There’s no point in jumping to conclusions, which would seem to be the case with reports that the Manklin Meadows project has gone over budget.
It hasn’t gone over budget for one simple reason: no work has been done, outside of the creation of a site plan for an overhaul of the complex, so not much money has been spent.
More simply put, something can’t be over budget until a budget has been set and that hasn’t been the case.
All that has happened is that the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors got an estimate of the cost from one bidder and that estimate apparently falls far short of what will likely be needed to add pickleball courts, more parking and other features.
Further, the operative word in the previous paragraph is “likely” rather than “will,” because the overall undertaking continues to be evaluated.
As General Manager Bob Thompson pointed out, it’s more probable that the single bid did not account for every aspect of the operation, and even if it did, both he and the board would need more than a solitary quote to proceed.
As it is, both Thompson and board know that no matter what the price tag might be, they have options on how to proceed. One approach would be to break the job into smaller pieces to be completed over a longer period of time, or at least be able to see what each component would cost so they have a clearer picture of what the project entails.
With the board just entering the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year, there’s time to decide what makes financial sense and what doesn’t. In the meantime, there’s nothing here that suggests there is any cause for concern.
It hasn’t gone over budget for one simple reason: no work has been done, outside of the creation of a site plan for an overhaul of the complex, so not much money has been spent.
More simply put, something can’t be over budget until a budget has been set and that hasn’t been the case.
All that has happened is that the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors got an estimate of the cost from one bidder and that estimate apparently falls far short of what will likely be needed to add pickleball courts, more parking and other features.
Further, the operative word in the previous paragraph is “likely” rather than “will,” because the overall undertaking continues to be evaluated.
As General Manager Bob Thompson pointed out, it’s more probable that the single bid did not account for every aspect of the operation, and even if it did, both he and the board would need more than a solitary quote to proceed.
As it is, both Thompson and board know that no matter what the price tag might be, they have options on how to proceed. One approach would be to break the job into smaller pieces to be completed over a longer period of time, or at least be able to see what each component would cost so they have a clearer picture of what the project entails.
With the board just entering the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year, there’s time to decide what makes financial sense and what doesn’t. In the meantime, there’s nothing here that suggests there is any cause for concern.