(March 2, 2017) A pair of 4-3 votes on Saturday cleared the final two hurdles in passing the fiscal year 2018 budget for Ocean Pines.
Four directors, Brett Hill, Cheryl Jacobs, Pat Supik and Board President Tom Herrick, voted to approve a $25 increase in the annual fee for beach club parking passes.
The fee is now $200.
To make up for the increase, Hill, also the interim general manager, said the parking pass would come with either a family membership to the beach club pool or a $120 swipe card good for passes at all pools. With membership, adult admission to pools is $7 and youth admission is $5.
Director Doug Parks argued the increase was not justified because not everyone would use the pool membership – or the swipe card. He said there was a percentage of the Ocean Pines constituency that used the beach club parking spaces, on 49th Street in Ocean City, merely for parking.
Parks, Slobodan Trendic and Vice President Dave Stevens pushed to uncouple the lot and the pools.
“Now … there’s no other option but to carry that pool pass even though you may never use it,” Parks said. “I don’t see the value in that, going forward … the increase and then forcing someone who doesn’t use the pool [is] somewhat incongruent. I have a tough time having to pay for something I don’t get value from.”
Part of the change in beach club parking rates was meant to discourage apparent cases of abuse.
Parking passes had come with four unassigned pool passes. During previous meetings, directors stated those ended up in the hands of rental agents and frequently popped up on websites like Craig’s List.
To combat that, the directors decided to do away with the unassigned passes and to charge separate rates for renters. But, some homeowners who allowed visiting family members to use the passes balked at the change.
Jacobs said the swipe card, introduced for the first time Saturday, was a good way to address public backlash.
“What I think we’ve come up with … is some way of addressing what the community has said in the emails they’ve sent us,” she said. “It’s more flexibility to those people who had concerns about the four passes being taken away.”
Supik suggested there was added value to the passes anyway, because the association was extending the hours during the day – and the months during the year – the beach club would be open.
Hill added that uncoupled parking passes were $100 a quarter century ago, in 1993. Applying a cost of living increase, he said, would increase that cost to about $172.
“In this proposal, with a cost-of-living adjustment for a 25-year period, for the additional $27 … we’re now adding $120 in value with pool swipes or the family membership to the pool,” Hill said.
The other stumbling block during the meeting was whether a newly proposed golf membership would be limited to individuals, or open to members and their guests. The directors previously agreed to the $1290 price of a so-called “30/60 membership,” good for 30 18-hole rounds or 60 nine-hole rounds.
Unlike full memberships to the Ocean Pines Golf Course, the limited 30/60 memberships would not include unlimited play on the driving range. They would, however, entitle the member to advance tee times and 20 percent discounts on items at the golf pro shop.
Stevens said he believed the new offering would help stimulate overall growth in golf membership, but he believed in restricting the rounds only to the cardholder.
Hill disagreed, suggesting the cardholder should be able to share the rounds with family members and guests. He motioned to amend the proposal, but that never saw a vote.
Stevens, Trendic, Parks and Herrick voted to approve the limited membership.
The finalized budget then passed, 5-2.
Four directors, Brett Hill, Cheryl Jacobs, Pat Supik and Board President Tom Herrick, voted to approve a $25 increase in the annual fee for beach club parking passes.
The fee is now $200.
To make up for the increase, Hill, also the interim general manager, said the parking pass would come with either a family membership to the beach club pool or a $120 swipe card good for passes at all pools. With membership, adult admission to pools is $7 and youth admission is $5.
Director Doug Parks argued the increase was not justified because not everyone would use the pool membership – or the swipe card. He said there was a percentage of the Ocean Pines constituency that used the beach club parking spaces, on 49th Street in Ocean City, merely for parking.
Parks, Slobodan Trendic and Vice President Dave Stevens pushed to uncouple the lot and the pools.
“Now … there’s no other option but to carry that pool pass even though you may never use it,” Parks said. “I don’t see the value in that, going forward … the increase and then forcing someone who doesn’t use the pool [is] somewhat incongruent. I have a tough time having to pay for something I don’t get value from.”
Part of the change in beach club parking rates was meant to discourage apparent cases of abuse.
Parking passes had come with four unassigned pool passes. During previous meetings, directors stated those ended up in the hands of rental agents and frequently popped up on websites like Craig’s List.
To combat that, the directors decided to do away with the unassigned passes and to charge separate rates for renters. But, some homeowners who allowed visiting family members to use the passes balked at the change.
Jacobs said the swipe card, introduced for the first time Saturday, was a good way to address public backlash.
“What I think we’ve come up with … is some way of addressing what the community has said in the emails they’ve sent us,” she said. “It’s more flexibility to those people who had concerns about the four passes being taken away.”
Supik suggested there was added value to the passes anyway, because the association was extending the hours during the day – and the months during the year – the beach club would be open.
Hill added that uncoupled parking passes were $100 a quarter century ago, in 1993. Applying a cost of living increase, he said, would increase that cost to about $172.
“In this proposal, with a cost-of-living adjustment for a 25-year period, for the additional $27 … we’re now adding $120 in value with pool swipes or the family membership to the pool,” Hill said.
The other stumbling block during the meeting was whether a newly proposed golf membership would be limited to individuals, or open to members and their guests. The directors previously agreed to the $1290 price of a so-called “30/60 membership,” good for 30 18-hole rounds or 60 nine-hole rounds.
Unlike full memberships to the Ocean Pines Golf Course, the limited 30/60 memberships would not include unlimited play on the driving range. They would, however, entitle the member to advance tee times and 20 percent discounts on items at the golf pro shop.
Stevens said he believed the new offering would help stimulate overall growth in golf membership, but he believed in restricting the rounds only to the cardholder.
Hill disagreed, suggesting the cardholder should be able to share the rounds with family members and guests. He motioned to amend the proposal, but that never saw a vote.
Stevens, Trendic, Parks and Herrick voted to approve the limited membership.
The finalized budget then passed, 5-2.