By Greg Ellison

(Jan. 21, 2021) Although the calendar year changed, more than three months remain in Ocean Pines’ fiscal year, which has the community’s advisory committees concentrating on wrapping up their assignments by the end of April.

ENVIRONMENT

Maintaining productive partnerships with area agencies committed to water and land preservation is the primary focus for the Ocean Pines Environmental and Natural Assets Committee for 2021.

Committee Chairman Ken Wolf said the group has continued to deepen its working relationship with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program to improve environmental issues in Ocean Pines.

Wolf said a number of committee members participated in a Coastal Bays policy committee meeting in recent months and the entire group is on board for another virtual meeting with officials from the nonprofit on Jan. 28.

Wolf said in addition to Director of Amenities and Operational Logistics Colby Phillips, who joined the Coastal Bays Board of Directors last spring, board member Doug Parks also took part in the recent policy committee meeting.

“It’s gratifying to me that after all these years there’s really a buy-in from the Ocean Pines Association into the environment,” he said.

Wolf reassumed the committee leadership role in the fall of 2019 from former chairman Tom Janasek, who stepped down after being elected to the OPA Board of Directors.

The pair has worked together for several years to establish a rapport with Coastal Bays, in hopes of bolstering watershed health and reducing pollution levels in the St. Martin River.

Looking ahead to the late January virtual meeting, Wolf said committee members are seeking further input on a number of issues related to water quality and drainage.

“We’ve asked some questions and are going to ask some more,” he said.

Other pending topics to kick off 2021 include receiving results from bacterial levels tests performed at two smaller ponds in the north and the larger South Gate Pond late last year.

Wolf said the data should be in hand soon, with further testing slated this winter.

The tests are being conducted through a partnership with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, whose assistance was sought by Environmental Committee board liaison Janasek.

Testing includes quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Next Generation Sequencing to identify environmental DNA.

The samples are being taken to ascertain any water quality impacts from geese and other flocks of birds that congregate around the Pines’ ponds.

Wolf said another area of attention relating to water quality involves CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations.

Reining in resident Canada geese in the Pines will also take center stage among committee efforts this year.

“We need to control and not bring in additional resident geese,” he said.

Wolf said the group is seeking humane tactics to curtail the wildlife presence.

One such avenue is deterring people from feeding fowl, with design work on educational signs for the South Gate Pond nearly completed.

“We’re still working on the language,” he said.

GOLF

Golf Committee Chairman Fritz Lahner said the group’s priorities for 2021 include supporting efforts to improve course conditions along with the overall play experience.

In hopes of optimizing certain aspects of the game, the committee inquired about having maintenance crews hand cut tees and greens.

Lahner said both General Manager of Golf Operations John Malinowski General Manager John Viola concurred the approach would be beneficial, although not during cold conditions.

“They’re committed to doing it when it’s warm or the greens show signs of stress,” he said.

Lahner said the labor-intensive undertaking would ideally reduce subpar summer conditions experienced in certain course sections last year.

On a similar note, installing supplemental drainage, along with selective tree removals are in the works to address issues at troubling fairways and putting greens.

Lahner said selective pruning of diseased, waterlogged trees, as was performed last season, would be completed throughout the course, with holes 10 and 18 seeing further improvements.

“They’re going to put additional drainage on those holes,” he said.

Lahner said both locations are commonly bogged down with excessive water, while noting similar work is underway on fairways 8 and 14.

“They get lots of water and are shaded,” he said.

Looking at other improvements, adding rakes on golf carts, instead of being placed throughout the course, is also under discussion.

“People throw the rakes, they get broken and people take them,” he said. “We suggested they put them on carts.”

Under current covid restrictions, including rakes on golf carts would require extra equipment and cleaning protocols. The implements had been removed altogether in the early stages on the pandemic.

Lahner said costs for the inclusion of rakes on carts would be considered in next year’s budget.

To improve the larger experience for players and visitors to the Golf Clubhouse Bar and Grille, committee membership has been expanded to include perspectives from men and women.

“The committee is more diverse now … it used to be all men,” he said. “The ladies bring a different point of view.”

While there are numerous annual tournaments for men or women at the Ocean Pines Golf Course, talks are underway for a unified joint event later this year.

“Last year, the women asked the men to back the Pink Ribbon Golf Tournament,” he said.

Lahner estimated roughly half of Ocean Pines male golf members participated in the effort to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

Time frames remain hazy for fundraising tournaments and other events at the course during 2021.

“It’s not that we don’t want to do them, we just can’t plan for them,” he said. “We can’t pick a date because we don’t know what the rules are.”

While overall rates are under review as part of the next fiscal year budget deliberations, other suggestions for new membership packages are being put on hold for now.

“When we go back to full speed, they’ll take it under advisement, but at this time memberships will be as they are,” he said.

Communications

The Ocean Pines Communication Committee is rounding the corner on completing a number of goals this year.

Communication Committee Chair Jenny Cropper Rines said prolonged work to obtain zoning authorization from Worcester County to replace the dozen-plus community marquee signs with digital messaging boards is approaching the finish line.

In early December, Rines joined committee member Cheryl Jacobs and board liaison Dr. Colette Horn to hash out final details on a zoning amendment with the Worcester County Planning Commission to authorize electronic signs in residential communities.

“It’s dangerously close to my part of it being done,” she said.

After an administrative review this month, the county commissioners are expected to vote on the amendment next month. The final text allows the OPA to retain three existing marquees and install three electronic signs at key points in the community.

Topping the committee list for 2021 is finalizing development of an online “virtual resident’s academy.”

“The most important thing we’ve been involved with pushing forward is the virtual residents academy,” she said.

Prior to coronavirus halting committee meetings last spring in January 2020 the group had developed chapter headings for a modernized online version using an existing template from a previous Ocean Pines resident’s academy.

At this point, the project is in the hands of Marketing Coordinator Julie Malinowski.

“It’s being put in the hands of the staff that does the job,” she said. “She has taken the lead on it.”

Rines said the virtual academy has gained resonance during the pandemic.

“It’s a step in the right direction and very good timing on that with covid and everything else,” she said.

The intention is to increase knowledge of the inner workings of the Pines.

“We’re also hoping from the spirit of volunteerism it will help in terms of recruiting,” she said. “It could be a training tool for new board people.”

Rines is also part of a newly formed Bylaws and Resolutions work group that is looking to, among other objectives, develop a “Master Calendar” to assure annual association procedural requirements are followed.

Rines said the aim is a reference document for committee chairs and new boards.

“To try and simplify that … so we’re not reinventing the wheel every year with every new board [and] new committee chair,” she said.