JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Ocean Pines General Manager John Bailey, center, discusses renovation plans for the association golf and country club during a special meeting at the facility last Friday.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(June 28, 2018) Members of several Ocean Pines golf committees last week met multiple times with association leadership and an architect from Davis, Bowen and Friedel regarding renovations plans for the golf and country club.

That marks a sharp turnaround from about a week ago, when many golfers attended a special board meeting and said they were disappointed at being left out of renovations talks, despite their expertise.

Last Friday General Manager John Bailey, Facilities Manager Kevin Layfield, Association President Doug Parks, directors Slobodan Trendic and Ted Moroney, Facilities Manager Kevin Layfield, and Larry Perrone, Don McMullen, Frank Brown and Bob Long representing the golf community, gathered around a set of architectural drawings on the unfinished second floor of the country club.

After about an hour of friendly discussion it was decided the architect would attempt to fit an elevator into the renovation plans, address a poorly designed and patchwork roof blamed for years of leaks and mold problems, and work towards a request for proposals for construction to include several optional features, from new windows to upgraded materials on the uncovered second-floor deck.

The second-floor renovations, which follow a $520,000 makeover of the first floor last year, would create several flexible meeting spaces including an area large enough to hold major golf banquets.

Based on the discussion, new drawings were commissioned and could be finished in time for bid requests to release in late August or early September. Moroney said it was still reasonable the board could select a vendor in time for a mid-October construction start. Work is expected to last about six months.

Providing further updates during a Saturday board meeting, Moroney said the latest architectural drawings were viewable on the association website at www.oceanpines.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/OP-Golf-AS-Bid-Set-030118.pdf.

He compared the optional features to an “an la carte menu where you can pick and choose what you want out of it.” Moroney singled out replacement windows, said to be “failing” based on a 2011 report.

“Is if cheaper to fix it now or in two or three years?” he said.

Parks added the feedback from golfers was “a great example of taking input from the community in an area where they are the subject-matter experts.”

“Most if not all of these changes have come from their suggestions and recommendations,” Parks said. “It’s a perfect example of community input that really drives what needs to be the correct solution.”