By Greg Ellison

Staff Writer

(Dec. 12, 2019) After witnessing the rapid improvement of the Ocean Pines Association’s finances following the June appointment of General Manager John Viola, the board of directors last week voted 7-0 to extend the agreement for 30 more months.

OPA President Doug Parks said both parties negotiated an agreement for a two-and-a-half-year extension of Viola’s original six-month contract, with no discussion preceding the unanimous vote during the board meeting last Wednesday.

Few details of the agreement were available, although one cost-cutting measure revealed was that Viola agreed to forgo medical benefits for the length of the contract that runs from Dec. 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022.

Following the ouster of former General Manager John Bailey in March, Viola assumed the reins on a temporary basis until inking a six-month contract that expired this December.

In addition to his experience as budget and finance committee chairman, additional qualifications supporting Viola’s ascension to the general manager role was his service as OPA treasurer at the time of Bailey’s departure.

When Viola stepped into the position, a transition management team was formed around Viola, Aquatics Director Colby Phillips, who was promoted to operations director, along with Director of Finance Steve Phillips and Executive Secretary Michelle Bennett.

While the board had considered tapping an executive hiring firm to find a permanent replacement for Bailey, that suggestion was tabled in early April, with Viola announcing at the end of that month the transition management team was being disbanded.

Viola said the combination of talents appeared sufficiently capable to abandon the transition management team.

By late May, the board decided against using an outside management firm because of the expense, and locked in Viola until December.

In August, Viola reported during the annual homeowners’ meeting the OPA fiscal 2018/2019 budget closed with a positive variance of roughly $116,000 and this month disclosed the association is favorable to budget at the mid-point of the current fiscal year by more than $550,000.

Ocean Pines Association General Manager John Viola