(Nov. 17, 2016) A notion that assessments related to bulkhead replacement could be lowered in Ocean Pines began to fade Monday, when interim General Manager Brett Hill reported that an apparent “time bomb” had been discovered near Wood Duck Drive – a worm infestation.
During an otherwise routine budget meeting, Director Slobodan Trendic wondered whether the yearlong suspension of the bulkhead replacement program would lead to a reduction in collections.
“If we don’t have a bulkhead replacement program in place … I think the board needs to decide whether to skip a year with regard to bulkhead differential,” he said. “We just don’t have the justification if we don’t have the replacement program in place.”
Trendic added “at least 1,600 homeowners of waterfront properties” would be affected.
While Hill said “officially” that program was suspended, Facilities Manager Jerry Aveta had classified five emergency repairs that needed to be made, all of which had already been through one phase of bulkhead replacement just a few years earlier, but had yet to be paid off.
“We’re now approaching a second replacement and we’re going to be out a six-figure number across the five properties,” he said. “We’re in a position where the community is going to now be upside down on these bulkheads by significant dollars … so, I’m hesitant to hold back anything.”
Hill said a worm infestation was found on in the wooden part of the bulkheads on adjacent properties on “Manklin Creek, toward Wood Duck in particular.”
“We do not have a guess on the cost of our bulkhead replacement just for Wood Duck this year,” he said, adding that his own home was among those scheduled for replacement that had been deferred.
Another bulkhead that was failing was bordering the golf course, “coming off of hole number three,” Hill said. He added public works was working to patch that, as well as a bulkhead near the 10th hole, which “has a sinkhole on it.”
“We’re making due and putting these aside, and now looking at what we have with us on Wood Duck – touching that money is a very, very scary proposition,” Hill said.
Aveta said he, two contractors and a structural engineer had surveyed the bulkheads classified as “emergencies areas” during the last several days.
“It wasn’t until this morning with the structural engineer that we saw this pervasive problem that’s below the waterline, and it’s this worm issue,” he said. “They are eating through the wood bulkhead and the sheathing areas, and once they break through that sheathing areas … you’ve got rupture in the bulkhead.”
He went on to say Ocean Pines had permits to address standard bulkhead issues, but would need different permits – with the Maryland Department of the Environment and other agencies – to address the worm invasion.
“We’re going to need some time to sort this through. Really, as early as this morning we’re still learning the extent of this problem,” he said. “I [called] Brett and said please don’t tell them to cut the reserve until we understand what the issue is. It could be quite extensive – we just don’t know at this point.”
Pressed for a dollar amount associated with the repairs at Wood Duck, Hill said there was a level of uncertainty in part because Ocean Pines had been collecting about a $1 million and spending about $1 million each year in bulkhead repairs, but was doing so somewhat unsystematically.
“The problem is I believe what we’re going to spend is on a time bomb,” he said. “We budget the lots that we’re going to do bulkheads on by how much we’re going collect – not really by who needs it.
“The bomb just went off in Wood Duck, and what happens if Wood Duck is more than the $1 million that we collect this year?” Hill added. “This isn’t a 40-year-old bulkhead – these are newer bulkheads that are now failing again.”
Hill said Ocean Pines “had issues in the past with worms,” but those had been isolated.
“We had five separate lots — they weren’t contiguous — where we had worm issues in Wood Duck. Now, from my understanding, it’s more contiguous,” he said, adding that repairs would likely cost close to the $225 per foot rate Ocean Pines had paid under it’s previous contract.
“I can’t promise we’re going to have an answer on everything in the next three months when we’re going to make a decision on the budget,” Hill said. “To start messing with numbers when we don’t have the answers, I think, puts us in a vulnerable position.”
During an otherwise routine budget meeting, Director Slobodan Trendic wondered whether the yearlong suspension of the bulkhead replacement program would lead to a reduction in collections.
“If we don’t have a bulkhead replacement program in place … I think the board needs to decide whether to skip a year with regard to bulkhead differential,” he said. “We just don’t have the justification if we don’t have the replacement program in place.”
Trendic added “at least 1,600 homeowners of waterfront properties” would be affected.
While Hill said “officially” that program was suspended, Facilities Manager Jerry Aveta had classified five emergency repairs that needed to be made, all of which had already been through one phase of bulkhead replacement just a few years earlier, but had yet to be paid off.
“We’re now approaching a second replacement and we’re going to be out a six-figure number across the five properties,” he said. “We’re in a position where the community is going to now be upside down on these bulkheads by significant dollars … so, I’m hesitant to hold back anything.”
Hill said a worm infestation was found on in the wooden part of the bulkheads on adjacent properties on “Manklin Creek, toward Wood Duck in particular.”
“We do not have a guess on the cost of our bulkhead replacement just for Wood Duck this year,” he said, adding that his own home was among those scheduled for replacement that had been deferred.
Another bulkhead that was failing was bordering the golf course, “coming off of hole number three,” Hill said. He added public works was working to patch that, as well as a bulkhead near the 10th hole, which “has a sinkhole on it.”
“We’re making due and putting these aside, and now looking at what we have with us on Wood Duck – touching that money is a very, very scary proposition,” Hill said.
Aveta said he, two contractors and a structural engineer had surveyed the bulkheads classified as “emergencies areas” during the last several days.
“It wasn’t until this morning with the structural engineer that we saw this pervasive problem that’s below the waterline, and it’s this worm issue,” he said. “They are eating through the wood bulkhead and the sheathing areas, and once they break through that sheathing areas … you’ve got rupture in the bulkhead.”
He went on to say Ocean Pines had permits to address standard bulkhead issues, but would need different permits – with the Maryland Department of the Environment and other agencies – to address the worm invasion.
“We’re going to need some time to sort this through. Really, as early as this morning we’re still learning the extent of this problem,” he said. “I [called] Brett and said please don’t tell them to cut the reserve until we understand what the issue is. It could be quite extensive – we just don’t know at this point.”
Pressed for a dollar amount associated with the repairs at Wood Duck, Hill said there was a level of uncertainty in part because Ocean Pines had been collecting about a $1 million and spending about $1 million each year in bulkhead repairs, but was doing so somewhat unsystematically.
“The problem is I believe what we’re going to spend is on a time bomb,” he said. “We budget the lots that we’re going to do bulkheads on by how much we’re going collect – not really by who needs it.
“The bomb just went off in Wood Duck, and what happens if Wood Duck is more than the $1 million that we collect this year?” Hill added. “This isn’t a 40-year-old bulkhead – these are newer bulkheads that are now failing again.”
Hill said Ocean Pines “had issues in the past with worms,” but those had been isolated.
“We had five separate lots — they weren’t contiguous — where we had worm issues in Wood Duck. Now, from my understanding, it’s more contiguous,” he said, adding that repairs would likely cost close to the $225 per foot rate Ocean Pines had paid under it’s previous contract.
“I can’t promise we’re going to have an answer on everything in the next three months when we’re going to make a decision on the budget,” Hill said. “To start messing with numbers when we don’t have the answers, I think, puts us in a vulnerable position.”