By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(April 30, 2026) The Ocean Pines Yacht Club’s new outdoor kitchen will be operational by summer, Ocean Pines Association General Manager John Viola announced Saturday along with updates on community maintenance work.

Appearing before the OPA Board of Directors Saturday, Viola also reported that the new south side fire station remains on track to be completed in 55 to 60 weeks.

Viola said the new south side firehouse maintains a “green” status and should be ready for the volunteer and career firefighting staff to move into in about a year, as projected. However, the general manager added that an unexpected groundworks-related interruption has hit the initiative.

“During the site work and some of the review, something did come up…they felt that some of the soil in special areas was maybe more organic than they would like to see,” Viola said.

Organic soil can compromise a building’s structural integrity due to its weak composition and tendency to decompose over time. To address the concern, Viola said the overly organic soil will be removed and replaced with fill dirt or a sand-and-clay mix. The work should be completed within the next two weeks.

Viola noted that the soil replacement effort will take around 20 loads of dirt. He added that the community’s public works team will likely jump in and help to cut down on additional expenses.

“If you have been passing by and you haven’t seen a building yet…Things happen, it’s not a major thing, and we’ll certainly take care of it, but you will see a little bit of a delay there,” the general manager said.

He also reported that the new building’s final plans will be submitted to the county in the first week of May to secure the project’s foundation permit officially.

“It’ll take 55 to 60 weeks once we get that foundation in,” Viola maintained.

The original and severely outdated south side fire station—built in the 1980s—was demolished in February. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in mid-March to recognize the beginning of the long-awaited construction of a new, more modern firefighting facility. The replacement building will be located where the old one was, at 911 Ocean Parkway.

Viola also updated the OPA board and homeowners on a few food and beverage initiatives. An outdoor kitchen at the Yacht Club, for instance, will be ready to serve patio and poolside patrons by the start of summer.

Construction on the tiki kitchen has already begun, and a metal roof was to be installed this week. Viola reminded the community that the project is a hybrid effort between restaurant operator Touch of Italy and OPA. Touch of Italy is responsible financially for the interior work, like the kitchen equipment, while Ocean Pines is paying for the structure itself.

Viola added that the outside kitchen will accommodate only patio and pool customers, not the inside section of the Yacht Club restaurant. Additionally, patrons may order from wait staff rather than going up to the galley’s window. Servers will come around to drop off the food.

“Food will be ordered through wait staff,” Viola said. “The way it will work, I, as a homeowner, the customer, I won’t go to the window. The waiters will go there and deliver the food to you, whether you’re at the pool or the patio.”

The goal of the new kitchen is to ensure that food for outside customers remains hot and fresh. Touch of Italy owner Bob Ciprietti said last summer that the high volume of patrons made it difficult for staff to maintain the highest quality for patio and pool diners.

“I think it’s a good move. Credit to TOI to realize that we need another kitchen to truly handle the pool and the patio,” Viola said.

However, not all food and beverage initiatives are moving ahead this season. The general manager said that a proposed pavilion with a small kitchen at the Clubhouse—intended to provide golfers with a convenient place to grab a quick bite to eat—is on hold. The project will be reviewed again this fall.

“We did get approval to plan it, but stay tuned in the fall,” Viola said. “As of now, nothing will be built there in the summer…nor am I saying it will definitely be built in the fall. We’re still reviewing it.”

Ongoing maintenance was also discussed at Saturday’s meeting. At the golf course fairway bathrooms, a new roof, freshly painted doors, and fixture replacements will be finalized by the beginning of summer.

The Swim and Racquet pool restrooms will be updated with partitions and fresh mats.

Additionally, according to Viola, the community’s public works crew began cutting the grass in medians and common areas on April 20.

He said the association will not be responsible for grass cutting on easements and ditches, as the money set aside for that purpose was reallocated to address snow and debris cleanup left by February’s blizzard. Owners are now to arrange for grass cutting in front of their own homes.