JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Members of the Ocean Pines Clubs Committee last week discussed several proposed improvements for the community yacht club, but ultimately said most of the input should come from the Matt Ortt Companies hired to oversee food and beverage operations.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Oct. 25, 2018) Members of the Ocean Pines Clubs Committee have some ideas to improve the yacht and beach clubs, but also suggest that the board of directors defer to the professional management company it hired to oversee those facilities.

That would be the Matt Ortt Companies, tapped earlier this year and by almost every measure a success in turning around two of the worst producing amenities from the prior year.

Chairman Gary Miller said the committee hopes to turn in a new report next month, in time to have an impact on the next fiscal year’s budget.

Recommendations in the report will include additional dividers and partitions for the downstairs yacht club dining room that could improve the ambiance, as well as sound baffles to improve the acoustics on both floors, Miller said.

The committee has also discussed automated doors to allow for easier handicapped access to the yacht club, as well as moving the handicapped parking spaces.

“Since the new entrance to the dining room [was moved to] the side of the building, the handicapped parking is still on the other side,” Miller said. “It might be easier for people to get into the building if the parking areas were closer.”

Improved computer systems were also considered. Miller said the current systems don’t have credit card chip readers.

He’d also like to see more barstools in general, as well as umbrellas for the outdoor patio deck “so that, during the day, people can enjoy being out there without the sun beating down on them.”

“Although we’re going to list some of those things, what we’re also going to suggest to the board is that they basically ask the Matt Ortt Company what it is they need,” Miller said. “[That way], the people who actually know what the heck they’re doing are the ones that are looking at what’s needed.

“They also have better access to good pricing, so it would make more sense, we feel, to have the board see what [the Ortt Companies] need and go from there,” Miller continued. “They can approve it or not approve it, but let them come up with a budget plan that they feel would help them continue to make the money they’ve been making.”

Miller said the report is nearly finished. He hopes to have the committee sign off on all the recommendations no later than next month.

The committee also plans to recommend more special events at the club to help keep it profitable during the offseason. Miller said a murder mystery dinner theater package last weekend was sold out.

“We’re hoping that they look at doing a couple more events like that,” he said. “They’ve already got the [anniversary] gala lined up and I know that the committee is pushing hard to get more tickets sold for that.”

He added regular trivia nights have also gone well and could continue through the end of the year.

“But, the main thing in the conclusion of the report is that the board really should sit down with the Matt Ortt Group and talk to them about what they feel that they need,” Miller said. “That way, we’ve got the people that obviously know what they’re doing making the recommendations and looking at what the real costs would should be, not what the board might expect it to be.”