March - Early April 2014
Vol. 9, No. 12
410-641-6029
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress Residents cry foul over removal of problem geese
THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY
STAYING THE COURSE Board super majority opposed to leasing golf course Negotiations over management agreement with Billy Casper Golf continue
By TOM STAUSS Publisher t appears that the Ocean Pines Association will be in the golf business for at least another year, as five members of the Board of Directors in a work session March 5 indicated their preference for continuing to run the course through Billy Casper Golf, the company that’s been directly in charge of managing the course for the past three years. Director Marty Clarke told his colleagues that he plans to offer a motion later in March that would require the OPA to draft a Request for Proposal (RFP) inviting golf course management companies or even
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OPA President Tom Terry meets with three corporations and one individual to explore lease option, contending that interest wanes when financial information is disclosed. Clarke says Terry’s effort was half-hearted and vows to pursue lease effort because he fears the alternative, possible closure of the course resulting from a referendum of property owners. groups of golfers to submit proposals to lease the course from the OPA, with the purpose of relieving Ocean Pines property owners of costs related to subsidizing persistent operating losses and related expenditures at Ocean Pines’ 18hole Robert Trent Jones golf course. But because of timing and other concerns, a super majority of directors pushed back against the proposed RFP and its defeat seems virtually assured should Clarke present it for a vote at the board’s March 19 regular meeting, as he said he would do. Only Director Jack Collins still seemed interested in joining Clarke to pursue the lease option, and he, too, told the Progress that he has concerns about launching an effort to solicit proposals through the RFP process this close to the launch of another season of golf. OPA General Manager Bob Thompson told the directors that even discussing the possibility of leasing would be sending the wrong message out in the marketplace, just as Ocean Pines’ reputation as a golfing destination is recovering from a rocky few years of course disruption, including a
green reconstruction project that closed nine holes of the course in beginning in 2012 through June of last year. He called the idea of pursuing lease proposals at this time short-sighted and the messaging “horrible” and also an insult to members of the course who have been loyal to Ocean Pines throughout a difficult period of million-dollar-plus investment in the golf course. He also said that it would jeopardize the continuation of solid spring bookings from golf promoters such as Pam’s Golf. He said should the course be leased out, the OPA would be morally bound to return the fees paid by lifetime members – at last count there are 20 – whose contributions helped pay for the green replacement project that cost roughly $900,000. Thompson further argued that last year’s $500,000 operating loss was no surprise, that the directors knew there would be a financial hit from closing nine holes at a time for an extended period of time. Not known was the extent of it, he said. “We should stay the course for one year,” Thompson said, with only Clarke among the directors arguing passionately for a course correction. OPA President Tom Terry told the board that, after a meeting with Ocean To Page 17
A proposal to reduce the goose population at the Ocean Pines Association’s ponds by euthanizing many of the birds that now call the community home has many residents honking in anger. The option of killing geese in order to control their numbers is just one of several alternatives under consideration by the OPA, but it is the only one that residents are calling “fowl.” ~ Page 3
GM cuts two months from Country Club winter schedule When Ocean Pines Association General Manager Bob Thompson opted in early February to shut down the food and beverage operation on the upper level of the Ocean Pines Country Club, he did so to cut his losses. That he did so without first clearing the decision with the OPA Board of Directors caused a flurry of attention on oceanpinesforum.org, a Web site devoted to opinion about the Ocean Pines community, and a negative reaction from one OPA director, frequent Thompson critic Marty Clarke. ~ Page 18
Board adopts some fee increases, lowers assessments
All of General Manager Bob Thompson’s proposed amenity fee increases were adopted when the Ocean Pines Association budget for Fiscal Year 2014-15 was approved Feb. 22 by the Board of Directors. At the same time, the directors actually lowered the base lot assessment from $914 to $909, the first time ever in the history of Ocean Pines that a board has reduced assessments year-over-year. Aquatics membership fees will remain as is, while golf and tennis are on tap for across the board increases. Board of Directors. ~ Page 24
Heating/Cooling System Broke Down? Need Immediate Service?