(Dec. 17, 2015) Despite the recent release of a seven-page golf report, at least one member of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors said the process still needs to open up.
That report, prepared by directors Pat Renaud, Tom Terry and Bill Cordwell, summed up a November meeting when members of management company Landscapes Unlimited went over a business plan and goals for the next fiscal year.
Director Jack Collins, an avid golfer, said he was surprised by the tone of the document.
“It looked like an adversarial meeting to me,” he said. “It appeared as though there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the overall report. Not being in the room, I don’t know what the tone and tenor was, but it seems as though the [three] reps were not pleased.”
Collins said he read the first draft of Landscapes’ business plan, calling it “quite detailed and researched.”
“I’d never seen anything like that before, being on the board, so I was impressed by the detail,” he said. “Could it be tweaked? Yeah, it could be. That’s why I was hoping there would be an opportunity for everyone on the board to have some input.”
Collins and fellow director Dave Stevens have been pushing that issue during recent meetings, saying that Landscapes was tapped to replace former managers Billy Casper Golf earlier this year, at least in part, because of its promise of increased transparency.
“The only information that I had available to me during prior years on the board was during the budgetary process, in which it was a number’s exercise – how many rounds of golf were estimated, how much revenue was that going to generate and what were the expenses,” he said. “That was basically it.”
During the Nov.19 board meeting, the directors voted 5-2 to hold an open meeting with Landscapes. Nearly a month later, Collins said he was not sure if that meeting would take place.
“I would like to see the process open up and I would like to see there be a dialogue between all the board members and I think it should be televised,” he said. “I think it should be open to the public and I think the public should be aware of what’s going on.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not,” he added. “I have no idea.”
Meanwhile former director Marty Clarke had a number of issues with the report. For one, he said highlighting the decline in membership was a “red herring.”
Clarke said Casper lost more than 100 members during its four-year term, and that the decline has been steadily trending down since at least 2000.
He also said the financials under Landscapes, so far, were better than the report implied. Clarke pointed to the most recent monthly financial report, which showed a nearly $20,000 improvement in net operations under Landscapes, versus Casper during its final year.
Clarke said he believed certain directors still held a grudge that Casper was removed earlier this year.
“They just can’t get over it and they’re not going to stop until they get rid of LU,” he said. “And if that’s not obvious to everybody, they’re not listening.”
That report, prepared by directors Pat Renaud, Tom Terry and Bill Cordwell, summed up a November meeting when members of management company Landscapes Unlimited went over a business plan and goals for the next fiscal year.
Director Jack Collins, an avid golfer, said he was surprised by the tone of the document.
“It looked like an adversarial meeting to me,” he said. “It appeared as though there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the overall report. Not being in the room, I don’t know what the tone and tenor was, but it seems as though the [three] reps were not pleased.”
Collins said he read the first draft of Landscapes’ business plan, calling it “quite detailed and researched.”
“I’d never seen anything like that before, being on the board, so I was impressed by the detail,” he said. “Could it be tweaked? Yeah, it could be. That’s why I was hoping there would be an opportunity for everyone on the board to have some input.”
Collins and fellow director Dave Stevens have been pushing that issue during recent meetings, saying that Landscapes was tapped to replace former managers Billy Casper Golf earlier this year, at least in part, because of its promise of increased transparency.
“The only information that I had available to me during prior years on the board was during the budgetary process, in which it was a number’s exercise – how many rounds of golf were estimated, how much revenue was that going to generate and what were the expenses,” he said. “That was basically it.”
During the Nov.19 board meeting, the directors voted 5-2 to hold an open meeting with Landscapes. Nearly a month later, Collins said he was not sure if that meeting would take place.
“I would like to see the process open up and I would like to see there be a dialogue between all the board members and I think it should be televised,” he said. “I think it should be open to the public and I think the public should be aware of what’s going on.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not,” he added. “I have no idea.”
Meanwhile former director Marty Clarke had a number of issues with the report. For one, he said highlighting the decline in membership was a “red herring.”
Clarke said Casper lost more than 100 members during its four-year term, and that the decline has been steadily trending down since at least 2000.
He also said the financials under Landscapes, so far, were better than the report implied. Clarke pointed to the most recent monthly financial report, which showed a nearly $20,000 improvement in net operations under Landscapes, versus Casper during its final year.
Clarke said he believed certain directors still held a grudge that Casper was removed earlier this year.
“They just can’t get over it and they’re not going to stop until they get rid of LU,” he said. “And if that’s not obvious to everybody, they’re not listening.”