The Ocean Pines Association financial report for the last month isn’t good, as the numbers posted for the Beach Club and Yacht Club show a steep and continued decline from last year.
While the multitude of changes to the facilities and staff this year made for a financial mess, the reality is every new board comes in with a different plan and new changes that just don’t work.
The Beach Club can easily be righted by simply going back to what has worked in the past.  The larger is issue is what to do with the Mumford’s Landing Yacht Club.
Judging from the many comments over the years about the inconsistency of the food, unreasonable prices and poor service, these things must improve if the club is to have even moderate success.
Assuming that can be accomplished, the directors’ first order of business should be to decide if they should even be in the business of running a restaurant.
There has been talk over the years of leasing the facility to an experienced restauranteur.  It’s time for the board to face reality and seriously look at this option.   
Regardless of assertions that promoting the Yacht Club to nonresidents will bring in new revenue, it remains that Ocean Pines is the base market and that’s what the directors must work with as they decide what to do.
Many association members like the idea of the Yacht Club as a year-round benefit of living in Ocean Pines. How much are they willing to pay for that is a critical question and one that should be considered whether it is leased or self-operated.
While running the club as a seasonal business would save money, it would be at the expense of the club’s value to members as an amenity and, subsequently, the support of the club’s base market until there’s no point in having the club at all.