September 2024 Ocean Pines Progress

NFL SUNDAY TICKET

Election turn-out best in years

What had been shaping up as a relatively low turn-out election as of July 20 turned out not to be. After all the votes were counted, 42.2 percent of eligible Ocean Pines Association voters cast ballots for the two vacancies on the Board of Directors contested.

Incumbents Rick Farr and Jeff Heavner were re-elected, with 1,933 and 1,866 votes respectively.

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Lakernick, Farr switch roles as president, vice-president of OPA

Latham, Rakowski to continue as secretary, treasurer; other positions remain the same as this past year

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Ocean Pines Association director Rick Farr, who served as OPA president this past year, and Stuart Lakernick, who served as vice-president, have switched roles for the 2024-25 Board of Directors term.

In the organizational meeting that took place in the Administration Building Board room on Aug. 23, Farr nominated Lakernick for president, and a 7-0 vote followed to elect him with no other nominations.

Director Jeff Heavner then followed suit by nominating Farr for vice-president.

That, too, resulted in a unani-

Rick Farr Stuart Lakernick

mous vote to elect Farr as vice-president.

Farr and Heavner were reelected in this summer’s Board election.

There was no change in the directors serving as secretary and treasurer of the association.

New cell tower talks continue

Director John Latham was elected secretary and Monica Rakowski treasurer, by the same 7-0 unanimity.

Other Board appointments included OPA Director of Business Operations Linda Martin as assistant secretary, Director of Finance/ Controller Steve Phillips as assistant treasurer, UHY as the auditing firm, Bruce Bright (Ayres, Jenkins, Gordy and Almand) as legal counsel, and former OPA Director and President Doug Parks as parliamentarian.

All served in the same roles this past year.

Directors also set the regular Board meeting schedule for the next

The Ocean Pines Association continues to pursue options to improve cell reception in the community. A meeting in Snow Hill on Aug. 8 included Police Chief Tim Robinson, General Manager John Viola, Director of Business Administration Linda Martin, County Commissioners Chip Bertino and Jim Bunting, Sheriff Crisafulli and others from the county.

Chief Robinson is concerned that residents could be having issues with accessing 911 in Ocean Pines.

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Board reorganization

From Page 1

year, all Saturday meetings beginning at 9 a.m. in the Golf Clubhouse meeting room.

Dates are Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 23, Dec. 21, Jan. 25, Feb. 22, March 29, April 26, May 24, June 28, and July 26.

The annual meeting of the association is scheduled for Aug. 9 next year.

After the meeting, in an informal discussion of meeting attendees, one media representative suggested that Lakernick serving as president this coming year could help him if he decides to run for re-election to the Board, as is expected.

Farr as president this past year received a lot of media attention that Lakernick did not as vice president.

OPA presidents typically serve as the official Board spokesperson, and Farr was often quoted in the media.

Lakernick often volunteered a joking “no comment” when in the presence of the media this past year.

The directors who heard the com-

Lakernick outlines primary goals for coming year

Says predecessor Rick Farr did an ‘amazing job’ as OPA president this past year

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

In a somewhat surprising move, then President Rick Farr nominated Stuart Lakernick to be the next president of the Ocean Pines Association during the Board of Directors organizational meeting on Aug. 23.

Elected to the Board of Directors in 2022, he was OPA vice president this past year, with Rick Farr serving as president. Lakernick will be in the third year of his Board term this coming year and is expected to be a candidate for reelection next summer.

He is no stranger to boards, as he has served on the board of his local Rotary Club and the Lions Club in Pennsylvania, where he has home with with his wife, Esther Diller and dog Max. He travels regular-

ment about the presidency aiding Lakernick’s expected reelection bid did not affirm that that was part of

8/19/24 3:19 PM OC Progress Ad Sep ember 2024 FINAL png

ly between his home in Pennsylvania and the one in Ocean Pines. Dr. Lakernick is a chiropractor with a practice located in Trevose, PA.

He and Diller have owned a house in Ocean Pines since 2013.

He considers himself a cheerleader for Ocean Pines and truly loves the community. He frequently posts on the Get Involved Facebook page from various locations in Ocean Pines, including the Worcester County Veterans Memorial, the Dog Park (with Max), the community garden and this year’s new sunflower garden at the North Entrance to Ocean Pines.

He volunteers in activities promoted through the Get Involved Facebook page, which Diller runs. He was recently involved in Operation Flip Flop, to col-

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the Board’s thinking in opting for Lakernick as president this coming year.

But some of them laughed at the suggestion, and no one pushed back against it.

Lakernick goals

From Page 3

lect beach towels and other summer items for children through Worcester County GOLD. Lakernick and the group will be partnering again this year with Steel Blu Vodka on a care package project for the military on Oct. 13 at the Yacht Club.

Lakernick said he is honored to be chosen as president of the OPA. He is looking forward to another successful year for Ocean Pines.

“Rick did an amazing job as president over the last year and has set me up for success. I may be the face of the Ocean Pines Board for this year, but all of us make the decisions. I am blessed with six other incredible folks on this Board who all work for the betterment of Ocean Pines.”

He also recognized the operations team, including General Manager John Viola, Linda Martin and all of the directors and staff.

“We work really well with the General Manager. We have a collaborative effort,” he said. “I am looking forward to continuing the programs and processes that we started, which have led to impressive economic growth, healthy investments, and kept our assessments low.”

The board, under Lakernick’s leadership, has a full agenda for the coming year.

He is focused on next steps in getting a new Southside firehouse built. “The memorandum of understanding was the first key step to get the building started,” Lakernick said.

OPA homeowners will vote on a referendum question during next year’s elections to approve the funding of the fire house.

While the details of the funding have not been fully worked out, the board has empowered General Manager John Viola to deal with the nuts and bolts of getting it done, Lakernick said.

Another focus is the Matt Ortt contact for food and beverage management in Ocean Pines.

“We have heard nothing but rave reviews of his management of all three of our food outlets. We want to continue that process and that relationship,” he said.

The irrigation system for the golf course will continue to be a top priority.

“The golf course is the economic engine that is generating our continued low assessment fees,” Lakernick said. “This is now a destination golf course, and we have set records of play almost every weekend this summer.”

Ocean Pines is continuing to address the drainage issue around the community. Lakernick said that Viola found a company that re-lines drainage pipes, which has saved the community significant money over the past few years.

He also expects to see more electronic signs in the community. One was placed this year at the North Entrance to Ocean Pines. The signs can save a lot of staff hours, as the staff does not have to go out to regularly change the letters on the manual signs.

Lakernick said the exact locations have not been determined yet for the additional signs.

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Yacht Club Pool to stay open past Labor Day weekend

The Ocean Pines Yacht Club Pool will remain open an additional weekend in September, open from Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., each day. The pool will be open during Labor Day Weekend from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and then closed Tuesday Sept. 3 through Thursday, Sept. 5.

General Manager John Viola credited Aquatics Department staff and said keeping the pool open later into the season will help enhance the customer experience.

“We were able to find staff to make this possible, and we believe this will provide our homeowners with even more opportunities to enjoy our amenities,” he said.

Lakernick is considering meeting with the executive council (chairs of the advisory committees) twice a year instead of once a year. He hopes this will help get more things done in the community. He does not see any major changes in the future with the committee structure or process.

Lakernick’s first Board meeting where he will preside as president is Sept. 28 at 9 a.m. at the golf clubhouse.

“I welcome input from any of our members on how we can make Ocean Pines work better,” he said.

Incumbents Farr and Heavner look ahead after convincing wins in Board election

Southside firehouse, drainage top objectives

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

Ocean Pines residents turned out in record numbers for this year’s Board of Directors election, re-electing Rick Farr and Jeff Heavner. A total of 3,280 lot owners voted in the elections. Rick Farr was the top vote getter with 1,933 votes. Jeff Heavner received 1,868 votes. Both incumbents earned three-year terms.

“This is a record participation in over five years,” Heavner said.

According to the Election Committee, 27.7 percent of votes were cast on-line.

“Internet voting is here to stay. We will have both paper and on-line voting available for the next election and future elections,” Rick Farr said. He noted that on-line votes can be audited, a concern that some community members have had.

“The affirmation from the community is fantastic. We truly make a difference and they see us focused

on business and nothing else. The previous board really set us up for success and we just have taken it to the next level,” Heavner said.

“I believe that together, and working in partnership with our General Manager we can continue to achieve great things and make a meaningful impact on the lives of all Ocean Pines residents,” Farr said.

“I think the message in this election was they want to continue seeing this board’s relentless approach in setting policy and wisely spending in support of our strategic pillars which include quality governance, exceptional safety, top tier amenities, disciplined infrastructure maintenance and admired community appearance,” Heavner said.

The Progress met with Heavner and Farr to get their take on the election and the year ahead.

Heavner expects the board to focus on moving forward with the South Side firehouse.

“We need to start educating the

association about the safety benefits of what we have approved so we can get that referendum approved next election cycle,” he said.

Drainage continues to be an issue in Ocean Pines. Heavner noted that the board approved funding to ensure the primary drainage pipes are working. CPI is relining the pipes, which according to Heaver will make the 50 year old pipes like new again. The next step is secondary drainage or berms in front of homes need to be kept clear and drain into the primary drainage pipes.

“This is the initial response to all drainage. If you cannot get the majority of the water out of the lots, the rest of the drainage will not work,” Heavner said.

He also expects to focus on the food and beverage contract, which is set to expire in 2025, and complete the racquet sports building renovation, which he said will commence once the high season is over.

Heavner expects to see continued

efforts in community beautification.

“John has such a great handle on this,” he said.

“What goes hand in hand with this, if we approve the remainder of electronic signs, we will take out the other signs in the median, which will beautify this place.”

He would also like to see some effort to beautify the racquet swim club grounds.

Farr passed the baton to Stuart Lakernick during the Organizational Meeting on Aug. 23, nominating him to be the next president of the Ocean Pines Association.

“I have enjoyed serving our Ocean Pines community in many capacities on the board as the Secretary, Vice President and as President this past year and had great success with our accomplishments that make our community an incredible place to live.

“It is a perfect opportunity for Stuart to show the Ocean Pines community his leadership capabilities in leading our board and our association.

“Stuart has served as Vice President last year and has done an outstanding job in that position; he is ready to lead our board and our

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Aquatics Committee wants faster progress on maintenance issues

From Page 4

Lakernick downplays criticism, says panel has moved on

By ROTA L KNOTT

Contributing Writer

community this next year. As Vice President, I will be there to assist him any way I can to ensure he is successful,” Farr said.

After learning that a mobility-challenged swimmer was stuck in the Swim and Racquet Club pool for a short time because the handicapped accessible pool chair was broken, the Aquatics Advisory Committee wanted to make sure that the equipment is being properly maintained.

Farr is most proud of two accomplishments as president: the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Fire Department to move forward with plans to build a new South Station Firehouse and securing a long-term contract with General Manager John Viola.

OPA election turn-out best in five years

may not have been able to carry the person out of the water because of the narrow width of the pool stairs, he said. Miller called the stairs narrow, rickety, and dangerous.

The committee listed several repairs as having no progress being made, including a rusted file cabinet in the Sports Core Pool, a cement pad around the Sports Core Pool that is cracked and flaky, the steps into the pool at the Swim and Racquet Club.

The steps are on hold until the end of the summer season.

Farr with 1,933 votes and Heavner with 1,866 votes win reelection to OPA Board

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Committee members have suggested that structural improvements may be necessary to ensure lifeguards working at the Ocean Pines Association’s pools can assist people in getting out of the water when equipment break-downs occur.

Committee Member Em Hench said the stairs have been a safety concern for years. She agreed that the stairs are narrow and said children play and congregate on them, making it hard for swimmer who are mobility challenged to get in and out of the pool.

Maintenance of aquatics facilities was on the mind of committee members during their June 21 meeting as well. They discussed on-going safety issues, including the steps at Swim and Racquet Club Pool and a cracked outdoor surface at Sports Core Pool. At that meeting the group discussed taking a pool tour to assess need for safety improvements.

What had been shaping up as a relatively low turn-out election as of July 20 turned out not to be. After all the votes were counted, 42.2 percent of eligible Ocean Pines Association voters cast ballots for the two vacancies on the Board of Directors contested.

During the committee’s July 10 meeting, Committee Chairman Gary Miller brought up the incident in which a swimmer used the handicapped accessible chair to get into the pool, but then something happened to the chair.

His priorities as vice president include locking in a new long-term food and beverage contract and the completion of the racquet sports building remodel and the Veterans Memorial Foundation pavilion. He also will prioritize the funding of Phase 2 of the golf course irrigation system replacement.

Committee Member Steve Ransdell said the OPA needs to ensure it is complying with the American with Disabilities Act compliance so people who need assistance can get in and out of the pool. He said if the lift chair doesn’t work there has to be a Plan B.

that as of a few days prior, out of 7,777 ballots sent out to OPA members in good standing, 667 had been cast on-line and 1,780 paper ballots had been returned to the OPA’s elections vendor, MK Elections of Pittsburgh, Pa.

Committee members agreed that a wider, more stable set of steps may be a solution to these issues.

That was a total of 2,447 votes, a participation rate of a little more than 28 percent. It didn’t include any paper ballots deposited in the police depart-

“The chair wasn’t functioning properly, and they couldn’t get back out,” he said.

As has been widely reported in local media, incumbents Rick Farr and Jeff Heavner were re-elected, with 1,933 and 1,866 votes respectively. Second tier candidates Amy Peck and Sherrie Clifford, running as a ticket, earned 1,270 and 936 votes, respectively.

The swimmer opted to stay in pool and wait for someone to come and repair the chair, which took 15 to 20 minutes, Miller said. But, if the chair wasn’t able to be repaired quickly, the lifeguards

“I am honored to be on our Board and to work alongside my fellow board colleagues, our General Manager, the OPA staff, and you to make our community a better place for everyone,” he said.

Jerry Murphy won 293 votes.

At the Board’s July 20 monthly meeting, Elections Committee chair Steve Ransdell had reported

The committee’s July meeting agenda included an outgoing list of maintenance and repairs that it is tracking. Those projects were a broken gate at Mumford’s Landing Pool and a bare pipe without a shower head in the ladies locker room, both of which were repaired.

ment dropbox.

Committee Board Liaison Stuart Lakernick said the criticism by some committee members of the pace of fixing maintenance issues has been overblown. And it’s not all about complaints, according to Lakernick. He noted that the committee is very impressed with the fact that Aquatics Director Kathleen Cook has been able to reach a full complement of guards for the summer.

Last year’s Board election had a participation rate of 38.4 percent, wth 2,993 votes cast out of those eligible.

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“We’re moving on,” he said of the maintenance issues, adding that “we’re having good discussions about possible tweaks to aquatics memberships and options, including the possibility of a attractively priced weekly membership for guests of OPA  members who aren’t prepaid annual or seasonal aquatics members. A special rate for grandparents is also under consideration,” he said.

To

Kenny Mostern, of MK Elections

Vote count

From Page 6

This year’s participation rate of 42.2 percent was the highest in at least five years, Ransdell said in an Aug. 22 interview. He said he wasn’t sure there was a surge of voting in the two weeks leading up to the vote count, because the vendor did not provide frequent updates on the number of ballots cast.

The police station ballots were not accounted for until the day of the vote count, Ransdell said.

He also fine-tuned the number of ballots sent out during the election. He said that 7,487 ballot packages were sent out in the initial mailing in June, with an additional 290 sent out after eligibility was restored for affected owners. That totaled the 7,777 reported earlier.

During the election process, six additional ballots were issued to voters deemed eligible, so total ballots issued was actually 7,783, he said, with 3,283 ballots voting, resulting in a 42.2 percent participation rate.

When ballots were counted Aug. 8 at the offices of MK Elections, with live streaming on a big screen at the Golf Clubhouse and available via a Zoom feed to OPA members, MK Elections executive Kenny Mostern reported that there had been 3,282 ballots cast out of the 7,783 sent out. Ransdell later said the actual number was 3,283.

About 2,400 of these ballots were paper ballots, Mostern said, which means that there would have been about 880 cast on-line. The on-line vote was just under 25 percent of the total, reinforcing the notion that this method of voting is popular with a wide swath of the OPA membership. Still, voting by paper ballot is preferred by a substantial majority of members.

Both options are likely to continue for the forseeable future.

With two openings on the board, there was a maximum of 6,564 votes that could have been cast for the five candidates running for the two vacancies.

According to Mostern, there were 4,557 paper ballot votes counted at the offices of MK Elections, along with 1,743 on-line votes, for a total of 6,300 votes that were counted.

That the actual number of votes cast was less than the maximum possible is one way to conclude that an election was handled properly.

Mostern said that 19 ballots -one paper and 18 on-line -- were blank, and 13 paper ballots were in-

validated.

At the outset of the vote count around noon on Aug. 8, Mostern reported that 22 property owners had voted on-line and by paper ballot. He said that paper ballots cast by these voters were excluded from the final count.

At a little after 1 p.m., Mostern reported that all of the ballots had been separated from the outer envelope and that the actual vote count would commence.

At 2:30 p.m., Mostern returned to

the screen and reported that scanning of ballots was well under way and that the results were “already straightforward,” which suggested to some observors that he was well aware of the trend and that the outcome of the election wouldn’t be particularly close.

Election Committee Board liaison John Latham said at the time that the committee would meet at 5 p.m. to adjudicate any questionable ballots.

When the meeting reconvened,

Mostern committed a blunder that somewhat undermined the smooth running of the process, displaying a spread sheet of the results before adjudication. Rick Farr with 1,897 pre-adjudication votes and Jeff Heavner with 1,833 vote were substantially in the lead, with no way for candidates Amy Peck or Sherrie Clifford to catch up.

Although he quickly removed the spreadsheet from the display, the election outcome was effectively re-

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Vote count

From Page 9

vealed. Ransdell briefly scolded Mostern for the mishap and urged those who were viewing the process in person or on-line not to post the preliminary results on social media. That plea for the most part was respected, although shortly after 5 p.m. Clifford posted a message on social media thanking her supporters and conceding the election to Farr and Heavner.

After that mishap, the committee debated whether to count ballots in which a bar code on the ballot had been crossed out by the voter, apparently under the mistaken belief that it somehow identified the voter. Mostern said the code did not identify who case the ballot and was in no way related to a code that appeared on the outer envelope.

While at least one committee member said that the 45 or 50 ballots with the ballot bar code crossed or cut out shouldn’t be counted, the committee by consensus agreed that they should be, since the intent of the voter was clear.

Of those 50 ballots, there was some evidence of ticket-splitting by a few voters -- with one vote cast for Rick Farr and the other for Amy Peck, who were running on competing “tickets” for the two Board vacancies.

Four ballots remained to be adjudicated. Mostern said that the outer envelope contained two ballots.

Without much debate, committee members agreed these ballots shouldn’t be counted.

After adjudication, Mostern posted the final results on screen.

Farr was the top vote getter with 1,933 votes, 1,416 cast on paper and 517 online.

Heavner was second with 1,866 votes, 1,374 on paper and 494 on-line.

As there were two vacancies to be filled in this summer’s election, the three other candidates were unsuccesful in their attempts to earn a Board seat.

First runner-up was Peck, who had 908 paper ballot votes and 362 online votes, for a total of 1,270. Clifford followed with 648 votes cast by paper ballot and 362 online, for a total of 936.

Jerry Murphy had a total of 293 votes, 211 cast by paper and 82 online.

Clifford told the Progress that she was pleased with her support as a first-time candidate.

As chief executive of the Residents Oversight Community Facebook page and related media, she said she would continue to monitor OPA affairs and was not planning to move out of Ocean Pines, as some critics have suggested she would.

Kerrie Bunting to leave Chamber presidency

To join Coastal Hospice as ‘advance director’

Worcester County Chamber of Commerce in Ocean Pines President Kerrie Bunting is leaving her position after six years of service, according to Derrick Elzey, chairman of Chamber board of directors.

Bunting will be joining Coastal Hospice as an advance director, handling marketing and similar duties, beginning in late September, she told the Progress in an Aug. 30 interview.

“Kerrie has decided to pursue an opportunity that aligns perfectly with the next chapter of her life. This decision was not made lightly, as her commitment to our chamber and the business community has always been a top priority,” Elsey said in his statement.

He said that under her leadership, the Chamber has “ seen significant strides in economic development, community engagement, and partner support. Her passion for providing real-time updates and her visionary approach to economic growth have been instrumental in driving our Chamber forward over the years. While it will be challenging to find someone as dedicated and innovative, we fully support her decision and wish her nothing but success in her future endeavors.”

The Chamber is now embarking on a search for a new leader. Interested candidates should send their resumés to Elzey at derrick@ myberlinagent.com once the job description is posted.

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

TCell tower talks continue

he Ocean Pines Association continues to pursue options to improve cell reception in the community. A meeting in Snow Hill on Aug. 8 included Chief Tim Robinson, General Manager John Viola, Director of Business Administration Linda Martin, County Commissioners Chip Bertino and Jim Bunting, Sheriff Crisafulli and others from the county.

This is the second meeting since Chief Robinson engaged in the issue due to his concern that residents could be having issues with accessing 911 in the community.

“The meeting was extremely positive and productive. We have some realistic options we are looking at right now,” Robinson said.

“A lot of it goes back to working with the carriers and the contractors who can come in and assist us now.” Robinson said they are looking at a number of areas on county and Ocean Pines property.

Some options being considered, according to Bertino, include the property in front of the Ocean Pines Post office, which is owned by the association, behind the OPA administration building or on the water towers in Ocean Pines. One location he ruled out was the county-owned Ocean Pines wastewater treatment plant, which has been looked at in prior years and is a favored location of at some cell phone companies.

“We have limited real estate there. If we have a tower there, our options are limited,” Bertino said. “The regulatory environment gets more strict with time. We don’t know

Dropped

cell calls in a fire emergency put home

in peril

Pines resident survived ordeal thanks to Ebert, her pet dog, and a neighbor

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

It was Aug. 5 at 2 pm. Barbara Porter had just taken her dog Ebert out for a long walk. She was back in her office in the front of her house on Ivanhoe Road focusing on a writing project.

“I was in the zone,” Porter said.

“Ebert put his head on my lap and started whimpering,” Porter said. He had already been out so she did not understand why he was behaving this way. “Then he stepped back and did a full-on bark.”

She looked up and saw smoke filling her office. She ran out to the back of the house, where they had recently completed an addition and smoke was going straight up the back of the house.

“The living room was filling up with smoke,” Porter said. She grabbed Ebert’s leash and called 911. She could not get through.

Page 12

what the future will hold. We cannot limit our options.”

Traditional towers are not the only option for Ocean Pines. There are also monopole cell towers and lattice cell towers, both of which have much smaller bases, and stealth or hidden towers, which do not look overtly like cell towers, and are therefore more aesthetically pleasing.

“We all recognize that this is an issue,” Bertino said, who is an Ocean Pines resident. “Anything we can do to help we will do.”

“The GM takes this issue very seriously,” Josh Davis, the Director of Public Relations and Marketing said. “We’ve had productive talks with the county, and we continue to explore every option to help improve the issue of poor cellphone reception in Ocean Pines.

“That will include discussions with cell carriers, tower contractors, and continued talks with the county. Unfortunately, there’s not an overnight solution, but we will continue to do our due diligence on behalf of our homeowners.”

“This has been years in the making. We will not be able to fix this overnight. I am hoping by next summer we can have some solutions in place,” Robinson said.

Barbara Porter and hero pet Ebert

To

Then she stepped out on the deck and made a second attempt. As she ran down the stairs, she saw flames. She said the address and fire before she got disconnected. She could not get through again.

Fortunately, a neighbor riding her bike passed the house and saw what was happening and called 911 for her. She was able to get through and emergency services called her number back as well.

She tried to call her husband, but that call did not go through either.

“We had been having prior problems with dropped and connecting calls,” Porter said. Her husband, Jerry Green, contacted their carrier, AT&T. He was informed that they have two towers that are down in this area and they will not be restored until October.

Green was told to keep wifi calling on and not to be on roam when making calls.

Porter is grateful to the Ocean Pines Fire Department, which quickly arrived. She is also grateful for her neighbors, who came out with

Sunflowers bring joy to Ocean Pines residents

Field greets residents as they cross North Gate bridge

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

Afield of sunflowers came into full bloom at the North Gate of Ocean Pines in August.

This is just the latest in General Manager John Viola’s ongoing beautification initiatives for the community.

Beautification efforts to date have included sprucing up the North and South gate entrances with seasonal plantings, cherry trees at the entrances and at Veterans Memorial Park, additional holiday lighting and decorations, replacement and renovation of several entrance signs throughout the community, and a reduction of unnecessary road signs throughout the To Page 14

fire extinguishers to help before the Fire Department arrived. But she is especially grateful to Ebert.

“Ebert smelled the smoke before the smoke alarms went off,” Porter said. The alarms went off as she and

Ebert were running out of the house. That’s a good dog. As for cell service in Ocean Pines, not so much.

The North Gate sunflowers garden is the latest beautification project in Ocean Pines.

Committee chairman Tim Peck resigns after expressing frustration with OPA hierarchy

Heavner defends process by committees to communicate with Board, staff

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

Tim Peck, the chair of the Ocean Pines Environment and Natural Assets Advisory Committee abruptly resigned from the committee after its July meeting in which he read a statement highlighting the “frustration, disappointment and disillusionment” of committee members.

“I am highly concerned about morale,” Peck said.

“All committee members are intelligent and thoughtful people with keen observation powers who have seen some level of dysfunction or disrespect in the OPA responses to committee actions and inquiries,” Peck said.

“There must be some change in

the governance process to make it real. Otherwise, this committee becomes obsolete,” Peck said.

The committee members were specifically upset about the removal of five geese and duck crossing sandwich board signs, with no notice to the committee, from locations around the South Gate. Some of the signs were put back in August, after his resignation.

Peck is married to Amy Peck, a former appointed member of the Board of Directors and an unsuccessful candidate for the Board this past summer. Amy Peck was a frequent critic of Board processes and policies, but was unable to parlay that dissenting viewpoint into a seat on the Board.

The committee advocated and re-

ceived the signs from OPA to alert drivers to the common duck and geese crossings around the southside pond.

After making inquiries through info@oceanpines.org, committee members were informed that the signs were removed because they were not on OPA property and were being repurposed elsewhere in the community.

During the July meeting, other members of the committee expressed their own frustrations with General Manager John Viola, the Board of Directors and Public Works related to inquiries about tree cutting and egg addling to control the geese problem around the ponds.

Jeff Heavner is the OPA Board liaison for this committee and attend-

Sunflowers

community.

The sunflowers started to bloom in early August and were enjoyed for the entire month.

Admirers snapped pictures and selfies in front of the bright sunflower display throughout the month.

Viola came up with the idea to plant sunflowers at the North Gate, and Public Works executed that vision under the direction of Senior Executive Director Eddie Wells.

One of the challenges Wells faced was keeping geese away from the

ed the July meeting virtually.

“In my opinion, it was much more than frustration that was discussed. It disparaged Viola and our operations staff, it disparaged the board of directors and Public Works. We all felt that way,” Heavner said.

“We asked for Tim to write an apology. We did not ask Tim to resign. He said he would but he first said he resigned. And that is how it was left,” Heavner said.

“I am truly disappointed. Tim Peck truly wanted to be the chairperson and he was good at it. He was genuinely interested in improving our environment. Whatever possessed that display is very disappointing.” Heavner said.

Peck is not the first committee chair to express frustration with the communications process with OPA staff. Other committee chairs expressed frustration with the current chain of command during the annual executive committee meeting in March.

They requested there be ways for the committees to communicate with the staff without interfering with the

field of sunflower seeds, which was solved by installing a temporary mesh fence around the area.

The total cost of the sunflower garden was less than $500 for fertilizer, seed and fencing, according to Wells.

“We are looking at this [planting the sunflower garden again] along with expanding for next year,” Viola said.

The sunflower field was planted over the large “OP” ground sign that was a fixture on the site for years.

“We are evaluating the OP sign for the future,” Viola said, not promising to replace it.

Chairman resigns

From Page 14

Currently, Ocean Pines department heads are not permitted to attend committee meetings, although that policy is not consistent with all committees.

Bob Beckelman, the director of golf, regularly attends the golf advisory committee meetings and the Director of Finance, Steve Phillips and Viola attend the Budget and Finance Committee meetings.

There is no language in OPA governing documents prohibiting committee interactions with OPA staff. There is explicit language prohibiting committee members from giving directions or ordering staff to take action.

Heavner defended the process. He noted that some committees, like the Budget and Finance Committee, have to work directly with Phillips and Viola to get financial information.

“I think we need to do a better job at education [with the committees]. The correct flow is the liaison for the committee communicates issues from the committee to the [OPA president], who then talks to the general manager who then refers the issue to the department heads.

“It’s as simple as that and people don’t understand how simple it is.

“I follow up and they answer right away and I have the answer for the next advisory committee meeting. The level of frustration is disappointing. They had the feedback, it might not have been what they wanted to hear but they had feedback.

“I truly believe this chain of command works. There were past issues

1,595 management system.

OPA attorney nixes committee’s ‘Sunsets and Cocktails’ proposal

Bright says event could be interpreted as adults only and that would run afoul of federal law

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

Aproposal by the Ocean Pines Aquatics Advisory Committee dubbed “Sunsets and Cocktails” at the Yacht Club pool was nixed by the Ocean Pines general counsel Bruce Bright due to concerns that it could be interpreted as an adults only event and leave OPA open to possible lawsuits.

The Aquatics Committee worded its request to the Board of Directors, hoping to avoid such a decision. Last year, the committee made a similar proposal, but called it an adults only event. This year’s request, based on the previous negative response from legal counsel in 2023, was changed to welcome everyone.

“This year, we specifically tried to impress upon the board the idea that this event would not be adults only. We understand, if ‘adults only’ is not allowed by the law, it makes perfect sense that we do not do that,” Gary Miller, the chair of the Aquatics Advisory Committee, said.

In its description of the event, the 2024 proposal stated: “Host a Sunset and Cocktails event at the YC pool on an evening that does not conflict with our current Family Fun Night. With Family Fun Night being geared toward families (games, food, etc), this event would be geared more toward singles, couples and retirees with families welcome. Working with MOC [Matt Ortt Companies), this event could offer hors d’oeuvres and specialty cocktails for sale.”

that got us to this point. It is there for a reason.”

Efforts were made to contact the remaining members of the Environ-

Family Fun Nights occur weekly on Wednesday from June through August at the Yacht Club.

The committee outlined the goals of the event as threefold: “Create an evening event that would first appeal to the singles, couples and retirees in our community while remaining inclusive to our families; Charge a fee that would, at a minimum, cover the cost of lifeguards and other staff while remaining cost effective for our attendees. If the event is successful, future Sunset and Cocktails events can be offered at the Yacht Club pool on a regular basis throughout the summer to generate additional revenue for both the Aquatics department as well as MOC.”

The committee looked at the event as another benefit for pool members.

An email from Bright dated June 17 of this year reinforced his opinion from last yer.

“This latest proposal I believe could be said to have the same legality issues, since 1) a cover fee is being charged for admission and 2) the “as advertised” purpose is to create time for singles, couples, and retirees.

“Bottom line, in any event, my recommendation is to NOT go forward with this proposed idea,” he concluded.

He also referred to his opinion from 2023, which read:

“Based on my research, the OPA pools should not

To Page 18

ment and Natural Assets Advisory Committee for comment, but members stated that committee members are not permitted to speak to

the media without permission of the Board of Directors.

There’s nothing in the governing documents that say that.

have any ‘adult swim’ times or days.

“This issue has been pretty well litigated throughout the federal courts, and the rule that has been judicially established, interpreting federal statutes and regulations, is that restricting public pool access to “adults only,” in the absence of some compelling business necessity, discriminates against people and families on the basis of ‘familial status,’ which is one of the recognized ‘protected classes.’

“In short, an adults only swim time at a public pool discriminates against families and individuals that have kids, and treats them differently than those who do not have kids (i.e., on the basis of ‘familial status’.

Bright said that in his research of case law, he could not find any Fourth Circuit or Maryland (US) District Court cases addressing this issue, “but I’m confident that any ‘adults only’ period of time at OPA pools could be actionable under federal law.”

Miller noted that the 2023 opin-

ion was addressing the committee’s proposal from last year, which was explicitly adults only.

“There is currently a family fun night for anyone who wants to show up, but it is tailored to kids and families. So our thought was, if you can have an event that is geared towards families and kids but everyone is welcome, why can’t you have an event geared towards singles, couples and retirees, but also open so that anyone else who wants to show up can come?” Miller said.

It appears that the committee is aware that the proposal is not likely to be approved by the Board given the legal opinion by Bright.

“At this stage, I don’t think it would be appreciated if we made another attempt [next year]. Unless there is a Board member who is willing to take another look, the committee is not going to go back and address this again,” Miller said.

OPA President Stuart Lakernick, the committee’s Board liaison, said he would be willing to bring Bright to the next aquatics committee meeting so members could have their questions answered directly by the attorney.

A few mismatches in audit report

It can be a challenge trying to reconcile financial reporting throughout the year with official results reported by OPA auditors

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

It’s always a challenging exercise to compare the unaudited financial results from the final month of the fiscal year, April, with the financial results reported in the audit report finalized in July or August and in summaries released by the Ocean Pines Association during the August annual meeting.

For the fiscal year that ended April 30, 2024, this exercise resulted in anomalies or mismatches, which General Manager John Viola and Director of Finance Steve Phillips took pains to reconcile by responding to questions posed by the Progress.

The April, 2024, net operating schedule by department showed a net positive variance to budget of $1,233,480, and that was the operating fund “surplus” or favorable operating fund variance as Viola prefers to call it.

As is customary, the unaudited April results did not assign depreciation expense to the 20 departments that make up the OPA.

The audit report includes department schedules showing financial results before and after depreciation. An apples to apples comparison requires use of the before-depreciation numbers.

A spreadsheet produced by the Progress compared the reported unaudited results for April with department results reported in the audit report before depreciation.

One anomaly: Excluding depreciation, except in one department, the Progress spreadsheet produced a net operating number from the audit report of $794,202. This is substantially less than April’s unaudited results of $1,223,480.

Viola and Phillips insist that $794,202 is definitely not an accurate number.

A factor in the apparent anomaly is in General Administration, reported as $5,900,319 in the unaudited report from April but only $5,785,598 in the audit report.

Phillips responded to the apparent mismatch.

“The General Administrative number changed by $85,279 -- mostly reclassifications between departments, not uncommon for financial reporting -- compared to the number released in the Controller’s ReTo Page 21

as lawn maintenance and management. Property can be rented on a short term basis, such as weekly.

mismatches

From Page 18

port for April. The revised [correct] number is $5,985,598,” Phillips said. How did that $5,985,598 turn into $5,785,598 in the audit report?

Phillips offers up a reconciliation to show there is no discrepancy.

He cited a $650,000 transfer-in of prior years’ surpluses to reduce the annual lot assessment, approved by the Board in February.

“This is proof that we are lowering the assessment through prior years’ [actual to budget] favorability,” he said.

Phillips then said $450,000 in

Amenities generate $1.604 million for OPA

The 2024 audit report by UHY, LLC and discussed by firm executive Chris Hall during the annual meeting of the Ocean Pines Association Aug. 10 confirms what’s been widely reported: Rather than a drag on OPA finances, as once was commonplace, the amenities represent a real success story and make a positive contribution to the OPA’s bottom line.

Hall didn’t dwell on OPA finances, instead confirming that the audit conducted by his firm was “clean” and accurately represents OPA financial performance this past year.

It was OPA General Manager John Viola who during the annual meeting displayed a graphic indicated that OPA amenities generated a $1.604 million operating surplus in 2024. By comparison, the amenities produced an $1.596 million net for the OPA in Fiscal Year 2023, an $8,000 year over year improvement.

That qualifies as a result for the ages, by far the best financial result for the amenities since the founding of Ocean Pines more than 50 years ago.

All amenities except for platform tennis and tennis were in the black for the year.

The graphic on display during the annual and schedules contained in the audit report released before the annual meetings indicates that beach parking and golf operations continue to be the leading drivers of amenity operating surpluses.

Viola in particular credits golf, which throughout most of Ocean Pines’ history has been a financial drag on the OPA.

Viola said that investments in golf course improvements and a new golf clubhouse have yielded major dividends.

The audit report and meeting graphic indicates that golf operations earned $414,000 during the year, aquatics $4000, beach parking $538,000, marinas $197,000, the Yacht Club $158,000, the Beach Club $208,000 and the Clubhouse Grille $114,000.

Racquet sports were in the red by $29,000, with a pickleball surplus of $48,100 insufficient to offset losses in tennis and platform tennis.

casino funds were released from restriction.

Those two adjustments result in the $5,785,598 for General Administration recorded in the annual report, according to Phillips.

The police department’s operating deficit of $1,080,850 was reported in the April schedule, but is reported in the audit report as $1,181,867.

“This difference represents the Police accrual for their 401K profit sharing plan that pays out 15 percent of their salary at the end of the fiscal year,” Phillips said.

The general manager’s office cost the OPA $374,084 to operate according to the unaudited April results, but that number had risen to $401,654 in the audited schedule for that department.

“We had some payroll and payroll costs in the Administrative cost center that needed to be reclassified at the end of the year to other departmental P&L’s,” Phillips said.

Another explanation that neither Viola nor Phillips directly contradicted: The $25,000 differential could also represent a bonus paid to Viola after the conclusion of a banner fiscal year on April 30 of this

year. One take-away from the April unaudited results comparison vs. the audited results is that the auditors made mostly modest adjustments in coming up with their final numbers for the year.

Yet another anomaly appears in the numbers reported at the annual meeting, taken from the audited results.

According to a summary of 2024 financial results reported in a graphic displayed during the meeting, the OPA generated an operating fund variance to budget of $1,194,000. That differs from the April unaudited bottom line of $1,223,480, but isn’t that far off.

To confuse matters even more, there is a schedule in the audit report that indicates that the actual favorability was $314,000, described as the excess of revenues over expenses.

Phillips defends the $1.194 million number as the actual favorability in financial results in contrast to what was budgeted.

And he shows how the $1.194 million turns into $314,000 by item-

Audit mismatches

From Page 20

izing various transfers that were recognized in the auditing process.

“Any differences in the $1.194 million and the number reported in the audited report is due to transfers which were utilized after being presented and approved by the Board during the budget process,” he said. “The audit report shows an amount net of these transfers. We utilized prior surplus to give-back to the Association in the form of returning to the homeowners the prior realized [actual to budget] favorability presented in prior meetings.

“We had transfers of $880,000 from the prior years’ surplus. This includes $650,000 from the prior year surplus to contribute to assessment reduction, $100,000 in additional funding to the drainage reserve, $100,000 to fund the Police 401K profit sharing plan, and $30,000 to fund the new capital fund for the kayak launch project,” Phillips said.

These transfers deducted from the $1.194 million in year-end favorability result in the $314,000 reported as the excess of revenues over expenses in the annual report, he said.

The audit report includes at least one measure depicting an association in good financial health, a rather dramatic improvement in cash on hand during the 2024 fiscal year.

At the beginning of the year, cash on hand was $3,025,726, according to the audit report, but that had increased to $4,318,340 at year’s end, a net increase of $1,292,614.

Want to be even more confused by audit report schedules vs. information released by the OPA?

There’s a schedule that shows the OPA with a net deficit of $1,169,798 for the year, on revenues of $15,144,383 against expenses of $16,314,181.

These numbers include depreciation, and that makes all the difference.

Depreciation expense is not shown in the monthly financial reports distributed throughout the year

Viola told the Progress in an Aug. 23 interview that including depreciation in this schedule is standard accounting procedure. When asked if the accountants conducting the audit could include a similar schedule without including depreciation expense, Viola said he would check with the accounting firm to see if it would be possible.

He didn’t seem overly optimistic.

Canal water quality critiqued during annual meeting Public Comments

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer

OLawn fertilizer, grass cuttings blamed by resident

ne property owner who spoke up during the Public Comments segment of the Ocean Pines Association’s Aug. 10 annual meeting wanted to know why something isn’t being done to improve the health of the community’s canals.

Karen Caplan told the assembled group that she is concerned because she doesn’t hear any discussion in Ocean Pines about problems in the canals and no one is addressing the issue. “Our canals are in serious trouble,” she said, adding that the algae bloom in the spring was terrible.

Caplan blamed the problem largely on runoff from people in Ocean Pines fertilizing their lawns, cutting the grass, and blowing the debris into the canals. She said she personally has watched her neighbors cutting grass and blowing it into the canal.

“This is destroying our waterways,” she said. “We’ve got to stop it.”

Caplan said people do not realize that algae blooms don’t just go away, but rather they sink to the bottom of the canals and block sunlight, preventing vegetation from growing. She said she has brought up the issue previously but received no response from the OPA.

OPA President Rick Farr said he will discuss the issue with the association’s operations team to see if there is anything the OPA can do to address the situation. He said maybe the OPA can provide information to residents about the canals and the impact of yard care and putting grass clipping in them or distribute test kits.

Caplan suggested sending a letter to each individual family. She said residents just won’t read the information if it is in the OPA newsletter or something similar.

OPA General Manager John Viola told the Progress later that it is a topic that could be addressed by a working group, and another source said Maryland Coastal Bays could be asked to help devise a plan to improve canal water quality.

Member Donna McElroy offered a public com-

At the annual meeting, Viola said the “[actual to] budget favorability” for 2023-24 fiscal year was about $1.2 million, excluding depreciation, consistent with the graphic displayed during the meeting.

He said several years of investments into amenities are paying off.

“Golf is driving [the favorability], but so are all our amenities,” Viola said. “We have very good amenities, we build them up, we support them, they’re turnkey .... and they’re all positive.”

Viola said the Association has invested in public safety through

ment that she would like the Board to get a legal opinion about the OPA’s ability to have an adult swim time at the Yacht Club pool. She said she believes something similar is done at the Beach Club pool for an adult swim. She acknowledged that it may only be for 15 minutes.

“I would like to see if this could at least be addressed,” McElroy said.

Steve Haffner congratulated the Board on the selection of Chief Tim Robinson as chief of the Ocean Pines Police Department. He lauded the Board for supporting Robinson in giving him the ability to hire more police officers.

Farr said Robinson’s wealth of experience and knowledge made him a good fit for the position as safety is number one importance in the community. He too said Robinson has made significant improvement in recruitment of officers and now people want to work for the OPPD.

Marlene Ott asked if the OPA could approach the State Highway administration about changing the timing of the traffic light at the North Gate to improve the flow of the queue. Allowing an additional 30 seconds from 8 a.m. to noon would improve the flow out of the community, she said, adding that now it backs up to Sandyhook Road.

Steve Ransdell, Elections Committee chairman, thanked the membership for great voter turnout.

He said the ballot count was the highest it has been in five years, but the committee hopes to encourage even more members to vote next year.

Randsell said 27.7 percent of all votes cast were on-line.

“Clearly a large portion and a growing portion of our membership likes the online voting option,” he said.

He said the Elections Committee has no intention of doing away with paper ballots, at least not for the foreseeable future. However, he noted that online voting does save the association money because on-line ballots don’t have to be mailed back to the association’s election vendor, incurring mailing expense.

“It is worth encouraging,” he said.

increased salaries, a pension equivalent, and investments in the Volunteer Fire Department. He said public safety used to make up roughly 20 percent of the budget – now it’s closer to 40 percent.

“That money came from organic growth, as well as expense reallocation,” Viola said.

Reserve levels have risen to approximately $7 million, which Viola called a “goldilocks situation.”

According to a reserve summary prepared from the audit report, the OPA began the fiscal year with a reserve balance of $6.691 million, end-

ing at $7.105 million.

The summary indicates that the general replacement reserve is within the 22-28 percent replacement value guideline recommended by the Budget and Finance Advisory Committee and approved by the Board for the next six years.

Citing reductions in the assessment resulting from that favorability, Viola noted that basic annual assessment was $921 in 2018. It rose to $996 in 2022, and today is at an eight-year low of $850.

“Again, I would term that a goldilocks situation,” Viola said.

Community investments paying off

Budget favorability more than $7 million since 2018

For General Manager John Viola and Director of Business Administration Linda Martin, who tag-teamed a report on the state of the Ocean Pines Association

at the Aug. 10 annual meeting of the association, this is the best of times and, not to be too cute about it, the best of times.

There were no headwinds, no neg-

atives, no rain in the forecast, just a litany of good news as investments in community amenities in recent years pay off in financial outcomes that, only a decade ago, would have

seemed fanciful if not outright impossible.

Viola said he’s been speaking at Association annual meetings since 2016 or 2017, dating back to his volunteer service as the Association’s treasurer and chief financial officer, prior to becoming general manager in 2019.

He said it was “the worst of times” during those early addresses, following a $1.6 million budget deficit, but better times were ahead.

“The bulkheads, drainage and roads [programs] were not on track. There was no mailbox initiative. Golf, Aquatics, Food and Beverage [and] Racquet Sports all operated with losses,” Viola said.

Since then, a multi-year recovery period has turned into an unprecedented string of budget favorability and successes.

“Last year I spoke about [Ocean Pines] having something special here, and I still believe that’s true,” Viola said.

Today, Viola said the Association has an operating favorability, drainage spending has increased, bulkheads and roads replacement are part of an active strategic plan, and membership revenue is up 13%. He said the Association needs to stay the course.

Viola said the Association has totaled just over $7 million in budget favorability since 2018. That money was reinvested and repurposed in the form of maintenance to strengthen amenities and beautify the Association, and public safety to keep the community thriving.

“We put it back into the Association,” Viola said.

Martin supplied an overview of amenity and support operations over the past fiscal year.

Martin said the Aquatics Department has benefited from fresh blood in a new Aquatics Director, Michelle Hitchens, and the replacement of the splash pad at the Swim and Racquet Club for $36,040.

Racquet Sports also got a new director, Terry Underkoffler. Improvements at the center included $25,000 worth of maintenance to the pro shop, replaced structural supports and new screens for plat-

From Page 24

form tennis, and safety measures including a mold review and new line striping and speed bumps. A renovation of the Racquet Center is scheduled this winter.

Martin said the Beach Club received repaired and replaced decking, new paint inside and out, and extra palm trees this year.

Maintenance at the Yacht Club included replacement of ceiling and floor tiles and new paint throughout the building, and the tiki bar on the deck was expanded to enhance the customer experience at a cost of $197,500.

The Yacht Club Marina was designated a Maryland Clean Marina for the second straight year. Docks and decks at both the Yacht Club and Swim and Racquet Club marina were repaired, and bathrooms were improved.

Phase one of a multi-year irrigation project will soon start at the Golf Club, with the initial phase estimated at $934,000. Martin said the course also benefited from a thatch management project program, and

the addition of a new driving range building.

Recreation and Parks saw trail maintenance and several improvements to the dog park, as well as a new recreation pier and ADA kayak launch at Pintail Park.

Extra lighting and security measures were installed at the Veterans Memorial, and a new pavilion will be built prior to Veterans Day.

Support departments also contributed.

Martin said Public Relations and Marketing started a new podcast and secured an annual sponsorship. The department oversaw the first electronic sign, increased its social media reach, cut expenses, and set a record for newsletter advertising revenue.

Martin said safety was a major focus, especially rebuilding the police force. Two new officers were sworn in, two cadets are currently in the academy, and one graduated from the police academy in December.

Maintenance efforts included 2,300 linear feet of bulkhead replacement, with buoys being repaired and replaced through Ocean Pines’ waterways. Three miles of roads were

paved at a cost of $356,618.20.

Drainage investments, on top of normal annual maintenance, included ditch maintenance and $210,637 in new pipe liners. Martin said work was shared by Public Works and outside contractors. Over the last five years, the Association has spent roughly $1 million on new drainage improvements.

Beautification efforts included landscaping at the North and South gates, new banners, new fountains at the north gate, and increased holiday decorations.

The community also saw new and replaced entranceway signs, including the iconic sail sign at the Yacht Club. Martin said the Association continued phase one of the mailbox replacement project, which has included cleaning and replacing mail-

box pedestals.

She said operations worked with Board advisory committees, at the direction of the Board, on projects ranging from trail improvements to tree trimming and new plantings.

On the customer service front, 1,380 Compliance, Permit and Inspection (CPI) violations were initiated over the last year – 900 more than the prior year. More than 1,000 violations were closed and just under 300 remain open.

There were also 1,424 new work orders and 1,236 closed orders.

Martin said there were 1,649 emails received through the info@ oceanpines.org email address, including 749 general questions, 484 about amenities, 209 about CPI issues, 191 on Public Works, and 16 about drainage.

ANNUAL MEETING NOTES

Southside firehouse update

During the Aug. 10 annual meeting of the Ocean Pines Association, General Manager John Viola highlighted construction of a new South Fire Station among the top upcoming initiatives.

The Ocean Pines Board in July approved a new memorandum of understanding with the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department, including provisions for fire protection and EMS services, funding of the Fire Department by OPA, and construction of a new South Fire Station.

LookCool in School

Viola said he recently met with OPVFD President Joe Enste to discuss the project. “We’ve had many meetings, [and] I believe we’re on track,” Viola said. “I’ve seen a lot of positive work. It’s been a very constructive time.”

Enste said there have been several productive meetings recently, both with Ocean Pines, and with OPVFD leadership and membership.

“We are making a lot of great progress,” he said. “We’re going through the initial phases of getting everything sketched out [and] making sure that we have all the needs covered in the drawings.”

Enste said OPVFD officials are making a list of their needs for the building, so those can be incorporated in the design, and so members of the community can eventually see those designs.

Legal report: no litigation, robust collections

Also during the annual meeting, General Counsel Bruce Bright delivered an overview of legal services by his law firm, Ayres Jenkins Gordy and Almand.

The firm was appointed to serve Ocean Pines in May 2023. Bright serves as general counsel with assistance from Maureen Howarth, the former attorney for both Worcester and Wicomico counties, along with other partners, associates and staff as needed.

The firm provides general legal advice to the Board, general manager and the various departments of the Association, and engages with contract negotiations, litigation and delinquent assessments and other violations. Bright noted the Association had previously contracted with a second firm for both collections, and Compliance, Permit and Inspections (CPI) violations.

“We handle employment issues, compliance and regulatory issues, and really all other legal matters and needs that arise for OPA,” he said. “We’re trying to be a one-stop shop for all the legal needs of Ocean Pines, rather than Ocean Pines having to use more than one firm, as it has in the past.”

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SOCIAL SECURITY

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Annual meeting notes

governing documents.

Volunteer Award

From Page 26

Over the past year, he said the firm helped revise the CPI process by “making it clearer, more linear and easier to understand.” He said the process also now complies with new state laws.

Bright said there were also improvements to the process of collecting unpaid assessments.

no obligation, consultations or attend our seminar. Call for times, dates and location.

Carrie Dupuie, AAMS®

“The collections are getting to our office a bit earlier than in the past,” he said, adding the firm has taken some of the administrative burden from Association staff.

Between Aug. 1, 2023, and July 15, 2024, Bright said collections have totaled more than $144,000.

“This service that we provide is at no cost to OPA, because when we collect the unpaid assessment, we also collect the attorney fee that goes along with that,” he said.

Bright said the firm assisted with the new memorandum of understanding between Ocean Pines Association and the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department, which he called “a very important step toward the future.” The firm also aided in the contract extension for General Manager John Viola, along with several recent revisions to Ocean Pines

“I’m happy to report that, in the year that we’ve been general counsel, there’s been no litigation against the OPA,” Bright said, adding, “We’ve been able to reduce overall legal fees for the OPA for the fiscal year 20232024, as compared to prior years.”

Audit report

As the OPA’s auditor, Chris Hall said UHY audits and renders an opinion on the Association’s financial statements each year.

Hall said UHY attempts to be “a one-stop shop,” offering a variety of auditing and accounting services.

He said the auditing process starts each April, with internal control documentation and risk assessments, and continues through the spring and early summer with inventory counts, balance sheet and income statement testing of accounts and transactions, and other fieldwork. The process generally wraps up in July with a review of the final fiscal-year financial statements.

Once again, Hall said Ocean Pines earned a “clean” and unmodified opinion. “That’s the highest level of assurance that any accounting firm can issue on a set of financial statements,” he said.

In an opening presentation at the Aug. 10 annual meeting, Ocean Pines Recreation and Parks Director Debbie Donahue named Barbara Peletier as the recipient of the 2023 Sam Wilkinson Volunteer Award.

Donahue described Peletier as a tireless volunteer who has spent the last two decades helping groups including Kiwanis, Worcester GOLD, the AARP, Diakonia, the Cricket Center, Star Charities, and the OPA Recreation and Parks Department.

After retiring to Ocean Pines in 2003, Peletier quickly found ways to help the community through volunteer work.

“As a Kiwanis member, she led numerous Kiwanis fundraisers,” Donahue said. That included pancake breakfasts, German dinners, fruit sales and raffle ticket sales.

Donahue said Peletier supported Worcester GOLD for 20 years, ran the Diakonia homeless pantry, cooked for “Breakfast with Santa” events, helped in the Reindeer Lane gift shop, cooked and served breakfast for Easter events and set up and served food at Concerts in the Park.

“This year’s Volunteer of the Year is an amazing woman that we can always count on ... We appreciate her more than she will ever know.”

OPA operating fund barely breaks even in July

For the year through July, the positive variance is just above $432,000

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

The Ocean Pines Association did not continue its robust start to Fiscal Year 2024-25 in July, barely keeping its head above water for the month. After recording a positive operating fund variance of $175,672 in June, the OPA barely broke even in July, recording a scant $2,378 operating fund surplus for the month.

But that did not detract from the overall sterling performance for the first quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year, covering the months of May, June and July. For the year through the end of July, the OPA had a positive operating fund variance of $432,277, with revenues over budget by $395,281 and expenses under budget by $36,996.

It may turn out that July is a performance outlier for the year. In any event, the $2,378 positive operating fund variance resulted from revenues under budget by $22,969 and expenses under budget by $25,347.

Despite the overall results for

July, all OPA amenities except for tennis and platform were in the black.

Performance relative to budget was not as positive, with only tennis and the Beach Club outperforming their budgets for the month.

Even top-performing amenities like beach parking and golf operations didn’t make their budgets for the month.

But year-to-date, through July, every amenity is in the black, and that’s probably a more accurate measure of amenities’s success so far in the fiscal year.

Also of significance: All amenity departments are ahead of budget through July except for one, the Yacht Club.

Another measure of financial success is how well an amenity is performing year-over-year.

All OPA amenity operations are doing better than they were through July of 2023, with two exceptions, Aquatics and the Yacht Club.

Aquatics is $11,389 behind where it was through July of last year,

OCEAN PINES ASSOCIATION NET OPERATING BY DEPARTMENT JULY 2024

while the Yacht Club is $57,434 under the July 2023 net.

As it’s been for most of the year, golf continues to be the OPA’s most profitable amenity year-to-date, with $571,401 in net earnings through July and ahead of budget by $112,581.

For July, the net operating result for golf was $93,462, but that was under budget by $5,541.

A year ago through July, golf had net earnings of $495,337. The yearover-year improvement is a massive $76,064.

Beach parking is the second highest net producer for the OPA so far this fiscal year. Through the end of July, this cash cow netted $464,672 ahead of budget by $33,696. For the month of July, beach parking netted $20,904, under budget by 9,693,

A year ago through the end of July, beach parking had netted $448,282. The year-over-year improvement was more than $16,000.

Aquatics remains a robust revenue generator for the OPA so far this year, with net earnings of

OPA NET OPERATING RESULTS BY DEPARTMENT - July 2024 Source;

$261,966 and a positive variance to budget through July of $27,088.

During July, Aquatics recorded $11,687 in net operations, but missing budget by $7,885.

Aquatics has also slipped behind last year’s year-to-date performance. A year ago through July Aquatics had netted $273,355, but that number was $261,966 so far this year. That’s a year-over-year drop of a little more than $11,000.

Marinas are close behind Aquatics as a revenue generator. Through July, this department earned $257,076, ahead of budget by $12,384.

During July, marinas netted $25,916, missing budget by a mere $246.

This department is well ahead of 2023 for the first quarter. A year ago, marinas had earned $217,266 for the OPA. The year-over-year improvement is just short of $40,000, reflecting better weather this summer over last.

The Yacht Club is the next best performer in the first quarter, netting $199,577 while missing budget by $33,240.

For July the Yacht Club produced an operating net of $105,453, but that was under budget by $58,582. Year-over-year, the Yacht Club has slipped. Through July of 2023, the Yacht Club had netted $256,991. That represents a year-over-year decrease of $57,414.

The Beach Club is the next highest net producer for the first quarter, with earnngs of $164,055. That’s ahead of budget by a substantial $56,772, more than any other amenity department so far this year.

For July, the Beach Club netted $104,777, ahead of budget by $7,675.

A year ago, the Beach Club netted $133,485 through July. That’s a year-over-year improvement in this amenity of about of about $32,500.

The remaining amenities have all netted less than $100, for the year through July.

Pickleball earned $80,134, ahead of budget by $736.

For the month of July, pickleball recorded a $5,000 net, under budget by $3,090.

A year ago, pickleball netted $70,893 for the OPA through July.

The year-over-year improvement is about $9,000.

Though not a high revenue producer, the Clubhouse Grille remains a consistent performer for the OPA. During the May through July To

July financials

From Page 29

quarter, it netted $69,555. ahead of budget by $17,519.

For July, it earned $18,423, missing budget by $1,771.

Through July of last year, the Clubhouse Grille had produced earnings of $65,500.

The year-over-year improvement is about $4,000.

Platform tennis is doing well for the year so far, with earnings of $12,911 for the first quarter, over budget by $6,107.

For July, this amenity lost $1,154 and missed its budget by $2,612.

But a year ago, for the first quarter of the 2023 fiscal year, platform tennis had netted $8,904.

The year-over-year improvement is about $4,000.

The least profitable OPA amenity is tennis, but through July it pro-

duced net revenue of $11,673, ahead of budget by $736.

During July, this amenity was in the red by $4,972 but ahead of budget by $6,171. Through July of last year, tennis

Atlantic Coast Powerwashing Services

MHIC #97081 Ocean City #34629 Delaware 2007 222 381

produced $2,277 in earnings. The year-over-year improvement in tennis is just short of $9,000.

Reserve funds: The OPA’s reserve fund balance through the end of July was $9.15 million, down from $9.39 million in June and $9.795 million in May.

The replacement reserve was funded in the amount of $6,376,600, bulkheads/waterway $1,245,048, roads $1,133,942, drainage $288,835 and new capital $105,789.

Balance sheet: As of July 31, the OPA had $45.502 million in assets, compared to $44.85 million at the same time in 2023.

Membership: OPA amenities in totality have reached 105 percent of budget by the end of July, up from 101 percent of budget at the end of June.

Total memberships sold through July 31 were 4,041, compared to 3,917 at the end of July last year.

Membership dues collected through July 31 were $1,278,563, compared to the budgeted $1,222,408, for a positive variance of $56,155.

Golf memberships were the driving force in these results, but the total membership sold remain at 138, the same as at the end of June.

That’s 126 percent of budget. Golf cart packages also remain unchanged from June, reaching 53 memberships. That’s 130 percent of budget.

Platform tennis has exceeded its budget, reaching 102 percent of its target.

Combo racquet sports were 142 percent of goal through July.

Other departments are closing in on budgeted membership goals for the year.

Beach parking through the end of July had reached 98 percent of goal, aquatics was at 98 percent, tennis at 88 percent, and pickleball at 98 percent.

OPA cash position at $18.927 million at end of July

The Ocean Pines Association’s cash and investment position decreased about $111,000 from the end of June to the end of July, with $18.927 million on hand as of July 31.

That compares to $19.1 million on hand as of June 30. According a report in the July financials posted on the OPA Website, the OPA had $17,090 in various money market/sweep accounts, treasure bills, and Bank of Ocean City CDRs.

Operating accounts including the Matt Ortt Companies accounts totalled $1,837,133 at the end of July.

COMMENTARY

Template for effective committees already exists

The Board of Directors has wrestled with its advisory committees this past year, in one instance abolishing it entirely for operating outside its lane and in two other cases apparently still deciding next steps, if any.

The decision to eliminate the Racquet Sports Advisory Committee followed well publicized disagreements that committee members had with plans to renovate the Racquet Center clubhouse. Their preference was not to renovate but to rebuild, a position they continued to lobby for even after the Board had decided to go the renovation route. That was probably the offense that resulted in the committee’s demise. It’s one thing to agitate for a position; it’s quite another to keep agitating once a matter has been settled at the Board level.

Unauthorized calls to certain county officials for information that might have supported the new construction option also perturbed some within the OPA power structure, such as it is.

Two more recent incidents involving advisory committees have also raised the possibility that these, too, will be eliminated, although that’s far from certain. Indeed, it can be hoped that wiser, calmer heads will prevail and these two committees, aquatics and enviroment and natural assets, will be allowed to continue operating.

In the case of aquatics, the committee has been advocating for an event open to family members of all ages but targeted at adult couples and singles. It would be modeled after the popular Family Fun Nights at the Yacht Club pool but would be designed to cater more to an older crowd.

It’s run into some ostacles at the Board level and doesn’t appear to have the approval of general counsel Bruce Bright. He issued an opinion on the idea last year when he advised against it and has a new opinion that hasn’t changed changed materially from what he said last year.

Obviously it’s too late in the season for this idea to be implemented this year.

The overarching issue has always been that the OPA can’t sponsor age-restricted events. But as Committee Chair Gary Miller has tried to make clear, what the committee is proposing isn’t age restricted; parents could bring their toddlers in a stroller if they so choose, but why they would want to is an entirely different question. Family Fun Nights aren’t going away.

If the committee isn’t trying to make this event 18-and-older only, it’s difficult to see why anyone can say it’s age restricted.

The committee’s Board liaison is Stuart Lakernick, newly minted OPA president, and he hasn’t been particularly supportive of the committee’s idea, though he dutifully presented it several Board meetings ago, characterizing it as adults-only. Easy enough to do, as the committee has made it clear it wants an event skewed more mature than the Family Fun Nights. Still, words and details matter. Bright in his latest opinion

suggests that what’s key is how this event, which is called Sunsets and Cocktails, might be interpreted. He is concerned that this “interpretation” might run afoul of federal age-discrimination laws. His advice is to not run the risk.

However this particular issue works itself out, it certainly doesn’t rise to the level of justifying a decision to get rid of the committee. So far, there doesn’t appear to be an option under consideration, and let’s hope it stays that way.

The issue that had members of the Environment and Natural Assets committee upset was a decision by OPA staff to remove geese and duck crossing signs around the South Gate, without anyone taking the time to inform the committee of the pending action. The video of the committee in which committee members sounded off on the decision is easily found on the Web; those interested can view it at their leisure.

The kurfuffle resulted in the committee chair, Tim Peck, resigning, with (so far at least) no other committee member following suit. Perhaps Peck’s resignation will resolve the matter, with no further action required other than to find a replacement for him.

This situation, too, doesn’t rise to the level of justifying a decision to abolish the committee.

As of late August, some signs advising of goose and duck crossing areas remained. Perhaps the ones that have been removed will be returned, after some refurbishment.

These recent incidents illustrate the twotiered approach to advisory committees in Ocean Pines that may be creating an unintended consequence.

Top tier committees -- Budget and Finance and Golf -- have members of the OPA administration routinely attending committee meetings and interacting with members, for their mutal benefit.

Other advisory committee’s don’t have the benefit of OPA department heads routinely attending committee meetings. Indeed, there appears to be a management policy that precludes it.

But how could that be if General Manager John Viola and Director of Finance Steve Phillips routinely attend B&F meetings and Director of Golf Bob Beckelman attends golf committee meetings?

Moreover, in lieu of an umbrella racquet sports committee, there are functioning clubs for tennis, platform tennis and pickleball, whose members routinely interact with Racquet Sports Director Terry Underkoffler.

There is positive two-way communication. It works.

This is the template for effective and harmonious advisory committees in Ocean Pines. Advisory committees that don’t have the benefit of regular contact with department heads are at a disadvantage as they attempt to act as advisors to the Board of Directors. Yes, the cur-

rent system does provide a means for advice to flow up and down the ladder, but committees would have better information upon which to base recommendations to the Board if they were in regular contact with department heads.

Department heads might benefit having their ideas “bounced off” committee members before they’re implemented.

The two-tiered approach to department head interaction with advisory committee hasn’t worked out well, contributing to the incidents which have flared up in recent months.

Would anyone really object if, for instance, Marketing and Public Relations Director Josh Davis regularly attends Communications Advisory Committee meetings? Same for Parks and Recreation Direct Debbie Donahue attending Recreation committee meetings?

When committees work well, it’s often because they can provide support to and serve as a sounding board for department heads.

Of course, this doesn’t mean any committee has the right to tell a department head how to do his or her job; that in fact is prohibited in applicable governing documents. A committee that wants to be effective is going to adhere to the letter and spirit of that prime directive.

But that language does not specifically justify a policy, unwritten or otherwise, to keep department heads away from committees.

What the OPA needs in this matter is a consistent policy that applies to every committee across the board. -- 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

Town Cats in need of fosters

Kitten season is even busier for local rescue and care organization

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

The past few months have been busy for Town Cats, a local organization that rescues and cares for cats, said Ocean Pines resident and group President Susan Mohler.

Keeping a handle on the cat population is an ongoing effort but kitten season, running from April through October, is always busier. This year has been a booming year for kittens. Mohler believes that is because the previous winter was a mild one.

Town Cats has about 130 cats being cared for at its sanctuary at any given time. It has about 20 kittens at the moment. Others are in foster homes, including six in Ocean Pines.

“We need our community’s help with fostering,” Mohler said. “We get at least one request a day, ‘I have a momma and kittens, can I drop them off?’”

“We want to help as many cats as we can, but we don’t always have a place to put them,” Mohler said.

She advises that if you find a cat that needs help, contact Town Cats. Fill out the contact form towncats. net/contact/ with the location and picture if possible.

“If the cat is friendly, by all means, secure it. Pick it up, put it in a crate, and provide it with food and water. Take it to a local vet or animal shelter to see if it is chipped,” Mohler said. That will help track down an owner, if there is one.

“If you are willing to foster it, fill out a foster form, and we will take care of the medical.” Town Cats will help market it through its adoption system.

“You can foster for a couple of weeks all the way up to four months. It’s a finite amount of time. It is not forever,” Mohler said.

A foster provides food, litter and toys. All cats that are cared for by Town Cats, through fostering or through its sanctuary, have their medical needs met, thanks to donations from the public.

When cats or kittens arrive at the sanctuary, they need to be isolated until they are tested and get all of their shots. They are tested for distemper, feline leukemia and feline AIDS. They are checked for fleas and get a dewormer once a week, are

microchipped and get a rabies shot. They are also spayed and neutered.

“The goal is to not have another litter of kittens,” Mohler said.

According to Mohler, a female kitten can get pregnant at four months, with an average litter of four to six kittens. One unfixed female cat can have more than 100 kittens in her lifetime. A mother cat and her offspring can have as many as three to four hundred kittens in seven years.

The adoption fee is $95, a bargain considering how much money a pet owner would pay for these services personally. Town Cats works with VCA, Berlin Animal Hospital and Somerset Animal Hospital, which provide discounted services.

Town Cats has recently launched a Seniors for Seniors program for older cat lovers who live independently or in a cat friendly assisted living facility. Town Cats can place an older cat who needs a home with a senior who can care for the cat or has an aide who can care for it. This provides companionship for the older person, which can be important for mental health and well-being and helps expand Town Cats foster program.

The senior is responsible for covering food, litter and toy expenses while Town Cats covers all medical expenses. Many seniors do not get a companion because of concern for who would care for the pet once they are unable. With Seniors for Seniors, Town Cats will take the cat if it can

no longer be cared for.

Town Cats is an all volunteer organization. “We live on donations,” said Mohler. “We try to help as many cats as we can. But it takes money.”

No one associated with Town Cats takes a salary, so all of the money raised goes to caring for the cats.

Ocean Pines residents see Town Cats at the local Farmers Market every Saturday. The volunteers sell t-shirts, treats and other items to raise money and awareness. Town Cats is a 501(c)3 organization, so all donations are tax deductible. Funds raised go to medical bills, electricity at the Blue Frog Sanctuary on private property in Parsonsburg, and

other expenses to care for the cats.

The average cost to provide kibble, canned food and litter to an adult cat is $70 per month. Kitten care is more expensive at $122 per month.

Cat lovers can help Town Cats by fostering cats. There is also a great need for volunteers to care for feral cat colonies, animal transport, and to care for the cats at Petsmart, which helps Town Cats by providing space for cats ready for adoption.

For those who don’t want to be hands on, Town Cats can use support planning and promoting events, fundraising, and administration To Page 34

Susan Mohler and furry friends from Town Cats.

Ocean Pines volunteers help grant ‘Twilight Wish’

Carolyn Dryzga and Barb Peletier bring joy to Developmental Center residents

By JOSH DAVIS Contributing Writer

Two Ocean Pines women, Carolyn Dryzga and Barb Peletier, made the dreams of two local seniors come true on Aug. 28, thanks to the Twilight Wish Foundation.

Lester Mason, 80, and Chauncey Corbin, 70, have each been clients of the Worcester County Developmental Center for several decades.

The center, in Newark, has helped local people with intellectual disabilities find meaningful employment, gain independence, and increase their self-worth since 1973.

Mason, a WCDC resident for more than 30 years, can often be seen carrying a picture book of his favorite cars. Corbin, a resident at the center since 1999, also loves cars, but was never able to get his driver’s license because of an intellectual disability.

Both enjoy the Cruisin’ Ocean City event where they can interact with classic cars, especially the hot rods.

On Aug. 28, Dryzga, direct of the Worcester County Twilight Wish Foundation, and Peletier, a volunteer, introduced Mason and Corbin to Ocean City Cruzers Club President Ronnie Young and his 1929 Ford Roadster.

Mason took a 10-minute ride in the classic hot rod and posed for pictures next to it. Corbin was a little shy, but still enjoyed touching the car and meeting Young.

Several clients posed for pictures with the car, and Mason and Corbin each received t-shirts, and certificates that read:

“For Maintaining an Inspiring and Uplifting Spirit and Dedication to Others. Know that others remember and care.”

The roadster itself has quite the history, built by Young and his father and brother more than 70 years ago.

“It was built from scratch,” Young said. “My brother bought it in 1953, and when he went in the Marines my dad started on it with me, and it

Town Cats

From Page 33

support. High school students can fulfill their service hours with Town Cats.

Beyond saving so many lives, Town Cats also tries to educate people about cats.

“We want people to understand the need to keep cats indoors to help reduce the population. Cats should not live outdoors,” advises Mohler.

eventually moved on to me, and I’ve kept it ever since,” he said.

Young said building the car was a labor of love, and seeing it bring joy to others so many years later is deeply gratifying.

“It’s terrific. I’m glad I could do this for somebody,” he said. “I’m really glad I could help somebody out and help them make a wish come true.”

Dryzga started the Worcester County chapter of the Twilight Foundation in March. The chap-

Tter worked with WCDC to grant a client’s wish to meet Minnie Mouse in July, and in August helped a 95-year-old veteran dine at Harrison’s Harbor Watch and watch boats from the White Marlin Open come in.

Peletier, a prolific local volunteer who was given the Sam Wilkinson Volunteer Award from Ocean Pines at the annual of the Ocean Pines Association in August, said she was eager to help this new cause.

“Carolyn told me about it, and I said, ‘I’m in!’” she said. “It’s been great so far. Everyone we approach has been so generous with their time.”

Both were familiar with WCDC because of their prior volunteer experience.

“We’ve been going to nursing homes and visiting the Developmental Center, and just asked people to keep their ears open if they had anyone with a wish,” Peletier said.

“We both feel that, if we can make somebody happy, it’s a wonderful thing that we’ve discovered, and it’s great that we can share this together,” Dryzga said.

Dryzga said the Worcester Twilight Wish chapter is currently a two-person operation, but they will start to seek additional volunteers next year.

The Twilight Wish Foundation is a national nonprofit “whose mission is to honor and enrich the lives of seniors through intergenerational wish granting celebrations.”

Since 2003, the nonprofit has granted more than 6,100 wishes throughout the United States.

For more information on local opportunities through the Twilight Wish Foundation, contact Dryzga at twfworcoa@gmail.com or call 302-8890040 or 215-519-3670.

For more information on the organization, visit www.twilightwish.org.

Chamber launches National Civics Bee

he Worcester County Chamber of Commerce in Ocean Pines has announced the launch of the 2025 National Civics Bee, an initiative aimed at encouraging more young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities.

Middle school students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade from public, private, and charter schools, and those who are home schooled, are invited to take part in the first-round civics essay competition. After a distinguished panel of judges review the essays, the top 20 students will be selected to advance to their local competition: an in-person live event featuring two rounds of civics questions followed by a Q&A round to test their civics knowledge.

The Worcester County Chamber of Commerce in Ocean Pines will host its local competition in the spring of 2025. The local finalists and top winners will receive various prizes, including prizes worth at least $500 for the first-place student. Visit the Chamber Website for entry details.

She also encourages cat and pet owners to have a plan for their pet if something should happen to them.

All pet owners should arrange for a friend to take the pet or identify a rescue that can help place the pet with another loving family.

“A lot of people will just throw the cat outside,” said Mohler. Doing so contributes to the problem of outdoor cats.

Those interested in adopting a cat can visit cats looking for their forev-

er home at the PetSmart Adoption Center located at 11330 Samuel Bowen Blvd. Unit 100, Berlin MD 21811.

Town Cat volunteers are there in the morning from 9-11 am. There are also adoptable cats living in foster homes.

Any cat is available for adoption but some cats end up being permanent residents at the Blue Frog Sanctuary. Any cat there is available for adoption, but some have

medical issues that have to be addressed if adopted. To visit the cats at the sanctuary, call 410-279-3131 to make an appointment.

To donate to Town Cats, visit https://towncats.net/waystodonate/. On Oct. 13, Town Cats will host a Cuts for Cats fundraiser at 9808 Stephen Decatur Highway, in partnership with Joanna of Avery Salon. The event will feature $20 haircuts, raffles, wine and sweets.

All proceeds will go to Town Cats.

Carolyn Dryzga and Barb Peletier

Ocean Pines swim team undefeated in dual meets this summer

Places third in overall team scoring at Delmarva Swim Association championships

The Ocean Pines Swim Team (OPST) ended their 49th summer season with flair. The team swam their way to an undefeated Delmarva Swim Association (DSA) dual meet season and finished third in the overall team scoring at the DSA championships. The DSA league also recognizes the top scoring age groups and the OPST 13/14 girls took home the high point award for their age group.

The DSA league sets qualifying times that swimmers must meet in order to compete at the league championship meet.

This season the Hammerheads had 62 swimmers qualify to attend. Every swimmer has the opportunity to earn points at team-scored meets.

The team garnered eight first place finishes. Karis Bagley, Emily Fink, Macie Groves and Kate Wanner swam on the winning relays for the 13/14 girls 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relays, setting new team records with times of 1:47.36 and 1:58.90 respectively.

Other first place finishes included Row Aguillon, 8 and under girls 25-yard backstroke (20.73); Ace Lillquist, 9/10 girls 25-yard backstroke (17.11); Kate Wanner, 13/14 girls 50-yard breaststroke (31.81), breaking her own record from earlier this season when she broke a 42-year-old record; Eva Schultz, 1518 girls 50-yard backstroke (28.27), breaking her own previous record; and Daniel Karcheuski, 15-18 boys 50-yard fly (24.26) and breaking his own previous record in the 50-yard breaststroke (28.67).

The team also ended up with 31 second and third place finishes. Emma Schultz broke a team record set back in 1993 with her 15-18 girls 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 32.69. Emma, along with Daniel Karcheuski and Trista Harner, also

Ttook home three of the ten scholarships awarded to graduating seniors by DSA.

There were 145 swimmers who competed for OPST during this DSA summer season, which ran from June through the end of July. The DSA league was formally organized in 1976 for the purpose of summer league competition and currently has 20 member teams from all over the Delmarva peninsula.

OPST also finished out their Long Course season the following weekend with four swimmers attending the MD LC State Championship meet in St. Mary’s. Finley Helfrich, John Parker, Bryn Wanner and Kate Wanner met difficult qualifying times to attend. All the swimmers experienced best times and had a chance to swim in finals. Parker and Helfrich finished in the top 17 in most of their events.

Bryn Wanner became the first OPST swimmer to ever win a LC state title with her first place finish in the 100-meter freestyle (1:03.88). She also captured two 2nd place medals in the 200-meter freestyle (2:21.08) and 400-meter freestyle (4:58.68).

Kate Wanner secured two second place finishes with her 100-meter breaststroke (1:17.90) and 50-meter breaststroke (35.19). Placements at this meet directly correspond to the swimmer’s placement within the entire state of Maryland in their respective age group.

OPST is back in the water this fall as swimmers prepare for their 10th official USA Swimming short course season that runs from September through March, soon to be followed by their 50th summer season in 2025.

Hammerheads bestow awards for 2024 season

he Ocean Pines Hammerheads Swim Team recently honored swimmers and volunteers at the conclusion of the 2024 summer season. Honorees included Greer Groves, with the Ginny Reister Award for Exceptional Parent Volunteerism; Nate Fink, the Sandy Hexter Award for Exceptional Team Spirit and and Commitment to the team; Eva Schultz, the Hammerhead Award for Exceptional Work Ethic and Positivity; and Empress McKay and Ethan Justice, rookie of the season awards.

Also cited as most improved swimmers were Sally Falotico and Steven Saby.

High point award winners were Rowan Aguilon, Felicity Greenwood, Macie Groves, Daniel Karcheuski, Ilya Karcheuski, Ace Lillquist, John Parker, Eva Schultz, Steven Saby, Grant Trimper and Madison Trimper.

Chamber to Host Oktoberfest in the Pines

The Worcester County Chamber of Commerce in Ocean Pines will host its second annual Oktoberfest in the Pines on Sunday, Oct. 6, at White Horse Park in Ocean Pines from 1- 6 p.m.

The event will feature the Enzian Volkstanzgruppe from Newark, De.

The Enzian Volkstanzgruppe, or EVTG, is a Bavarian Volkstanz and Schuhplattler group founded in1968. The objective of the EVTG is to promote and preserve German folk dancing in the interest of assisting the

Delaware Sängerbund and Library Association, Inc. in its aim to promote German customs and traditions.

A variety of food vendors will be on hand along with a Beer Garden and fun games and activities for all ages.

Vendor and sponsorship opportunities available. For more information, visit WorcesterCountyChamber.org or call (410) 641-5306 or email kerrie@ worcestercountychamber.org.

Brynn and Kate Wanner, state meet champions.

Friendships, good exercise merge in Ocean Pines Square Dance club

New course of four free lessons start Sept. 11

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

It is said that square dancing is “friendship set to music and dance.” Residents of Ocean Pines have the opportunity to learn to square dance and join the Pine Steppers Square Dance Club every Wednesday night at the Ocean Pines Community Center.

Square dancing is fun and a great work out. “The traditional thought is if you dance every “tip” for 2.5 hours, you will have walked approximately five miles. Our dancers probably hit the two to three mile mark,” according to Barbara Roos, president of the Pine Steppers Square Dance Club. “Ladies being on the outside of the square dance more steps. This is great exercise.”

The Pine Steppers Square Dance Club welcomes singles and couples to start lessons in Modern Western Square Dancing.

The club offers two 12-week lessons, one starts in September and the other in March. The first four lessons are free. Singles and couples are welcome. Each student is partnered with an ‘angel’ or experienced dancer. During the lessons, dancers learn 50 calls.

“It’s all about having fun; we are a social club and cherish the opportunity to socialize and make new friends,” Roos said.

“We take it slow. You just have to be able to move your feet and laugh at yourself.”

The club is very welcoming to newcomers. “We will pull through the new students so they don’t have to worry about getting lost. Just put your hand out and someone will take it.” Roos said.

Roos dances in Ocean Pines, but lives in Milford, De. “That tells you how dedicated we are. We have people coming from Dover and Salisbury. Years ago, there were many clubs. Today, there is the Ocean Pines club, and one in Cambridge and North Delaware.

The Pine Steppers club caller is Dennis O’Neal. “I started square dance lessons in September of 1996 in Frisco, Colorado,” he said,He started teaching and calling in Jan. 2006. He is a member of Callerlab, the largest organization of callers around the world.

“I sing mostly modern and rock music from the late 60’s to 90’s with an emphasis on the 70’s, along with some modern country.”

Square dancing contains elements from numerous traditional dances including English

Dennis O’Neal and Barbara Roos organize the Pines Steppers Club in Ocean Pines. the club welcomes newcomers and provides lessons.

country dances, which were first documented in 17th-century England, and 18th-century French quadrilles and cotillions. Square dancing traveled to North America with the European settlers. The dance is strongly associated with the United States. Thirty one states have designated it as their official state dance, including Maryland.

“Wherever you go in the world, Square Dancing is called in English, and is a distinctly American dance form that borrows from mostly French dances. It is also called in almost every country in

the world,” O’Neal said.

Visit the Pines Steppers Facebook page for more information.

Dance lessons are held each week in the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center. Instructors promise a welcoming environment for all skill levels.

Starting Sept. 11, the first four lessons are free (Sept. 11, 18, 25 and Oct. 2).

Following that, participants can continue with a 12-week course for $4 per person, per session.

Ocean Pines resident Rebecca Pille joins board of Mid-Atlantic Symphony

By CINDY HOFFMAN Contributing Writer

Ocean Pines resident Rebecca Pille is the most recently elected board member for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (MSO). “Music soothes the soul,” she said.

The Eastern Shore is “rich with every kind of music, from bands to Ocean’s Calling. Any kind of music you want is here.” That was one thing that drew Pille and her husband to the Eastern Shore from her home in Laurel, Maryland.

“I did not want to drive across the bridge for cultural activities,” Pille said.

She found the MSO through an ad for a concert two years ago. Not only did she love the music, but she loved the community of volunteers she found.

She is proud to be a part of an organization that is bringing notable musicians to the Delmarva Peninsula. The music director, Michael Repper, is a Grammy winning conductor and is one of the most sought-after young directors in the world.

“Michael is a rising star,” Pille said.

“The jewel in our crown is the Elizabeth Loker Music Competition,” she said. This international competition is open to musicians ages 12-25 and attracts talent from throughout the United States and around the world. This year, there were 155 soloists from 24 states and 12 countries.

Three finalists have the opportunity to perform live with the full MSO Orchestra, providing a world-class platform to showcase their talent.

One of the many things she likes about the MSO is that, prior to every performance, Repper will share with the audience what will be played and incorporate more recent women and minority composers into every concert.

“A lot has happened since Beethoven,” Pille said.

She considers Ocean Pines to be a little slice of paradise. She lives in The Parke. “We have access to first class classical music here.”

The orchestra plays regularly at the Ocean Pines Community Church on Racetrack Road. The next performance is a Violin Virtuoso featuring Grace Park on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 3 p.m.

The orchestra also performs in Ocean City, Rehoboth and Lewes. It covers a region as far north as Wye Mills and south to Ocean City.

The MSO does not have a single venue. Volunteers come together and host events, Pille said.    Pille is eager to engage in outreach for the MSO. She would like to see more diversity in its audience.

“It’s mostly people my age bracket,” Pille said. “I would like to see more young people.”

The MSO is actively broadening its audience by programming works from a more diverse

music with health. Her integrated health background is nudging her to learn more about this.

Music has played a big part in her life’s journey, starting in second grade, when her parents gifted her a piano and lessons. This early introduction to music blossomed into a lifelong passion. Throughout her life, she has played as a soloist and accompanist, and taught piano, continually nurturing her love for classical music.

“We are delighted to welcome Rebecca Pille to

range of composers and featuring soloists from various backgrounds.

The MSO is committed to making performances accessible to everyone, which is why it offers free tickets to all students. For those who would like to attend but may find ticket prices challenging, the MSO will provide discounted tickets to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to experience the joy of live orchestral music.

The MSO has school programs in which professional musicians work directly with budding musicians. It also gives instruments to those in need.

Pille’s other hat is as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health, Rebecca teaches courses on integrative health sciences; mindfulness, meditation, and health; and self-care and health behavior change. She has also chaired the University’s Health and Wellness Coaching Department (2016-2021) and the Faculty Senate and is a published academic researcher and a peer reviewer for Health Literacy Research and Practice.

“Music can move you,” Pille said. “Our idea of health is our physical body. We found out the hard way, through COVID, the importance of mental health.”

She wants to do more research into merging

“Music can move you. Our idea of health is our physical body. We found out the hard way, through COVID, the importance of mental health.”

Rebecca Pille

our Board of Directors,” said Jeffrey Parker, chairman of the board of directors of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. “Her vast experience and passion for classical music make her a valuable addition to our organization. We look forward to her contributions and leadership in advancing our mission.”

Ocean Pines resident Rebecca Pille.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION

Two incumbents, two former directors file applications to run for Cove Board

Silfee, Glick, seeking new terms, joined by Holland and Costello; slate of five endorsed by Concerned Citizens president to compete against them; Hearn files to run for alternate.

By TOM STAUSS

Publisher

Just as it seemed that the candidate slate for this fall’s Board of Directors election had settled into its final contours, former Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club President and Board member Tim Hearn threw his hat in the ring for an alternate seat, which had seemed several days before the filing deadline that might have only one candidate.

Prior to Hearn’s 11th hour filing, two incumbent members and two former members of the CCGYC Board had filed for re-election, seeking new three-year terms. There are four Board seats and one alternate seat to be contested in the election.

A slate of four candidates endorsed by the Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove has filed, along with an alternate.

That makes ten candidates who will be appearing on this fall’s ballot.

Hearn’s filing has caused a stir on local social media, with some speculation that he was running for alternate with the expectation that another director would resign and that he then could step up to be a director.

Hearn told the Cove Currents that if he had wanted a seat on the Board as a full voting member, he would have run for that position

rather than for alternate.

The alternate position would give him a seat at the table and the right to cast a vote if another director is absent from the meeting.

Hearn said his motivation in wanting to serve as an alternate director is to focus on a potential revenue-generator for CCGYC, foreclosure auction sales of delinquent properties.

Because of new state law giving delinquent owner more protection from foreclosure actions by property owner associations, the number of such auctions by CCGYC have slowed.

Hearn said he has some ideas for jump-starting the process and will share them with colleagues at the appropriate time.

Foreclosure sales that result in the CCGYC acquiring title to a property means a reduction in the reserve for delinquent accounts line item, a cost savings.

Foreclosures also can result in property owners clearing up the delinquency, bringing in needed revenue to the association.

Hearn said that one idea he has is to bring in multiple law firms to assist in the foreclosure process, not relying entirely on Pender and Coward, the Virginia Beach law firm who handles delinquent accounts for CCGYC.

A candidates’ forum is set for

Sept. 9, with balloting to begin shortly after.

Results of the election will be announced at the annual meeting in November, with the new term starting at that time.

The incumbent directors running for reelection are Jim Silfee and Michael Glick. Silfee and Glick are investors in CCG Note, the Cove’s Declarant.

Former directors who have filed CCG Note investor Roger Holland and John Costello, who also is a former CCGYC department head.

The CCCC-endorsed candidates include Gini Weslowski, Cathrine Malstrom, John Hvizda and Patti Borrelli.

The group also has endorsed Tom Polaski for the alternate position.

If elected, Costello has said he will resign from any remaining paid duties with CCGYC.

Through an limited liability corporation he recently purchased a lot in Captain’s Cove.

Costello’s filing caused a bit of a stir on social media, some calling it a conspiracy, precisely to what end is not really clear.

Costello addressed that contention in a recent post on the member forum on the CCGYC Website.

“This will be my one and only post on this topic,” he said, adding that “a North Carolina LLC purchased a lot (Section 2 Lot 0377) on Jib Court

for the consideration of $200. The LLC was actually in negotiations with a few other members that were trying to sell their lots for far less than $200 plus paying half the legal fees,” Costello wrote.

The LLC apparently is controlled by Costello, making him a Cove property owner and eligible to run for the Board.

Explaining why his LLC paid more for a lot than it had to along with legal fees, he said the lot “was held by CCGYC, was in the Pilot Sales Program, and deemed unbuildable because it doesn’t perk.”

“There was no executive session that discussed the sale of this individual lot,” contrary to some speculation on social media, Costello wrote. “The pilot lot sales program had already been approved.”

He said the Jib Court lot has no value and his LLC “did CCGYC a huge favor taking this lot off of their inventory.”

The association brought in $200 in the sale and the LCC will pay annual assessments, whereas previously it sat in the inventory producing no revenue for the Cove.

“CCGYC and the LLC have an agreement that if someway somehow this particular lot decides to perk in the future or another member with an adjoining lot makes an offer higher than $200, the LLC will purchase another unbuildable lot from CCGYC with 100 percent of any profit gained to be put towards the sale price and closing costs,” he wrote.

“It was a win. Just put some thought into it,” he advised his critics.

Judging by responses to his post, at least some CCGYC members retain their suspicion that something nefarious is afoot.

Precisely what isn’t clear.

There are four directors on the current Board whose terms are expiring this November, to be filled in the election.

In addition to Glick and Sil-

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From Page 38

fee, the seats are currently held by Frank Haberek and George Guthridge, neither of whom filed for reelection by the Aug. 1 deadline.

As about 1,200 votes are controlled by the declarant, CCG Note, by virtue of large inventory of building lots under its control, the three CCG Note candidates could be presumed to have enough votes to win the election for another three-year term. If CCG Note also casts ballots for Costello and Hearn, they too would be presumptive favorites to gain seats on the Board.

Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove President Teresa Birckhead is not accepting the presumed inevitability of three CCG Note candidates, Costello and Hearn winning the election with the assistance of votes controlled by CCG Note.

She has sent out a campaign document urging property owners to vote in sufficient numbers to overcome the 1,100 vote built-in advantage enjoyed by candidates supported by CCG Note.

“The Class A members need 1,200 votes to oust the Declarant,” she wrote. “We have two choices for this election. We either unite and vote for the same candidates, or we divide our votes and the Declarant stays in control. We need everyone to vote.”

She said that out of 2,400 lot owners in Captain’s Cove, 500 are not eligible to vote, leaving 1,900 eligible.

Birckhead said that Weslowski, Malstrom, Hvizda and Borrelli are running as a team.

Polaski is also seen as likely to be supported by the CCCC leadership.

“They are active community members who are well respected. I know all of them and can vouch that they are all committed to the best interest of community members,” she said.

She then launched into reasons why CCGYC members should vote for her recommended slate.

“Are you tired of all the self-dealing activities of the Declarant? The misuse of our dues? The ridiculous amounts of lawsuits brought on from authoritarian decisions? The unrealistic budget decisions? The lack of community representation from members? The misuse of selective committee members? Funding items not related to amenity maintenance? Ridiculously high annual dues paying for these things? CCGYC election

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GOLF COURSE

Hearn, CCCC candidates clash over delinquent members’ voting rights

Majerus pushes back on allegations that CCG Note controls the CCGYC election process

By TOM STAUSS

Publisher

Any effort by candidates endorsed by the Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove to allow some property owners who are delinquent in paying annual assessments to vote in annual Board of Directors election should be rejected, alternate candidate Board Tim Hearn said in recent email.

Candidates John J. Hvizda, Patty Borrelli, Gini Beers Weslowski, Catherine Bean Malstrom, and

CCGYC election

From Page 40

“If so, let’s unite and get these folks on the Board of Directors!” she said.

Thomas A. Polaski in a recent letter to the Board of Directors and the Property Management Team asked for a relaxation of the policy that denies the right to vote for an owner with just a modest arrearage.

Hearn is pushing back hard on that proposal.

In their letter to the Board and PMT, the five CCCC-endorsed candidates said there has been “some confusion and concern about who will be ‘allowed’ to vote in the coming Board election. Members reported receiving messages from staff

It will be an uphill struggle at best, as Class A members voting in CCGYC historically have numbered about 500 or so, well short of the 1,200 votes Birckhead says are needed to sway the outcome.

that were unclear or inconsistent. Some were told that anyone on a monthly payment plan would lose the right to vote. This may or may not be true; however we can find no written policy on this issue.”

According to the candidates, the PMT sent out an email blast saying “if you have a balance due of as little of 1 cent, you lose your right to vote.”

The candidates alleged that setting the election rules and overseeing staff that handle the election “is currently under the control of the people handpicked by the developer. And the developer benefits from limiting voting by members. These things have given members the impression that this election may not be run fairly.”

Hearn said any suggestion that the CCG Note, the Declarant, is controlling the election is absurd. He also said the five candidates need to consult the Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club governing documents before opining that there is no written policy on the subject of voting rights.

The CCCC candidates are asking the Board to take four steps that they say would help ensure a “fair” election:

• The Board should develop and approve a policy for handling dues and voting rights that is fair and reasonable. This should be placed in the Community Rules document and shared with all members and staff.

• This policy should make it clear that anyone who is in compliance with an approved payment

To Page 45

Open Letter to Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club members

Good afternoon and thank you for taking the time to review the below information concerning Captain’s Cove.

Over the past two years, the Birckhead et al. faction have filed multiple legal claims against their neighbors and the property owners association (CCGYC). As a result of their inability to provide any proof or evidence of the unsubstantiated claims and lies which they have presented, ten of these claims have had to be either voluntarily dismissed by Birckhead et al. or dismissed by the courts. During this same period, the Accomack County Planning Board, and the Board of Supervisors have ruled against the Birckhead faction on four other matters.

Even with the knowledge of these legal losses, the Birckhead faction continues to use the same unproven claims and lies in their communications on social media and message boards. This has now extended into the campaign literature for the upcoming board of directors’ election. They have shown that they will say and do anything in an attempt to garner relevance, despite their abysmal legal track record. One of their egregious lies is when they lie to people when saying that the investors in CCG Note, LLC (the Declarant) is not a true developer, and that they have never invested their money in improving the community. For those who are new to Captain’s Cove, the following history may be unknown to you; the Birckhead et al. group knows of it full well, which makes their remarks even more libelous.

1) In 2011, the former board and community at large chose to pursue the purchase of the majority of the Marina Club property it did not own. Due to the poor financial condition of Captain’s Cove Golf & Yacht Club, Inc. (CCGYC), all commercial lenders who the then board members and General Manager approached declined to offer any loan terms for the property’s acquisition. It was CCG Note who ultimately provided the $3 million loan which allowed the association’s purchase of the property to be completed from the banks who controlled the property. That was a 10year commitment of capital by the members of CCG Note, and was made during the bleakest of financial circumstances, after the former developer had declared bankruptcy, and the association was financially insolvent itself as well. No one from the Birckhead faction offered to participate in that lending process.

2) When I was raising close to a million dollars to re-capitalize and continue operations of the Captain’s Cove Utility Company in 2011, over $500,000 of investments were made from the members of CCG Note over the next five years to improve that company’s financial health. Again, this money was committed at a time when the former operators of utility company, as part of their bankruptcy case, had sent shut-off notices to the 450 homeowners in the community that services would be discontinued.

3) In addition, when the former board members of CCGYC indicated a need in 2011 to continue using the maintenance buildings, maintenance yard, golf course maintenance shop and yard, and vehicle storage area from the utility company, the Members of CCG Note who had invested in the utility company, agreed to go along with that even though there were multiple rental options from builders and contractors that would have yielded over $400,000 in rental income during the past 12 years.

4) During the sale of a portion of the utility company’s assets to Aqua in 2015, CCGYC requested to receive a payment of $170,000 +- as part of the transaction, and the members of CCG Note did not object even though there were other alternatives which did not require this payment to be made.

5) As was agreed to by Birckhead et al. in their signed Stipulation of Facts, CCG Note has committed and funded close to $300,000 of additional cash to CCGYC from 2016-2024, despite the loan identified in the 2012 Settlement Agreement being fictitious and never completed in the manner called for at the time of signing.

6) When CCGYC needed a location on an emergency basis to transfer spoils from their former location on Seaview Street (which had been illegally constructed on other people’s lots by the former General Manager with board approval) CCG Note made several acres of land available to CCGYC at no cost on land it owns in Section 15. In addition, CCG Note had also permitted CCGYC to temporarily use a lot it owns at no cost so that CCGYC could more easily access its Treasure Island spoils site.

Just the above items exceed $4.37 million, and these do not include other significant items CCG Note has contributed to the community over the past decade. Birckhead et al. choose to ignore these significant contributions when they make the libelous and mis-informed allegations they have that the developer does not care about the community. Birckhead et al. want to make the case that any collaboration with CCG Note is to be avoided, even when the community as a whole has been the past beneficiary of these large investments. In their desperate attempts to gain relevance, Birckhead et al. try and claim that CCG Note does not act like a developer should– it reads to me that there are at least $4+ million reasons why that is an absurd statement.

All of those investments have led to the present day, where there are now over 1,300 homes in the community and a professional and well regarded management team in place. Since 2012 , lot prices had increased in value by not percentages, but multiples, and home prices by 50 percent. The Birckhead et al. lawsuits, while mostly meaningless to CCG Note, have caused increases in operating costs for the association, and assessments to its members.

While these lawsuits against the association are designed to create divisiveness within the community, they will never be effective. Over the last 50 years of elections in Captain’s Cove, almost 100 percent of the elected candidates won by garnering the voting support of a cross-section of homeowners, lot owners, and the Declarant. While individuals are entitled to their own opinion, history and the courts show that Birckhead et al. are not entitled to their own facts. Having a board of directors who are able to work collaboratively even though they are representative of a diverse population of property owners is not a weakness; it is a sign of individuals seeking a common good for the community at large.

Sincerely,

Tim Hearn

Alternate Candidate- FY ’25 Board of Directors Election

Voting rights

From Page 42

plan retains all of their rights, including voting rights.

• This policy should also state that anyone with a nominal balance of under $25 retains their rights as a member in good standing. This reflects the reality that at times the mail system or staffing issues delays a payment. Members should not lose their rights as a member over such a small, inconsequential amount.

“We also propose that a truly independent party oversee the decisions regarding whose ballots should be disqualified to remove the appearance of any bias or impropriety,” the letter reads.

The candidates in their letter say that “all Board members should be encouraging voting by members, and these suggestions would demonstrate your commitment to do so.”

Hearn said the action sought by the candidates violate Section 12G of the community’s restrictive covenants, usually called the Declaration, and Article VI of CCGYC bylaws.

“Each of these contains language which determines the inability to vote by a delinquent member. The comments [by the CCCC candidates] show either a disregard for these community declarations and by-laws, or a disregard for the mechanism to change them,” he said.

Hearn said the CCCC candidates should know that the Board does not have the legal authority to change the bylaws or Declaration.

“A member who is on a payment plan is, by definition, in default,” he said. “The payment plan keeps the account from being turned over to collection, but it does not cure the default.

“Any arrearage is a default; neither the declarations nor the bylaws show that a default doesn’t exist just because the amount is deemed by the {CCCC candidates] to be minor. Interest is accruing daily, and every member has the ability to bypass the US postal service by paying online through the Member portal,” he said.

Hearn scoffed at the notion that an independent party is needed to determine if any arrearage exists

that would disqualify a member from voting.

“Any negative number on an account determines that an arrearage exists,” he said.

Given the number of delinquent accounts in Captain’s Cove - 506and the dollar amount owed, as well as the fact that annual assessments are $300 or more higher than they would otherwise have to be because of those delinquencies, Hearn said he was “surprised that a candidate would want to reward delinquent members with rights the organization does not assign to them. Curing 100 percent of the the default is the best way to achieve all goals,” he said.

The Currents reached out to CCGYC President Mark Majerus to determine if there is any appetite among the directors to let property owners on payment plans vote in CCGYC elections.

Majerus said the Board has no interest in taking that action, because, as Hearn indicated, there is no authority under the governing documents to do so.

He cited Declaration 12.G that

says “the Board of Directors of the Club shall have the right to suspend the voting rights (if any) and the right to use of the recreational facilities and streets of the Club of any member (or associate members). (a) For any period during which any club charge (including charges and fines, if any, assessed under paragraphs 12-D, 13 and 14 of these Restrictions) owed by the member or associate member remains unpaid; (b) During the period of any continuing violation of the Restrictive Covenants for the Section and Subdivision, after the existence of the violation shall have been declared by the Board of Directors of the Club.”

Changes to the above Declaration “will require 2,000 votes and cannot be done [unilaterally] by either Board or PMT action,” Mjaerus said.

He added that at its Aug. 26 meeting, the Board set the record date of Sept. 30 for when the evaluation of member balances will be recorded and submitted to the CPA firm conducting the ballot count.

To Page 9

Declarant could be entitled to three votes per lot owned in this fall’s election

Governing docs permit 3 to 1 ratio if CCGYC lost money the previous fiscal year

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

While the leadership of Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove is conducting a full court social media press on behalf of candidates it favors in this fall’s election for the Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club’s Board of Directors, they might find that it’s more of an uphill slough than they even thought.

That’s because a provision in the 2012 Settlement Agreement could be applicable.

As some CCGYC members may know there’s a provision in the association’s bylaws that spells out voting rights for Class A members, owners of individual lots in the Cove, and Class B members, otherwise known as the Declarant, CCG Note.

“There shall be two classes of members entitled to vote on any issue or in any election at a membership meeting: Class Act members as defined in the Articles of Incorpo-

Voting rights

From Page 45

He rebutted the allegation that the CCGYC election processes are controlled by the Declarant, CCG Note.

“The Association uses a third-party to print and mail out the ballots directly to the membership based on their address on record. The member completes the ballot and returns it directly to a certified public accountant who in turn processes and counts those ballots. This is a common activity for these firms and their professional reputation and credentials are on the line for completing that activity in the proper manner. The Association (neither the Board nor Property Management Team) never touches or sees a ballot during this cycle,” he said.

Majerus warned the CCCC candidates not to allege voting impropriety on the part of the Board or the Declarant.

It “is offensive and cannot be supported. In the event [the CCCC candidates] continue issuing such statements, [they] can expect action to be taken by those who are victims of [these] false statements,” he said.

ration and Class B members as defined in the articles of incorporation. Class A members shall have one for each numbered residential lot in the Captain’s Cove subdivision owned by the member. Class B members shall be entitled to three votes for each numbered residential lot in the Captain’s Cove Subdivision owned by the member,” the by-laws read.

The 2012 settlement agreement amends that provision, restricting the declarant’s 3:1 voting rights to a particular set of circumstances.

Section 10 of the agreement says that “CCG Note, LLC and its successors and assigns, agree not to exercise its 3:1 voting rights so long as the Association is not in default of this Agreement and so long as the Association is not operating at a deficit at end of the fiscal year as reflected in its annual audit.”

While audit reports for the years ending September, 2023, and September, 2022, have not been released, the Cove Web site does include monthly reports for that year.

According to the September, 2023 financial report, posted on the association’s Website, CCGYC had a

net loss of $860,076.16 for the fiscal year ending that month and an unfavorable variance to budget of $1.266 million.

Assuming that this number is verified in an audit report before this year’s election is concluded, the Declarant could decide to exercise its 3:1 voting rights in this fall’s Board election.

CCCC already has an uphill climb to prevail in the election because historically only 500 to 600 Class A member votes are cast in annual elections. Birckhead is leading a campaign to at least double that number in order to win more votes for its preferred candidates over those of CCG Note.

The Declarant controls about 1,100 lots and can cast a vote for each of the lots owned.

If those lots were to be voted at a 3 to 1 ratio, there would be no way for CCCC-endorsed candidates to prevail.

A source with detailed knowledge of CCGYC finances offered a cautionary note about whether the 2023 audit will actually show a loss. What could change that is the 2022

audit, which has been delayed because in the first six months of that fiscal year CCGYC finances were controlled by Troon Golf, with well publicized issues resulting in litigation, a forensic audit by national accounting firm CohnReznick, and a delayed annual audit by the CCGYC’s auditors, Rosen, Saperstein and Friedlander.

Reports from both years are pending, expected shortly, but the 2022 audit comes with the expectation that it probably won’t be receiving the auditing firm’s top rating for accuracy, sometimes referred to as a clean audit.

But whatever the 2022 audit concludes, the source said that it could affect the “starting point” for the 2023 audit, and that in turn might end up changing the $860,076 loss shown in the September, 2023, financials.

How much it might change at this point is anyone’s guess, but the source said it’s not a foregone conclusion that the year will end in a deficit that could trigger the 3:1 voting rights spelled out in the 2012 settlement agreement.

Even if the Declarant would be entitled to exercise the 3:1 option, it’s not definite that CCG Note principals would actually do so, not necessarily wanting to incur the criticism from the CCCC that would predictably result.

New reserve study posted on Website

DMA’s Doug Greene suggests incremental increases to reserve balance

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Senior General Manager Colby Phillips in mid-August directed the posting on the Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club Website of the 2024 capital reserve study recently completed by DMA Reserves of Richmond. The detail may be daunting for the average CCGYC member, but Tim Hearn, a former CCGYC president, director and candidate for an alternate Board position, has pointed out a key finding in the report.

“Pages 50-53 of the Executive Summary show a four year sum of $3.99 million, or an average of $997,000 per annum for 2025-2028. That would be a funding line item of about $400 per dues payer, based on 2,500 dues paying lots,” Hearn wrote in a recent email.

That would be a substantial hit on the annual lot assessment.It turns out that at the monthly Board meeting, Aug. 26, the directors decided not to fully fund the reserves, instead approving a less robust increase in the assessment to fund the reserves. [See article elsewhere in this edition for details.]

At the July 29 Board of Directors meeting, DMA

Reserves President Doug Greene presented some details about his study’s findings, but what caught the attention of those attending the July 29 Board of Directors meeting were remarks he made about the need to borrow an estimated $2.5 million to redevelop the Town Center in 2027.

Greene, whose company was hired to compile an inventory of Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club assets along with their current replacement costs and a replacement timetable spread, summarized the results of his company’s reserve study.

Greene said there were several iterations of his report resulting from interactions with the Property Management Team and members of the Board of Directors.

Greene said his company identified 253 major asset components, with some components containing multiple items, in Captain’s Cove that at some point will need replacing.

The report estimated current value of Cove assets, not including dredge equipment, at $10,637,000. Because of inflation causing replacement costs to rise and the fact that assets are replaced over time, he

CCGYC, BIC Construction, Richards settle height limit case

Terms of deal are covered by a non-disclosure ageement, but association goals appear to have been achieved

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club has announced the resolution of two active Accomack Circuit Court cases involving BIC Construction Inc., Cove property owners David and Stephanie Richards, Coveside Properties, and Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club.

According to a statement from CCGYC attorneys, these cases were quite complex, and there were wide ranging issues, including a substantial issue of enforcement of the Association’s declarations and covenants, the enforcement of County ordinances, and whether the Association had the power to enforce county ordinances and/or compel the county to

do so.

The litigation was initiated in large part due to the Association’s frustration caused by the county’s lack of enforcement of the 35-foot height restriction in the County ordinance, which was a significant part of the case. While the County was not a party to the litigation, its staff was drawn in as potential witnesses.

The circuit judge who was designated to handle the case asked the parties to arrange a settlement conference in which all the parties participated, including the judge and the Accomack County attorney. A settlement agreement was reached, but the terms are confidential un-

To Page 50

Reserve study

From Page 46

estimated the replacement cost of these assets at $21.444 million over 30 years.

Dredge equipment is not included in the study because it is maintained through the waterfront reserve. Greene suggested a separate reserve study for the waterfront reserve could be conducted at a later time. That’s an idea that’s already been embraced by the Board.

He said the CCGYC reserves of about $500,000 need to be augmented with new annual increments of 9 percent, which would increase the current contribution of $500,000 to $545,000 the second year and $592,000 in a third year.

“You are currently underfunded,” Greene said of the reserves.

A scheduled redevelopment of the Town Center currently scheduled for 2027 can’t be funded from the Cove’s reserve and would require a loan of about $2.5 million, Greene said, projecting a payback over 72 months or six years.

Later in the meeting, CCGYC President Mark Majerus noted Greene’s remarks about the Town Center redevelopment in the context of too many Cove property owners not paying their annual dues, forcing those who do pay to pay more than they would otherwise. Failure to do so consistently affects the association’s creditworthiness, he said.

Majerus said the choices for the Board would be to borrow the funds needed to pay for the Town Center redevelopment, as suggested by Greene. Or the Board could decide not to do the project and close the Town Center, an option that would be a last resort -- if the association couldn’t find a bank willing to lend the money needed, for instance.

Alternatively those who should be paying their dues and aren’t could start paying, Majerus said.

Captain's Cove Marina Restaurant

Directors table new lot sale program

Await contract for review and approval

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

The Board of Directors reacted favorably during its Aug. 26 monthly to a Property Management Team recommendation to award a contract to Robert Smith of Monument Sotheby’s real estate for a program to sell up to 90 lots in the Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club inventory. But on the suggestion of President Mark Majerus, the Board decided to postpone a decision on the issue until its September meeting.

The directors want to see contract language before approving the PMT’s recommendation and in particular are interested in how soon the association can expect to see revenue from lot sales. They would like to see revenue generated in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The current pilot program netted about $33,000 this year on the sale of ten lots.

In the new program, the Board wants to see a much more aggressive u

BIC, Richards case

From Page 48

der a non-disclosure agreement.

Nontheless, it appears as if the CCGYC’s objectives were substantially met in the settlement.

“Even though the County was not a party to the suit, the settlement achieves our goal of enforcement in the future without the delay and expenditure of funds involved with a trial and potential appeal of these two cases thereafter,” CCGYC President Mark Majerus said in remarks at the Aug. 26 Board of Directors meeting.

“One of the results from this particular case is that the County staff, including the County Attorney, had to focus on this height issue. Having done so the County is now committed to better vigilance and active and consistent enforcement of the ordinance in our community. Additionally, we have avoided further public conflict with one of the more active builders in our community, which we believe will be appreciated by all,” he said.

BIC Construction is a local builder, working in Captain’s Cove for decades.

The settlement concludes a protracted legal dispute that goes back several years.

It involved two separate lawsuits filed against CCGYC, one by BIC Construction and the other by David and Stephanie Richards, whose home on Blackbeard Road has been ensnared in a dispute with the association over a portion of the home that exceeded the county’s 35-foot limit.

An Accomack County Circuit Court judge in the spring of 2023 ruled against BIC, dismissing an amended complaint by the builder against CCGYC. But he said the builder could refile an amended version of the case, and that’s what happened.

The two separate cases were later combined.

Board approves budget with $1,874 dues

Water front assessment reduced to $415

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

The Board of Directors approved a 2024-25 budget for Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club that increases the annual lot assessment from $1700 to $1,874, with the additional revenues to be allocated to the association’s reserve funds, recently described as underfunded by a company hired to review them in detail.

The Board in a 5-0 vote at its Aug. 26 monthly meeting with two abstentions approved the budget with the $1,874 annual assessment, payable in two six-month installments of $937 each. Also approved was a waterfront assessment levied on owners of canal-front property of $415, a reduction from the current $500.

The motion also included a one-time $66,000 increase in the reserves to help pay for capital projects anticipated for next year and a supplemental $547,000 allocation to the reserves to pay for capital expenditures anticipated in future years.

The $66,000 was included to bring the 2023-24 capital reserve account up to the required balance as stipulated in the new capital reserve study by DMA Reserves of Richmond, Va. It should be noted the prior Capital Reserve Study when the 2023-24 budget was passed required $204,000 in funding, whereas the new study shows

Aug. 26 Board of Dirctors meeting notes

From Page 50

marketing plan.

General Manager Justin Wilder, in introducing the PMT’s recommended option, said that revenue might not materialize until the latter months of the 2024-25 fiscal year and that Smith is proposing a second year in the contract.

Majerus asked Wilder to explore with Smith the possibility of a oneyear contract with an option for a second year, rather than a two-year contract at the outset.

Wanting an answer to whether Smith would agree to that approach is the primary reason the Board voted to table the recommendation, which is likely to be considered again at the Board’s meeting in September.

Wilder said that the Robert Smith proposal was one of three submitted before the Aug. 1 deadline, adding that his proposal has other real estate firms teaming up to assist. He noted that as of Aug. 22, there were 102 active lots for sale in Captain’s Cove.

The 90 lots that would be part of the new sales program would almost double the number listed.

Wilder said that Smith is proposing the expenditure of $38,000 to aggressively market the 90 lots selected for sale.

In the first two months after the contract is executed, digital materials for the marketing Website and social media would be created, with months three to six needed to design and activate those sites, Wilder said. By months seven to 12, “you should start to see revenue” from sales, he added.

Wilder then told the Board that Smith would want a second year in the contract to continue to market the lots.

That’s when Majerus suggested it would be better to table the proposal until a contract could be drafted, perhaps with one year guaranteed and a second year as an option.

Majerus mentioned two other programs designed to reduce the CCGYC lot inventory and produce more dues-paying lots.

The first is a program to sell association lots for $200 to give the new owner access to Cove amenities without having to pay guest fees. These lots would not be buildable and some could be in Sections 14-18, which is many years away from any kind of development.

that 2023-24 should end the year at $587,000 on hand. The $66,000 makes up that difference.

The Property Management Team had proposed a 2024-25 budget with no increase in the lot assessment, based on the operational budget it had prepared. But the PMT budget left open the possibility of an increase because of the recent submission of the five-year reserve study by DMA Reserves, whose president told the Board in a July meeting that the association’s reserves were underfunded.

CCGYC President Mark Majerus said adequately funding association reserves is required by Virginia law, and that the approved increase in revenue complies with that requirement. He advised that while Virginia law requires adequate funding for reserves, it does not mandate spending out of reserves in any particular amount or year.

In approving the budget, the Board made a few changes to what the PMT had proposed, including a $50,000 increase in legal expenses to $100,000 for third party legal costs. Director Dave Felt said he hopes that settlement talks with Troon Golf over pending litigation will result in an agreement and a savings in this legal expense, but he said the additional $50,000 is needed in the event no settlement is reached and the issue goes to court.

The Board also decided to increase the $48,000 the PMT had budgeted for a lot sale program approved later in the meeting. This line item is now

But CCGYC has plenty of non-buildable lots in other sections.

Wetland lots that aren’t buildable would also fall into the category that could be part of this program, Majerus said.

A key provision of this program is that these lots would not be eligible for the Cove’s on-going lot swap program, and the buyer would pay all associated transfer costs and would be expected to pay the annual assessment as well.

He advised anyone who is interested in acquiring an amenities lot should get in touch with Wilder.

The other program is what Majerus called a “free lot” program, in which the association would create a data base of lots owned by members who want to dispose of them. Anyone interested in acquiring one of these member-owned lots could research the lots available by accessing the database.

The association “would be facilitating the easy transfer” of these lots, he said, with the expectation that they would continue to be dues-paying. To enter the program, the lot would have to be up to date with annual assessments, he said.

Also at the Aug. 26 Board meeting:

• Wilder reported that 116 applications have been filed this past year with the Environmental Control Committee, most for new home construction, with four denials so far. He said the committee continues to look for one new member and anyone interested should reach out to him. He also said that there were 58 compliance violations so far this year, compared to 24 the previous year.

• Wilder solicited questions for the Sept. 9 candidates’ forum and provided key dates for the upcoming Board election. Sept. 30 will be the date that members in good standing will be determined, with ballots to be mailed within two weeks. Good standing generally means paid up assessments, zero balance, and no alleged ECC violations. Ballots will need to be postmarked no later than Oct. 25 to be counted.

• Majerus in a legal update said the parties are awaiting a decision from the court on the Reece and Birckhead litigation, with no new information to offer otherwise.

• The Board voted 4-1, with George Guthridge opposed, to settle an ongoing case over a member’s past due account. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

• Majerus announced a settlement in the BIC Construction-Richards consolidated lawsuit, with details covered by a non-dislosure agreement. [See article elsewhere in this edition for details.]

• Director Dave Felt said the stay on the CCGYC lawsuit against Troon Golf is due to be lifted on Sept. 10 but that CCGYC would agree to extend it, in hopes that settlement talks can begin.

2024-24 budget approved

From Page 51

$66,000, roughly twice what was brought in by a pilot program that will conclude at the end of September.

As revised by Board action, the budget calls for $7,666,18 in operational revenue, reduced to $7,175,414 after cost of sale expenses; $6,587,410 in operating, bad debt and other expenses; budgeted cash flow from operations of $588,004; $534,153 in cost of balance sheet liabilities; and a budgeted cash flow after operations and liabilities, $53,851.

The bottom line was very close to that in the PMT proposed budget.

The PMT draft budget had called for $7,362,446 in operational revenue, reduced to $6,871,041 by $491,405 in cost of sales.

Operating expenses were budgeted at $4,452,139, “other” expenses including bad debt, taxes, and interest on loans totaled $1,837,773. Cost of balance sheet liabilities of $534,153 reduced the budgeted cash flow to $46,976.

Two items that changed the budget from what had been proposed by the PM was a recommendation by Director Dave Felt for an additional $50,000 to be added in legal expense should the Troon litigation not be settled out of court.

The Board earlier in the meeting had voted to write off about $4 million in member accounts receivable debt, of about $8 million on the books, and that changed two line items in the budget.

“Directors are supposed to be the final authority on the budget and they are required by law to set the capital reserves and have the overall responsibility for the final numbers,” CCGYC President MarkMajerus said in an email the day after the budget was approved. “That is not the responsibility of the PMT or Colby.

“Hence, Dave Felt’s recommendation for 50,000 [in additional legal expense] and the Board’s earlier action of Member accounts receivable writeoff,” a reference to the vote to reduce the outstanding AR debt by about $4

CAPTAIN’S COVE

million, from a starting point of about $8 million.

“The Board was required to use their business judgement for several items, such as number of members who may not pay next year, what margin should be on-hand at the year’s end, etc. With all of these changes, it would have been very difficult to come to an assessment as the directors (somewhat hesitantly perhaps) came to agreement on most of these values.”

Majerus said the shortened form of the budget in Excel on display for those who attended the meeting via Zoom or in person “made the process much easier to see live, what the various effects were. Exactly what a computer should do (besides be a word processor or to play solitaire).”

He noted that commentators on local social media have been ridiculing the event, perhaps unaware that they were witness to final steps in the forging of the 2024-25 budget.

The detailed discussion over the budget and its final approval began with a presentation of the PMT’s proposed operational budget and no assessment increase.

Phillips itemized the three major amenities in Captain’s Cove that have significant impact on the budget, food and beverage, golf and pools.

The PMT budget projects a modest net positive income result for food and beverage operations at the Marina Club and Town Center, with $1.160 million in revenues, cost of goods of $479,605 and net revenues of $680,795. The budget projects $660,918 in related expenses, for a net positive of $19,877.

That result reduces the lot assessment $7 over what it would be without the positive result, she said.

Golf, on the other hand, is costing CCGYC members $89 in the assessment to cover a projected negative net of $254,873, on $143,000 in projected revenue, $6500 in cost of sales, and expenses of $391,838.

Pool operations similarly affect the assessment. Pools are projected to generate $75,530 next year against $230,480 in expenses, for a net of a

COVE TRIO

SATURDAY, SEPT. 14TH 6:00 - 9 :00

2024-24 budget approved

From Page 51

negative $153,000, or a $54 impact on the assessment.

The PMT’s proposed operational budget also included an increase in boat slip rental fees at the Marina Club from $700 to $850 per year.

She itemized some key items in the PMT proposed budget, including

• Payroll expenses based on a full-time equivalent staff of 30, including 46 part-time seasonal employees, resulting in payroll expense of 22 percent of the association budget, well below many property owner associations. She attributed that percentage to the large of seasonal employees.

• Marketing ($11,000) and committee expense ($5000) of $16,000, not $24,000 for marketing as erroneously stated by one property owner during the Member Forum.

• Capital reserve expenses of $271,500.

• Revenues based on 2,860 assessment payers and 506 members not paying their assessments, costing those who do pay more than $300 in higher assessments.

• A reduction in assessment revenue year-over-year of $133,387, attributable to fewer assessment-paying lots, but a year-over-year reduction in expenses of $203,000.

CCGYC President Mark Majerus then launched into a detailed discussion of the recently completed reserve study and its impact on the budget for next year.

He said the Board would have a choice on whether to adopt a “threshold” funding model with a minimum annual reserve balance along with annual increases for near-term expenditures, or what he called a cash flow model, which includes more robust funding.

“We’ll probably do the threshold model,” he said, with its requirement of $586,579 in a reserve balance.

That’s the reserve allocation number included in the approved budget for next year.

Majerus also discussed the DMA recommendation that CCGYC take out a $2.5 million loan in 2027 to build a new Town Center complex. He said there would need to be an in-depth study of costs before any decision would be made to take out a $2.5 million loan.

He said any lending institution would have detailed lending criteria to measure an applicant’s credit worthiness.

Majerus said that part of the reason to boost the reserve allocation is to show a bank that CCGYC is serious about maintaining adequate reserves. He also said that an earlier Board motion to write down by one half certain amounts of debt associated with $8 million in delinquent accounts is a step in that direction.

Efforts to reduce the number of deliquent accounts through foreclosure auctions are a another factor a lending insitituion might consider, he suggested.

The directors then debated issues to be resolved as itemized by Majerus, including how many additional lots should be considered non-paying, whether the threshold model or cash-flow model for reserves should be adopted, and what is the ideal end-of-year net income for the association.

Individual directors offered their views on that.

Director Dave Felt led off the discussions by suggesting that legal expenses should be increased $50,000 to cover potential costs in the Troon litigation, even as he hopes that settlement talks will produce an agreement that would obviate the need for the increase.

Other directors agreed, and that amount was added to legal expense.

As the directors debated various scenarios, Majerus worked with a budget spreadsheet that was on display, making line item changes on the fly that affected the bottom line.

The revised, approved budget was posted on the Cove Website on Aug. 28.

Directors eventually agreed to a positive cash flow of about $50,000 for the end of next year, in line with what the PMT had proposed in its draft of the budget.

Members question $2.5 million town center proposal Resistance to cost, possible borrowing surface during Aug. 26 Member Forum

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Several Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club members expressed skepticism about spending $2.5 million for a new town center and taking out a bank loan in that amount to pay for it, as suggested by the president of the company that recently completed a reserve study for the association.

The skepticism was expressed in the member forum before the Board of Directors approved the 2024-25 budget during the Aug. 26 meeting of the Board, held in the banquet room of the Marina Club.

Member Tom Barton was the first to suggest that rather than building a new Town Center complex, the Board ought to consider refurbishing the existing facilities, which date back to the 1970s, rather than replacing them.

Barton also questioned the validity of Senior General Manager Col-

Greg Butler, Agent 1508 Market Street Pocomoke, MD 21851 Bus: 410-957-3585 greg.butler.gbe9@statefarm.com

by Phillips’ budget numbers showing a slight operational surplus in food and beverage operations next year. He said the summary didn’t include a lot of expenses, such as utilities, that legitimately should be assessed against that operation.

Phillips later told the Currents that utilities historically have not been assessed against individual departments.

“The budget has never been set up that way, and it would be difficult to allocate utility expense when multiple departments coexist in the Marina Club, for instance,” she added.

Michelle Kalinock also expressed skepticism about a $2.5 million expenditure for a new town center, suggesting that a working group be set up to explore the proposal and come up with less costly alternatives.

She also criticized what she said was a $24,000 expenditure in the Cove Currents to advertise to bring Ocean Pines residents to Captain’s

Cove. She was incorrect on several fronts.

The Property Management Team budgeted $16,000 next year for marketing and committee expense, as itemized by Senior General Manager Colby Phillips during her budget presentation.

There’s never been a $24,000 line item for advertising in the Currents.

Advertising in the Currents is not intended to bring Ocean Pines residents down to Captain’s Cove to use Cove amenities or dine at the Marina Club.

It occasionally happens, but not to the extent that it would come anywhere close to offsetting the expense of advertising in the publication.

Most of the Currents’ circulation in Captain’s Cove is via email, with more than 2,500 copies distributed electronically and another 400 or so distributed in a section of the Ocean Pines Progress’ print edition.

A substantial portion of the advertising placed in the Currents by the PMT appears in the electronic edition only.

That’s advertising content aimed at CCGYC members only, not the general public or Ocean Pines residents.

The print edition features ads that are open to the general public, while the e-edition includes those ads plus those targeted at CCGYC members.

The intent of the advertising placed by CCGYC in the Currents is to promote Captain’s Cove events and amenities to CCGYC members, not Ocean Pines residents as alleged by Kalinock, Phillips has said.

It’s also intended to make it possible for the publication to cover community affairs and to be the “paper of record” for Captain’s Cove.

“We are supporting a publication that reports in detail on events in Captain’s Cove and the affairs of the association,” she said in a recent statement. “No other publication in Accomack County comes anywhere close to reporting on Captain’s Cove to the extent that the Cove Currents does.

“While some residents do not care for some or all of the content of the Currents, many do, because it’s accurate and thorough and covers everything we do as an association,” she said.

The advertising rates are also substantially less than other media in Accomack County, she said.

Many CCGYC ads in the Currents are not charged at all, to keep within a not-to-exceed monthly threshold.

The publication makes space available for a column by Julia Knopf, the CCGYC community relations director, without charge.

Kalinock during the Member Forum also suggested that the Board consider giving members the option of paying their annual assessments in monthly increments, rather than the twice-annual schedule now in place.

She also suggested levying impact fees on new homeowners, as many associations do, and said that the budget was spending too much on Troon litigation.

She also expressed the hope that John Costello, a former CCGYC department head running for the Board this fall, won’t be on the payroll in the new fiscal year.

Costello has been performing some tasks for the association since leaving his full-time job in the Cove earlier this year.

Costello has said that if he is elected to the Board, he would no longer work for the Cove in any capacity.

Phillips recently told the Currents that there is no money in next year’s budget to pay for services provided by Costello.

His contract to provide services ends before the conclusion of the current fiscal year, she said.

Also during the Member Forum portion of the Aug. 26 meeting, member Arline Curtiss suggested that raising the assessment would result in more members opting out of paying them.

Indeed, the approved budget anticipates that and increases the bad debt expense line item accordingly.

She also suggested $5000 in impact fees levied on new homes as they’re built.

She also expressed the hope that before the CCGYC spends $2.5 million on a new Town Center, the Board would conduct a referendum of Class A members to gauge whether they want this new facility.

CCGYC President Mark Majerus has said no decision will be made on replacing the Town Center without a thorough vetting of costs, but he

Looking ahead to a festive fall season

By JULIA KNOPF Contributing Writer

Captain’s Cove is gearing up for a fantastic lineup of events this fall, promising something for everyone to enjoy! From festive fall celebrations to community gatherings and charitable activities, there’s plenty to look forward to in the upcoming months.

It may be the dog days of summer, but Captain’s Cove canine companions are diving into the fall season. On Saturday, Sept. 7, owners and their furry friends are invited to participate in the first Doggie Swim. The event, which will raise money for the Eastern Shore SPCA in Onley, will include the swim, a hot dog sale, and raffles, including two Pup Baskets.

A new season brings new specials to the Marina Restaurant, including a Sunday Brunch full of classic and coastal brunch favorites. On Wednesdays, the Tacos will take over during a weekly taco night.

The fall brings Trivia with DJ Decibull back to the club, alternating weekly with a new game, Bar Bingo. DJ Decibull will host the bingo game, shifting between different categories, such as music, sports, and traditional bingo. Feud with Friends, a game that will have audience members hysterically laughing as players struggle to answer seemingly simple questions, will return to the restaurant on September 18, October 16, and November 20.

On Sept. 20 and 21, the community theme is Health and Safety.

First, on Friday, the 20th, the Blood Bank of Delmarva mobile blood drive will come to the Marina Club parking lot. Individuals wishing to donate may sign up at reception or stop in on the day of the drive.

The following day, vendors from throughout the peninsula will gather in the Marina Restaurant for the annual Health and Safety Fair. This free event promotes well-being and raises awareness about vital health and safety issues. The fair will feature informative exhibits, health screenings, and interactive demonstrations.

The Balls and Claws Golf Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 5, presents an excellent opportunity for golf enthusiasts and crab lovers to tee off

for a good cause. Golfers of varying skill levels can enjoy a day on the greens while helping to raise money for a new playground at Captain’s Cove. Following the match, golfers and non-golfers alike can gather together for an Eastern Shore-style crab pick.

This event is usually held in August, but the October move will offer fatter crabs and cooler weather. Sponsorship opportunities are also available; contact the Pro Shop for more information.

The golf course path will host two special Stride and Ride days this fall. A special Patriot Day Walk will occur on Wednesday, Sept. 11, beginning at 5 p.m.

Participants are asked to wear patriotic attire to celebrate the spirit of unity, patriotism, and service while remembering the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

On Oct. 9, at 4 p.m., the path will be pink for the third annual Breast Cancer one-mile walk. This annual event will celebrate survivors and remember those lost to breast cancer. Donations collected during the event will benefit Women Supporting Women, an Eastern Shore-based non-profit.

Of course, autumn at Captain’s Cove would not be complete without the annual Halloween party and Fall Fest. Friday, Oct. 25, the Rockoholics will wake the dead during the Marina Restaurant Halloween Party and costume contest. On Sunday, Oct. 27, the littlest ghouls and goblins can take part in the Fall Fest. Costumes, pumpkin painting, bounce houses, and Trunk-or-Treat will bring merriment and spooky fun.

As the fall season transitions into the holiday spirit, Captain’s Cove will host the beloved Holiday Shop and Dine event on Saturday, Nov. 2, inviting patrons to shop for unique gifts from community artisans and crafters. After checking people off their Christmas lists, shoppers are encouraged to stay for a bite to eat and drink at the Marina Restaurant.

With an array of festivities and community engagements on the horizon, Captain’s Cove is set to deliver an unforgettable fall season filled with joy, camaraderie, and meaningful experiences. Whether

you’re a resident or a visitor, these upcoming events are not to be missed, offering the perfect opportunity to celebrate and create lasting memories in the heart of our vibrant community.

A final note: Congratulations to all 2024 Club Champions. The Club Championship was played over the course of Aug. 24 and 25. Champi-

ons are 2024 Club Champion, Treye Wilkerson; 2024 Senior Club Champion, Greg Loniewski; 2024 Ladies Club Champion, Carolyn Cox; and 2024 Senior Ladies Club Champion, Terri Anderson.

Julia Knopf is the Community Relations Manager of Captain’s Cove Golf & Yacht Club

Contest winner

Above, Jackson Shepherd with his winning fish caught during the croaker fishing contest in Captain’s Cove. Below, contestants Tyler Guthridge, Gabriel Acri, and Jackson Shepherd fishing for croaker off of the Captain’s Cove dock at the Marina Club.