By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The Ocean Pines Association is encouraging members to download a new mobile application that will allow homeowners to pay their assessment fees, schedule tee times at the golf course, and receive communitywide announcements, all from their cellphones.

At the Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, Nov. 22, Keith Calabrese, the IT manager for OPA, presented a newly available mobile app that will make life in Ocean Pines just a little bit easier.

The program, simply called “Ocean Pines” on the Apple App Store and Google Play, lets homeowners access their membership accounts to make payments, review statements, receive information, and schedule time at the OPA amenities.

Calabrese said that the app is now live. Before its official release, the software was launched in a preliminary version for the golf course and racquet center, allowing members to reserve tee times, for example.

The application is now available to all Ocean Pines homeowners. Upon download, users can sign in with their membership numbers and personal passwords. Once logged in, residents can easily view their profiles, pay fees, or schedule a tee time at the golf course. Homeowners will also be able to update their email addresses directly in the program if their email addresses change, ahead of election season.

Calabrese added that the app has a social feed similar to Instagram or Facebook that permits users to see recent community news. Furthermore, the software will be one of the channels OPA officials use to disseminate vital information.

 “It also has the ability to send push notifications, so if there is ever an emergency or a situation where golf specifically wants to send their golf members a notification, like that there’s a frost warning or something like that, it has the ability to do that as well,” the IT manager said.

Board member Stuart Lakernick noted that he has found the program to be useful.

“I’ve had the app since it was first developed and released,” he said. “You get updates on the conditions of the racquet center. You get updates on different things happening in the community. It’s a really good tool to have.”

Officials maintain that the Ocean Pines app will expand in its available functions. The software vendor, Calabrese, claimed it will provide OPA with an “updated, bigger, better” version next year.

The hope is that citizens get themselves acquainted with this iteration first, prior to the imminent upgrades. The program can be accessed by searching for “Ocean Pines” in the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids.