(Aug. 3, 2017) A July 5 news release from the Ocean Pines Association announced renovations to the second floor of the county club were about to “tee off.”
The release went on to say, “The Ocean Pines Association makes a ‘forward swing’ toward renovation to the second floor of the Ocean Pines Golf Club. ‘Fore!’ Watch out. The pivot and turn to the second level will significantly improve the building’s accessibility, upgrade its amenities and bring a number of other improvements to the building, which dates back to the early 1970s.”
Ocean Pines Public Works, the release stated, was working on the project.
During a board meeting on Friday, however, interim General Manager Brett Hill said the renovations hit a hard slice that, apparently, landed in the rough.
“We were notified last week by the fire marshal that we had violated the terms of our demolition permit,” Hill said. “The building is no longer under fire protection.”
Because fire safety systems were removed on the second floor during demolition, the fire marshal ordered a complete inspection of the facility be done every half hour, Hill said. He added the staffing cost to do that was about $500 each day.
“Failure to adhere to that policy is fines of $1,000 a day,” Hill said. “At this point, we are unable to obtain permits for actual construction on our own.”
Hill said it was the second violation the building had received and said his conversation with the fire marshal was “not a pleasant phone call.”
“He had stated that he was well within his rights to close us down,” Hill said.
Hill asked the directors to approve a $536,000 contract with Willow Construction LLC to take over the project entirely. The Easton-based company handled the recent renovations of the Ocean Pines beach club.
He said the board budgeted about $417,000 for the renovations. Taking into account an additional $60,000 budgeted for overhaul of the heating and air conditioning systems, he said the project was only over budget by about 10 percent.
Hill added there was apparently some issue with design drawings.
“It’s been three months of waiting and excuses on the drawings,” he said. “Not only do we not have progress … but the work that we did caused damaged to us. That’s why we’re in this boat and that’s why I brought this solution up, because the way we’re doing it now is not working and I don’t have another way to fix it.
“We’re just in a bad position. We’re five months into a project and we’re really just at the beginning,” Hill added. “Because of the situation with the fire marshal, any delays are … going to add to the cost of the project.”
Hill said there was an additional sense of urgency because no official board meetings were scheduled for some time.
Still, several directors said they had only just learned about the project and asked for more time to consider it.
Director Cheryl Jacobs said she had feared at the outset that the final number could balloon even more “once you start tearing the walls apart and doing other things.” She added she favored continuing the project at this point because “it’s the right thing to do.”
Director Slobodan Trendic suggested the board take a few days to study the issue and vote electronically.
“I’m uncomfortable to vote based on the fact that this was just brought to our attention,” he said. “If this motion stays on the table the way it is I’ll vote against it, just because I believe it’s fiscally irresponsible and … we haven’t been given time to digest the information.”
Directors Tom Herrick and Pat Supik, however, said they were uncomfortable waiting.
Herrick pointed out the renovations were scheduled to be done by now and would have included a meeting space for the board.
“We thought that, with the timeline, we would have this meeting in that building,” he said. “We’re in an emergency situation. It’s not that much of a different [in cost] … we can get it done in a couple months and, more importantly, that building can be utilized this winter.”
Board President Dave Stevens added, “it’s unfortunate we’re in this situation, but we are.”
Jacobs asked if the board could request design drawings from Willow and commit to an electronic vote by the end of this week. The board consented.
Hill suggested earlier during the meeting the contractor could have new drawings done for about $15,000.
The release went on to say, “The Ocean Pines Association makes a ‘forward swing’ toward renovation to the second floor of the Ocean Pines Golf Club. ‘Fore!’ Watch out. The pivot and turn to the second level will significantly improve the building’s accessibility, upgrade its amenities and bring a number of other improvements to the building, which dates back to the early 1970s.”
Ocean Pines Public Works, the release stated, was working on the project.
During a board meeting on Friday, however, interim General Manager Brett Hill said the renovations hit a hard slice that, apparently, landed in the rough.
“We were notified last week by the fire marshal that we had violated the terms of our demolition permit,” Hill said. “The building is no longer under fire protection.”
Because fire safety systems were removed on the second floor during demolition, the fire marshal ordered a complete inspection of the facility be done every half hour, Hill said. He added the staffing cost to do that was about $500 each day.
“Failure to adhere to that policy is fines of $1,000 a day,” Hill said. “At this point, we are unable to obtain permits for actual construction on our own.”
Hill said it was the second violation the building had received and said his conversation with the fire marshal was “not a pleasant phone call.”
“He had stated that he was well within his rights to close us down,” Hill said.
Hill asked the directors to approve a $536,000 contract with Willow Construction LLC to take over the project entirely. The Easton-based company handled the recent renovations of the Ocean Pines beach club.
He said the board budgeted about $417,000 for the renovations. Taking into account an additional $60,000 budgeted for overhaul of the heating and air conditioning systems, he said the project was only over budget by about 10 percent.
Hill added there was apparently some issue with design drawings.
“It’s been three months of waiting and excuses on the drawings,” he said. “Not only do we not have progress … but the work that we did caused damaged to us. That’s why we’re in this boat and that’s why I brought this solution up, because the way we’re doing it now is not working and I don’t have another way to fix it.
“We’re just in a bad position. We’re five months into a project and we’re really just at the beginning,” Hill added. “Because of the situation with the fire marshal, any delays are … going to add to the cost of the project.”
Hill said there was an additional sense of urgency because no official board meetings were scheduled for some time.
Still, several directors said they had only just learned about the project and asked for more time to consider it.
Director Cheryl Jacobs said she had feared at the outset that the final number could balloon even more “once you start tearing the walls apart and doing other things.” She added she favored continuing the project at this point because “it’s the right thing to do.”
Director Slobodan Trendic suggested the board take a few days to study the issue and vote electronically.
“I’m uncomfortable to vote based on the fact that this was just brought to our attention,” he said. “If this motion stays on the table the way it is I’ll vote against it, just because I believe it’s fiscally irresponsible and … we haven’t been given time to digest the information.”
Directors Tom Herrick and Pat Supik, however, said they were uncomfortable waiting.
Herrick pointed out the renovations were scheduled to be done by now and would have included a meeting space for the board.
“We thought that, with the timeline, we would have this meeting in that building,” he said. “We’re in an emergency situation. It’s not that much of a different [in cost] … we can get it done in a couple months and, more importantly, that building can be utilized this winter.”
Board President Dave Stevens added, “it’s unfortunate we’re in this situation, but we are.”
Jacobs asked if the board could request design drawings from Willow and commit to an electronic vote by the end of this week. The board consented.
Hill suggested earlier during the meeting the contractor could have new drawings done for about $15,000.