By Greg Ellison

Trendic suit settlement will allow community to decide  limits of board authority

(Feb. 25, 2021) After reaching a recent settlement with former Director Slobodan Trendic on a previously rejected petition to limit spending by the board of directors, the Ocean Pines Association announced this week a referendum will be scheduled on the issue.

OPA President Larry Perrone said in a statement on Tuesday that the board had reached a settlement with Trendic and would now stage a referendum to permit residents to consider approving a proposed $1 million spending cap.

“The board is in the process of having a referendum question drafted and reviewed by counsel,” he said. “Once we have that, we will set a date for a hearing … and the referendum vote will take place.”

Trendic stepped down as a director after abstaining from a vote on April 6, 2019 to approve expansions of the police and administration building, as well as the golf clubhouse and cart barn, which combined totaled more than $3 million.

During the OPA homeowners annual meeting that August, Trendic presented a pair of petitions. One called for limiting the board’s unauthorized spending authority, and the other sought a referendum on the recently begun clubhouse project at the Ocean Pines Golf Course.

Trendic filed suit in November 2019 in response to the OPA Board of Directors’ rejection in August of a petition containing more than 800 signatures seeking to amend the OPA bylaws to require the board to conduct a membership vote to approve any single capital expenditure over $1 million.

Perrone said the settlement requires the association to hold the referendum and to reimburse Trendic’s court costs of $196.65.

Speaking during the board meeting on Saturday, Director Camilla Rogers said based on numerous emails on the topic, a number of residents mistakenly assumed the proposed spending limits were already enacted.

“The establishment of the $1 million cap is not complete at this time,” she said. “The referendum will be put before the public who will determine the direction.”

Perrone concurred with Rogers and said the settlement was only to stage the referendum.

“This referendum will be to change the bylaws, which now allows for [spending] 20 percent of our annual assessments [without authorization] … and having it locked in at $1 million,” he said.