By Greg Ellison

(May 6, 2021) The Ocean Pines Bylaws and Resolutions Committee discussed the challenges of forming an Elections Search Committee and the power delegated to the Architectural Review Committee (ARC) during its meeting on Friday.

Committee Chairman Jim Trummel presented a pair of concerns raised by a bylaws review work group that is drafting proposed updates to association declaration of restrictions.

The Search Committee conundrum is that even though its job is to recruit candidates for the association’s annual elections, the committee hasn’t been organized for the past several years, Trummel said.

“This year there are two members but there should be five,” he said.

Committee member Keith Kaiser said recent efforts to fill out that committee have fallen short.

“Obviously, it’s not been a fruitful effort,” he said.

Kaiser suggested asking the board revise or rewrite the related bylaws provision.

“What we have in writing is not what’s being accomplished,” he said.

With other committee members agreeing that the language of that provision should be changed, Trummel said the recommendation would be sent to the bylaws work group, which would then send its findings to the board.

Trummel said there are varying approaches to remedy the issue.

“One would be eliminating the Search Committee and transferring search functions as an additional duty of the Elections Committee,” he said.

One risk Trummel raised with abandoning the Search Committee would be losing person-to-person contact in soliciting board candidates within the community.

“We can legitimately indicate the Search Committee provisions of the bylaws need to be addressed,” he said.

The second issue discussed involved the ARC appeal process and general board oversight.

Trummel said the work group worried that the vast majority of the assorted declaration of restrictions within sections of Ocean Pines state ARC decisions are final.

“There’s no qualifying statement, decisions are final, period,” he said.

Differences abound among the numerous declarations of restrictions, especially those instituted after the mid-1990s, Trummel said.

“In those, it doesn’t state decisions are final, but that they are subject to being appealed by a lot owner in accordance with the appeals process in association design guidelines,” he said.

“If you look in the ARC guidelines, you don’t find an appeals process section of any kind,” he said.

Trummel said although appeal processes do exist,  the work group has requested instances of inconsistent language be addressed.

Kaiser asked why ARC would be deemed independent from the board.

Trummel said the origins of the power divide trace back to the formation of the HOA half a century ago.

“It’s puzzling to me how they could not have seen that they were creating the impression of a committee that acted completely outside of the governance of the association,” he said.

Kaiser said the matter of board oversight should be examined.

“Do we want the ARC to be all-powerful and for the board to have no control … in the event something goes off the track,” he said. “We’re all subcommittees of the board.”

Trummel said the committee feedback would be sent to the in-process work group to further mull which bylaws provisions to recommend modifying.

“We will be proposing a package of amendments to bylaws the board,” he said.

When approved by the board, the proposed amendments will require a referendum, with a public hearing and ballots mailed to homeowners.