By Greg Ellison

(March 3, 2022) The Ocean Pines Board of Directors last week delayed decisions on proposed governance document revisions, signed off on a grant application to improve nature trails and voted on advisory committee appointments, with all but one approved.

M-09 revisions

Due to uncertainties on timeframes, Association President Colette Horn withdrew second readings for changes to resolution M-09 concerning board candidate applications and Search Committee duties.

Horn said the intent was revamping the candidate verification procedures.

“We want to add language that the due date [for candidate applications] can’t extend past May 31,” she said.

Director Larry Perrone said if the association secretary, who is tasked with reviewing candidate applications, has related questions any issues should be addressed directly.

“I don’t think we can give the secretary the authority to extend the due date,” he said.

Director Doug Parks said some degree of flexibility should be granted if additional information requested from candidates is not delivered within prescribed time frames.

“There is some ambiguity there,” he said.

Perrone said any clarity required for candidate applications should be provided before the due date.

“Judges pick apart the wording,” he said. “We could find ourselves in a situation where if we are not specific on what we’re doing it could be a problem down the road.”

Horn recommended board members approve a new candidate application form for consideration during the groups next meeting on March 23.

“We need to be prepared to approve changes,” she said.

Electronic voting

Potentially swapping election methods from paper balloting to online voting was put on the back burner until at least next year.

Elections Committee Chair Carol Ludwig said current procedures include mailing ballots with return envelopes, which are scanned after collection.

Ludwig said tight time frames for mailing and receiving ballots has increased the number of late returns from 182 in 2020 to 289 in 2021.

Additionally, Ludwig said scanning ballots is a painstaking process taking upwards of six hours, along with time-intensive labor to identify duplicate submissions.

“We cannot identify eligible voters until 35 days before the deadline,” she said.

Under the proposed online approach, property owners would be given a random number to log on the association website and vote.

“Votes are entered via the website with reminders sent to those who give emails,” she said. “Voting is open until the day of the deadline.”

Among the benefits of online voting, Ludwig noted, were cost reductions for postage and return envelopes.

“It all goes through our contractor,” she said. “It would save on paper and storage needs.”

To accommodate residents without online access, a phone-in option would be included.

Ludwig said online voting has already been embraced by the Parke neighborhood.

“It did increase the percent of returns,” she said. “Voting online is easier than ordering something on Amazon.”

Current costs for annual elections are roughly $15,000, with price estimates from four online vendors ranging from $3,000 to $13,000.

“There should be a related cost savings,” she said.

Director Amy Peck said 64.7 percent of respondents in the recent property owners survey favored electronic voting.

Horn proposed adopting a hybrid approach initially, with both online and paper ballot options, to avoid confusion during the upcoming board election.

Perrone balked at the suggestion.

“Cost-wise it would defeat the whole purpose,” he said.

Director Frank Daly asked if switching to online voting would require updating bylaw language.

“There is a line stating ballots must be mailed,” he said.

Bylaws and Resolutions Committee Chair Jim Trummel agreed that bylaw section 5.03C would need amending.

“You may need bylaws amended if going for this across the board,” he said.

Perrone said risks outweigh advantages in terms of enacting electronic voting for the board election this year.

“We’re not ready,” he said.

AARP grant

Based on a request from the Recreation and Parks Committee, the board voted unanimously in favor of applying for a Community Challenge Grant through the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Recreation and Parks Committee Chair Patti Stevens said the grant of approximately $10,000 would be intended for improvements on the Robin Hood and Route 90 trails.

These would include installing crowd counters at trail heads.

Stevens said further criteria for grant qualification includes sponsoring recurring community walks.

“Part of what AARPs focus is to build community engagement and connected communities,” she said. “We think walking together is a really great way to do that.”

Peck said the recent property owners’ survey revealed walking trails are used by 66 percent of the community. “The community survey also showed that the number one response was for improving walking trails and bike trails,” she said.

Committee appointments

In a change from past form, Horn announced the board would vote to approve individual committee appointments, as opposed to signing off on a list of names.

“The chairperson present to us their recommendations,” she said.

After approving two new members for the Aquatics Committee and three for the Golf Committee, the board split on approving Stuart Lakernick for the Strategic Planning Committee.

Voting in favor were Directors Rick Farr, Parks and Peck.

Parks recommended the board outline reasoning for rejecting a committee application to enlighten future candidates.

“One thing you don’t do is turn down a volunteer,” he said.

Horn asked if any members would like to share their reasoning for rejection, which solicited no answers.