By Greg Ellison

Staff Writer

(Aug. 8, 2019) The annual meeting of Ocean Pines homeowners will begin at 10 a.m. on. Saturday in the Assateague Room of the Community Center at 235 Ocean Parkway.

On Friday, the Elections Committee will precede Saturday’s meeting with a ballot count for the seven candidates vying for three seats on the board of directors. The deadline to mail in ballots was on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

In the candidate pool were retired railroad yardmaster Paula Gray, Environment Committee Chairman Tom Janasek, Realtor Shawn Kotwica, Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Larry Perrone, retired lawyers Camilla Rogers and Edward Solum, and electrical contractor Greg Turner.

Election ballots were mailed to Ocean Pines residents in July and have been steadily trickling in since that time.

Last year roughly 7,600 ballots were distributed with a return rate of 41 percent.

The ballots will be counted on Friday in the Ocean Pines Community Center East Room.

To hold the annual homeowners meeting on Saturday, a quorum of 100 lots is required, with lot owners requested to provide identification for verification.

Prior to confirming the quorum, a handful of appointments will be made: recorder, Michelle Bennett; parliamentarian, Jeremy Tucker; timekeeper,Mark Heintz; teller, Steve Habeger; and sergeant at arms, Ocean Pines Police Chief Dave Massey.

Next up will be the presentation of the 2019 Sam Wilkinson Volunteer Award.

Contingent on ascertaining a sufficient quorum is present, the meeting will feature a handful of end-of-fiscal 2019 presentations.

These will include a legal report from attorney Jeremy Tucker, auditor’s report from Paul Shifrin, president’s report from Doug Parks, along with a financial and General Manager’s report from John Viola.

After this, the Election Committee report, including validation of vote counts, will be presented by Steve Habeger.

The annul homeowners’ meeting will close with public comments, with each speaker limited to five minutes.