPA counsel Jeremy Tucker on behalf of the board asked Viola to rescind his resignation, which he did. At the same time, he agreed to extend his contract at least until Sept. 9 under existing compensation terms. “I never gave the board a drop-dead date [for leaving},” he said. “[The Sept. 9 date] was a date that John Viola made sense because there would be a new board [after this summer’s board election].” He seemed to be suggesting that if a new board wanted him to stay, he would be willing to consider it. As of the Feb. 9 statement from Horn, however, the Sept. 9 was no longer a target date for Viola’s departure. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am writing to notify you that John Viola informed me that his resignation date under his current contract as General Manager of Ocean Pines will again be Feb. 28, 2022,” she said in her statement. “Mr. Viola had generously agreed to extend his current To Page 12
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 11
12 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OCEAN PINES Viola From Page 10 contract until at least Sept. 9, 2022, to allow for a smoother transition to a new general manager. But, after considering a number of factors, he felt proceeding with ending his current contract was in his and his family’s best interests.” Horn said that Viola had agreed to remain in place after Feb. 28 “on a week-to-week at-will basis, without contract and with no change in compensation, to ensure stability until the position is filled or until the annual meeting in August, whichever comes first.” Horn alluded to the possibility under “conditions” that she didn’t specify that the GM position could become vacant “due to the departure of Mr. Viola” prior to the annual meeting. In that case, “the Board will follow the provisions of Section 9.06 of the OPA Bylaws to appoint someone to assume the duties of the general manager on a temporary basis, until the position is filled,” she said. In the past, the position has been filled by the OPA president, but it could be any director appointed by a board majority. Horn reportedly has some interest in the interim position, recently having consulted with OPA department heads to gauge the level of support she might have if she took the position. One source told the Progress that some department heads felt obligated to express support while privately feeling awkward about being asked to do so. “How could anyone say she shouldn’t take the position,” the source told the Progress under the promise of anonymity. Viola in a separate statement said that with the “completion of the
FY 2022/2023 Budget, the stability of the open position that the Board asked me to achieve and discussions with my family, I have opted not to sign the current contract [extension] put forth to me. Feb. 28, 2022 will be the date for my resignation as originally planned and as agreed upon with the president of the Association. I would like to thank my entire team for all the great support I have received,” Viola said. Viola amplified that statement in subsequent remarks. By opting for a week-to-week extension of his service to Ocean Pines outside the contract, while working under the contract’s compensation terms, Viola said it would give him and the OPA greater flexibility should the board find a suitable replacement before the annual meeting. “It means they wouldn’t have to pay me for an additional six months even if they bring someone in sooner,” he said. “The board is actively recruiting,” he said, suggesting that additional details on that effort could be forthcoming by contacting Horn. But he then added, “As you know, I have never turned down a board majority [when it] asked me to stay,” referring to a situation years ago during an odd transition between the departure of former acting director Brett Hill and the arrival of former manager John Bailey. It was a brief tenure as interim GM, a couple of months, Viola said. Horn concluded her statement by thanking Viola “for his willingness to extend his departure date and for his many valuable contributions to Ocean Pines. The search for the new general manager remains underway,” Horn concluded. Her statement did not acknowledge Viola’s apparent willingness to considering staying on if asked.
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March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 13
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14 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OCEAN PINES
Michelle Bennett details reasons for Viola’s December resignation Former senior executive assistant talks about her reasons for leaving Ocean Pines By TOM STAUSS Publisher ormer Ocean Pines Association Senior Executive Assistant Michelle Bennett in an exclusive interview with the Progress has of-
F
fered some insider insights on why General Manager John Viola submitted his resignation last December and why she resigned within days of Viola’s announcement. In Viola’s case, the resignation
was given with three months notice, effective at the end of February. His employment contract has been effectively extended on a week-to-week basis until the annual meeting of the association in August, or sooner
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LUNCH SANDWICHES Served on Bagel, Roll or Bread Includes a Side of Macaroni Salad Ham …………............................….……. $8.95
Taylor Ham ……...........................…….. $8.95 Turkey ………...................................….. $9.45 Roast Beef …..................................…… $9.45 Cappicola …….................................….. $8.95 Genoa Salami …................................… $8.95 Italian Combo …...........................……. $9.45 (Roast Beef, Cappicola, Salami and Provolone) Roast Beef & Turkey ……................….. $7.45 Liverwurst …...............................……… $7.55 Bologna ................................................. $7.55 Egg Salad ….............................………… $7.55 Tuna Salad ………..........................……. $9.25 Whitefish Salad …..................…………. $9.25 PB&J ……………….........................……. $4.50 Grilled Cheese ……........................……. $6.55 Add to any sandwich Cheese 85 cents • Meat $1.65
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if the Board of Directors hires and installs a replacement GM before then. Bennett offered her resignation in late November within days of Viola’s resignation, effective Dec. 28. At the time, she informed friends her decision to resign was not timed or related to Viola’s resignation. She said she had not been aware that Viola was planning to resign when she submitted her resignation letter. In the interview, she reaffirmed a statement made in a press release at the time that she resigned to pursue a new job that would allow her to use her accounting skills, which were not part of her job description with the OPA Bennett said her decision to resign was prompted by a deteriorating relationship with Viola that she traces back to the summer of 2020, when reports were circulating in Ocean Pines that Viola was concerned that certain department heads were conspiring to undermine his authority and perhaps to replace him with Colby Phillips, then a prominent member of the OPA leadership team. Another revelation she offered in the interview is her understanding of why Viola offered his resignation -- since rescinded -- last December. “It had to do with a discussion John had with Larry [Perrone, then OPA President] after the board conducted John’s annual performance review [in November],” Bennett said. As many in Ocean Pines have speculated, Bennett said the post-review discussion between Viola and Perrone did not go well. “My understanding is that, based on what I heard John say at the time, is that Larry feels that John does not do a good job of supervising certain department heads,” she said, adding that when Perrone communicated that belief to Viola, the GM recoiled and offered his resignation on the spot. The press release announcing the resignation called it a decision To Page 16
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 15
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Michelle Bennett From Page 15 allowing Viola to segue into a “deserved” retirement, but that explanation didn’t ring true to those who know Viola. Bennett said she had no information on whether other directors shared Perrone’s apparent disenchantment with Viola, but there’s evidence that it’s not widely shared. The Progress has been told that his performance review had only one naysayer, Perrone, with other directors much more supportive. An OPA press release issued after Viola later rescinded his resignation said the board had voted unanimously to accept the rescission, but Bennett said she believes the rift between Perrone and Viola persists despite that vote. As for her decision to leave Ocean Pines for new employment, Bennett told the Progress that she is “very happy with my new position. The owners are very supportive and caring of their employees. I am putting my accounting skills to good use
now,” she said. “Fortunately, I had the {accounting] experience needed to make the choice to leave Ocean Pines [possible].” Bennett said she believes that Viola thought she “was part of the group that was trying to undermine him” during the summer of 2020. A subsequent investigation by a member of OPA counsel Jeremy Tucker’s law firm determined that there was no coordinated effort by OPA employees to undermine Viola or to replace Viola with Phillips, who resigned from the OPA in February of last year and is now Senior General Manager of the Captain’s Cove community on the Maryland-Virginia state line. Bennett said she felt that her interactions with Viola did not improve after release of that report, even though she had never been part of an effort to undermine him or to replace him with Phillips. She told the Progress that in summer of 2020, when the intrigue about replacing Viola with Phillips seemed to be at its peak, she did not u
OCEAN PINES believe that Phillips was the right person for the job at the time. “She was almost too nice for the job,” she said. “A very sensitive, caring person. Maybe not the right person at the time for a job without a lot of job security.” She said that the position of general manager requires saying no on occasion to team members or to property owners, and Phillips prefers to say yes. She is certain that Phillips is no longer interested in becoming general manager in Ocean Pines. They had a dinner together in a restaurant in Ocean Pines in early February and she said they are on the “same page” with respect to their work experiences in Ocean Pines. While Phillips has attributed her departure in large part to unpleasant interactions with Perrone, Bennett’s reason evidently seems related to her interactions with Viola. She described her relations with Perrone as professional and courteous. Bennett said in her view Viola has favorites among department heads, in particular Public Works Office Manager Linda Martin and Parks and Recreation Director Debbie Donahue. Another department head that she said is among Viola’s favorites is John Malinowski, Ocean Pines longtime golf pro. She said that Viola and Malinowski often hang out together at the Golf Clubhouse. She said that Controller/Finance Director Steve Phillips is another colleague whom Viola respects and works well with. She said that other department heads are in a more gray area, sometimes meeting Viola’s approval and other times not so much. She decided to go public with her experiences when it was announced that Viola had rescinded his resignation and that the board decided to extend the contract by six months. It’s since been modified to a weekto-week extension with no contract. Saying she was surprised by the extension, Bennett said that OPA President Colette Horn told her that the board had decided that allowing Viola to depart as GM in late February would not go over well in the community because of how well the OPA is doing financially under his leadership. “It would have caused an uproar,” Bennett said she was told. In an interesting aside, she said that for sometime even before the post-performance review meeting between Viola and Perrone, the general manager had not been having
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 17 regular meetings with Perrone and Horn. “I’m not sure why, but that hadn’t been happening for some time,” she said. Prior to her resignation, Bennett had been employed by the OPA for almost ten years, arriving after the retirement of the late Phyllis East. The immediate replacement to East did not work out when a belated background check revealed a questionable past. Bennett was hired after East’s immediate successor was let go. Bennett served during the ten-
ures of general managers Bob Thompson, Brett Hill, John Bailey and Viola. She said she got along well with Thompson, Hill and Bailey and didn’t have a favorite among them. “They all treated me well and allowed me to do my job,” she said. “They trusted me with information, and I never betrayed that trust. They all pushed me to excel -- even John did that.” She said that Thompson, Hill and Bailey all respected that she had responsibilities at home caring for a grandchild, and that her job called
for a typical 40-hour work week. “John (Viola) expected me to be available 24-7, 365 days a week,” she said. “I felt that they (Thompson, Hill and Bailey) respected my boundaries,” she said. “With [Viola], I was expected to be at his beck and call.” During the Dec. 11 Board of Directors meeting, Perrone confirmed Bennett’s resignation and thanked her for her hard work and dedication of the last decade. She would have celebrated her tenth year with Ocean Pines in April. She officially resigned on Nov. 30 last year.
18 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OCEAN PINES
Board rejects Lakernick appointment to planning advisory committee
Dr. Stuart Lakernick
Directors dodge Parks’ inquiry on reasons why By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer fter making routine appointments of nine other volunteers to the Ocean Pines Association’s advisory committees at the close of a Feb. 23 meeting, a plurality of the Board of Directors quickly rejected Start Lakernick’s application to join the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee in a 2-3 vote. Two directors did not vote. While directors Rick Farr, and Doug Parks supported Lakernick’s appointment, directors Frank Daly, Larry Perrone, and Josette Wheatley were opposed. OPA President
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Colette Horn and director Amy Peck did not vote, confirmed by a review of the meeting video. Lakernick’s application was endorsed by Committee Chair Bernie McGorry. Lakernick in an email to the Progress said he doesn’t understand the Board’s decision. “I think that the decision to disavow my application to volunteer for the Strategic Planning Committee was dreadful. I do not understand the animus when dealing with me,” Lakernick said. The Strategic Planning Advisory Committee had two vacancies and there were just two applicants for
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those seats, Lakernick and Frank Brown, a former appointed OPA director. Brown was appointed with no fanfare, but instead of appointing Lakernick to fill the other position, the board chose to leave it vacant. Peck, the committee’s board liaison, voted for Brown but not for Lakernick. “This decision by the board is nothing but vindictive and retaliatory in nature. All I want to do is bring my expertise as a successful businessman for the benefit of our wonderful town,” Lakernick said. On his application for the committee appointment, Lakernick, who has owned property in Ocean Pines for eight years, said he was seeking the position because “strategic planning is the keystone to where our community is heading. “I have been involved as a candidate for the last two board of director elections. I watch all the board meetings on Youtube along with all the Strategic Planning and Bylaws and Resolutions meetings in order to stay involved with the current issues facing our community. “I have been on the board of my local Rotary and was asked to run as president for my Lions group. I turned them down last year because I chose to run for the Board of Directors in Ocean Pines,” Lakernick said.
He may run again this summer. When Horn called for any discussion on his application, there were no comments by any of the directors. After the vote, she simply said “Stuart Lakernick has not been appointed.” Parks spoke up then and asked directors who opposed the appointment to offer some comment as to why they would reject a candidate for a committee. “Do you think it would be helpful to folks moving forward who would want to sign up for a committee as to some of the reasons why one would get not approved for a committee? In other words, it would help them understand what kinds of things would cause the board to not consider them for a committee,” he said. Horn asked directors “does anybody want to state the reasons why they voted against this applicant? Or do you want to keep it to yourself?” Daly wondered if Parks was asking for more of a policy statement about appointments rather than specifics about why some directors didn’t want Lakernick appointed to the committee. “I think you’re asking for a policy statement from the board,” he said. Parks said that’s not what he was To Page 20
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20 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022 Lakernick From Page 19 asking for. He said he wanted to know why directors didn’t support the appointment of the specific applicant. “If that same condition exists with someone else that might help them determine whether or not to apply,” he argued. Parks said other potential applicants was want to know why an organization seeking volunteers would reject an applicant. “One thing you don’t do is turn down a volunteer,” he said. Daly was the only director opposing Lakernick’s appointment who was willing to offer a reason, with no detail. He said “I would refer you back to his (Lakernick’s) comments on last year’s election to the Election Committee …” Parks responded “I don’t know what they are, but OK.” Perrone then said “there’s no requirement to explain our vote.” And with that, Parks gave up, saying “fair enough.” The board filled a series of other committee appointments with no controversy. Maria T. Campione-Lawrence and Monica M. Rakowski were named to first terms on the Aquatics committee. Kevin W. Middleton was appointed to an open seat for an alternate member on the Architectural Review Committee. The board appointed Frank Brown to fill a seat on the Golf Advisory Committee, and reappointed Robert M. Long for a third term and Donald L. McMullen for a second.
OPA directors defend their posts on local social media Get Involved and Resident Oversight Community (ROC) Facebook pages compete for members
By TOM STAUSS Publisher o many options, so little time. Ocean Pines residents and property owners have lots of ways to keep abreast of news and information about their community, ranging from the Ocean Pines Association Website and Facebook pages to local print media, including the Ocean Pines Progress and weeklies based in Berlin and Ocean City, and the venerable Ocean Pines forum (oceanpinesforum.com). The OPA produces a quarterly newsletter and activities guide, too, print publications both. The Ocean Pines Forum is a Website administered by Pines resident Joe Reynolds that features a lively message board with thousands of registered users and a committed core of commentators. Reynolds tries to keep things interesting by offering commentary on
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news and issues, trying to provoke debate. Sometimes that happens, other times it’s mostly crickets. If these represent the legacy media, they no longer monopolize the news, opinion and information space in Ocean Pines. They’ve been joined by what can be loosely called social media sites, mainly but not exclusively Facebook pages. Some have associated websites and Twitter feeds. Among the entrants are Esther Diller’s Get Involved Facebook page, Sherri Clifford’s ROC (Residents Oversight Community, initially known as Residents Oversight Committee) Facebook page, and Ocean Pines News and Information. Once privately owned, the latter is owned and operated by the Daily Times in Salisbury. Once a lively space for uncensored commentary, it’s now a shadow of its former free-wheeling self, mostly contain-
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ing posts of people seeking or offering services. According to OPA Board member Amy Peck, its postings are prescreened with a lag time before the content is shared with its members. Get Involved and ROC are startups competing for members, with uncensored commentary about Ocean Pines political issues allowed. Membership on both pages is open to all, but Diller has opted to disallow postings from two OPA directors, Frank Daly and Peck, whoΊΙΙΛΘΟΎ ψϟ Ύϊϝ Prince Georges Cnty Md she said have posted negative com-χϚϋͧ йрͿкйͿлйкт To Page 22 ΎϞϖ ϊχϚϋͧ йрͿкйͿлйл Price: 98.500 (00.00) Ίи
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22 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022 Social media From Page 21 mentary about her well-publicized legal challenges. “When Daly was dissing me on the forum ... and dissing me everywhere I removed them,” she said in a text to the Progress. She said Peck had engaged in similar negative commentary, but in her estimation Daly’s were more pernicious, putting her legal challenges in the most unfavorable light possible. Since their removal, which doesn’t extend to other directors, including Rick Farr and Doug Parks, her site has been “calmer and more positive,” she said. Her site has about 900 members and climbing, she said. One original purpose of the site was to encourage Ocean Pines property owners to join Ocean Pines advisory committees and to find candidates to run for the OPA Board of Directors. Her husband, Stuart Lakernick, ran for the board last summer, fin-
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ishing a close third behind Farr and Daly. He is rumored to be a possible candidate again this summer. His application for membership on the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee was rejected last month in a 2-3 vote by the Board of Directors, with two directors note voting. That decision “lit up” the Get Involved page, Diller said, also attracting a lot of negative commentary on oceanpinesforum.com. Reynolds, the forum’s administrator, lambasted the board for rejecting Lakernick and sparred with Peck on her apparent abstention. Diller’s page was an advocate for Farr’s lawsuit against the OPA Board of Directors after he was “disqualified” as a candidate by the then OPA Secretary Camilla Rogers and later reinstated by court order. The site has not issued formal endorsements of candidates in prior board elections and won’t be doing so this summer, she has said. Clifford, whose site is newer than Get Involved, has no ban on postings from Daly and Peck and they seem to be taking advantage of the
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opportunity. Clifford said she has about 600 followers on her site with more coming in every day. She is using her site to promote a gofundme campaign to help an Ocean Pines family whose home recently was destroyed by fire. There’s a companion Website and Twitter account. Clifford, a new resident of Ocean Pines who has just opened up an office in the Pavilions commercial complex on Route 589 west of the Ocean Pines North Gate, eventually will be opening up a real estate business in her Pavilions location. A transplant from New Jersey, she’s using her new office as a place for ROC members to congregate as she awaits obtaining a real estate license in Maryland. According to postings obtained by the Progress, she’s prospecting for members of a board of directors for her site that will help run the organization should she decide to turn it into a not-for-profit organization. It’s not been decided for certain that it will be, but it is under active consideration, she said. While she adamantly says ROC will not be endorsing candidates in this summer’s board election, the same stance taken by Get Involved, Clifford confirmed that she is being actively recruited to run for the OPA herself this summer. “I haven’t decided,” she said. If she takes the plunge, she said it would be necessary to turn over administrator duties of the ROC page to someone else “to avoid the obvious conflict of interest.” Clifford said she is a former member of the Get Involved page but left after deciding to create her own page. She said she has nothing against Diller and believes there’s room for
both groups. “I met her (Diller) at the courthouse in Snow Hill at one of the Farr hearings,” she said, adding that, like Diller, she thought the OPA’s decision to disqualify Farr as candidate so close to the counting of ballots last summer was improper. “I was a Farr voter and supporter,” she said. Active participation on the ROC Facebook page by OPA directors Peck and Daly recently drew a critical email to the directors from an unhappy but literate Ocean Pines resident who, among other complaints, contended that the board was showing favoritism by posting on ROC but not on other local social media. The Progress obtained copies of the correspondence between them with the complainant’s name redacted. Daly and Peck’s spirited responses were included. According to the complainant, “it seems as there are two ‘Ocean Pines’ Facebook groups that seem to fuel discourse among residents, with what appears to be members of the board involved to some extent.” The complaint to the OPA board said the ROC group “may seem to act as an arm of the [OPA] board, without appropriate structure or accountability. This ‘committee’ has a self-appointed and titled president and CEO, a logo emblazoned on mugs, and is accepting applications for [ROC] board members.” The complaint said that oversight committees generally are created by the organization to be monitored and its members often “are given additional training to prevent others from influencing them even within their own committee.” u
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Social media From Page 22 The complaint says at least one OPA board member “shares posts” on the ROC page, “which appears to elevate [its[ air of legitimacy. Four members of the [OPA[ board are members of this page, from what I understand.” The complaint goes on to the say that the branding of the ROC page and its “business-like” nature ... would also lead to questions regarding profiting falsely by a perceived sanction” by the OPA board and “perceived sanctioning by board members individually as well. The author of this page offers to get answers quickly from the [OPA] board, which is something all homeowners should have access to without the need to come through this ‘committee.’ Again a special connection should not be sanctioned.” The complainant said that presenting a proposal for an oversight committee to the board for approval would be the appropriate approach to take. “Board members, by their own participation, are lending legitimacy {to the ROC] site and need to stop.” The complainant also said the use of the Ocean Pines name on mugs could constitute copyright infringement. Daly and Peck responded to the complaint. Daly, perhaps demonstrating why he was tossed from the Get Involved page, said it was founded by a “known federal criminal” and recruited candidates to run for the board in the 2020 and 2021 elections. “At least three current or former directors have been, or currently are, associated with that group,” Daly said. “Ocean Pines ROC has not, to my knowledge, recruited candidates in those elections. At least
one current member of the board is associated with ROC.” He didn’t name that director, but he was probably referring to Peck. While Daly said that directors are free to join either group, “their legal duty” is to the OPA, adding that they are free to speak for themselves but not on behalf of the entire board, provided that their comments do “not violate attorney/client privilege, personnel issues, or contractual matters that would harm the Association.” Daly said he doesn’t know Clifford and can’t speak to ROC’s goals and objectives. ROC is not “sanctioned by the board,” he said, adding that “I do not believe there is any confusion within the community in this regard.” He promised to address any concerns should they arise. That response didn’t satisfy the complainant, who said the OPA is in
“serious need” of a social media policy. The complaint said there is “focus on posting info to the ROC page, without the same diligence applied to other social media resources in the community. Merely counting the posts shows an imbalance and partiality” to the ROC page. “Again, [OPA] board members should be doing everything possible to limit perceived favoritism or support towards an entity claiming to be its oversight,” the complainant said, adding “continuing to allow another entity to profess to be ‘oversight’ is in direct conflict with the board member’s duties.” Peck responded that she posts on multiple sites, including Ocean Pines Forum and the unrelated News and Information. The latter site requires pre-screening and approval with a time delay. she said. “I and some other directors no
longer have access to Esther Diller’s Get Involved site,” she said, with the result that “many of my posts are on the {ROC] site and [Ocean Pines] Forum.” She said she had reviewed her ROC screen shots supplied by the complainant and found them to be “positive, factual and helpful.” She said it’s her goal to increase participation in the community and implicitly suggested that her involvement on the ROC page is consistent with that. The Progress also was sent a screen shot of a recent ROC posting in which member Roy Foreman thanks Peck for an invite to the ROC page. A note attached to the screen shot said “this is crazy. A board member inviting people to join a group that claims to be board oversight?” Such is the social media landscape in Ocean Pines, circa 2022.
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OCEAN PINES
24 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
Electronic voting won’t be ready for this summer’s board election May be tested in voting to amend Declaration of Restrictions By ROTA KNOTT Contributing Writer n electronic voting system will not be in place in time for this summer’s Ocean Pines Association election, but could be tested during upcoming section-by-section votes on amending the declaration of restrictions in Ocean Pines. With the OPA’s governing documents specifying a timeline and procedure for the mailing of Board of Directors’ election ballots, a bylaws change may be needed to permit electronic voting instead of the traditional paper process. Following a presentation from Carol Ludwig, Elections Committee chair, on the merits of a move to electronic voting during a Feb. 23 meeting, the Board of Directors debated the complexities of shifting to an online platform and the legal requirements outlined in the current by-laws.
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The board agreed to establish a small subcommittee of Ludwig, and Directors Larry Perrone, Elections Committee liaison, and Director Frank Daly to continue exploring the possibility of a shift to electronic voting. Director Josette Wheatley initially offered a motion that the board direct the general manager to review the financial implications and practicalities of switching to an electronic voting system. But other directors said the motion wasn’t necessary as that work is already being done by the Elections Committee in concert with staff. The new work group will expand on that effort to determine if such a proposal can be implemented within the OPA and how best to do so. Ludwig suggested that a shift to electronic voting will streamline the election process and result in a cost savings to the OPA. She presented four cost estimates for electronic
voting that ranged from $3,414 to $9,911 depending on the features selected, such as an option for callin voting and printing and mailing election instructions only, not ballots. The average cost of fully paper OPA elections with mail-in ballots and reply envelops is $15,531 for printing and mailing of all materials and return postage. Under an electronic voting system, the selected vendor would manage the entire voting process and the results of the election would then be provided to the Election Committee. Property owners would receive a randomly assigned ID number and would need to login to the system with the ID number and create a password. Votes would be entered directly into the election website, with email sent periodically to remind property owners to cast their votes. The only mailings to property
owners would be of the ID number and voting instructions. A call-in option would allow property owners to call a central number, provide their unique ID number, and then cast their votes via phone. Ludwig said an electronic voting system would provide enhanced security because “none of us touch any of this” as the contractor would manage the entire voting process and ballot counting. The process would eliminate challenges with duplicate ballots being cast and there would be no equipment for the OPA to maintain. She argued that voting online is an easy process and if someone can place an online order for something then they can vote online. “It’s very easy the way they set this up,” she said. Property owners would be able to vote from any device, including using library computers for those who don’t have one at home, and would be able to cast their votes right up until the deadline. However, she acknowledged that some people will simply be resistant to change. Regarding the unique election website login for each property owner, she added that “when u
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From Page 24 people get their number they better keep their number because we’re not issuing a new one.” Ludwig also outlined some of the current challenges with the mail-in ballot process, including delays by the U.S. Postal Service and a shortage of paper. She said the by-laws provide a tight timeline for mailing and receipt of ballots but voter eligibility isn’t confirmed until 35 days before the voting deadline. She. She said the number of late and therefore invalid ballots increased from 182 in 2020 to 289 in 2021 because of delays. The Elections Committee must manuallyduplicate ballots and the ballot counting process is slow, taking five or six hours. Daly asked if a shift to electronic voting would require a change to the OPA’s by-laws because that governing documents includes a statement that ballots will be mailed to property owners. Jim Trummel, long-time chair of the OPA Bylaws and resolutions Committee, said Section 5.03C of the bylaws states the Elections Committee “shall supervise printing of ballots, mailing, and procedures of return.” Therefore, he said, a change to electronic voting likely would require a bylaws change. “You are making a modification to the by-laws in effect,” he said. However, he noted that another section allows the board to authorize lot owners to submit a vote or proxy by electronic transmission. That doesn’t mean the Board can substitute mail-in voting for an all-electronic process, but the OPA could supplement that paper process with electronic voting, he said. Daly suggested the OPA acquire an opinion from its attorneys on the matter. He also pointed out that there are numerous mailings the OPA will be requesting from property owners in the coming months, including the Board of Directors election, a referendum on bylaws changes already in the works, and changes to the deceleration of restrictions in many sections of the community. “I really think we’re dancing with the devil to try to do it in this … upcoming election,” Daly said. “I think that will enable us to shake down the system” by doing it first on the deceleration of restrictions changes.
Virtual ballots could be rolled out first for a vote on proposed changes to the declaration of restrictions for numerous, but not all, sections of Ocean Pines to allow the OPA to adopt Worcester County’s regulations on short-term rentals of homes and to fine property owners for violations of that code, Daly said. He argued that would give the OPA staff and elections Committee time to test an electronic voting system before an election. Perrone was concerned about using electronic voting for this summer’s board election. But he agreed with testing that technology during the votes on the changes to the declaration of restrictions. OPA President Colette Horn suggested a hybrid method of both paper and electronic voting. “It’s going to cost us more money but we do that and it’s going to give us the data we need,” she said. Director Amy Peck asked about the potential for duplicate ballots under a hybrid model. “Isn’t that going to be a big horrible problem?” she asked. She pointed out that the community has been supportive of a shift to electronic voting in recent planning surveys. Director Doug Parks initially argued the OPA could simply reference the Maryland Homeowners’ Association Act as superseding the by-laws and therefore allowing electronic voting, but later changed his tune. “Maybe we are jumping the gun a little bit,” he said, adding that “we have to have buy-in and coordination from everybody.” “I’m OK with electronic voting provided that we have a security trail,” Daly said. He wanted to know what will happen if a property owner tries to vote and the electronic system shows that they have already done so. Ludwig responded that each property owner will have a unique ID to login into the website to vote. “If they get to that point they are confirmed and can vote,” she said. But she acknowledged that if someone else in the household uses that ID to cast a ballot, then that presents a problem. “Is it now time for us to require the lot owners to give us an email on their assessment document?” Daly asked. He said that would be helpful in facilitating electronic voting but also at other times when the OPA needs to contact property owners and can’t get them by phone or mail.
Strategic Planning panel to host town hall March 2
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he Ocean Pines Strategic Planning Committee will host a town hall on Wednesday, March 2, at 6 p.m. to discuss the results of the recent community survey. The meeting will be held in a hybrid format, with some seating available in the Administration Building Board Room on 239 Ocean Parkway. To join the meeting virtually, use the Microsoft Teams linke embedded in a news released posted on the OPA Website. The community survey concluded in mid-November and had 1,838 respondents. Committee Chairperson Bernie McGorry presented survey highlights during a Board meeting in December. Its main findings were summarized in an article that appeared in the January edition of the Progress. It can be found at issuu.com/ oceanpinesprogress, where PDF versions of the publication have been archived since 2013. On March 2, McGorry and Strategic Planning Committee members will discuss the full survey results with Ocean Pines membership, as well as the next steps in the strategic planning process. The Ocean Pines Association’s Communications Advisory Committee will moderate the town hall. “We had an outstanding response to the survey from property owners, and we look forward to sharing the results and answering any questions.” McGorry said.
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26 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
Pickleball court bid process requires extra effort by OPA Only one ‘partial’ proposal received by deadline date; staff encouraging more contractors to compete
By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer fter receiving little response from contractors interested in building the Ocean Pines Association’s new pickleball court at the Manklin Meadows recreation complex, staff is reaching out to individual vendors asking them to submit bids for the project. General Manager John Viola during a Feb. 23 meeting told the Board of Directors that only one partial bid was received for the project by the deadline. Viola said bid packets were sent to approximately eight contractors on Jan. 21 with bids due back by Feb. 18. “We only received one bid back and the bid was only for the courts. We need site work too,” he said. Staff has contacted several contractors to see why they didn’t bid and encourage them to do so. “Two companies did tell us they are going to bid. We are working with them right now to get the bids on that,” he said, but added that one of them just wants to do the courts and the other is interested in the full project. “So we will look at other suppliers who would do the site work for us.” The site work includes grading and drainage work. The OPA has acquired all the necessary permits for the project. “So we need more time ... I do believe at the end I’ll have something to go forward to the board,” Viola said.
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North Gate bridge third lane possible
A third lane could be added to the North Gate bridge to help relieve outgoing traffic backups. Viola told the board he is exploring the possibility of adding a third lane or widening current lanes on the bridge now that the old guard house has been removed. “We’ve just had some discussions at 40,000 feet. What would we need to do if we proposed or looked at putting in another lane?” Viola said. He said his is investigating options for two exit lanes, one going south and north, and a single lane entering Ocean Pines via the North Gate bridge. “High level we are looking at that. I hope to have more on that for discussion going forward.” The guard shack was completely removed from the bridge by Feb. 8, with the work being completed in-house by Public Works crews at a cost of just $2,500. Viola said he is also exploring the options for extending the guard rail on both side of the bridge to cover openings left by the removal of the structure. An initial cost estimate for new lights on the bridge came in at $45,707.35 for materials and another $10,000 for installation and labor. It is likely to take 12 weeks to receive the materials.
“We are trying to get two other bids,” Viola told the board. The project includes installation of four main light poles, with six lights on each side of the bridge to replace the existing globe style lights. The OPA is no longer able to get replacements for the existing lights.
Northstar Software in Viola’s crosshairs
Installation and full functionality of the NorthStar software system has yet to be achieved, and the OPA is looking into the possibility of replacing it. Viola said he has been investigating the possibility of turning off the system and getting something else. “I have looked into it, and I continue to look at other options,” he said. That’s a change in his thinking. For quite some time, he’d been supportive of NorthStar because of sunk purchase costs of about $400,000. He was hoping that it could be salvaged given enough time. Clearly his patience is wearing thin. He said the NorthStar system is not a system that meets the OPA’s needs. “There’s a lot of pain with this system. We haven’t been able to get the efficiencies we want,” he said. Staff is currently testing the online payment portion of the system and expects that to go live for property owners around March 15. There will be a 3.5 percent convenience fee for credit card payments, and anyone with a lien on their property will be blocked from making online payments. Viola likened the software system to a house with a bad foundation and said it is going to take a lot more work to make it a stable structure. Essentially, he said the OPA purchased a system that “was not ready for prime time” and is trying to make it operational.
Delinquency interest rate remains at 6 percent
Board members voted 7-0 to set a 6 percent annual interest rate for delinquent payments of the fiscal year 2022-23 assessment. The rate, pro-rated monthly, is unchanged from the prior year. Director Larry Perrone, in his formal motion, said the Association’s Declarations of Restrictions require the rate to be set. “This action should be required on an annual basis, for our governing documents,” he said.
OPA looking at grants for trail improvements
Board members voted unanimously to approve a $10,271.75 AARP grant application for up-
OCEAN PINES grades of several walking trails. Director Rick Farr said the funds would help “to make improvements to the Library Trail and the Robin Hood Trail in leveling the surfaces, improve drainage and safety, trail signage with distances and arrows, and larger informational signs with maps for the trail entrances.” Recreation and Parks Committee Chairperson Patti Stevens said one condition of the grant is hosting monthly community walks, after the improvements have been made. “We’re going to request that part of the funding is for trail counters that could be installed at the head of the Route 90 Trail and the Robinhood Trail, so we can keep track of how many people are actually using those trails,” she said. “Part of what AARP’s focus is, is to build community engagement and connected communities, and we think walking together is a really great way to do that, but we need to make the trails safer and more easy to find.” General Manager John Viola added the grant fits well with current Association plans. “We definitely welcome this,” he said.
Clubhouse audio system portable to Assateague Room
A new audio-visual system is being installed in the Golf Clubhouse meeting room to allow hybrid meeting functionality for the board. Viola said contractor Mid-South Audio will install the system, which will include a custom table with built-in microphones and cameras that will integrate into the existing audio system and work with Microsoft Teams. The estimated project cost is $14,000. Viola said Mid-South Audio believes it can set up the new system as a mobile table. “We believe we will have ability to move the system to the Assateague Room,” he said. “It’s easy for us to store. We don’t have to have it left out all the time.” A project to enclose the clubhouse meeting room to reduce noise is wrapping up. “The flow of traffic through there to the grill was noisy,” Viola said. The work included building a new wall and closet in the meeting room and installing a glass door. The estimated total project cost is $12,000 to $15,000 with all work being done by Public Works.
Bulkhead replacement on Pintail wrapping up
Bulkhead replacement works that started in September on lots on Pintail Drive and Crab Cay Court is wrapping up. Vinyl bulkheading was installed at all locations and the contractor is backfilling the bulkheads. As part of the 2022-2023 bulkhead replacement program, the OPA plans to replace approximately 2,045 linear feet of bulkhead at a cost of $425 per linear foot, for a total estimated cost of $919,125. The project will replace the bulkheads along lots 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 on Pintail Drive North, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 20 Ebb Tide Court, and at Pintail Park. u
OCEAN PINES Viola identifies mailbox repairs
The OPA is planning to replace the pedestals on the cluster mailboxes at ten high priority locations in the community and 100 pedestals have been ordered. The OPA is waiting on delivery to begin pedestal replacement and will coordinate with the post office on dates for the repairs. Mailboxes at 55 locations throughout the community will also be hand cleaned at a cost of $75 each, including the concrete pads on which the cluster boxes are installed. The total cost of the cleaning project is $4,125. The work will start in
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 27 March at a test site.
Debranching at golf course
Crews are continuing to thin the vegetation around the Ocean Pines golf course, with work currently occurring on hole number 11. Viola said the debranching will improve airflow and drainage. Viola said the OPA plans to bring back the palm trees that have been absent from the Beach Club in Ocean City for the last two years. He said he opted not to purchase them for the 2020 and
2021 seasons because of the pandemic, but for 2022 the palm trees will be ordered and installed by the beginning of the season. The money not spent on palm trees for the last two years was instead used to buy flowering cherry trees. Viola said more flowering cherry trees will be installed along the paths at the South and North gates.
OPA to add mulch to trails
Branches picked up from recent storms and u
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OCEAN PINES
OPA to seek grant funds to refurbish library, Southside walking trails Directors like plan by By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer he Ocean Pines Association is hoping to improve the community’s existing 8.5 miles of recreational trails with funding from an AARP Community Challenge Grant. During a Feb. 23 meeting the Board of Directors approved applying for the $10,271.75 grant for improvements to the Library Trail and Robin Hood Trail, leveling surfaces, improving drainage and safety, installing trail signage with distances and arrows, and larger informational signs with maps at the trailheads. The library trail starts in a forested area behind the library and post office, winds its way through the woods and around a small lake, where in then runs parallel to Route 90 until it connects up with Ocean Parkway between the 17th green and 18th tee, The Robin Hood Trail starts at Robin Hood Park in South Ocean Pines and winds its way through the
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Trail mulch From Page 27 vegetation being removed as part of the golf course debranching is being chipped and will be used to mulch the walking trails in Ocean Pines. During the budget review, Viola said the board asked him to look at upgrading or maintaining certain walking trails. “We are in the process of doing that. We are going to mulch it.” He said the OPA will also reach out to local landscape companies to mulch if additional vegetation to mulch is needed.
everyone,” the grant application states. Patti Stevens, chair of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee, touted the part of the grant proposal that calls for hosting community walks on a monthly basis once these improvements are made. She said those walks will be a great way to get more people in the community active and using the trails, but first the trails need to be Parks and Recreation Committee to upgrade system improved and made more accessible The project will also promote the to everyone. She said plans also call woods running more or less parallel to Ocean Parkway, with many de- usage of the trail systems by hold- for the addition of counters at the July 20 OPINION viations, ending across from a clus- ing group walks and other outreach Robin Hood and Route 90 trails to fession reportedly sets a range of 30 to 70 percent as Clarke points to Election Commentary andlimits safe forkeep ter box on Footbridge Trail. It often events to improve of the of people within health acceptable ACC track funding. Thenumber OPA Club deficits. Clarke From Page 52large drainage ditches in currently funds its replacement reserve the at the low end edition of the Prog exercise as well as enhancing social accessing runs along trails. by the multitude of candidates. of the “acceptable” range. should be used for a connection com- Thompson Section 10,isalso as Sherwood Director Amy Peck supported Supik seenknown as a Thompson cheerleader, and within For the whatentire it’s worth, reportedly has Let’s the look at the t someone in the mold of Pete Gomsak, a former board recommended 50 percent funding of the ACC, to be open. An OPA mem munity. Forest. proposal and cited data showing 30, 2016, (end-of-fi member and current assistant OPA treasurer very achieved over ten years; the recommendation is conpictures and stories Director Rick presented the thatboard the median in Ocean Pinesto conclu statement much aligned withFarr the Terry-Jacobs faction. Additionally, tained in a document that the majorityage won’t not of performed well Both Gomsak and are retired accountants, let him to the OPA membership. will be solicited fromrelease the recreationproposal on behalf of Supik the Recreation is 59.3 years and 39 percent resiThe statement is both are identified with the notion that OPA reserves A 50 percent funding level still would require a sigal trail users to be posted on the and Parks Advisory Committee and dents are over age of 65. site (under forms an are underfunded, and both are wedded to the idea nificant increase in the lot assessment, over a number Operational that the OPA’s reserve levels should be tied to some- web of years, and social talkingmeabout assessment is community site, and Recreation and Parks Department She said increases a strategic planning statem appear in departme thing called the annual component cost (ACC), a comnever popular, especially during election season. dia showcasing the positive impact and the Board unanimously voted to survey showed that residents of the annual audited fina putational confection conceived and embraced by the The rationale for keeping the document secret, acAugust. The accounting cording it is a working document of walking and trails.to Thompson, is thatcommunity endorse theprofession. grant application. are overwhelmingly in unaudit the “official” ones a Gomsak and Terry tried to persuade Supik to run involved in the updating and completion of the OPA’s Finally, input will be collected “I would hope that the board sees support of improved walking trails The Yacht Club’s for the board last year, failing to do so, but they sucongoing reserve study. $76,219; a year earli ceeded That’s absurd, current because the document itself is comto assess that wethis canyear. move forward with this via a user survey and bike trails. Granted, the yea If anyone is the anointed candidate of this particuplete and has been referenced in one or two board and identify potential application,” said in presenting walk-ability meetings. She that 66 percent of a loss nificant, but lar faction, it’s he Supik in spades. Property owners paid foradded that document, depr has said as chairman of the Budget and improvement and it ought tofor be released additional inclu- immediately. theSupik proposal forthat, Board application. all respondents said theyhefty used funded the ing) this past year s Finance Advisory Committee, she is used to navigating Thompson seems willing to release it, but he’s besion in future budget requests to With the grant deadline looming, he trails and 51.1 percent were satisthrough the annual in very roiled waters, forging a consensus in a group ing stymied by some of his board overseers, who in Supik could have with,the at times, sharplywanted conflicting views. the Ocean Pines this instance prefer secrecy disclosure and transAssociation, and over said committee to move fied with the rails but saw for room had she indulged i Other candidates over the years have said that parency. Perhaps they fear that the Thompson recomWorcester County public work plans. quickly to garner approval of the apfor improvements to them. most recentl numbe they, like Supik claims now, can end board factionalmendation could become an election issue, adversely also seems ism and infighting. It continues, despite the“This best ef-project affecting candidates, particularly Supik, who willcertain benefit the plication. Peck asked why trails Supik around (rather than repairin forts of those who say they can end it. has been open in her viewpoint that OPA reserves are If awarded the grant funds will be community at large, especially the Bainbridge Pond in Bainbridge nities, with the Coun Factional infighting will probably continue regardunderfunded. minority fact less of is elected year. It trail goes with the ter- of the What they don’t realize is that by keep- incurrent 45 percent population inseem our toPark used towho replenish andthis stabilize were not included the grant it’s not certain wher ritory. It becomes ugly when the infighting becomes ing it secret, it could also have the effect of adversely community over the age of 50. Insurfaces, making them more accesproposal. She also said the exercise part of the majorit personal, such as when one director says he’s going to affecting certain candidates, particularly Supik, even strongly in th throw safer, a colleague through the for the temerity more so than if they have had allowed Thompson release creases in physical activity sible, and suitable for wall bikes, equipment at to White Horse Park biased is The candidates m of seeing issues differently. his recommendations, and their rationales, to the OPA proven health benefits across popstrollers, and wheelchairs. A new well used and there is room for more continued tenure a Ocean Pines’ ACC has been estimated at roughly membership. mon, Daly, $14 million,system, which could mean that OPA reserves ulationsare including decreases in carwayfaring including blazes Supik also has come under re from former board of fithat equipment at the South GateRay Unge Those who like th underfunded by $10 million if 100 percent funding of member Clarke for her public statements to the effect diovascular disease, and lower blood and information kiosks will be addPond trail or Bainbridge Park. tions. Perhaps too m the ACC is the goal. that the OPA and the Ocean Pines Yacht Club is doing pressure. is accessible for ed to the existing trails system. tion season. Actually, it doesn’t have to be; the accounting pro-Walking well financially. u – Tom S
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OCEAN PINES Walking trails From Page 28 Director Larry Perrone responded to Peck’s question about Bainbridge Park, saying a master plan for the park is being developed. While the draft application included language stating the trail system provides ready, safe access to important amenities including the post office, public library, shopping including groceries, directors wanted that struck from the proposal. “I’m in support of this conceptually,” OPA President Colette Horn said. But she added that “she thinks it is “a little misleading” to state in the grant application that it is going to make it more accessible for people without transportation to use the trail system to connect to basic services. She said there are no existing trails that go from the residential areas Ocean Pines to businesses like grocery stores. Horn also queried General Manager John Viola whether the grant proposal fits with staff plans for improvements around the trail system. “This fits right in,” Viola responded in the affirmative, saying “Yes, we definitely welcome this.” Improving safety and accessibility, as well as promoting the use of the existing trail system are the primary objectives of this project. Encouraging the usage of the trails, enhancing wayfaring by upgrading signage, blazes and adding information kiosks and conducting events and outreach activities are designed to enhance vitality, well-being, and livability of the entire community. The project will replenish and stabilize .25 miles of trails, on South Gate Pond to Memorial Park, to improve accessibility and walkability and add six crosswalk marking where current trails cross roads in Sherwood Forest [Section 10] trails and the South Gate Pond trail. It will add four information kiosks at Trail Heads at Sherwood Forest, South Gate Pond trails and White Horse Park, signage at start and end points for each trail and any junctions. The proposal calls for regular monthly group walks on the Ocean Pines trails to improve healthy and safe exercise and social connections for 15 participants per month, with 10 participants age 50 or older. The OPA will take pictures and collect stories from walkers to share through Ocean Pines Website, newsletter and social media on positive impacts of walking and trails.
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 29
Directors debate changes to candidate search process Parks wants more flexibility for the OPA secretary to work with candidates who submit applications with missing information By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer or a second month the Board of Directors put forth amendments to Resolution M-09, relating to the candidate search process for Ocean Pines Association board elections, and its associated candidate registration form, but decided the proposal needs more work. OPA President Colette Horn was adamant following discussion at a Feb. 23 meeting the board needs to take action on the registration form, if not the resolution itself, at the March meeting. During a first reading of the amendments in January, Director Doug Parks expressed concern that language included in the proposal could disqualify some candidates for reasons beyond their control. He suggested during the February meeting that language be included in the resolution to allow additional time for applicants to submit missing or revised materials that help verify their eligibility to run for the board, and give the OPA secretary the authority to issue that extension. Parks contended there could be a situation where candidates can’t provide all of the necessary information in a timely matter through no fault of their own. He cited an example of information needed from Worcester County to verify property ownership and nto being able to get it until the filing deadline has passed. Horn introduced the revisions to Resolution M-09 and its associated candidate registration form in January in an effort to improve the OPA’s application and verification process for candidates seeking election to the board. She proposed a change stating that the association secretary “shall use” the Worcester County land records and/or the state Department of Assessment and Taxation records to verify property ownership for anyone who applies for candidacy. Her version of the proposal allowed the secretary
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It will also collect input from walkers and other community members about current walkability and potential improvements to develop proposals, recommendations for OPA and Worcester County to include in budget and public works plans for 2023. This could include recommendations for outdoor fitness equipment for some Ocean Pines parks. Finally, the OPA will hold two trail days, once in spring and one in fall, to encourage community en-
to seek information from applicants regarding the registration form but not grant time to complete the form or correct information on the form once it has been submitted. He proposed to further revise the resolution to state that the Secretary will contact applicants to confirm their candidate registration form has been completed correctly. In the case where the form has not been completed correctly, Parks proposes that the secretary identify the information needed and contact applicants to have them provide the required information. Parks proposes that the Secretary remind applicants of the due date for providing the required information. “Should there be any delay in the applicant providing the information by the noted date, the applicant must contact the secretary and explain the situation. The secretary can determine if an extension to the due date is warranted. Once all the required additional information is provided, the secretary will attach that information to the candidate registration form,” Parks’s amendment reads. Parks said there must be extenuating circumstances that would warrant a condition for extension of a candidate’s application materials and introduced changes to Horn’s proposal giving the candidate’s more time to provide supporting documentation. He said there “has to be a little bit of flexibility.” Director Larry Perrone disagreed, saying, “I don’t think it should be allowed.” If additional information or a correction to a candidate’s application is required then it should be made before the due date, he said. He said there is no reason why the information that has to be provided by candidates cannot be provided on time. “I don’t think I could support this,” he said, adding that he believes it could be subject to legal chalu lenge.
gagement and help maintain trails. Peck asked how the committee plans to conduct the surveys proposed in the grant application. Stevens said that hasn’t been determined yet, but she added there are numerous potential ways to do so, including using a QR code at the trailhead signs, Survey Monkey, or other measures. “The grant is what we want to happen. Exactly how it will get done is up for consideration,” she said. In alignment with the AARP’s
focus on livable communities, the project addresses the need for good public health and active lifestyles by encouraging people to walk, or bike, decreasing the dependency on automobiles, and increasing social interaction and engagement with the community at large. Further, the project is designed to engage our over 50 population by providing the opportunity to volunteer to support our walking events, trail days, and other activities throughout the year.
30 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022 Candidate search From Page 29 Perrone also said the board can’t give the secretary the authority to extend the due date for candidate materials because that is spelled out in the OPA’s governing documents. He said the OPA has to be very specific in the resolution’s language because “people pick apart the wording. Judges pick apart the wording.” The revised resolution also calls for the secretary to notify applicant of the acceptance or rejection of their applications prior to submitting the list of eligible candidates to the Election Committee. The reason or rejection will be included with the candidate notification not later than June 1. Director Frank Daly said the by-laws govern the current election and he agreed there are hard dates specified in the by-laws for various election milestones. He said the OPA has “to follow rules today” while knowing that it will be revising those rules with upcoming changes to the by-laws that will be subject to a community referendum. Horn said the secretary needs to have all candidate materials by May 31 at the latest in order to meet the June 1 deadline of notifying the Elections Committee and candidates of their eligibility. Parks agreed that “the resolution can’t trump the by-laws” and agreed with specifying that all materials must be to the secretary by May 31 and reiterated that his proposed language is designed to “try to mitigate some potential risk in our litigious society” and keep potential candidates from arguing they didn’t have a chance to respond to requests for additional information from the secretary before being deemed ineligible. Perrone said that it would be nice to give people time to take care of outstanding application issues prior to the deadline for candidacy. “I think what we’re trying to do here is shift the responsibility for providing the information to the candidate,” he said adding that if the candidate doesn’t provide that information then the OPA can’t be held responsible. Parks responded by asking “what if it’s fault of the secretary?” He cited as an example if the secretary doesn’t tell candidates that they need additional information until a day before it is due and then they can’t get it in time. “It’s a tough call,” he said. “I was just thinking about the idea of some flexibility to it.” Perrone argued that the language proposed by Parks actually makes the resolution more ambiguous. “The whole process of what we’re trying to go through here is to avoid the ambiguity,” he said. During the recent litigation involving the candidacy of sitting Director Rick Farr, Horn said the judge in the case indicated the secretary should engage in a dialog with candidates and ask for more information if it is needed to clarify their eligibility. Currently applications are due by May 15 of each year. “That’s not a lot of time for a secretary to work with someone,” she said. Directors ultimately opted to pull the second reading of Resolution M-09 and the corresponding candidate application form and discuss them at their March meeting.
OCEAN PINES
Resident urges OPA to lobby for new Route 589 access Suggests planned medical campus creates opportunity for Triple Crown Estate traffic to exit Ocean Pines through new connecting road. By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer ith properties now for sale in the 60unit Triple Crown Estates subdivision that connects to King Richard Road in South Ocean Pines, one Ocean Pines resident is encouraging the Ocean Pines Association to lobby for another exit from the community onto Route 589. During the Public Comments segment of the Feb. 23 Board of Directors meeting, resident Patti Stevens said having all traffic from the new development enter and exit through South Ocean Pines could have a detrimental impact on the safety and traffic flow in that area. Stevens suggested the board work with county and state elected officials to pressure the State Highway Administration into creating another egress onto Route 589 through a medical complex that is being developed adjacent to Section 10 in south Ocean Pines. She argued that it would benefit the community to have another exit out of Ocean Pines on the south side. “I have real concerns about that adding to the overall traffic flow, the speed of traffic through a neighborhood of people that are trying to get out…” Stevens said. She added that the issue has been discussed at several meetings, including a Town Hall hosted last year by Worcester County Commissioner Chip Bertino. She said she had contacted county public works and state highway staff to discuss the idea. “They said currently there is no plan for an exit out of that new neighborhood onto 589, which means all the traffic from those new homes is gonna come down King Richard, up Ocean Parkway and into the four-way stop and out that terrible intersection at Manklin,” she said. Stevens suggested that now is the time for the OPA to lobby for creating another access point to Triple Crown Estates into Ocean Pines through the proposed new medical center.
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Horn pointed out that on May 1 the OPA begins accepting candidate applications. “The problem is at this point we don’t have an
Developer Marvin Steen, president of Steen Associates, Inc., owner of the property being developed as Triple Crown Estates Residential Planned Community revised his plans for the property last year. He shifted plans from 30 duplexes to 60 single-family home sites. He told the Progress recently that logistically it wouldn’t be too difficult to connect his development to the medical complex via a paved road. It’s a matter of who would pay for the cost of doing so. He said he would have paved streets near to his section’s property line. Director Larry Perrone said the board has discussed the issue of access within the last six to eight months when it became clear that the properties in Triple Crown Estate were going to become part of Ocean Pines. “The original plan that Steen presented to the state and to the county prohibited an access road. He doesn’t have access anywhere except through King Richard,” he said. “I agree. The problem is that it creates traffic back there.” A prior board approved the arrangement with Steen to incorporate Triple Crown Estates into the OPA and knew at that time that there was no access except via King Richard Road, Perrone said. “We have discussed it with the county. Nothing is going to happen at this point. The idea is that maybe when it is being developed and there are homes back there at some point the county or state may approve some emergency access. But at this point that’s not gonna happen,” he said. Perrone agreed with Stevens that the additional traffic will likely have an impact on surrounding homes. “Unfortunately, it’s going to create a problem for the people living on King Richard. But at this point there’s nothing we can do,” he repeated. Police Chief Leo Ehrisman said the topic has also been discussed at recent meetings of local police chiefs and sheriff’s department. He said initially there were plans to connect King Richard to Gum Point Road to Route 589, but now the state agency won’t confirm that u u application out there,” she said, adding that at the Board’s March 23 meeting directors need to approve the changes to the form at least.
OCEAN PINES
Chief Ehrisman reports two officers recently left Ocean Pines for ‘better’ jobs Daly asks for creative ideas to promote retention
By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer fter one property owner during the Public Comments segment of a Feb. 23 Board of Directors meeting suggested the Ocean Pines Association do more to support its police officers, Police Chief Leo Ehrisman said anything the community can do to encourage officers to stay would be welcomed. Ehrisman said he recently lost another two officers who left to take positions with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office. He said it will be a year before a replacement officer is on duty in Ocean Pines because of the time it takes to hire a new officer and send them to the law enforcement academy, which doesn’t start until July and graduate until December. After the academy the Ocean Pines Police Department has to train the new officer on the road.
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New Rt. 589 access
From Page 30 access point. “The state highway has now pulled that back, saying that they won’t guarantee that they will put another light at the end of Gum Point Road and 589,” he said. Perrone added “the bottom line is Steen doesn’t own that property” to connect all the way down to Gum Point Road. So the decision wasn’t up to the developer, he said. Actually, Steen does own land that adjoins Gum Point Road but residents of that area opposed access to their neighborhood from Triple Crown Estates, and Steen never pushed it. Stevens reiterated her suggestion that now is the time for the OPA to request action “before those homes get built in conjunction with the medical center. There is a way to address this. But if the OPA waits until the houses and road are built, it will be much harder. “I think it could really impact the quality of life in our South Gate community and for all of Ocean Pines,” she said. Property owner Joe Reynolds said when plans for Triple Crown Estates were first submitted there was discussion of a connection to Route 589. “At that time the State Highway Administration said absolutely not,” he said, adding that now the state is planning to put another access with a traffic light on Route 589 for the medical building. “If we want to do something we need to get some people talking to the state and county for their support,” Reynolds said. “If there’s going to be a light there it seems to me it would make absolute sense to allow that as another exit out of Ocean Pines.”
“It takes me a year to replace a one person,” Ehrisman said. “The officer that just finished up her last Sunday for me to replace him first I have to find somebody that would take the job.” Then there is the academy and months on the road with a field training officer. That means the OPPD will not have the replacement for the officers who just left on the road until February of next year. He said there simply aren’t enough applicants for law enforcement positions right now. “The academy’s cut in half.” Property owner Mark Thomas said during public comments that “it would be nice to see the police department get a little more.” He suggested possibly giving officer swim or golf memberships as a benefit and he said it would provide a police presence at the amenities. “They should have that as part of their benefit package because quite simply, honestly, they’re under paid,” Thomas said. “We’re lucky to have who we have and they do an amazing job.” Thomas said he has lived in the community for 40 years and remembers when the OPPD officers didn’t carry firearms. “They’ve come a long way. I just love our police department. I’d love for them to have a lot more than they have now.” Ehrisman said the association used to provide amenities for staff many years ago but he didn’t necessarily think it was a good idea. As an example, he said many years ago the 7-11 was the only convenience store open 24 hours a day. “The cops got the reputation of being at the 7-11 eating doughnuts.” But 7-11 wanted the police officers there. He said a lot of communities are providing ad-
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 31 ditional benefits because they want the police to live in their community. That’s why, he said, many law enforcement agencies provide take home cars for officers. “They want them to be in their local pools, in their local restaurants and stuff like that,” he said. Ehrisman said that wouldn’t necessarily help with hiring and retention in Ocean Pines because most of the OPPD’s officers don’t live in the community. “The disadvantage we have here is that most of our police officers don’t live here,” he said. Still, he said while it would be a great gesture as part of the package and the OPA administration has evaluated some of those potential benefits, it’s not really an effective tool. Plus he said “the police would not ask for anything that would not be obligated to any other Ocean Pines employee from the other departments.” Director Frank Daly told the police chief “anything that you can think of that would be meaningful in terms of recruitment, retention, longevity I think you have seven open ears.” As an example, he said Ocean City created a program to attractive firefighters by constructing apartments as part of a fire station. Ehrisman responded saying that right now it is very hard to attract and retain officers when agencies like the sheriff’s office provide pensions and take home cars. In the area of salary, he said Ocean Pines pay for police officer is comparable to other agencies. “As far as the dollar to dollar we’re there,” he said, but pointed out that wasn’t always the case. “But we don’t offer what the bigger departments offer” when it comes to benefits. The board not too long ago revised its health and pension package to require employees to contribute toward their individual and family insurance, which was justified at the time as bringing Ocean Pines in line with the corporate world. With competing jurisdictions offering better combined salary and benefit packages, including hiring bonuses, Ocean Pines in many ways is a training ground for officers who move on to opportunities with better all-around compensation. That’s a complaint that Ocean Pines police chiefs have voiced over the decades.
Property owners along Route 589 complain of noise, litter, trespassers Perrone, Horn suggest they join together to request waivers for a privacy fence from the Architectural Review Committee By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer ed up with noise from passing traffic, litter, and trespassers, a property owner whose lot on Nottingham Lane backs up to Route 589 asked the Ocean Pines Association to install a barricade along the highway. Frank Budzinski pleaded with the Board of Directors during the Public Comments segment of a Feb. 23 meeting to erect a fence along the back of his property as well as those of five of
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his neighbors. “This was the worst place I ever could have purchased a home. I could have pitched up a tent next to the beltway, and it would have been a whole lot cheaper,” Frank Budzinski said. He cited problems with noise from traffic on Route 589 at all hours, littering, and people walking through the yards on Nottingham Lane. “It’s just night and day, night and day, night u
32 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OPA FINANCES
OPA records a $37,000 surplus in January Year-date-to operating fund positive variance near $1.5 million By TOM STAUSS Publisher he operating surpluses keep rolling in for the Ocean Pines Association, even in the heart of winter, when many community amenities are shut down and deficits are virtually expected. The January numbers were posted
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at the end of the week of Feb. 18, and the results were atypical. According to Controller/Director of Finance Steve Phillips, the operating surplus for January was $36,834, with revenues over budget by $55,873 and expenses over budget by $5,088. New capital was over budget by $13,951.
OPA NET OPERATING BY DEPARTMENT - JANUARY 2022
The numbers for the first nine months of the fiscal year were unprecedented. The positive variance to budget of OPA departments as of Jan. 21 was $1,517,452. The actual surplus was $1,483,947, including new capital expenditures over budget by $33,505. For the year so far, with February, March and April remaining in the 2021-22 fiscal year, revenues are over budget by $1,345,311 and total expenses are under budget by $172,141. Unless performance tanks for the remaining three months of the fiscal year, the OPA will probably significantly exceed the surplus projected in a schedule included as a part of the budget approved by the Board of Directors Feb. 23. The projected surplus is $1,087,493, meaning that deficits in February, March and April would need to total more than $400,000 to hit the $1.087 million estimate. Given trends, it might seem more likely that the OPA will build on the nine-month surplus rather than see it dissipate in the last quarter of the fiscal year. The OPA has done well in the so-called off-season financially. In addition to the January surplus of $36,834, the OPA recorded a virtually identical positive variance to budget in December of $36,658 and $41,570 in November. All three of these months typically contribute red ink to the OPA’s bottom line. u
Source: Ocean Pines Association Department of Finance
Rt. 589 complaints
From Page 31 and day ever since I bought this place down here. And I’m not the only one that’s not happy about it,” he said. Property owners in the area would like to have an eight-foot privacy fence put along the houses on the back side of there to block out a lot of the noise, Budzinski said. He asked the OPA to do something about it. “It gets worse in the summertime when we have different one comes down from all over the place. Not to mention the motorcycles are awful loud. We shouldn’t have to put up with that kind of noise and have to pay the association fee every year and feel that we’re not getting anything out of it,” he said. Budzinski said he talked with Director Larry Perrone and General Manager John Viola but didn’t get any results. He said Viola simply laughed and said Route 589 is going to be expanded to four lanes. “I’m tired of it falling on deaf ears here. I’ve got five other homeowners in this neighborhood that are on board for the association to put up a fence to do something about this traffic noise, about all the trash in the yards, people cutting through the yards,” Budzinski said. “Being a homeowner here and putting up with traffic noise night
and day, it’s just not cutting it. There needs to be something done about a fence out up back there. I don’t know what it would take.” He said five homeowners in addition to himself all want to have a fence installed as a barrier between their lots and Route 589. “I’m not here to be a bad guy. I’m not here to start trouble with anything,” he said. “I just would like something done with a privacy fence along there like they have on the other side of the road.” Viola took issue with Budzinski’s recollection that he laughed during their conversation, but confirmed he spoke with the property owners. “We did talk. I looked into it. Apparently this has come up before,” he said. “The property over there is not our property I was told. That road, 589 that’s county area.” The privacy fence on the other side of Route 589 was erected by the owner of the property before homes were built there. The developer of Section 16 in Ocean Pines, Boise Cascade Home and Land Corporation, did not contemplate the need of such a privacy fence back in the 1970s. Nor did property owners at the time demand one. Viola said he did tell Budzinski that there are plans to expand Route 589 and that will probably increase the traffic impact on abutting lots. “But that’s county there,” he said. “The last time we re-
viewed this I was told we don’t own that property. So, look, I’m not sure what we can do there.” Perrone agree that the the OPA doesn’t own any property along that stretch of it. “We can’t put anything on that right of way that the state owns. And also Ocean Pines cannot put anything on your property,” he told Budzinski. He suggested that Budzinski and his neighbors apply to the Architectural Review Committee for a waiver and permit to install a privacy fence if that’s what they want to do. “In a circumstance like this they may willing to grant a waiver to put up fence that is a little higher than normal,” he said. “But Ocean Pines cannot put up a fence on your property, and we certainly can’t put up a fence on the state’s property.” Budzinski said the property owners wouldn’t mind having the fence installed on their lots off the state right-of-way. But he said the OPA’s governing documents only allow installation of three sections of 6-foot fence. “Which does absolutely nothing at all,” he said. “We need to pursue this to get something straightened out with it because the traffic and the noise is unbearable.” OPA President Colette Horn shut down further comment from Budzinski, saying “there is an avenue for you and your neighbors to pursue this” through the Architectural Review Committee.
WORCESTER COUNTY
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 33
Bertino, Bunting go down swinging in attempt to stop sports complex funding Majority of commissioners vote to include $11.1 million for project in $40 million bond bill
Chip Bertino
Jim Bunting
By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer orcester County will go to the bond market this summer to secure funding for more than $40 million in projects, including a much-debated sports complex and improvements to the Ocean Pines wastewater treatment plant. The county is now reportedly evaluating a site near Stephen Decatur Middle School for the multi-million dollar sports complex. During a Feb. 15 meeting, Commissioner Chip Bertino offered a motion to approve bond bills for a list of proposed projects but wanted the $11.1 million sports complex removed. Commissioner Jim Bunting gave a second to Bertino’s motion, but the vote failed to carry. While Commissioner Ted Elder sided with Bertino and Bunting, Commissioner President Joe Mitrecic and Commissioners Bud Church, Josh Nordstrom, and Diana Purnell were adamant that the sports complex remain in the bond package. “I don’t think it’s going to come as any surprise that I’m not going to support this with the sports complex included in there …,” Bertino said. Phil Thompson, county finance officer, presented a series of bond bills and a resolution authorizing the sale of the bonds. The county intends to go to the bond market for
the new projects and to refinance existing bonds this summer. “We have a list of projects that we are intending to bond with the 2022 general obligation bond,” he said. The general obligation bonds will fund the proposed sports complex at $11.1 million, the Stephen Decatur Middle School addition at $10 million, roof replacement at Snow Hill Middle School and Cedar Chapel Special School at $2 million, a public safety logistical storage facility at $3 million, and jail improvements at $11 million. Another $4.6 million bond would fund replacement of the Ocean Pines wastewater treatment plant belt press and will be paid for by rate payers of that service area. Bertino opposed including funding for the proposed sports complex in the bond package, saying there is no actual plan for a facility yet. He wouldn’t vote for the bond package with the sports complex included “because we haven’t vetted that. We have no plan, all the things that we’ve talked about before.” He said the county has no commitment on land, no partnerships for operation, “none of that stuff” for a sports complex. “I think it’s premature to say that we’re going to spend taxpayer dollars without having had a public hearing” on the proposal, he added. “I will not be voting for it either because of the sports complex being
in it,” Bunting said. With the county now considering a site outside of Berlin near Stephen Decatur Middle School for the facility, he said the commissioners will have to determine how to address issues like water and wastewater access and the associated costs. Bunting queried Thompson about language in the bond bill for the sports complex that states it will “provide financing for a portion of the cost” of engineering, design, construction, equipping, furnishing and undertaking site work for the Worcester County sports complex. “What does ‘a portion’ mean?” he asked. “It might not be the entire project, sir. That’s typically what we would put in any resolution,” Thompson responded. Bunting replied “We’re admitting right here we don’t even know what the project’s gonna cost.” “We usually do that with most of our projects,” Thompson said. Bunting said that language implies that the county doesn’t know the full cost of the proposed project. “I don’t know how we can advance forward with a sports complex. We don’t know anything,” he said. He said that “it may be the best thing in the world. I don’t know.” But without knowing what it is going to cost, Bunting won’t support it. “We have not had any definite facts
to prove that it’s going to make one penny,” he added. “This is all just thoughts. Everybody’s idea.” Bertino offered a motion to approve the bond package with the exception of the sports complex and Bunting offered a second. But other commissioners balked at removing the sports complex funding. “I think we need to leave it in. It’s something that we’ve talked about for years. It’s on the plan,” Church said. “I personally feel removing that would be contrary to what the county really wants to do.” “We need to support this sports complex. I can’t vote for the motion,” Purnell said. Nordstrom agreed. After Bertino’s motion failed to garner majority support, with only Bunting and Elder in favor. Nordstrom immediately offered a motion to approve the full bond package including the sports complex; his motion carried with Church, Purnell, and Mitrecic in favor, and the trio of Bertino, Bunting, and Elder opposed. With Bertino making the motion and Bunting offering a second, the commissioners unanimously approved a separate bond bill and resolution to borrow $4.6 million to cover the cost of replacing the belt filter press at the Ocean Pines wastewater treatment plant. The full cost of that project will be borne by ratepayers in the service area through annual equivalent dwelling unit assessments that are u used to retire capital debt.
January financials
operations recorded a $309,727 positive variance through January, followed by Aquatics with a $194,241 positive variance and the Yacht Club with a surplus of $99.041. Another way of measuring operating success is to look at actual results by the department. Beach parking continued to be the leader through December, with $464,043 in net earnings, followed by golf operations with a net of $390,424. The Yacht Club followed with year-to-date earnings of
$349,520. Next were marina operations, with a net of $248,501, followed by the Beach Club at $150,307 and Aquatics at $98,053 through the end of January. Pickleball operations generated $56,100 in earnings, while the Clubhouse Grille had a year-to-date net of $39,581. Platform tennis was in the black by $3,915, while tennis was in the red by $20,419 as of Jan. 31. Among the assessment depart-
ments, Public Works is ahead of budget by $214,55, but all of these departments are faring well so far this year. Status of reserves -- OPA reserves as of Jan. 31 had a balance of $6.87 million, down from $7.15 million at the end of December. The replacement reserve had a balance of $4.93 million, while bulkheads and waterways reserve contained $993,065, roads $4,651, drainage $687,127 and new capital at $252,688.
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From Page 32 The departmental summary released by Phillips shows all departments performing better than budget for the year through Jan. 31, with only one exception, tennis, which is behind budget by $4,467. In December, platform tennis was behind budget by $291, but this department inched ahead of budget by $183 as of Jan. 31 Of the amenity departments, golf
34 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OPA BY-LAW AMENDMENTS
By-laws changes targeted at Farr, Lakernick are withdrawn or amended By TOM STAUSS Publisher he Board of Directors in a special meeting Feb. 7 eliminated or amended all the proposed changes in the Ocean Pines Association that could be seen as targeting two Ocean Pines Association property owners, Richard Farr and Stuart Lakernick. These proposals would have made it it difficult if not impossible for either to seek re-election or election to the Board of Directors if approved by property owners in referendum. These proposals have either been withdrawn or modified so that Farr could seek reelection in 2024 if he so choses. Lakernick would not be precluded from running for the board this summer as he has done the past two summers, last year coming up short by 60 votes behind incumbent Director Frank Daly. Farr was the front runner but was only seated after a contentious legal battle in Worcester County Circuit Court. Another controversial proposal remains on the slate of 30-plus proposed by-law amendments and would prevent a former OPA director and founder of the Get Involved Facebook site from running for the board.
The proposed by-laws targets Esther Diller because she ran afoul of an arcane federal statute on medicare equipment kick-backs more than two years ago, plead guilty, and is classified as a convicted felon. Director Frank Daly continues to single out Diller on social media other than the Get Involved, calling her a criminal and convicted felon in copies of emails and screenshots obtained the by Progress. Daly and Director Amy Peck are banned from posting on the Get Involved site, which boasts more than 900 members. No OPA member in Ocean Pines’ 50-plus history has either run or served on the OPA as a convicted felon. The proposed by-law change would preclude felons from running for the board for five years after paying restitution and completing probation and meeting other terms of sentencing. Daly had proposed a flat ten-year waiting period after conviction of a federal felony, but it was whittled back by his colleagues who said five years and meeting terms of sentencing would be fairer. This amended version passed unanimously during the Feb. 7 special meeting. One proposal by Daly that could be construed as targeting Farr
should he decide to run for reelection in 2024 would have amended Section 5.02(a) of the by-laws to require that candidates “be owners of record of real property for a minimum of three years prior to the first day of January of the year of the election and eligible to vote to vote under by-law 3.0(c).” Another Daly proposal excluded ”trust beneficiary” from the term “owner of record,” and Farr would have been prevented from running for re-election in 2024 even if the home he lives has been transferred into his name as a co-trustee of a family trust. He would have needed to have done that before Jan. 1 of 2021, because on that date he was a trust beneficiary and designated successor trustee, but not a trustee. His status on Jan. 1 of last year would have been the critical date had this proposal been approved by property owners in a referendum. Daly’s motion offered an exception to three-year rule. It said the rule that it could be waived for a candidate “who has served on an advisory committee for no less than 12 months prior to May of the year” of the election. After a spirited put-down by Director Doug Parks and opposition by Director Amy Peck, the entire motion went down to defeat when Daly
withdrew it. Parks said the motion confused qualifications with eligibility. He said sometimes seats on advisory committees are filled and that a three-year wait time is too exclusionary. “I don’t think there’s any merit to this,” he said. “Let the voters decide [if a candidate isn’t familiar enough with Ocean Pines to serve.} Peck said that a three-year exclusion could result in fewer quality candidates and the voters should decide who’s more qualified from among those running. Daly’s original motion regarding felons proposed that “the candidate may not have been convicted of a felony within ten years of May 1” of the year of the election, or, according to the language of a related motion, “if the spouse by legal marriage, civil union or any recognized cohabitation arrangement has been convicted of a felony offense ...” in federal or state court. These two proposals taken together were targeted at Lakernick and his wife Diller. According to a comment by Horn in a recent meeting of the By-laws and Resolutions Advisory Committee, Tucker, the OPA counsel, “doesn’t like” the spousal reference in the related motion. That position was repeated by Tucker during the Feb. 7 meeting, and it was withdrawn after various directors expressed discomfort with it, even after Daly said spouses can exert influence over their partner. Daly said his wife advised him not to present this motion, and Tucker said it would subject the OPA to unnecessary litigation risk. Daly resisted these attempts to influence him but in the end he withdrew this motion. There is therefore no bar for Lakernick from running for the board this summer.
Sports complex
and therefore the rate per EDU also had to be adjusted to cover the additional cost. The belt filter press project will replace aging equipment at the Ocean Pines wastewater plant. Baker said belt filter presses are used to remove water from solids in the wastewater. “After we are done processing the wastewater there is inevitably solids residue,” he said. “The more water you can get out of it the lower tipping fees you pay when you take the solids to the landfill. We don’t
want to pay for water we just want to pay for the solids. That’s what this piece of equipment does.” Baker said the service area has been using the existing equipment since 1996. He said it has suffered multiple breakdowns, and the county can’t get parts for the existing belt filter press anymore so it has been fabricating parts. He noted that the belt filter press replacement project has been discussed and endorsed by the Ocean Pines Service Area water and wastewater advisory board.
Thompson also presented a proposal to refund existing county bonds by going back out to the bond market to get a more favorable rate on the borrowed money and the commissioners unanimously approved doing so. He said current bond rates are favorable and refunding the existing bonds could save the county up to $1 million over the life of the bonds. He said if the bond rates increase before the county goes to the bond market they can pull the refunding bills.
One proposed amendment that remains that is aimed at a former OPA director, Esther Diller, founder of the Get Involved Facebook page
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From Page 33 Dallas Baker, county director of public works, said the project will result in a $7.51 rate increase per equivalent dwelling unit. “This is a necessary piece of equipment. I don’t doubt that at all,” Bertino said, but he asked about the amount of the rate increase, saying he thought is was going to be just $5 per EDU. Baker responded that cost estimates for the project have increased
OPA BY-LAW AMENDMENTS
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 35
Daly by-laws change defining ‘owner of record’ passes unanimously Director accepts judge’s decision that a name on a deed is not the only classification of owner that makes someone eligible to run and serve on the Board of Directors By TOM STAUSS Publisher he Board of Directors met in a special meeting on Feb. 7 to consider more than 30 separate motions to amend Ocean Pines Association by-laws, including two belated proposals by OPA President Colette Horn and Vice President Frank Daly. While Horn’s motion was minor, correcting some capitalization on an existing by-law, Daly’s last motion was significant, attempting to address the definition of “owner of record,” an issue litigated in the recent Farr vs. OPA candidate eligibility case. Judge Sidney Campen ruled that the term “owner of record” includes both conventional legal owners, those whose names appear on a deed in the land records of Worcester County, and equitable owners, including beneficiaries or trustees of a family trust. The Daly motion defining owner of record did not attempt to confine the term to landowners whose names appears on a deed, but essentially adopted the Campen language by opening up the terms to families trusts, limited liability corporations (LLCs), partnerships and the like. The only difference is that Daly’s proposed change said that only trustees of a trust could run and serve on the board. Campen ruled that a trust beneficiary was eligible to run and serve. Had this proposed by-law been in place last summer, Farr would have been been from running, because on Jan. 1 of last year he was a trust beneficiary and a designated successor trustee, but not a trustee of the family trust that owns the house in Section 6 where he lives. But as Farr is now a trustee of the family trust with his sister as a co-trustee, this proposed bylaw change would not preclude him from seeking reelection in 2024. The Daly motion attempts to define the term “owner of record” by creating a new Section 1.11 of the by-laws and by amending Sections 5.01 and 5.02(a). The proposal defines “record owner” as “the person(s) listed on the deed recorded in the Land Records of Worcester County as the owner of property of property (grantee/party in the second part)” within Ocean Pines. The motion says that “if a trust is listed on the deed recorded in the Land Records of Worcester County as the owner of the property” within
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Ocean Pines, “then the record owner shall be the trustee(s) of the trust who is/are listed on the recorded deed to such property.” Trustee beneficiaries are not included in Daly’s proposed definition of record owner. Daly’s motion implicitly acknowledges what the judge in Farr vs. OPA determined to be the case: OPA governing documents, particularly the Charter and the Declaration of Restrictions (DRs) for Section 6 where Farr resides, specify that both owners listed on a deed and equitable owners, such as a family trust, limited liability company, corporation or partnership, are OPA members, eligible to run and serve on the board. Daly’s motion says that “if a corporation, limited liability corporation, or partnership is listed as the owner of the property” within Ocean Pines, “the record owner shall be an officer of the corporation, a living person who is a member of the limited liability company, or a living person who is a partner in the partnership as reflected in the
relevant entity’s records.” Daly’s motion also amends Section 5.01 to specify that a member of the board must be “an owner of record” eligible to vote and that “additional qualification for candidacy and election to the Board of Directors shall by governed by Section 4.01a)” of the by-laws. A potential problem for Farr in one of Daly’s proposed motions was that on Jan. 1 of last year Farr according to published reports was a designated successor (or future) trustee of the Farr Family Trust and a trust beneficiary, but not a trustee. Current by-laws already say that a candidate for the board must be a property owner as of Jan. 1 of the year of the election. Had this proposal by Daly been accepted by the board for a referendum and then approved by OPA members, it would have created a pretext for a board majority to remove Farr from the board during his current term because he was a trust beneficiary, and future trustee, but not a trustee, on Jan. 1 of last year. While it would not have guaranteed his removal, it set up the possibility that he could have been removed for cause -- that he was not a owner of record, that is, a trustee of a trust, as defined in the amended by-laws on Jan. 1 of 2021. None of that will come to pass, however. The only change to the Daly motion defining owner of record is that in addition to trustees of a family trust being eligible to run for the board and serve, the term “or co-trustees” was added to the proposed language. Farr made that suggestion, Tucker signed off on it, and the amended version of this by-laws passed unanimously, again subject to the verdict of voters in a referendum.
Directors accept Peck motion limiting board authority to dispose of OPA assets By TOM STAUSS Publisher irector Amy Peck scored a win on a proposed amendment to the Ocean Pines Association by-laws during a Feb. 7 special meeting of the Board of Directors, with Director and OPA Treasurer Larry Perrone absent. It was the only motion that she presented to her colleagues for consideration, and it was unanimously approved after discussion. Her proposed amendment, one of about 30 that will be presented to the OPA membership in a pending referendum, would limit the board’s authority to sell, mortgage, encumber or donate OPA assets. While a board could sell, mortgage, encumber or donate OPA assets up to ten percent of the current income from annual assessments, her proposed by-laws amendment specifies that more than ten percent would require a referendum of OPA members. The board rejected a friendly amendment from a director who was not named that would have raised the ten percent to 20 percent, with Director Doug Parks arguing for consistency with a 2021 by-laws change approved in referendum that limits board capital spending authority without a referendum to a $1 million. That change was opposed by the board at the time. Peck seemed amenable to the 20 percent threshold with a super majority vote of the board required up to 20 percent, but it was apparent she preferred the lower threshold. When Parks argued for the lower threshold, she quickly said she agreed, as did Director Josette Wheatley. A vote was then called by OPA President Colette Horn.
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36 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OPA BY-LAW AMENDMENTS
Most proposed by-laws changes seem tame compared to those withdrawn by Daly Board approves 31 amendments to go to referendum By TOM STAUSS Publisher he Board of Directors in a special meeting Feb. 7 voted in favor of 31 motions to change Ocean Pines Association by-laws. Some of them address issues raised during the recent Richard Farr vs. OPA candidacy eligibility litigation “to addresses deficiencies” in the by-laws identified by the judge in that case, according to OPA Director Frank Daly. Most of the proposed changes seem relatively benign. During the meeting, Board members discussed several dozen motions related to revisions of OPA bylaws. Board members voted in favor of 31 motions, several of which were modified from their original versions by friendly amendments, and Daly withdrew five controversial motions. [See separate story in this edition of the Progress for details.] Daly’s motions that survived discussions and votes during the Feb. 7 meeting would: • define “owner of record” for purposes of eligibility as a candidate to the Board of Directors to include a candidate’s name on a deed recorded in the land records of Worcester County. Owner of record would also include a trustee of family trust, a corporate officer, or partner in a partnership that holds title to property in Ocean Pines. • offer new rules for valid signatures on petitions. For actions not requiring a referendum or to have an agenda item added to the annual meeting of the association, 100 valid signatures would be required. For referendum issues or removal of a director, 10 percent of the votes in the association would be required on a successful petition. This clarifies that a lower signature threshold based on the number of OPA members with paid-up assessments is no longer the standard, as occurred in the 2019 Slobodan Trendic petition on board spending authority based on an opinion by OPA attorney Jeremy Tucker. To call a special meeting of the members, 15 percent of the total
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votes in the association would be required. • require any candidate for the Board of Directors to have paid the annual assessment by May 15 of the year of the election. • amend Section 5.02 to say that “the candidate may not be an incumbent director completing a second consecutive full term of office.” This proposed change would seem to ratify policy and practice already in place. • preclude a convicted felon from running and serving on the board for five years after conviction and meeting terms of sentencing, including probation and restitution. This proposed change was modified from the original ten year prohibition for running and serving. • preclude a plaintiff or defendant in an active lawsuit involving the OPA from running or serving on the board. • prevent an incumbent director from running for re-election in the year after completing a second three-year term. • declare that the “lack of a [candidate] Search Committee or the Committee’s inability to acquire at least two more candidates than the number of vacancies will not affect the validity of the election.” • require that candidate applications must list the full legal name, first, middle and last, as well as prefixes or suffixes and provide all supporting documents to OPA staff or the Search Committee. • add conviction of a felony as a cause justifying a director’s removal from the board by majority vote. • amend Section 5.02 to give the OPA secretary sole responsibility for determining the eligibility of a candidate, a provision that would seem to remove the board from any involvement in the process following a disqualification. The proposed change would require the OPA to publish a public notice explaining the disqualification. The proposed amendment also says that ‘if ballots have already been printed when the disqualification occurs, the candidate will re-
main on the ballot, election balloting will continue and all votes tallied and recorded. Votes for the ineligible candidate would “not be counted towards determining the candidates who are to be elected.” The same would apply to deceased candidates, those who cease to be an owner of record, or who withdraw. • require an OPA secretary to resign as secretary if he or she is “running for re-election, no later than when a candidate application has been filed.” This proposal might need to add “or running for election,” since some secretaries, including the current one, Josette Wheatley, would be seeking election for the first time were she to file as a candidate later this year. She along with Amy Peck are appointed directors, who become directors when a duly elected director resigns, a frequent occurrence in Ocean Pines in recent years. Daly also offered a motion to set a special meeting to amend the OPA Charter by a two thirds vote of the Board of Directors. The language approved by the board for referendum would establish that a candidate for the board must be an owner of record of property in Ocean Pines. It says that additional requirements to run for the board will be governed by Section 4.02(a) of the by-laws. The motion specifies that the qualification for serving on the board are separate from the rights of OPA members.
Colette Horn’s proposed amendments
OPA President Colette Horn’s motions for by-laws amendments would: • declare that the term “eligible to vote” refers to a member who has paid annual charges (assessments) to the OPA. • specify that only one meeting notice is required to be sent when there are multiple owners listed on a property deed, a clarification of policy elsewhere in the by-laws.
• declare budget transfers by the general manager, or management company if the OPA ever decides to outsource, would have to conform to “guidelines and limits established in OPA financial policy or manuals.” • clarify in Article IV, Section 4.07 that the OPA secretary is responsible for certifying a petition for referendum. • adds language in Article IV, Section 5.14 referencing petitions as determined to be “valid by the secretary.” • preclude two individuals with “familial relationships” to serve on the Board of Directors at the same time. • require “informal action” by the board between meetings to be taken by unanimous consent of the directors, including “electronic transactions,” provided that the “informal action” is disclosed to the membership at the next regular meeting. This provision seems to make it mandatory that both a call for action via email and the action itself must be unanimous. Horn noted in her explanation for this amendment that it would bring OPA practice into conformity with state law. • specifies that while directors may not receive compensation for board service, they may reimbursed for expenses, and will be provided with family memberships in the amenities, “for all amenities offered by the OPA.” Existing language excludes certain amenities now available in Ocean Pines. • specify that the board “shall establish the limits and guidelines applicable to the checks, controls and purchases made by the officers of the Association, Board of Directors, and the general manager in applicable financial policy and procedures manuals.” She noted that Article V, Section 5.14 duties could be construed as allowing “the board to change guidelines, procedures and even financial institutions from one session to another.” • change capitalization is Section 9.02 from upper case to lower case in a reference to “personnel policy procedures manuals” so that there is no impression given that there are actual manuals with these names.
Doug Parks’ proposed amendments
Doug Parks’ motions for by-laws amendments would: • amend Article IV, Section 5.14
OPA BY-LAW AMENDMENTS to require at least 40 percent of “total votes that can be cast” to be voted in a referendum, either pro or con for the referendum question. In addition, a majority of those voting in the referendum must vote affirmatively for a referendum to pass. The 40 percent minimum participation threshold was recommended by the By-laws and Resolutions Advisory Committee, Parks noted in explanatory remarks. • revise language about use of proxies in annual meetings of the OPA to give the OPA secretary the authority to confirm that the member is eligible to vote and that any proxies are valid. Proxies are to be delivered to the Election Committee no later than 48 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. • authorize the Elections Committee to require identification to verify voter eligibility • specify that a special meeting can be called by an OPA president, a majority of the Board of Directors, or by written petition of the members. • Adds a new section to Article V, Section 5.14, Board Duties, specifying that the “board shall designate depositories for Association funds and designate those officers, agents and employees who shall have the authority to withdraw funds from such accounts on behalf of the Association in applicable financial policy and procedures manuals.”-
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 37 .
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Public hearing set March 12 on proposed by-laws changes Deadline for return of referendum ballots is April 29
he Board of Directors will host a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Ocean Pines Association on Saturday, March 12, at 9 a.m. in the Clubhouse Banquet Room of the Ocean Pines Golf Club on 100 Clubhouse Drive. This will be a hybrid meeting, using the Microsoft Teams environment for those who want to participate virtually. “The Ocean Pines Board of Directors has undertaken a review of our by-laws, which were last revised in 2008. Motions proposing changes to our bylaws were voted on during a special meeting on Feb. 7. The motions underwent considerable discussion” and a few were withdrawn, according to a recent statement issued by the board. At the hearing, OPA members will have the opportunity for comment and discussion with the board on the proposed by-laws changes. Following the town hall meeting, referendum questions will be prepared, reflecting the changes noted in a summary document. The referendum questions will then be sent to the membership in a referendum for their vote. The referendum questions that receive a majority vote by the membership will determine the revised version of the by-laws. “At the end of the day, the changes to the language of our bylaws are in your hands. It is your vote on the referendum questions that will determine what changes will be made. Please join us for this important town hall meeting, so your voice can be heard on the proposed changes. Questions about these changes or the process may be directed to the Board at directors@oceanpines.org,” according to the statement. The deadline for returning ballots in the referendum will be 4 p.m. on April 29. Payment of the 2021 lot assessment must have been recorded by 4 p.m. Monday, March 25, in order for members to receive a ballot, in accord with Section 3.01 Voting Rights of the by-laws. Members are not required to pay the 2022 assessment, arriving in the mail around the same time, by that date. Those with questions about their eligibility status can check Please check with the Membership Department at 410-641-7717. According to Section 3.01, an OPA member is entitled to one vote for each numbered residential lot, condominium unit, or single-family attached dwelling in the subdivision that is owned by the member, or as otherwise provided in the Declarations of Restrictions or Charter. Members owning commercial property are also entitled to vote.
Comfort quilts
Members of the Quilters by Sea Guild show off some of the finished comfort quilts that will be donated to various charities around Delmarva. Pictured left to right are Marlene Passero, Jacqui Santangelo, Cindy Happel, Stephanie Dilworth (coordinator of the Feb. 1 Volunteer Day), Lea Ekman and Ellen Moran. For information about donating or joining Quilters by the Sea, email qbsopemail@gmail.com, or attend any volunteer day on the first Wednesday of the month, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Ocean Pines Community Center.
38 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
OPINION
COMMENTARY
Blackballing Lakernick a deplorable act
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If approving someone for a volunteer advisory committee is so difficult, then certain directors might consider resigning and let someone else do the heavy lifting
et’s not sugarcoat the Board of Directors’ decision to deny Stuart Lakernick a seat on the volunteer Strategic Planning Advisory Committee. It was mean-spirited, insulting, a message to Ocean Pines Association members that despite the official rhetoric that the OPA encourages participation on its advisory committees, don’t volunteer if you’ve had political differences with certain directors. Despite some after-the-fact dancing and weaving on the vote total, a review of the meeting video clearly indicates that Lakernick was defeated by three directors voting in opposition, Frank Daly, Larry Perrone and Josette Wheatley. Voting in favor of his appointment were stalwart directors Doug Parks and Rick Farr, proving in that one vote why he was an excellent choice for the board this past summer. A plurality of three defeated his appointment. Two directors, OPA President Colette Horn and Amy Peck, didn’t vote. No doubt because of some after-the-fact soul-searching, an OPA press release indicated that Lakernick was defeated in a 4-3 vote. That would mean that Horn joined Daly, Perrone and Wheatley in opposition, while Peck eventually came down in favor, as well she should have. She’s the liaison to the strategic planning committee, and she voted in favor of another appointee, former caretaker Director Frank Brown, to that same committee. The meeting video is definitive. The airbrushing of what actually happened at the meeting should not be allowed to stand. If Horn and Peck want to reverse their defacto abstentions during the meeting, then they should do so in open session with another vote, preferably with an explanation. It shouldn’t be that difficult. Committee chair Bernie McGorry and Lakernick have every right to resubmit his candidacy for another board review, giving the directors an opportunity to reverse themselves. Clean-up in Aisle 10, as it were. At the very least, it would put all directors on record on whether they truly believe blackballing a respected OPA member to a volunteer advisory committee can in any way be justified. Let the four directors who voted against him explain in detail why they think his participation on this committee somehow endangers the OPA or undermines it in some way. Of the three directors who voted against him, only Frank Daly offered a reason. “I would refer you back to his (Lakernick’s) comments on last year’s election to the Election Committee …”
Daly didn’t go into any detail, but most likely he was referring to Lakernick’s critique of the Elections Committee last summer for actions surrounding a second candidates debate, which both Lakernick and Farr were unable to attend because of prior engagements. Dr. Lakernick had a pre-scheduled week-long session with a patient of his, while Farr had just lost his mother and had family matters to tend to. Lakernick took exception to a committee statement that he and Farr had “declined” to attend the forum, and the placement of empty chairs and nameplates of the missing candidates. He also critiqued the apparent double standard in the treatment of his and Farr’s eminently reasonable reasons for not attending the forum. He pointed out that the committee accommodated Daly’s anniversary plans and changed the date of the second forum so he could attend. If this incident is the reason Daly voted against Lakernick’s appointment to the strategic plan committee, it’s no wonder he didn’t try to explain it at the February board meeting. The absurdity of it, the petty vindictiveness it displays, would not have gone over well in Ocean Pines. Daly seems to want to continue to litigate and fight last summer’s election battles, in perpetuity. The better approach: Move on and get over it. You won; best not give your supporters more reason for buyer’s remorse. Director Larry Perrone on his high horse said during the meeting that directors opposing Lakernick had no obligation to explain their votes. Perhaps that’s true from a narrow legalistic perspective, but it’s hardly defensible. Perrone and the other directors work for us; they represent us. When they reject one of us for service on an advisory committee, without explanation, they forget their place in the hierarchy. Wheatley’s vote against Lakernick seems more like a gesture of solidarity with those who arranged her appointment to the board rather than anything more substantive, but without an explanation, who knows. She has a friend on the board that helped suppress some recent indiscretions, including calling another OPA resident “a divisive cancer” in an email. There have been reports she used a recent visit with local firefighters to prospect for her private business; something about offering services to help design or engineer the renovation of the Southside firehouse. This is all going to be aired if she decides to run for the board this summer; it’s the nature of the beast. Adding to that a spiteful vote in what should be a routine and non-controversial appointment to an advisory committee is not going
to endear her to Ocean Pines voters. As for Horn, judging by her comments during recent marathon discussions and votes about proposed amendments to OPA by-laws, she seems to harbor some animus towards Lakernick because he remains loyal to his spouse, Esther Diller, despite her well-publicized legal challenges that are two years old and, really, by now, old news. Horn made the rather astonishing comment during debate about a proposed by-law that would ban felons from running and serving on the board that she would divorce her husband if he would ever be convicted of a felony. More on that in another commentary that appears on the opposite page. Amy Peck would be well advised to shepherd another attempt to bring Lakernick’s candidacy to the board, giving majority directors an opportunity to reverse their errors in judgment. If such an effort fails with four directors in opposition, then Lakernick should simply sit in on meetings of the strategic planning committee as if he were a member, participating in discussions and helping shape the strategic plan that’s the committee’s primary objective. Lakernick seems eager to participate, rising above the pettiness of recent board action. If directors can’t rise above their petty concerns and let him serve on the committee, they should consider resigning from their own lofty volunteer positions. -- 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 WRITER Rota Knott 443-880-3953
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 39
OPINION
COMMENTARY
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No need to ban felons from OPA Board
he recent marathon meeting discussing and voting on 30 or more changes to the by-laws was, generally speaking, an example of the board working at its best. Compliments to Colette Horn for keeping an orderly meeting while giving everyone an opportunity to voice their opinions. Even when there was disagreement, tempers were kept in check and the discussion was civil, even elevated at times. With one glaring exception, the work product of the meeting deserves the support of property owners when they vote on these proposed bylaw changes in a coming referendum. Proposed changes that seemed targeted at one sitting director and a former and possible future candidate to the Board of Directors were withdrawn for lack of support, as well they should have been. The proposed spousal prohibition in particular collapsed after discussion, with only Frank Daly wanting to keep it alive, valiantly resisting the advice and influence of his wife and OPA attorney Jeremy Tucker. Unfortunately, the one remaining offensive proposed change, a ban on convicted felons running and serving on the board, runs the risk of bringing the entire package of changes to defeat. OPA members may vote vote against them all in protest, because of the offensive nature of the felony proposal. It is a proposed solution in search of a problem. It’s overkill. And mean-spirited. It’s an ill-disguised proposal targeted at a single OPA member, Esther Diller, a former OPA director and administrator of the Get Involved Facebook page, whose legal difficulties from two years ago resulted in a felony conviction in federal court. It’s a provision designed to keep her from running again for the board, should she ever decide she wanted to. It’s highly unlikely she would, given that a few intolerant, unforgiving nabobs would try to brand a fiery F on her forehead for the temerity of volunteering to serve after encountering a devastating personal challenge Were it not that well publicized conviction on an arcane federal law, it’s inconceivable that this proposed by-law change would have been on anyone’s radar. Is there any demonstrated need to amend the by-laws to ban felons? Any rash of crazed felons seeking to sit on the board and influence policy-making in Ocean Pines? In Ocean Pines’ 50-plus year history, no felon has ever run and served on the board. If one or two did slip through, there’s no evidence that he or she did any damage; but how would we ever know? Yes, some states and some HOAs include anti-felon provisions in their state laws and governing documents. Why is that important? No
doubt a comprehensive survey of all HOAs in the country would yield a substantial number without such provisions, and with no apparent damage to HOA governance resulting from that omission. The OPA is mature enough to make its own decisions in this regard. The OPA has survived without such a provision in its by-laws for 50-odd years. Some HOAs are mini-police states, and they’re probably the ones that fear, or pretend to fear, felons in their midst. They’re probably wearing masks outside in Florida sunshine, deploying legions of Karens to ensure compliance with their fear-based lifestyles. Do we want to become what they are, where even American flags can be banned because they offend some sensibilities or violate some provision in the regs? One director in the OPA board discussion opined that all convicted felons have made a conscious choice to reject applicable rules in the hopes of achieving some sort of personal advantage. How intolerant and ignorant of the real world to suggest that. This director later said that, if her husband ever was convicted of a felony, she would leave him. Cue up Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road, Jack,” released in 1962, as you consider this amendment to traditional wedding vows: “For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, but if you’re ever convicted of a felony, hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back no more, no more.” Check out the video of Ray Charles performing this tune on Saturday Night Live in 1996. Classic. Makes one ponder the devolution of the culture when comparing it to the 2022 Super Bowl half-time show. Or intolerance and insensitivity in Ocean Pines circa 2022. But we digress. This insensitive aside amounted to unsolicited marital advice to Stuart Lakernick, Diller’s spouse, that he should consider divorce as a way of maintaining an illusion of ... what? Proper decorum? Respectability? This was the meeting’s low point, irredeemably ugly. Even as low as a majority of directors voting against Lakernick’s application to serve on an OPA advisory committee. While there are no doubt plenty of convicted felons with corrupt motives, who then dodge and weave to evade responsibility for their choices, it’s possible, even probable as a simple matter of logic, that other felonies occur because the felon didn’t know or understand the relevant law. Federal law can be complicated. Does that excuse the violation? Hardly, but making a mistake out of ignorance, for which a huge price will be paid regardless, is much different than violating the law with a clear, corrupt
and premeditated attempt to get away with something. Before leaping to the uncharitable and judgmental conclusion that Diller was in the former category and not the latter, certain board members might want to check into the particulars of her circumstances. Perhaps Tucker could be tasked with having a confidential chat with the prosecuting attorneys in her case, the agents involved in the investigation, and even the judge who presided over her sentencing. And then convey the truth of the matter to those on the board whose minds remain open. That won’t happen, of course, because some directors have already made their judgments and have no interest in having their conclusions overturned. So the whole sorry episode can be reprised should Lakernick decide to make a run for the board this summer. No jail time for Diller, by the way. Restitution she’s accepting responsibility for. A willingness to accept responsibility for a horrendous mistake. No attempt to blame her situation on anyone else. Grace under fire. We all make mistakes. While not felonious, and let’s be clear about that, the current board or its members has made plenty of them. Cue up Harper Valley PTA by Jeannie C. Riley, a pertinent ditty from 1968, while considering the following: • One director recently sent out an email or text to an OPA member accusing her of being “a divisive cancer” in the community, all for the sin of having an opinion that differed from the director’s. Sure, personal apologies and one from the board were all sent out, as they should have. What was startling in this particular communication is that, in a concluding sentence, there was an appeal for kindness. Say what? • One director reportedly prospected for business from the local fire department in the pending project to renovate and expand the Southside Fire Station. Sure, nothing untoward happened in the end, but only because wiser heads intervened. This sort of thing should never happen. This same director mentioned during discussion that while a spousal connection might not make it to referendum, it could be “spread” around during an election campaign. Really? Be very careful about taking such an approach lest one’s own actions are “spread” and weaponized during an election campaign. Had it been former Director Tom Janasek who had done these things, medieval retribution would surely have been on the agenda at the earliest opportunity. • One director voted for a do-over board election this past summer, sans one competitor, despite being a candidate for re-election and despite legal advice from Tucker advising the director that so voting would be used against the u
OPINION
40 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
S
If possible, let’s keep Viola on as OPA general manager
o now we have a clearer idea on what prompted OPA General Manager John Viola to tender his resignation this past November. Speculation has run rampant that he had some sort of falling-out with then OPA President Larry Perrone, who apparently did not share his colleagues appreciation for Viola’s tenure as GM. Now we have some contemporaneous validation of that apparent falling-out. Former Senior Executive Assistant Michelle Bennett, in an exclusive interview with the Progress reported elsewhere in this edition, offered her perspective on the reasons for the rift. The blow-up occurred when Perrone delivered the verdict of the annual review of Viola’s job performance conducted in closed session of the Board of Directors earlier in the month. “My understanding is that, based on what I heard Viola say at the time, is that Larry feels that John does not do a good job of supervising certain department heads,” she said. In the interview, she said that Viola favors certain department heads, allowing them to pretty much do their own thing without a lot of supervision from him. While that management style is very defensible because it allows competent managers to run their departments without a lot of micro-management from above, Perrone apparently has different views on that. Bennett said that when Perrone communicated his personal reservations about Viola’s management style to Viola, the GM became agi-
Commentary
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 tated and offered his resignation on the spot. The press release announcing the resignation called it a decision allowing Viola to segue into a “deserved” retirement, but that explanation never made much sense to those who know Viola. Many of us assumed that there was more to the story than that, and there was speculation that Perrone was gunning for Viola’s job, initially on an interim basis. Bennett said she had no information on whether other directors shared Perrone’s apparent disenchantment with Viola, but there’s every indication that it’s not widely shared. The Progress has been told that his performance review had only one naysayer, Perrone, with other directors giving him high marks. Viola’s resignation in late November gave the OPA three-month’s notice to find a replacement, until the end of February. His contract had been scheduled to expire June 1, but either Viola or the OPA had the right to terminate it early without cause. As has been widely reported, the board, including Perrone, asked Viola to extend his contract until mid-September, using OPA counsel Jeremy Tucker to convey the request. Viola initially agreed, later deciding not to formally extend the contract while agreeing to contin-
From Page 39 OPA in the Farr vs. OPA litigation. It was, of course. The wisdom of Tucker’s advice was vindicated when the judge cited the vote for the do-over election as evidence of bad faith by the OPA. • A former director decided she had the power to stop an ongoing OPA election two weeks prior to the scheduled vote count after a “little birdie” called in a tip. The judge slapped down that decision, too, determining there was no authority to stop an election or to toss one of the candidates from the ballot. This is a partial list not intended to be exhaustive evidence of mistakes made by directors in the recent past. The point is: To err is human. There’s the adage about throwing rocks in glass houses. Or biblical admonitions about throwing the first stone.
ue on the job until such time as the board finds a new GM. He’s week-to-week, but has said he’s willing to work without a contract until the annual meeting in August, or until the board hires a replacement and a new GM is on the job. By all accounts, the directors knew that there would be a community uproar were Viola to depart, which is why the directors decided to ask him to stay on before his announced departure date of Feb. 28. Bennett confirmed that in her interview with the Progress, reporting that new OPA President Colette Horn told her as much in a private meeting. That’s a reassuring confirmation. It shows the directors are paying attention to community sentiment. It’s never too late to do that. The directors clearly were aware that Viola is a popular figure in Ocean Pines, presiding over a dramatic transformation of OPA’s financial fortunes during his twoplus years as the GM. There also has been a marked improvement in the quality of amenities offered in Ocean Pines, ranging from a professionally managed food and beverage operation to a golf course operation that is now profitable, for the first time ever in the history of Ocean Pines. The list of accomplishments by
A few other random observations about this remaining, offensive proposed by-law change: • When some directors self-righteously proclaimed that no one convicted of a felonious financial crime should be anywhere near policy-making on financial matters, Director Doug Parks reminded them that no director, felon or not, is allowed to be near OPA cash. • The only proven case of theft of OPA cash resulted from an expensive audit, which indicated that the theft likely occurred at a local financial institution, not within the OPA. • Discussion of a sex offender sitting at the board table was mentioned, as if there is even the remote possibility of this occurring. Sex offender registries would render that scenario impossible. No by-laws change is needed as a prophylactic for that. Lose the proposed by-law change about felons, and improve the chances of success in the referendum. -- Tom Stauss
the OPA leadership team under Viola has been truly spectacular. And, yes, OPA directors can take some credit for the transformation, too. Perrone might have a problem with Viola’s management style, but that’s a minority opinion. Apparently Horn, too, had her eye on the interim position, but wisely has backed off on taking on a position that would be politicized and weaponized against her should she take on the job. Where does that leave the state of play? While Horn’s somewhat oddly articulated press release announcing Viola’s agreement to continue as GM on a week-to-week basis without a contract, what she omitted is that Viola truly is in no hurry to vacate the position and would stay on if asked by a majority of directors to do so. That comes directly from Viola in an article published elsewhere in this edition of the Progress. The impression given by Horn’s murky statement is that Viola wants to retire, but it’s not at all clear that he does. At the very least, it seems he’s willing to stay on through this summer’s board election and the annual meeting of the OPA in August. The board should let him do just that. If a newly reorganized board offers him a new contract, or some other arrangement to stay on, there’s reason to believe he would stay. “The board is actively recruiting,” he said of board efforts to find a replacement. He then added, and this is important: “As you know, I have never turned down a board majority [when it] asked me to stay.” He referred to a situation years ago during an transition between the departure of former acting director Brett Hill and the arrival of a new manager, John Bailey. It was a brief tenure as interim GM, a couple of months, Viola said. But it demonstrated something important. When the OPA called, he answered. There is no reason for the board to expedite the process of looking for a replacement. There is every reason to slow it down, to allow this summer’s election to play itself out, to see what group of seven directors is seated and what the attitude is towards retaining Viola. A new GM coming in from the outside would have a hard act to follow.
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 41
CAPTAIN’S COVE
CURRENTS
Captain’s Cove close to severing management ties with Troon Golf Board approves ‘mid-year’ audit to ensure financial accuracy; management company fails to produce monthly financials
By TOM STAUSS Publisher he Captain’s Cove property owners association is close to severing ties with Troon Golf in the management of the community’s golf course, food and beverage services, and back-office bookkeeping services, Cove President Tim Hearn announced during the Feb. 24 Board of Directors meeting. He said the decision may be necessitated by the company’s inability to produce monthly financial statements on a timely basis, which he said should be about 15 days after month’s end. He said the company, which bought out Indigo
T
Golf, formerly Billy Casper Golf (BCG), last year, has been unable to produce acceptable financial statements since the transition to Troon in October. “We still don’t have the October statements,” Hearn said, adding that the November, December, and January statements are missing, too, or contain errors substantial enough to jeopardize the relationship. While the Cove enjoyed relations with BCG and Indigo and had no problems, Hearn said that it’s clear that Troon was not prepared to handle the logistics of absorbing Indigo. The disappointing development means the
board and General Manager Colby Phillips have been working diligently to come up with alternative to Troon, Hearn said. He said he’s asked Troon management to provide a transition plan for severing the relationship, with the response so far from executives asking how the relationship can be salvaged. “Do your job, produce financial documents, restore trust [lost] from our management team,” Hearn said, indicating that he was not confident that Troon executives would be able to remedy the problems. “Usually I’m a optimist, but there is a cultural arrogance [by Troon] to accept responsibility” for the failure to perform, Hearn said. Because of the inability to track Cove finances, Hearn said the board has authorized the Cove’s auditing firm, TGM, now known as TGM/UHY, to conduct a mid-year audit of CCGYC finances, citing the “lack of trust in the veracity” of the reports submitted thus far by Troon. CCGYC, Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club, is the property owners association that manages the community. In addition, the board has authorized the Cove’s management team under Senior General Manager Colby Phillips to develop what Hearn To Page 43
Screened porch Community Room Outside Picnic Area
Movable Partition
Dining Area
Counter seating
Reception Bait/ Tackle
Grille Pizza Oven Walk-in Cooler & Freezer
Men’s Restroom
Mechanical Room
Beer/Wine
Prep/Kitchen Dry storage
Women’s Restroom
Town Center floor plan
Ice
Storage and/or golf simulator
Senior General Manager Colby Phillips presented the latest iteration of a floor plan for the new Town Center building during the Feb. 24 Captain’s Cove association’s Board of Directors meeting. It was essentially unchanged from the Jan. 17 managers meeting. Previously announced changes include dropping plans for a fireplace and replacing it with a reception desk. The prep area in the kitchen has been enlarged, and a mechanical room has been moved to where a golf simulator room had been located. Men’s and women’s restrooms have been repositioned. There is no designated golf pro shop. The former location of the women’s restrooms has been converted to storage, a display wall for golf merchandise and possibly a golf simulator, which is still under discussion. Phillips said that as the Town Center working group continues to meet, the floor plan might be revised again.
42 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Gemcraft Spec Homes Coming Soon! 857 Scimitar Way • $272,990
520 Dingy Court • $274,990
815 Castaway Drive • $280,990 UNDER CONTRACT
The Pearl, Elevation B. 4BR, 2.5 BA, 1,680 sq. ft. Colonial. Open floor plan. Large open great room, spacious kitchen w/Center Island, breakfast area and a 2-car garage. Upstairs owner’s suite with master bath.
The Pearl, Elevation B. 4BR, 2.5 BA, 1,680 sq. ft. Colonial. Open floor plan. Large open great room, spacious kitchen w/Center Island, breakfast area and a 2-car garage. Upstairs owner’s suite with master bath.
The Pearl, Elevation C. 4BR, 2.5 BA, 1,680 sq. ft. Colonial. Open floor plan. Large open great room, spacious kitchen w/granite counter tops and Center Island, breakfast area and a 2-car garage. Upstairs owner’s suite with master bath.
11 Brigantine Blvd. • $301,990
856 Scimitar Way • $309,990
1352 Blackbeard Rd. • $436,990
The Bradford, Elevation C. 3BR, 2 BA, 1,500 sq. ft.. Airy great room. Galley kitchen w/granite counter tops. Owner’s suite with walk-in closet and private bath. Conditioned crawl space. 2-car garage.
The Sussex, Elevation B. 3BR, 2 BA, 1795 sq ft., 2-car garage. Open floor plan with an airy great room. Kitchen with granite counter tops, 42” cabinets, 9’ Ceilings, Fireplace.
The Inlet ll, Elevation A. Piling home. Bay views, 4BR/3BA, 1,750 sq ft. First level owners suite, 2 BRs, laundry area, 21x10 open deck. Second level great room, open kitchen with center island, large pantry and a 4th BR and full BA.
Prices are subject to change without notice and photos may show upgraded features
CINDY WELSH - REALTOR Hall Realty
4243 Captain’s Corridor Greenbackville, VA. 23356 302-381-6910 (cell) 757-854-1604 (office) 757-854-1606 (fax)
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS Troon management
From Page 41 called a “risk management plan” to develop an alternative to Troon should the company be unable to remedy the current situation to the satisfaction of the board and management team. He said the Cove is considering options, which could include returning some functions to inhouse management while out-sourcing others. Basic financial management services could be handled by hiring a controller who would work with a local accounting firm to produce monthly financial documents. Advertisements have been posted seeking applicants for that position, Hearn said. Hearn said that L&H, the bookkeeping firm that had handled the financials before Troon, is no longer able to handle the Cove and therefore there have been efforts to reach out to local firms to take over functions that Troon has not been able to perform to the satisfaction of CCGYC. Hearn said that if TGM/UHY would assume that function, the company could no longer serve as the Cove’s auditing firm, because that means it would be auditing its own numbers. The golf course could be managed in-house staff, Hearn said, perhaps with the help of the Golf Committee. A return to the old policy of no greens fees for Cove members is possible, he added. “The management team is bearing the brunt of this,” he said. To resolve the problems, “we won’t be leaving any hostage behind,” by which he seemed to mean that no Cove employee, technically all employees of Troon, will lose his or her job because of the turmoil. The food and beverage operation will most likely be outsourced but with all the staff retained, he said. The Matt Ortt organization, which manages food and beverage operations in Ocean Pines, has been approached to gauge interest in taking over management of the Marina Club and the town center snack bar, Hearn said. Another possibility is a company, SoDel Concepts, based in Rehoboth Beach, Del. In other topics at the Feb. 24 board meeting: • Hearn said that the Marina Club roof project has turned out to be substantially more than just attaching new shingles. The structure under the roof has been undermined by moisture from the indoor pool, which he said has produced a “catastrophic failure” of sections of the roof. He said that an engineering firm, DRH, will be on site the week of Feb. 28 to inspect the roof support structure. The company will be designing a new support structure “where the problem doesn’t repeat itself,” he said. Hearn said the original cost estimate for fixing the roof was $120,000 originally, “but I would be shocked if it’s anywhere close to that,” he said. “But we have to do it in order to keep the building open.” • Phillips said in a text to the Cove Currents said the floor plan of the new town center building has been reconfigured in a way that a room at the entrance to the building originally designated as the golf pro shop is now designated for stor-
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 43 age and the possibility of a golf simulator, with a display case for golf equipment on one wall of the room. A receptionist in the main entrance hall will handle golf check-in and other duties, including sale of bait and tackle, she later clarified. The receptionist will have a sight line to the room formerly designated as the pro shop, she said. The floor plan is still a work in progress, and additional changes are possible before an architect is hired to do produce engineering specs for the building. • Hearn said the new golf cart barn and the pool pump room are the first two projects in the town center redevelopment project and the hope is these will be completed in calendar year 2022. The current pump-house is located under the existing town center building. It will be replaced with a new pump-house and bathrooms between the pool and mail pavilion. To accommodate the new pump-house and parking, the mail pavilion near the pool will be relocated to the Marina Club parking lot. • The board approved a motion offered by Hearn authorizing Phillips to execute the next phase of the town center project, contracting with Fisher Architecture at a cost of $14,000 to produce design schematics for the town center building. • Board member Jim Silfee said that Spectrum/Charter, a national high speed Internet company, has presented a number of proposals for easements and other issues that he described as “deal-breakers,” making it unlikely that the company will be in any position to compete with Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority in providing broadband services to Captain’s Cove. • The board approved a motion to purchase 32 new golf carts from E-Z-GO at a cost not to exceed $220,000, with delivery not expected until early 2023. Hearn said that one of his issues with Troon is that the company failed to execute purchase of leased golf carts at very favorable rates, resulting in the necessity of acquiring new carts. The old carts could have been purchased at a cost of $132,000 at the expiration of the lease.
“It’s another of Troon’s shortcomings,” Hearn said. The current rental fleet can be leased on a month-to-month basis at the current rate until the new carts arrive, he said. • The board approved a motion to eliminate the $10 monthly payment fee that property owners who have worked out a payment plan to pay overdue annual dues were required to pay in addition to accrued interest. General Manager Justin Wilder said that the $10 fee in addition to the interest took staff time to calculate, and that property owners on a payment plan will save a few dollars by its elimination. “Everyone wins,” he said of the change. • CCGYC was the low bidder on a house on Neptune Court at the recent Cove auction of delinquent properties, Hearn announced. The association can either rent it out or sell it, he said, subject to a lien on the house by the mortgage lender. Hearn said that attempts to reach the lender have been unsuccessful so far, complicating matters. He said he’s reached out to local Realtor Cindy Welsh who could put it on the market, once an agreement is reached with the lender. Hearn noted that the objective is to get the house sold so that its owners pay the annual Cove assessment as soon as possible. • Phillips announced that she has been in contact with Matt Clay of Rural Health Systems to discuss the possibility of opening a medical clinic somewhere in the Captain’s Cove area, perhaps inside the real state office located inside the front entrance to Captain’s Cove. It would be staffed with a doctor or a nurse practitioner, or both, she said. “It would be a great asset to the community,” she added. • Phillips announced a fund-raiser by the Cal Ripken Sr. foundation to benefit local STEM Centers in county schools. Raffle tickets are on sale for the fund-raiser, including uniforms signed by Cal Ripkin Jr. Details appear elsewhere in this edition of the Cove Currents.
Supervisors will keep 24-7 EMS promise, Wolff says
W
hile the 2022-23 Accomack County budget is the most challenging he’s had to work on in his 20 years on the Board of Supervisors, Ron Wolff says that won’t cause the supervisors to renege on a promise made to the Captain’s Cove community. Wolff, president of the board, said he and his colleagues will fund 24-hour, seven-days-aweek emergency medical services at the Greenbackville fire department as promised, which should result in response times of 20 minutes or less. That’s the justification for providing 24-7 service in Greenbackville, he said, while other fire departments requesting funding for 24-7 services may be denied because they already meet that threshold. Greenbackville is the only fire department in the county that doesn’t meet the 20-minute minimum set by the county as a matter of policy, he said. Staffing Greenbackville 24-7 will allow it to substantially improve response time and to bring it into compliance with county policy, Wolff said. Because of challenges in hiring and certifying new paramedics, Wolff said the earliest that Greenbackville will be able to provide 24-7 coverage will be in October of this year. County administrator Mike Mason is not recommending that the supervisors fund another $2 million-plus request from a group of five other fire departments in the county, Wolff said. It would cost another five cents on the property tax rate if approved by the supervisors.
44 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March 2022
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS
Greenbackville fire department wants to relocate fire station to Section 13 in Captain’s Cove
March 2022 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 45
Developer revises proffer to make it possible for local fire company to move its main station from Greenbackville to Captain’s Cove on a lot or lots between Fleming Road and Flying Dutchman Drive By TOM STAUSS Publisher CG Note, the developer of Captain’s Cove and of the planned 142-unit townhome project located on a parcel adjacent to the back entrance to Captain’s Cove, has updated its proffer to Accomack County while accommodating a declared desire by the Greenbackville Volunteer Fire Department to move its main fire station out of Greenbackville to Captain’s Cove. In a recent letter to the Accomack County Planning Commission, CCG Note investor Jim Silfee noted that the developer had proferred about one acre of land on Fleming Road, the precise location to be determined, to the Greenbackville fire department for the purpose of building an auxiliary building to house an ambulance and emergency medical technicians. The building would have been about 1,200 square feet in size. In addition, the developer had proffered up to $430,000 to build the new ambulance building at an estimated cost of $250,000 and another $180,000 for a new ambulance. At a Feb. 9 public hearing conducted by the Accomack Coun-
C
ty Planning Commission on CCG Note’s application for a rezoning and conditional use changes for the proposed townhome development, the developer’s Virginia Beach attorney, Mark Baumgartner, announced a change to the original proffer. After discussions with the fire department, he said that rather than limit the proffer to a new ambulance building the developer would amend it to include one and a half acres for a new main “state-of-the-art” firehouse to contain both fire-fighting apparatus and ambulances and space for EMTs. The building would be roughly 7,000 square feet in size, he said. The proffer of up $430,000 for a new ambulance and building construction costs has not changed, according to Baumgartner. The proffered $430,000 would “probably not be enough to build a new facility,” he said. That would leave it up to the fire department and Accomack officials to come up with the difference, with the helo of state and state grants. Baumgartner said the fire department negotiated the larger size for a new firehouse because its officials feel that a location on Fleming
Road, which forms a part of Captain’s Cove western boundary, would make it possible to respond to fires and emergency medical calls “down Fleming Road” much faster than having to navigate State Line Road from Greenbackville. He did not say that it could provide faster access to emergency calls from within Captain’s Cove as well, but that seems almost self-evident, at least in areas close to Section 13, as the parcels on Flying Dutchman Drive would also provide direct internal access to Captain’s Cove residents. Baumgartner said the lots that the developer could donate to the fire department have been identified. Tim Hearn, an investor in CCG Note and president of the Cove property owners association, said that there are ten adjacent lots on Flying Dutchman Drive that are possible sites for the building. The Virginia Department of Transportation will likely make the determination on where best to locate an access point on Fleming Road, Hearn said. Hearn said a new fire station is “aspirational,” but could happen
sometime in the next ten years. Cove resident Larry Berger during the public hearing Feb. 9 raised the issue of a requirement under Captain’s Cove Declaration of Restrictions (DRs) identifying lots in Captain’s Cove as being for residential purposes only. He said any transfer of lots to the fire department for the purpose of building a new fire station would require a referendum vote of property owners in Captain’s Cove to amend the DRs. Hearn, who was at the public hearing, did not respond directly to Berger at the time but in a later conversation with the Cove Currents said a referendum of property owners in Section 13 would not be necessary. He said Cove DRs say that lots can be used for residences and utilities, adding that Virginia law includes emergency medical services as a category of utility. He also said that he doubted Cove residents would be opposed to having a firehouse staffed with paramedics nearby. Berger also proposed during the hearing that CCG Note abandon the townhome project and instead build single-family rental homes on 150 of its home sites in Captain’s Cove. He called it a “win-win” solution that would bring the interests of Captain’s Cove residents and the developer into alignment. Hearn begged to differ, and said he doubted his partners would want to abandon the townhome project this far into the approval process. “We’ll just wait for the planning commission and the board of supervisors to make their decisions,” he said.
CCG Note lawyer offers Mariner project update Rebuts argument that development will be an apartment complex under the county code By TOM STAUSS Publisher oping to persuade the Accomack County Planning Commission to recommend approval of rezoning and conditional uses to accommodate a 142-unit townhome project on State Line Road, CCG Note attorney Mark Baumgartner responded to questions and comments during a commission-hosted public hearing Feb. 9. Also responding to questions or offering comments was CCG Note investor Tim Hearn, who also is president of the Captain’s Cove association, officially known as Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club. The public hearing -- actually one to consider the rezoning and another to consider proposed conditional uses or waivers -- was a continuation of a Jan. 12 public hearing packed by opponents of the project.
H
The Feb. 9 meeting was similarly packed with opponents, all of whom seemed to be residents of Captain’s Cove. The rezoning request is to develop the 24.41-acre parcel under the county’s village overlay zone with the underlying R-1 zoning intact. The parcel is currently used for farming. The Mariner townhome project has access directly from State Line Road and from within Captain’s Cove off Captain’s Corridor. Hearn ruffled feathers when he said that a portion of Captain’s Corridor that runs along the parcel at issue is actually owned by the Mariner family and would convey to CCG Note. The developer and Cove residents would have shared rights to traverse that portion of Captain’s Corridor, Hearn said. u u
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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS Mariner project
From Page 45 In opening remarks at the hearing, Baumgartner: • tried to counter arguments by opponents that the project is not actually a rental townhome project but an apartment project. He said the parcels would be subdivided into fee-simple lots incorporating duplex units with a shared interior wall, consistent with the commonly understood definition of townhome. He said the lots could be sold by the developer. Hearn previously has said that selling the units is an option should the developer be unable to find enough tenants, but he has said that a market study indicates sufficient demand for rental units in Accomack County. The NASA rocket facility on Wallops Island and the U.S. Navy are potential lessors, Hearn has said. • confirmed that the developer is seeking waivers on setback and minimum lot sizes. • said that planned access points off State Line Road and Captain’s Corridor are in accord with Virginia Department of Transpiration rules. • repeated that the Aqua Virginia, the water and sewer utility in Captain’s Cove, is a public company regulated by Virginia and that it operates “a central water and sewer system” that has capacity to accommodate both the townhome project and future build-out in Captain’s Cove. • said that each unit will have garages and driveways and that there will be guest parking available in the area set aside for commercial development. • confirmed that the townhomes will not have backyards. Instead, what might have been fenced-in backyards will be open common area accessible to renters. • said the initial intent has been to offer one-year leases, but that the U.S. Navy might want to lock-in fiveyear leases for its personnel. Hearn said that it has taken Captain’s Cove 40 years to reach 1,200 lots built out, with 2,000 lots still buildable. Should Aqua need additional land for rapid infiltration basins to dispose of treated wastewater, it has acquired land in sections 14 and 15 for that purpose, he said. Opponents repeated talking points from the earlier public hearings, questioning whether the projTo Page 48
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Captain’s Cove Community Bulletin Board
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Mariner project
Broadband build-out to begin in late April/early May, says ESVBA’s Bridgham
From Page 46
ect meets the definition of village overlay zone in the county code. They said that if the county Board of Supervisors approves the proposed rezoning and requested waivers, opponents will sue to overturn those decisions in Accomack County Circuit Court. The case would involve competing interpretations of the county code as it relates to village overlay zones and how much flexibility that designation provides for waivers and other exceptions that might not be permitted in a conventional R-1 zone. The planning commission is tasked with making a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors on whether to accept or reject the proposed rezoning and waivers. There’s no immediate indication on when the planning commissioners will vote on a recommendation to the supervisors.
VATI Grant ‘paperwork’ delays construction launch
By TOM STAUSS Publisher onstruction on the build-out of Captain’s Cove fiber optic network to supply long-awaited high speed Internet should begin in late April or early May, says Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority Executive Director Robert Bridgham. He was invited to the Feb. 21 managers meeting in Captain’s Cove to update the community on the status of the project, which he had hoped would have started by now. ESVBA completed fiber installation from one end of Captain’s Corridor to the other last year, but state grant money is enabling the build-out of fiber optic throughout the rest of Captain’s Cove. Virginia announced that Accomack and Northampton counties would be receiving $12.5 million in Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) for high
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speed Internet this past December. Bridgman said that ESVBA is engaged in a 90-day process of working with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to review engineering plans and contracts for high speed Internet projects in the two counties. Once contracts are signed, ESVBA will be able to break ground in Captain’s Cove, he said. Engineering of a five-phase project in Captain’s Cove has already been completed, he said, and Captain’s Cove is ESVBA’s top prority for providing high speed Internet. Bridgman said details of the five phases would be released through the Cove’s technology committee closer to the time when Internet service will be availTo Page 50
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Captain’s Cove Community Bulletin Board MARK YOUR CALENDARS ... Summer Will Be Here Soon! • Kids Fitness - Starting July 2022, 45-minute workouts • Golf Clinics for Kids - Stay Tuned for More Information • Junior Lifeguard Program - One-day Sessions July 13, July 27, August 10, Starting at 10 a.m. • Captain’s Cove Tea Party - Saturday, July 23, 1-3 p.m. Town Center. Meet Anna from Frozen & Cinderella • Family Fun Nights at the Town Center Pool Monday Nights Starting June 27 thru Aug. 15, 5-8 p.m. Featuring DJ Donny CALL 757-824-3465 to Schedule Private Lessons • Summer Swim Lessons - Starting the End of June Wednesday evenings, Saturday mornings Private Lessons Also Available.
CAPTAIN’S COVE
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT LOANER PROGRAM All items are available to Captain’s Cove residents free of charge. Items must be returned when no longer needed. To obtain any of the items listed below or if you have questions, please call Dave Gladysiewicz, 757-824-5264, or Barry Magrogran, 540-691-6201
• 2 hospital beds with side tray, mattress, sheets & side rails 6 wheels chairs • 6 roll-around walkers • 1 stand-up wheeled walker 8 regular walkers • 6 shower/tub seats with or without backs 5 adjustable toilet seats • 8 regular canes • 4 quad canes 7 assorted crutches • 2 grabber tool This program is made possible by the countless residents of Captain’s Cove who have donated all the medical equipment, Captain’s Cove management which allows us to store all the items in the Community Center and Dave Gladysiewicz and Barry Magrogran who manage and distribute the items.
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Captain’s Cove property values are soaring
From Page 48
able. ESVBA currently has 90 or so customers on Captain’s Corridor, he said. He encouraged residents to be patient and to await the availability of service down side streets. For those who can’t wait, fiber lines can be extended but at a premium, he said. Fiber optic build-out will take place quickly once it begins, he said, and should take somewhere between one year to two years at the most to complete, with availability of materials a possible area of concern. He said ESVBA has sufficient fiber optic cable and other materials to get a good start on the project, with more materials on order. He also said that ESVBA continues to work with CCG Note to finalize access agreements and to locate a staging area where construction equipment and materials can be stored. During the managers’ meeting, Senior General Manager Colby Phillips disclosed that: • Repair and resurfacing of the s-curve in the vicinity of the Maintenance Building will be delayed until some time in April. She’s awaiting specific dates from the contractor, which will be announced in e-blasts to the community. • She and the management team is awaiting bids on the new golf cart barn, a key component of the Town Center redevelopment project that should be completed this year. A separate pumphouse and bathrooms for the Town Center pool will be located near the present location of a mail pavilion, which she said would be moved to the Marina Club area. • She’s been working on new charts detailing progress on capital expenditure (Cap-X) projects, which she displayed during the meeting. • While access to the Cove pools by CCGYC members are free of charge, she will be presenting a fee structure for non-members to the Board of Directors for approval. The guest-of-member fees, which were approved by the board at its Feb. 24 meeting, are $4 daily, $10 weekly, $35 monthly and $400 annually. For renters or for others who don’t own property in Captain’s Cove, the approved rates are $10 for daily access, $50 for weekly access and $600 for an annual pass. • the Cove operates a Medical Equipment Loaner Program through the CERT committee.
By TOM STAUSS Publisher t a Feb. 21 constituents meeting in Captain’s Cove, Accomack County Board of Supervisors President Ron Wolff disclosed new information on property values in Captain’s Cove from the latest reassessment, which the county does every two years. Captain’s Cove in combination with nearby Greenbackville leads all communities in the county in the growth in property values since the previous reassessment, Wolff said. Property values have grown from $234,661,600 to $306,887,200 from 2020 to 2022, a 30.8 percent increase, he said. Behind Captain’s Cove is Chincoteague, which had a 19.2 percent increase in valuations during that period. Overall, the county experienced a 8.9 percent increase in property values, Wolff said. Most of the meeting was devoted to what Wolff described as the most difficult budget process he’s encountered in the 20 years he’s served on the Board of Supervisors. He was referring to the 2022-23 fiscal year budget for Accomack County, which he expects will be approved in the amount of roughly $82 million. Key points during his presentation: • The supervisors likely will not raise the property tax rate of 61 cents per $100 of assessed values, Wolff said. The rate was last increased in 2016 to accommodate increases in emergency medical services (EMS). Property taxes will be rise for most Cove residents because of increases in property values, he acknowledged. • The proposed budget as currently configured allocates 26 percent to schools, 22.8 percent to Public Works, 22 percent to public safety/EMS, 8.9 to health services, 6.8 percent to general administration, and 2.5 percent for the judicial system, Wolff said. • The proposed budget resumes funding for the county’s rainy fund in the amount of $865,000. The payments were suspended during the covid pandemic, but the supervisors want to resume contributions in order to reach a $16-18 million reserve established as a goal when the fund was set up 12 years ago, Wolff said. • A reduction in the state sales tax proposed by new Gov. Virginia Glenn Youngkin could cost Accomack County about $1.5 million in tax revenue, Wolff said, adding that the county is hoping there will be some accommodation made to offset the potential lost revenue. Accomack relies heavily on sales taxes levied on groceries, and that the proposed “grocery tax” reduction will hurt more rural county governments without a large retail store tax base, he said. • Accomack is known as a county where it’s possible to buy cheap cigarettes, but it’s likely that a pack of cigarettes will cost tobacco devotees an extra 40 cents beginning July 1, Wolff said. A new state law or regulation -- Wolff wasn’t clear -- allows counties to levy taxes on cigarettes up to 60 cents. Wolff said that the new 40 cent county cigarette levy compares favorably to other nearby counties, citing Worcester County’s tax of $3.50 per pack.
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Those in need of this equipment can reach out to Dave Gladysiewics, at 757-824-5264, or Barry Magrogram at 540-691-6021. • A CPR-AED training course will be offered in the Cove on April 9, with the Cove security and food and beverage staff signed up. It’s also open to any Cove resident. General Manager Justin Wilder announced that: • No ECC violations were ready for hearings at the February meeting but some would be scheduled for March. • There’s a push under way to update member information using the new Appfolio software, specifically linking each property in the Cove to a street address rather than lot and section number. “I’ve been wanting to do this for years,” he said, adding that once this updating is complete, the process of
applying for ECC services, tracking ECC violations, and making payments “will be forever available” on the Cove Website, he said. • The separate Cove and Cove golf course Websites are in the process of being combined. • The member forum on the Website is close to launch, awaiting board approval of a code of conduct. In other disclosures at the meeting: • Food and Beverage Sales Manager Julia Knopf said that a new point of sale (POS) system called Toast for the Marina Club should be operational by mid-March, thanking members for their patience as the team works through issues with credit card payments with the current POS system. The Toast POS system will be linked to the Cove Website, which will make it possible for members to
order on-line. • Golf Course Superintendent Andrew Leach said he and his staff is repairing equipment and getting ready for the spring and summer golf season. • Maintenance Manager Jimmy Giddings said the weather has been hard on the Marina Club, so his team has been spending a lot of time on clean-up and ceiling and dry-wall repairs. Dredging in the canals is awaiting the arrival of a new motor for the push boat used for dredging, he said. • Chief of Security John Costello said that 22 or 23 feral cats have been seen in the Brigantine Boulevard area. Working with the Northern Accomack County Community Cats organization, staff will be rounding up the cats for neutering and later return to the area. “No more litters,” he said.
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