By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

An updated Ocean Pines food and beverage contract is being developed, as the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors voted this week to authorize the community’s general manager to proceed with contract negotiations with an unnamed food and beverage vendor,

The selected operator will manage the association’s Yacht Club, its Beach Club in Ocean City, and the Clubhouse Bar and Grille.

In an open special meeting on Monday, the board unanimously approved a motion to allow association General Manager John Viola to proceed with negotiations with one of the three food and beverage bidders.

The identity of the chosen company was not disclosed and will only be revealed once terms are agreed upon between the parties.

According to OPA Board of Directors President Stuart Lakernick, three proposals were submitted between mid-September and Oct. 18.

Since then, the general manager and his team, consisting of OPA Director of Business Administration Linda Martin, OPA Director of Finance Steve Phillips, marketing and public relations contact Josh Davis, and legal counsel, analyzed the responses, considering several criteria.

These measures included thoroughness and extensiveness of the proposals, the vendor’s operational staff, management, and human resource process capabilities, profit and loss statements and the estimated return to Ocean Pines.

Also weighed was the vision the bidders had for themselves and management of the Ocean Pines food and beverage amenities.

In a closed session last week, management recommended to the board and legal counsel a company ththey wanted to pursue.

Lakernick maintained that the board considers decision-making regarding the food and beverage submissions to be principally an operational and management responsibility.

The identity of the winning bidder was kept hidden from the board to allow a fair review of the submissions.

Lakernickt said that if negotiations yield a fully agreed-upon contract, the board will vote on a motion to authorize the general manager to execute an official arrangement at a subsequent special or regular board meeting.

“As to revealing the identity of the selected bidder, this will not happen tonight,” Lakernick said. “The board does not know the identity of the winning bidder. It will happen only after the contract negotiations are completed and an agreed set of contract terms have been arrived at.

“The board and management believe that the interests of the Ocean Pines Association are best served by maintaining confidentiality as to the identity of the selected bidder until there is an agreed and fully negotiated set of contract terms. This approach is also fair to the counterparty…This approach is consistent with many other contract situations, where sensitive contract negotiations are ongoing.”

The board of directors expressed their satisfaction with the selection process up to this point.

“[The food and beverage company selection] was done in a manner that would be the most fair to all parties involved and allow us to have a really clear understanding of the differences of the different bidders without any other thoughts,” Director Elaine Brady said.

“We were able to look at the data in an extremely fair way…I think our community can be assured it was an extremely fair process.”

Director Steve Jacobs reiterated Brady’s sentiments, maintaining that by looking at the data with the identities of the applicants kept confidential, “any particular advantage that one candidate might have over another candidate” is eliminated and “makes the process neutral on its face” until the contract dealings are complete.

Board Vice President Rick Farr said that he honed in on the respondent’s vision and “whether they are going to take [OPA’s] food and beverage into the future,” as well as the projected financial returns to Ocean Pines.

The association issued a request for proposals (RFP) for companies looking to handle Ocean Pines food and beverage amenities in September, as the neighborhood’s current contract with Matt Ortt Companies expires on April 30, 2025.

Matt Ortt first signed a two-year deal with Ocean Pines in March 2018 to manage the community’s food and drive-service locations: the Ocean Pines Yacht Club, the Ocean Pines Beach Club, and the Clubhouse Bar and Grille. The initial arrangement was extended by five years in 2020.

As the contract comes to an end, the governing body elected to seek proposals outside of Matt Ortt Companies per advice from the community’s legal counsel and governing documents that require fair and competitive RFP processes.

The board will vote at some point in the future to authorize Viola to execute an official arrangement if the extended discussions yield an agreed-upon contract.