By Greg Ellison

Budget panel elects to go with less expensive ones

(Nov. 5, 2020) After mulling a pair of proposals last month, the Ocean Pines Association’s Budget and Finance Committee vetted four other proposed capital projects for fiscal 2021/2022 during its meeting last Wednesday.

General Manager John Viola said after hearing presentations about additional court on Sept. 30, committee members reviewed details for a Sports Core Pool project, mailbox cluster updates, boat ramp electronic gates and a floating dock recreation pier on Oct. 28.

Viola said the proposed recreation pier, at an estimated cost of $35,000, was the most recent addition to the proposal list.

Potential sites include by the Swim and Racquet Club on the north side of Ocean Pines or along the grand canal that feeds into Manklin Creek to the south.

“Budget and finance thought it was a good idea,” he said.

Viola said that outlook is on par with perspectives shared by both Director of Public Works Eddie Wells and Public Works Operations Manager Nobie Violante.

“When people come down to visit, they like to go crabbing,” he said.

Budget committee members suggested project costs should be paid for with replacement capital funds.

“We did have a recreation pier previously,” he said.

Viola said a larger scale proposal was considered several years ago, but was postponed.

“They were talking if we replaced it, and we didn’t, it would cost probably around $250,000,” he said.

For a fraction of that cost, a smaller scale roughly 40-foot long pier is being considered.

“It’s nowhere near the size of the previous one,” he said.

Viola said the pier could also prove useful for kayakers.

“Nobie was doing the heavy lifting and got a high-level estimate … and also spoke to [Worcester] County,” he said.

Viola said if the OPA Board approves the proposal, construction could likely be completed by Labor Day 2021.

Revived from past consideration is a proposal to install electronic gates for boat ramps at White Horse Park and Mumford’s Landing, at a cost of roughly $15,000 per location.

“This project has been around for years,” he said.

Viola said former OPA Assistant Treasurer Gene Ringsdorf, who retired in August 2019, previously had lobbied for the control measure.

“There would be fees and some revenue generated from this, which would be offset by operational costs and depreciation,” he said. “It’s really not going to be a money-maker, we’re doing it for other reasons.”

While rates have yet to be determined, the idea would be to charge non-OPA members to improve boat ramp access for homeowners.

“It’s more to try and control that it’s Ocean Pines individuals using it and if they aren’t that, they pay a type of fee,” he said.

The committee also examined potential costs to address mailbox clusters long in need of repairs, as well as installing rooflines and lighting.

Viola said only a small percentage of the mailbox locations have overhead cover at this time.

“The poster child would be Terns Landing,” he said.

Viola said the cost to add a pavilion roof could run at least $15,000 per site.

“The numbers are pretty high,” he said.

Viola said the cost to install rooflines would be considered new capital, but repairing other aspects would be drawn from replacement funds.

“The pedestals, the mail boxes … and concrete all … need some degree of replacement,” he said.

Estimated costs for pedestals are $35,000, with roughly $20,000 for mailboxes and about $100,00 in concrete work.

“The team recommended doing a few in the (upcoming) year, which would be a total estimate of $60,000-$70,000 to do three units,” he said.

Budget committee member deemed that too costly.

“They understood about breaking it out … but even that would take years and years,” he said.

While not proposing the mailbox repairs as a top priority, committee members recognized attention would be required.

“At this time, it’s still in the discussion phase,” he said.

Lastly, the committee considered costs to add a room at the Sports Core Pool.

“This has been ongoing for a couple of years,” he said.

The proposed multi-purpose room could accommodate meetings, trainings, parties and recreation programs.

“They’re outgrowing their space,” he said.

Estimates for the room addition are from roughly $210,000 to $250,000.

“Budget and finance’s response was there’s a lot going on,” he said. “They favor the docks extension and the racquet spots but felt this was a little much all in the same budget.”

The committee did concur with a suggestion to earmark between $25,000-$50,000 to supplement the $100,000 the board placed in new capital reserves last year to fund the project at some point.

Viola said, in addition to supporting the Bainbridge drainage project, which requires $254,000 in matching funds for a recently awarded Restore America’s Estuaries grant, the committee also deemed the racquet sports courts and marina dock expansions as achievable marks.

“Those are the ones that I ranked high and it sounds like budget and finance is the same,” he said. “Then they squeezed in that recreation pier.”

While other proposals held merit, the committee ranked them lower.

“There’s only x amount of funds,” he said.

The OP annual operating budget approval process will begin with several days of meetings during the first week in January.

“Budget and finance will be the first ones presented to for the start of budget process,” he said.