(June 9, 2016) For about the last 10 years, during at least nine months out of the year, Ocean Pines has used the area behind its swim and racquet club on Seabreeze Road as a staging area for bulkhead repairs.
During that span, heavy equipment and various construction materials have been left there, behind the tennis courts and the swimming pool.
Homeowners in the area say it’s at least an eyesore – and potentially a major safety hazard for children playing nearby.
Lewis Frey has owned property in the community since 1999. Before buying in, he asked to meet with the then-general manager, who told him the area was being used as a “transfer station.”
“When they needed to haul dirt by barge somewhere, the trucks would come in [and] dump the dirt into the barge, and they would take the barge where it needs to go for bulkheads and things like that,” he said.
Frey was told that only happened for about “a few hours a month.”
“From 1999 to about 2006 that happened, then Fisher Marine moved in – and he moved in permanently,” Frey said. “He had barges in the canal and he had trucks in the parking lot, and he had all his equipment in the parking lot.”
About four years ago, Frey said he met with current General Manager Bob Thompson to complain about the situation.
“He said he (Fisher Marine) was trying to move over to Harbor Village, where the sewage disposal is, but he needed to dredge to get their equipment in there,” Frey said. “He said we get a discount from Fisher for having it here, because it’s the closest place he can get to all the work he has to do in Ocean Pines.”
According to Frey, he was assured again that it would only be a temporary inconvenience.
“It’s temporary now nine months out of the year,” he said. “That to me is not temporary. And, they’re using it every day – their equipment is there every day, even though some of it is not used for weeks.
“When I talked to Mr. Thompson, originally he said we could probably have [Fisher] come in during the middle of September until mid-April,” Frey added. “But then, it’s always a bad winter and they stay longer. So then, they don’t get out until the middle of June.”
Last year, Frey said he called the Maryland Department of the Environment when he noticed a major fuel leak coming from one of the work trucks.
“The fire trucks came out, the police department was out, DNR was there, and the state department came out and they had to clean it up, because it was about 50 gallons of fuel,” he said.
Bill Hoshal has lived on Grand Port Road in Ocean Pines since 2000. About two years ago, he also had a conversation with Thompson about moving the staging area. Like Frey, he was told that costly dredging would have to occur before that could happen.
“After a long conversation we agreed to disagree on my part, and I basically said that we want our park back from Memorial Day to Labor Day. He agreed that was what was supposed to happen,” Hoshal said. “But, each year it seems to get longer. Right now, we’re after Memorial Day and they’re still here. Nothing seems to have been moved.
“Last year, they stayed after Memorial Day, but when it came to Labor Day they were right back,” he added. “There’s no leeway there. If they’re going to stay longer, fine them – or do something to incentivize them to leave. Obviously they’re giving them the green light [to stay].”
For people living across the water, in Teal Bay, Hoshal said the area is an almost constant eyesore.
“It also is a safety issue, because the pool is now open and the kids can come back here and play, and we have this construction area back here where they can get hurt,” Hoshal said. “Luckily, that hasn’t happened yet that we know of, but one time it’s going to happen.”
Phil Gregoli said he has a “perfect view of the mess” from his home on Harborview Drive.
“In the wintertime it’s not too bad when the windows are closed,” he said. “When you start opening the windows in the nice weather – and these guys are here at 6:30, 7 o’clock in the morning starting their equipment, and you can smell the diesel fumes coming into your house – it’s not pleasant.”
Janette O’Brien has lived on nearby Harborview Drive since 1989.
“Back then, and for many years, it was beautiful here,” she said. “The tennis courts were in good shape, which they are not now, and there was no service area here. I can’t understand how, for 25 years, they didn’t need a service area here and now they do.”
In her estimation, that changed about 10 years ago. With the situation as it is today, she said many people have had difficulty selling their homes.
“Unless you try to sell your house when all this stuff is cleaned up for two or three months out of the year, I’m not quite sure who would want to buy a house looking at all of this – or listening to it,” she said.
“Fortunately we go to Florida all winter and escape the problem, but it shouldn’t be here – period. It was not here when we bought, and if I had known this was going to happen I would have never bought here.”
O’Brien went on to call the area “an embarrassment” to the entire community.
“It’s an embarrassment to have an amenity that we all pay for look like this,” she said. “It does affect our property values.”
Robin Tomaselli has owned property in the Pines for 15 years. Six years ago, she and her family moved to Grand Port Road to live year-round.
“It’s really gotten bad since we started living here,” she said. “When we had a beach home [in Ocean Pines], we were here just in the summer, and that’s when they were kind of made to clean it up between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Once we started living here, we saw the conditions of this area year-round.
“In the six years that we’ve lived here, every year it gets worse and worse,” she added. “I would say safety is the main issue. I’ve seen nails, rusted sheet metal, live batteries, gasoline, entire drums of acetone and piles of debris that – literally – if a child were climbing on it and it collapsed, it could kill somebody.”
Because the staging area is directly behind the busy swim and racquet club, Tomaselli said she is “terrified” that a serious injury to a child is only a matter of time.
“Particularly during the summer there are a lot of kids that are down here. What’s it going to take for them to do something about it – for somebody to seriously get injured? That makes absolutely no sense to me,” she said.
“They’ve plopped an exposed construction area right dead smack in the middle of a park and recreation area – I don’t even know if that’s legal to do. There’s no fencing, there’s no barricades, no tape. I just don’t know of anywhere else where that’s allowed to happen,” Tomaselli added.
Secondary to the safety issues, she said the site also negatively affects property values.
“More than nine months out of the year, you can look out your window and see barges and dump trucks and fuel tanks and bulldozers. If you were to try and sell your home that certainly wouldn’t be a selling point,” she said.
Despite repeatedly making phone calls to Ocean Pines administration, Tomaselli said she has not heard back from anyone in more than a year.
“When we do actually get through to someone, we all get the same story – that it’s just here and it’ll be cleaned up by Memorial Day. And, of course, this year it’s worse than ever, and of course Memorial Day has come and gone,” she said.
Asked about the equipment, Thompson confirmed the area was used as a staging ground for bulkhead repairs.
This year, he said the heavy rains again pushed back the completion date. He could not provide a timeline of when the area would be cleaned up.
“It just depends on if the weather holds,” he said. “They were getting closed to finishing, but they don’t have a timeline.”
During that span, heavy equipment and various construction materials have been left there, behind the tennis courts and the swimming pool.
Homeowners in the area say it’s at least an eyesore – and potentially a major safety hazard for children playing nearby.
Lewis Frey has owned property in the community since 1999. Before buying in, he asked to meet with the then-general manager, who told him the area was being used as a “transfer station.”
“When they needed to haul dirt by barge somewhere, the trucks would come in [and] dump the dirt into the barge, and they would take the barge where it needs to go for bulkheads and things like that,” he said.
Frey was told that only happened for about “a few hours a month.”
“From 1999 to about 2006 that happened, then Fisher Marine moved in – and he moved in permanently,” Frey said. “He had barges in the canal and he had trucks in the parking lot, and he had all his equipment in the parking lot.”
About four years ago, Frey said he met with current General Manager Bob Thompson to complain about the situation.
“He said he (Fisher Marine) was trying to move over to Harbor Village, where the sewage disposal is, but he needed to dredge to get their equipment in there,” Frey said. “He said we get a discount from Fisher for having it here, because it’s the closest place he can get to all the work he has to do in Ocean Pines.”
According to Frey, he was assured again that it would only be a temporary inconvenience.
“It’s temporary now nine months out of the year,” he said. “That to me is not temporary. And, they’re using it every day – their equipment is there every day, even though some of it is not used for weeks.
“When I talked to Mr. Thompson, originally he said we could probably have [Fisher] come in during the middle of September until mid-April,” Frey added. “But then, it’s always a bad winter and they stay longer. So then, they don’t get out until the middle of June.”
Last year, Frey said he called the Maryland Department of the Environment when he noticed a major fuel leak coming from one of the work trucks.
“The fire trucks came out, the police department was out, DNR was there, and the state department came out and they had to clean it up, because it was about 50 gallons of fuel,” he said.
Bill Hoshal has lived on Grand Port Road in Ocean Pines since 2000. About two years ago, he also had a conversation with Thompson about moving the staging area. Like Frey, he was told that costly dredging would have to occur before that could happen.
“After a long conversation we agreed to disagree on my part, and I basically said that we want our park back from Memorial Day to Labor Day. He agreed that was what was supposed to happen,” Hoshal said. “But, each year it seems to get longer. Right now, we’re after Memorial Day and they’re still here. Nothing seems to have been moved.
“Last year, they stayed after Memorial Day, but when it came to Labor Day they were right back,” he added. “There’s no leeway there. If they’re going to stay longer, fine them – or do something to incentivize them to leave. Obviously they’re giving them the green light [to stay].”
For people living across the water, in Teal Bay, Hoshal said the area is an almost constant eyesore.
“It also is a safety issue, because the pool is now open and the kids can come back here and play, and we have this construction area back here where they can get hurt,” Hoshal said. “Luckily, that hasn’t happened yet that we know of, but one time it’s going to happen.”
Phil Gregoli said he has a “perfect view of the mess” from his home on Harborview Drive.
“In the wintertime it’s not too bad when the windows are closed,” he said. “When you start opening the windows in the nice weather – and these guys are here at 6:30, 7 o’clock in the morning starting their equipment, and you can smell the diesel fumes coming into your house – it’s not pleasant.”
Janette O’Brien has lived on nearby Harborview Drive since 1989.
“Back then, and for many years, it was beautiful here,” she said. “The tennis courts were in good shape, which they are not now, and there was no service area here. I can’t understand how, for 25 years, they didn’t need a service area here and now they do.”
In her estimation, that changed about 10 years ago. With the situation as it is today, she said many people have had difficulty selling their homes.
“Unless you try to sell your house when all this stuff is cleaned up for two or three months out of the year, I’m not quite sure who would want to buy a house looking at all of this – or listening to it,” she said.
“Fortunately we go to Florida all winter and escape the problem, but it shouldn’t be here – period. It was not here when we bought, and if I had known this was going to happen I would have never bought here.”
O’Brien went on to call the area “an embarrassment” to the entire community.
“It’s an embarrassment to have an amenity that we all pay for look like this,” she said. “It does affect our property values.”
Robin Tomaselli has owned property in the Pines for 15 years. Six years ago, she and her family moved to Grand Port Road to live year-round.
“It’s really gotten bad since we started living here,” she said. “When we had a beach home [in Ocean Pines], we were here just in the summer, and that’s when they were kind of made to clean it up between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Once we started living here, we saw the conditions of this area year-round.
“In the six years that we’ve lived here, every year it gets worse and worse,” she added. “I would say safety is the main issue. I’ve seen nails, rusted sheet metal, live batteries, gasoline, entire drums of acetone and piles of debris that – literally – if a child were climbing on it and it collapsed, it could kill somebody.”
Because the staging area is directly behind the busy swim and racquet club, Tomaselli said she is “terrified” that a serious injury to a child is only a matter of time.
“Particularly during the summer there are a lot of kids that are down here. What’s it going to take for them to do something about it – for somebody to seriously get injured? That makes absolutely no sense to me,” she said.
“They’ve plopped an exposed construction area right dead smack in the middle of a park and recreation area – I don’t even know if that’s legal to do. There’s no fencing, there’s no barricades, no tape. I just don’t know of anywhere else where that’s allowed to happen,” Tomaselli added.
Secondary to the safety issues, she said the site also negatively affects property values.
“More than nine months out of the year, you can look out your window and see barges and dump trucks and fuel tanks and bulldozers. If you were to try and sell your home that certainly wouldn’t be a selling point,” she said.
Despite repeatedly making phone calls to Ocean Pines administration, Tomaselli said she has not heard back from anyone in more than a year.
“When we do actually get through to someone, we all get the same story – that it’s just here and it’ll be cleaned up by Memorial Day. And, of course, this year it’s worse than ever, and of course Memorial Day has come and gone,” she said.
Asked about the equipment, Thompson confirmed the area was used as a staging ground for bulkhead repairs.
This year, he said the heavy rains again pushed back the completion date. He could not provide a timeline of when the area would be cleaned up.
“It just depends on if the weather holds,” he said. “They were getting closed to finishing, but they don’t have a timeline.”