Minutes adjusted
After approving minutes for board meetings on Jan. 19 and 20, Director Tom Terry asked for an adjustment to the Jan. 28 regular meeting minutes.
“Under the section of new business, under the motion on the beach club, I think I left out a word,” he said.
The passage, “… to have engineers develop alternatives for evaluation to include, but limited to, a ground level facility …” Terry said should have read “not limited to.”
Director Cheryl Jacobs objected to the Feb. 5 minutes, which stated, “Ms. Jacobs is opposed to merit raises …”
“What I was opposed to was a three percent increase … in the dollars allotted for salaries,” she said. “I was not opposed to, and ultimately agreed and voted in favor of, having the amount that was in the budget for the GM to have discretion to give merit raises. It’s a bit of a distinction, but in my mind it’s an important one.”
The Feb. 5 minutes also stated that OPA Board President Pat Renaud “said the board will create a task force” regarding traffic concerns at the Delmarva Health Pavilion on Route 589.
Renaud said the OPA board cannot and would not create any task force on any matter. Director Jack Collins added, “The board is not going to get involved in any way, shape or form in this particular project.”
All three adjustments to the minutes were approved.
GM report: update on projects
Last month, Thompson told the di
Thompson said a request for proposals to repair two OPA bridges would be released on Feb. 26, and that the association was working with Davis, Bowen & Friedel, Inc., an engineering firm from Salisbury.
Bids are due March 30.
By a 7-0 vote, the directors approved bids to make improvements at the Sports Core Pool. Pearl Pools will receive $196,866 for pool improvements, and Pools and Spas will get $58,768 for upgrades to the deck. The total cost is more than $255,000 – or, roughly $5,000 more than the board originally budgeted.
Thompson said the additional cost was driven by the replacement of the filter system, suggested by state inspectors, which totaled $9,000.
Improvements are set to begin in July and finish in September.
GM report: quarterly financials
General Manager Bob Thompson said golf and the yacht club were both ahead of budgeted numbers after the past nine months of operations. Aquatics, while behind budget by $22,767, was still profitable by more than $70,000 during that span. All three amenities performed better than they did in the previous fiscal year, during the same period.
In the case of the yacht club, Stevens said, despite the improvement, he projected a “six-figure loss” for the amenity by the end of the fiscal year. Thompson disagreed.
Overall, Thompson said the association was tracking ahead of budget by $47,242.
Manklin Meadows
Last month, Thompson told the directors he had only received one bid for the Manklin Meadows project, which would upgrade several racquet sports courts, as well as address other concerns at the park.
That bid came back nearly three times more than the $250,000 budgeted by the board.
Thompson said he was working with the county to develop alternative solutions – including redesigning a stormwater mitigation system – as well as breaking the project into phases and performing some of the improvements in-house, using public works.
He said he hoped to have more concrete information during the next several weeks.
Upcoming events
Ocean Pines will host a bridal showcase at the yacht club on March 5. Thompson will hold a town meeting on March 8 in the community center, and the Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a business expo at the yacht club on March 9.
On March 10, Sandpiper Energy will host its own town hall in the community center, followed by the Maryland Coastal Bays volunteer fair at the yacht club on March 16.
A new program, the Ocean Pines Residents Academy, runs seven weeks, May3-June 16. Thompson said 25 homeowners signed up for the program, which includes “classroom-type” presentations on finance, public safety, public works and amenities.
Appointments
Kathy Grimes was approved to a second term on the aquatics advisory committee. Tom Stauss was also confirmed to his first term on the committee. Both votes were unanimous.