December 2023 Ocean Pines Progress

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December 2023

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THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY

COVER STORY

Owners of property across from North Gate request commercial rezoning Planning commissioners give it an unfavorable recommendation; decision rests with the county commissioners

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer wo acres of property directly across Route 589 from the Ocean Pines North Gate could soon be rezoned for commercial use.

The property owners want to rezone the property, part of a larger 27.25-acre parcel that is currently zoned A-1 agricultural, to C-2 General Commercial District, a classification that would allow for a multitude of high intensity commercial uses.

These include motels and hotels, retail and service establishments, contractor shops, warehousing and storage yards, nursing homes, assisted living and nursing facilities. Other uses by special exception include outdoor recreation establishments, drive-in theaters, dry nightclubs, and many others.

The property owners, William Ayres and Linda Ayres, want to rezone the remaining 25.25 acres to A-2 Agricultural District, which To Page 3

T

The 27.25-acre petition area.

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Board authorizes bids for digital signs ~ Page 16

OPVFD appears to abandon plans for new firehouse

The Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department appears to have abandoned plans for a new Southside firehouse, shifting to a renovation of the building using existing funds on hand, such as grants and savings, and the possibility of a bank loan.

According to a Nov. 13 letter to Ocean Pines Association President Rick Farr by OPVFD President Dave Van Gasbeck, the firefighters will also rely on a fundraising program “focused solely on the South Station renovation project.”

~ Page 7

Mid-December opening for new AGH med center

The Gudelsky Family Medical Center on Route 589 just south of Ocean Pines will be opening in mid-December, bringing more convenient health care to Ocean Pines and environs.

A formal ribbon-cutting is being planned, probably for sometime in January, but the new medical center, part of Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, will be providing out-patient services, primary care and some specialty services with the midmonth opening.

~ Page 12

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Ocean Pines ............... Pages 1-32 Worcester County .. Pages 33-34 OPA Finances ................ Pages 35 Lifestyles ................... Pages 37-39 Opinion .................... Pages 40-41 Captain’s Cove ......... Pages 42-55

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COVER STORY From Page 1 would also allow uses such as poultry operations, aquaculture, roadside stands, and some residential development.

With an unfavorable recommendation from the Planning Commission, the Worcester County Commissioners have agreed to consider Rezoning Case No. 443 for the property, which is currently farmland and forested area.

The commissioners will hold a public hearing on the rezoning application at a date yet to be set.

Two adjacent properties to the east are zoned C-2 General Commercial District and currently have a convenience store, bank, and medical building on them.

The portion of the applicants’ property that is immediately adjacent to the convenience store is the area for which they are seeking the commercial zoning. Adjoining properties to the south and west of the site are zoned A-1 Agricultural District.

In filing the request for the zoning changes, the applicant’s attorney, Hugh Cropper, argued that there has been a substantial change in the character of the neighborhood since the county’s last comprehensive rezoning in 2009.

The property has been zoned A-1 agricultural since the county first established zoning in 1964.

The case was reviewed by the Planning Com-

mission at its Oct. 5 meeting, and was given an unfavorable recommendation.

During the planning commission’s review of the request, Linda Ayres said the property has been in the family since the 19th century, and she was shocked by the changes that have occurred in the neighborhood.

She described how the area has been mostly developed by churches, schools, gas stations, housing developments, and produce stands.

Ayres said the farmer who has worked the land for decades wrote her a letter stating that it was no longer financially feasible to farm the property.

She said the traffic makes it difficult for combines and other farm equipment to access the property and there are problems with wildlife eating the crops.

Despite the property being right across Route 589 from the North Gate intersection, the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration submitted documentation saying it has no objection to the request but that the state would require road improvements if it were ever developed.

Cropper admitted that there are traffic problems on Route 589, but that the potential traffic generated from this project would be mitigated by road improvements.

He further stated that any traffic generated from this property would be a drop in the bucket to the current traffic.

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December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 3 The Planning Commission didn’t buy Cropper’s argument.

The Planning Commission had a lengthy discussion about how the increase in traffic over time has had a negative impact on the neighborhood surrounding Route 589 and the comprehensive plan states that the corridor has experienced significant development and has reached an unsatisfactory level of service. Several members said no rezoning should occur on Route 589 until improvements are made to alleviate the traffic issues.

Planning Commission member Rick Wells was concerned about traffic issues in the area and said it is not safe.

Phyllis Wimbrow agreed with Wells about the traffic congestion issues and believes that the county and state need to deal with those issues first before granting a rezoning that would increase traffic on the congested highway.

Wimbrow pointed out that just because an application for a rezoning meets the code requirements that is not, in itself, sufficient to require the granting of the application.

Wimbrow said, “personally, that’s where we need to put our foot down.”

Jerry Barbierri said that until there is a definitive plan for Route 589, he felt they would be doing an injustice to approve any additional commercial rezonings in that area.

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4 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023 North Gate rezoning From Page 1 Mary Knight suggested the Planning Commission was overstepping the State Highway Administration’s authority and questioned who has the final say on traffic.

Wimbrow said that it is the Planning Commission’s responsibility to manage land uses.

Among the changes to the surrounding neighborhood Cropper cited in support of his case for the rezoning is the addition of the Tidal Health campus developed on the opposite side of Route 589.

He said that the property had to obtain several special exceptions to develop it, as it is zoned C-1 Neighborhood Commercial District, and the developer constructed several large medical buildings on the property.

He argued that the second change in the character of the neighborhood was the expansion of the Casino at Ocean Downs, with the county approving a text amendment to the zoning code for a Casino Overlay District which would essentially change the zoning of the property.

Cropper stated that a commercial center should serve 3,000 or more residents within a 10-to-20-minute travel time and that this definition was used to redefine the boundaries of the neighborhood around the property for which a rezoning is requested.

He said that he tried to define a narrower

COVER STORY neighborhood but stated that did not work due to the cohesive neighborhood nearby of Ocean Pines.

The subject property is not currently connected to public sewer or water at this time and isn’t planned for service in the county’s master water and sewerage plan.

Cropper said the intention is to provide a private septic and well on site.

The Planning Commission concluded that there had been a substantial change in the character of the neighborhood, albeit a significant negative change with respect to the road capacity of the Route 589 corridor.

Knight made a motion to give a favorable recommendation to the rezoning request, but it failed for lack of second.

Wimbrow then made a motion to give an unfavorable recommendation, seconded by Wells, and that motion carried 6-1 with Knight opposed.

The same property across from the North Gate was subject to a previous rezoning application to reclassify the entire property to C-2 General Commercial District.

That application was withdrawn by the property owner following the Planning Commission’s review that resulted in an unfavorable recommendation at that time too.

Marlene Ott, long-time Ocean Pines resident and Realtor who’s a member of the planning commission, said she is inclined to think that in the end the commissioners won’t approve the rezoning request, but also offered a cautionary note.

Kiwanis toy and coat drive

The Kiwanis Club of Greater Ocean City-Ocean Pines completed its annual toy and coat drive on Nov. 29 at the Ocean Pines Community Center Parking lot. Pictured are toy Drive Chair Dave Landis and Coat Drive Co-Chairs Sue Wineke and Kitty Wrench. The SUV was filled with toys and this second load was delivered to Worcester G.O.L.D., which distributes the toys. All recipients are vetted to be certain the gifts get to as many children as possible.

She said the county commissioners have in the past rejected recommendations from the planning commission, so in this case the opinion of those attending the public hearing might help sway the commissioners to accept the planning commission’s recommendation in opposition.

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OPVFD appears to abandon plans for a new Southside fire station, opting instead for renovation

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 7 tion PS 1-103.”

PS 1-103 says that fire departments in the county “shall not be controlled by any other legal entity and shall be in complete control of its own funds.” It also prohibits discrimination in its membership.

Rejects proposal to transfer land, building to OPA

By TOM STAUSS Publisher he Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department appears to have abandoned plans for a new Southside firehouse, shifting to a renovation of the building using existing funds on hand, such as grants and savings, and the possibility of a bank loan.

According to a Nov. 13 letter to Ocean Pines Association President Rick Farr by OPVFD President Dave Van Gasbeck, the firefighters will also rely on a fundraising program “focused solely on the South Station renovation project.”

The apparent change in focus is a by-product of the OPVFD’s rejection of an OPA proposal to build a new Southside station that includ-

T

ed transfer of ownership of the land and building to the OPA. Although an OPA working group established in June of last year had reached an agreement with OPVFD leaders on the transfer, that agreement was subsequently rescinded because of opposition to it from within the OPVFD. Farr, OPA General Manager John Viola and working group chairman Ted Moroney attended a Nov. 7 meeting of the OPVFD to see whether they might be able to persuade the OPVFD membership to accept the proposal, especially since it included an offer to assume maintenance costs related to a new building.

That didn’t happen. OPVFD members according to those who attended the meeting were not receptive to

any proposal that included a transfer of the land and building ownership to the OPA. Van Gasbeck in his Nov. 13 letter, after thanking Farr for attending the Nov. 7 meeting, said that the proposal “has been again thoroughly reviewed and is not acceptable to the OPVFD Board of Directors.

“It is the position of the [OPVFD] that the OPVFD is a business which provides fee for services to the community of Ocean Pines, as well as through mutual aid agreements with the surrounding jurisdictions.

OPVFD is a 501(c)3 corporation chartered as a volunteer fire department by Worcester County. As such, transfer of property to OPA is inconsistent with Worcester County Maryland Public Safety Article Sec-

It would seem that Van Gasbeck believes that OPA ownership of the land and building would cede a degree of control over its finances to the OPA, a notion that Farr does not accept.

“We have no interest in controlling any OPVFD funds,” he said, adding that ownership of land or a building is not the same as controlling finances.

In addition, he noted that the land on which the Northside firehouse sits is owned by the OPA, albeit under a 100-year lease. The building is owned by the OPVFD. Farr said he interprets the Nov. 7 letter as a statement by the OPVFD that it intends to proceed with a renovation of the existing building, that dates back to the 1980s.

It was expanded in the mid-1980s under a low-interest loan financed To Page 9

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OCEAN PINES Southside firehouse From Page 7 by the now defunct Farmers Home Administration, an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture.

The Nov. 7 letter also seems to suggest that the OPVFD will proceed with renovation without any funding support from the OPVA, instead relying on “existing funds,” community fund-raising and a possible bank loan. There is no mention of an OPA contribution.

The working group had whittled down a proposed $8 million new building to about $4 million, with an OPA contribution of $2 million to augment $1 million in savings that the OPVFD was planning to contribute and about $1.6 million in state grants.

The OPA contribution, which probably was going to be financed through a bank loan, covered a portion of the construction costs and related expenses, which would have brought the total cost to about $4.6 million.

It now appears that the OPVFD intends to focus on renovating the existing building using its own $1 million in savings and the $1.6 million in state grants.

The OPVFD also “will research other options such as bank loans,” Van Gasbeck said in his letter to Farr.

Depending on the outcome of its outreach to

banks or other lenders, the OPVFD would appear to be leaving open the possibility of proceeding with a new rather than renovated building. Farr said that he believes the OPA Board would be open to any proposal from the OPVFD to support either a renovated or new building project.

A member of the working group told the Progress that the proposal for a transfer of the land and building to the OPA was the result of research indicating that lenders, either governmental or private, would require ownership as a condition of granting a mortgage.

There never was an interest in owning the land and building as a way of exerting control over OPVFD finances, the source said.

The USDA was contacted to determine whether low interest loans are available to help fire departments in rural areas to build new facilities.

They are, but the applicant and receiver of loan proceeds must be the owner of the facility that is being financed.

It would seem, then, that the OPVFD would be free to contact the USDA and successor agency to Farmers Home Administration [FmHA], which is called the Rural Housing Service, to research the possibility of obtaining a low interest loan.

According to its Website, the USDA’s Rural Housing Service “offers a variety of programs to build or improve housing and essential community facilities in rural areas. We offer loans, grants and loan guarantees for single- and multi-family

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 9 housing, child care centers, fire and police stations, hospitals, libraries, nursing homes, schools, first responder vehicles and equipment, housing for farm laborers and much more.”

A former OPVFD president, Lee McClaflin, who served in that role for about 15 years including those when the Southside station was renovated and expanded, told the Progress that he believes the current OPVFD leadership should pursue a Rural Housing Service loan and could even research the possibility of Homeland Security grants and loans.

A lifetime member of the OPVFD, McClaflin said in his view the current leadership should not give up on a new building.

With the OPVFD focused on a renovation, at least for now, Viola has decided to disband the work group.

At the OPA Board’s Nov. 18 monthly meeting, Viola said his decision was “based upon current events,” a clear reference to the OPVFD’s membership meeting of Nov. 7 and Van Gasbeck’s Nov. 13 letter to Farr.

Viola praised the members who served on the work group, citing former OPA directors Moroney, Frank Brown and Pete Gomsak, community members Marvin Steen and Bill Stamp, and OPA senior staffers Linda Martin, senior executive office manager; Finance Director Steve Phillips, Public Works Director Eddie Wells, and PubTo Page 11

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OCEAN PINES Southside firehouse

From Page 9 lic Relations Director Josh Davis.

“I thought he did a great job,” Viola said of Moroney, adding the Association utilized a playbook like the one used to build the new Golf Clubhouse, and, “that playbook is available. I thought it was a win,” Viola said of the effort.

That statement seemed to indicate that if the OPVFD decides to reopen discussions with the OPA, he’s willing to consider assistance, a sentiment echoed by Farr in comments to the Progress.

It might take some time to repair relations between the OPVFD leadership and Farr, however.

During the Nov. 7 OPVFD membership meeting, some members expressed anger over the front-page article in the November edition of the Progress in which Farr indicated that a handshake agreement over the transfer of the land and southside firehouse to the OPA had been rescinded because of opposition from within the membership.

According to a non-OPVFD member who attended the meeting, Ocean Pines Forum administrator Joe Reynolds, anger over the article dominated much of the discussion during the meeting.

“That article made us look like idiots for going back on our word,” Reynolds quoted one member as saying.

The members demanded a front page retraction, according to Reynolds.

Fire chief Steve Grunewald said he was “really upset with the article.

People in this room now don’t trust us,” Reynolds quotes him as saying.

It was not clear whether Grunewald was referring to OPVFD members who may have lost confidence in the OPVFD leadership or members of the working group who might feel the same way about OPVFD leadership.

Farr later told the Progress that he doesn’t feel that members of the OPVFD are “idiots” and that it sometimes happens that minds and decisions change.

While regrettable, he said the rescinded agreement for a land and building transfer doesn’t mean that there can’t be cooperation between the OPA and OPVFD in whatever next steps the OPVFD takes.

“We stand willing and able to work with them,” he said.

Reynolds in his opinion piece also said that Farr had made a “major

public relations” blunder in agreeing to do a newspaper interview, contents of which appeared on the front page of the November Progress.

Farr rejected that characterization.

“I don’t listen to Reynolds,” he said. “He was there at a meeting that was supposed to be a closed meeting for [OPVFD] members. And no one cares [what he thinks]. The commentary didn’t get any movement” on Reynolds’s site, Farr added.

He said that one of his roles as OPA president is to keep the OPA

December 2023 OceanPines PROGRESS 11

While regrettable, Farr said the rescinded agreement for a land and building transfer doesn’t mean that there can’t be cooperation between the OPA and OPVFD in whatever next steps the OPVFD takes. membership informed of important matters affecting Ocean Pines and responding to the media.

He stood by his comment that there had been a handshake agreement on the transfer of the land and

building to the OPA. “He [Van Gasbeck] shook my hand - made a deal,” Farr said. “Stuart [Lakernick, OPA vice-president and director] was there when it happened.”

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12 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

New AGH medical center opening in mid-December

OCEAN PINES

pendent providers.

Planning for the new medical center began in late 2019, with a formal ground-breaking on Aug. 16, 2021.

Originally, construction was expected to take about a year and a half, but the covid pandemic and chain issues pushed back Gudelsky facility to bring more services and conveniences to Ocean Pines and environs supply completion by about nine months.

By TOM STAUSS The diabetes Publisher and endocrinology he Gudelsky Family Medicenters have been cal Center on Route 589 just sharing space in the south of Ocean Pines will be AGH Primary Care opening in mid-December, bringand Endocrinology ing more convenient health care to building on Route Ocean Pines and environs.

589, next to Truist A formal ribbon-cutting is being Bank. The gastroplanned, probably for sometime in enterogy clinic is January, but the new medical cencurrently located at ter, part of Atlantic General Hos314 Franklin Avepital in Berlin, will be providing nue in Berlin. AGH out-patient services, primary care Pediatrics is moving and some specialty services with the from 12308 Ocean mid-month opening.

Gateway in West The Gudelsky Family Medical The new Gudelsky Family Medical Center on Route 589 just south of Ocean Pines is scheduled to open in Ocean City. mid-December.

Center, named after a prominent AGH has not yet local family with extensive business providers currently located just out- cripts Pharmacy will be opening in decided what to do with its existing the spring of next year. office space in Ocean Pines, West interests, will house AGH’s existing side Ocean Pines.

Additional lab and x-ray services The Gudelski family donated $4 Ocean City and Berlin. diabetes and endocrinology center No services are moving from the as well as a gastroenterology office, will be available in the new building. million for the project. In addition, A branch of the AGHRx RediS- AGH’s portion of the build-out was main hospital in Berlin to the Gua pediatrics office and primary care funded through a construction loan delsky Family Medical Center. Lab with Taylor Bank. and x-ray services offered at the Willow Construction of Easton, new facility will be in addition to the Md., recently completed the nearly services that AGH will continue to 50,000 square foot building. AGH provide at its Berlin campus. is the building’s tenant, and its fitAGH will continue to offer outpaout cost was $7 million, according to tient services at the Berlin facility, AGH Director of Marketing Sarah including surgeries and OR-based Yonker. procedures; general imaging (MRI, All of the current staff of the pro- CT, x-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medvider practices and about ten new icine); the Eunice Q. Sorin Women’s staff members will be moving to the Diagnostic Center (dedicated breast new building. navigator, diagnostic 3D mammoAbout 60 percent of the building grams, breast ultrasound, stereotacBERLIN OPTICAL 16-B South Main St., Berlin • (1 block south of the Atlantic Hotel) will be in use at the opening, leaving tic breast biopsy, wireless breast lo410-641-2020 plenty of room for additional provid- calization); and emergency services.

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14 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

OCEAN PINES AGH’s Gudelsky Family Medical Center From Page 12 Also in Berlin there’s the John H. ‘Jack’ Burbage, Jr. Regional Cancer Care Center, the Atlantic General Endoscopy Center, Atlantic General Bariatric Center, Atlantic General Surgical Associates, Atlantic General Rheumatology, and the Wound Care Center, which are located within the James G. Barrett Medical Office Building.

Don Owrey, president and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital and Health System, says that two primary benefits of the new building on Route 589 to communities in northern Worcester County and Lower Sussex County are convenience and affordability.

“Co-locating the most commonly utilized outpatient diagnostic services – lab draws and x-ray – with primary care and specialty services, makes it easier for patients to get the coordinated care they need the same day as their doctor’s appointment,” he said. “But regardless of whether their doctor is at the Gudelsky Family Medical Center, any patient in need of bloodwork or an x-ray can still receive these services, which are located in a lower-cost setting where rates are not set by the state of Maryland.”

The facility features the first multi-speciality ambulatory surgery facility in the county, allowing for an expansion of available surgical services.

Before the opening of the new building, outpatient health and medical services were not in a centralized location, creating the need for patients to travel to multiple places throughout the county, in some cases outside of the county, for basic primary care and outpatient procedures offered by AGH. The Gudelsky family’s donation helped the hospital surpass its $35 million fundraising goal for capital projects, which included the Women’s Health Center completed in West Ocean City in 2017, the Burbage Regional Cancer Care Center finished in 2018, and the modernization of the hospital’s inpatient care areas in 2020.

The Gudelski family owns the Ocean City Fishing Center, Sunset Marina, Sunset Grille and Micky Fins, all in West Ocean City, along with other holdings.

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16 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

Board authorizes GM to seek bid proposals for digital signage

Approval not guaranteed, but majority opposition appears to have dissipated

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer new proposal for installation of digital signs calls for retrofitting the existing marquees long used for sharing messages with Ocean Pines residents and placing them at four key locations in the community.

“It’s going to look absolutely identical to what we have now,” Director Elaine Brady said. She presented the latest iteration of a digital sign recommendation from the Communications Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors during a Nov. 18 meeting.

“This is an item that I know has come up over the years,” she said. She added that the current committee has listened to the community concerns about the use of electronic signs, especially lighting and the potential commercial look of the signs, and addressed those concerns.

Brady said the committee talked with a con-

A

tractor and developed a design for the digital signs that is more in keeping with the nature of the community.

“We can actually retrofit the current frames that we use,” she said. “You’re not going to have that commercial look of the signage.”

Typically, digital signs have backlighting to illuminate the messages. Brady said the proposed signs will have not that backlighting. Instead, she said the lighting of the signs will appear exactly as it does now on the manual signs.

“So there really is absolutely no change in the look and feel of signs to what we have today,” Brady said, well aware that some of her colleagues have expressed misgivings about electronic signage in the past.

Proponents of digital signs have long argued that old signs require manual insertion of the letter for the messages, making them inefficient and costly to maintain.

OCEAN PINES “I’m not sure that people even understand how that messaging was being done,” Brady said.

A dozen of the marquee signs are located throughout Ocean Pines, and all but two of them are double sided. The message displayed on each one of those signs is different and they all have to be changed manually be either OPA staff or Elaine Brady a volunteer.

Therefore, Brady said unless someone drives from one end of the community to the other and back again looking at all those signs, they will not see every message posted.

“And it’s static,” she said, adding that residents entering and exiting the community via the same route regularly are simply seeing the same one or two messages over and over.

Brady argued that the OPA’s public relations office receives many requests to have messages placed on the marquees promoting the events and meetings of various community organizations and clubs. She said it is difficult for residents to even read everything posted on the signs now.

Brady drove Ocean Parkway at 30 miles per hours to get a feel for how much information can be read from the signs as she passed. She said she To Page 18

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18 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023 Electronic signage From Page 16 could “reasonably read” about three lines of text, but most of the messages have six to seven lines.

“Going with digital signs will take care of all of that,” Brady said. The OPA will be able to consolidate all of the messages from 22 marquees onto four digital signs at the highest traffic areas, with one sign each at the North Gate, South Gate, Cathell Road, and the Community Center.

At the request of the Matt Ortt Companies, a fifth electronic sign may be added at the Yacht Club, the Progress has been told.

“It will allow people to really see a lot more signage,” she said.

On the proposed digital signs, the messages will rotate. Brady specifically pointed out that they will not scroll because that it too distracting.

She acknowledged that people still will not see all of the messages every time they pass by the new signs, but they will see many more messages than currently.

She said the proposed digital signs will allow for easy additions of messages and special events to the rotation.

Currently, it takes quite a bit of labor from OPA staff to update the signs every week because they have to manually remove the letters of the existing messages and replace them with new.

“It’s to me not a productive way to be doing it,”

OCEAN PINES she said.

She also noted that the OPA will be able to provide emergency-related messaging on the digital signs. As an example, she could they could be updated to make drivers aware of an accident on Route 90.

Another benefit of the digital signs is that the lettering can be larger, Brady said. The readability of the current signs “is not great.”

If the OPA opts to move forward with installation of the digital signs, it will have to remove all of the other existing marquees in the community, in accordance with county rules.

“Once we put in those ... signs we’re going to remove all of the signage down the Parkway,” she said, adding that will ensure the community looks like a residential area instead of having the appearance of commercial intrusion.

Per Worcester County code, if Ocean Pines installs any electronic signs then all of the existing marque signs must be removed regardless of whether they are being replaced.

The county commissioners approved a code amendment that allows communities like Ocean Pines to have electronic signs for internal messaging to its resident, but the removal of all other signs was a requirement included in that approval.

Regarding maintenance of the digital signs, Brady said the effort will be comparable to the existing wooden signs. “I was actually very sur-

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prised,” she said.

Following the discussion, the Board directed General Manager John Viola to gather information and cost estimates for the latest digital sign proposal.

Brady said there was some discussion with the Communications Advisory Committee regarding installing one of the digital signs as an unbudgeted item and then install the remaining three in the next budget year (2024-25).

Last year, Viola presented three quotes for electronic signs of sizes ranging in size from 4 by 5 feet to 4 feet 5 inches by 8 feet 3 inches and in cost range from $34,399.50 to $45,000 each.

But the Board hit pause of a proposal to install electronic signs in Ocean Pines, saying there wasn’t a clear vision for what type of information will be posted on them or how many were needed.

At that time the Board sent the issue back to the Communications Advisory Committee for further study. The new proposal is the result of that reconsideration.

That the Board directed Viola to cost out electronic signs suggests that the previous hesitation to approve them may be waning.

Indeed, one former opponent, OPA President Rick Farr, told the Progress he is now inclined to vote for electronic signs and expects them to pass when Viola comes back to the Board with bids.

“Elaine did a great job in explaining the proposal to us,” Farr said.

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20 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

Board OKs appeal process for ARC, covenant violations Jacobs’ proposed amendment to M-1 motion fails to attract second

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer he Board of Directors will be taking a more active role in ensuring property owners comply with the Ocean Pines Association’s Declaration of Restrictions

T

and Architectural Review Committee guidelines and have established an appeal process for anyone found to be in violation of them.

In response to state legislation passed last year amending the Maryland Homeowners Association

Act, the OPA is updating Resolution M-01, Policy and Compliance Procedures for Declaration of Restrictions and ARC Guidelines Violations, to include an appeals process.

During the Nov. 18 monthly meeting the Board approved on sec-

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ond reading revisions to Resolution M-01, which establishes practices and policy, assigns responsibilities, and provides procedures to be followed by the OPA regarding violations of DRs and ARC guidelines.

The changes bring the resolution into compliance with updates to state law that clarified homeowners associations’ authority when compelling compliance with restrictive covenants and the lot owners rights of appeal. It also shifts some of the responsibility for address property violations from the Architectural Review Committee to the Board.

The changes contain requirements for informing members of violations and mandates that property owners whose membership rights are restricted as a penalty for continuing violation be given the right of appeal. The new state law states that they have the opportunity to appeal the restriction to the homeowners association’s governing body, in this case the OPA Board.

Director Elaine Brady, ARC liaison, made a motion to adopt the proposed changes. The motion ultimately carried in a unanimous vote, but not without some discussion about exactly when property owners should be notified of their right to request a hearing before the Board and who they can bring with them.

Director Steve Jacobs wanted to amend the motion to require that property owners be informed of their right to ask for a closed session hearing before the Board and to have another party act on their behalf in the second notice of violation sent out to property owners. The lot owner would to be able to make these requests prior to a Board hearing on their alleged violation.

“The goal is a good goal. It lends I think a lot more oomph to enforcing our DRs and our architectural guidelines,” Jacobs said. But, he added, he wants to make sure parties cited for a violation have sufficient information to defend their case.

Brady responded that it would be inappropriate to lay out the process for an appeal in the second notice of a violation that is sent to a property owner. “It’s in the wrong document” she said of Jacobs’ proposal, adding the second notice is just a reminder to correct the violation.

OPA legal counsel Bruce Bright agreed with Brady and said the OPA’s resolution should be as close as what the state statute requires as possible and not go beyond that.

“I don’t think that needs to be in To Page 22

OCEAN PINES

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 21

22 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023 Appeal process

From Page 20 the second notice,” he said, adding that operational and administrative matters related to an appeal can be handled after a lot owner files an appeal rather than incorporating language into the second notice letter.

Jacobs argued that property owners should be informed as soon as possible that they can file an appeal of any decision against them and can have an attorney or other person present during a hearing before the Board. He wanted to know where that information will be provided if it is not in the second letter of violation.

Bright said the OPA only needs to inform property owners that there is an appeals process in its notice of violation, not provide all of the details of that process. He said the steps of that full appeal process will be delineated for them later.

As for having someone present with the alleged violator at the hearing, Bright said the property owner would have the right to an attorney present. But when it

comes to having some other non-attorney represent them at a hearing, Bright said those requests would be handled on a case-be-case basis, such as disability, language, or other special needs.

Bright said the hearings should be held in public session by law but property owner can request a closed session in special circumstances.

Additionally, the Board can go into closed session to obtain legal advice related to the specific cases, Bright said. If property owners have a legitimate personal privacy concern, such as sharing medical information that could be pertinent to their case, the Board can also go into an executive session.

Ultimately, Jacobs’ motion failed for lack of a second. Brady’s original motion then carried unanimously.

OPA President Rick Farr supported the changes to the resolution, saying one of the Board’s priorities “is to maintain the beautification of this special community that we have.”

The resolution states the appeal of Ocean Pines depends on the cooperation of residents, property owners, and any other legally re-

OCEAN PINES sponsible parties in “creating and maintaining clean and aesthetically pleasing homes and surrounding property. Therefore, membership and residing in OPA comes with certain responsibilities.”

It further states that it is the policy of OPA to “rigorously and proactively enforce its DRs, ARC Guidelines and any other applicable rules and restrictions.” The resolution establishes a five-step enforcement process, which includes a return to the Board taking formal action to declare an OPA member in violation of the restrictive covenants.

Initial steps in the process, including sending out letters to notify property owners of violations, will continue to be handle by the Compliance, Permits, and Inspections Department. Once a violation has been identified, CPI will review the matter, in consultation with the general manager, the ARC, and with legal counsel f necessary. IF CPI determines no violation exists, the case will be closed.

If CPI alleges a violation, a first notice is sent to the property owner, who has 15 days to correct the issue or to make “substantial progress” in

doing so, with a suspension of the case up to 60 days to allow the violation to be corrected.

If the violation is not remedied within the 15-day action period or period of case suspension, then a second notice of violation will be sent. That letter informs the property owner of the violation, gives them an additional notice for corrective action, and relays that the matter may result in legal action if not addressed.

Property owners will have ten days after receiving the second notice to request an appeal hearing, to be held before the Board of Directors in executive session. The Board then has ten days to conduct a hearing on the appeal.

If a property owner doesn’t file an appeal or isn’t successful in reversing the determination of a violation, the Board at its next meeting can decide how to proceed. The Board will vote to determine whether a continuing violation exists on the property and can authorize legal action and impose sanctions, including loss of access to OPA amenities and the right to vote in OPA elections.

To Page 24

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December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 23

Ocean Pines Get Involved

24 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

R

OCEAN PINES

OPVFD hikes reserve fund to $1.03 million

esponding to concerns expressed by General Manager John Viola during the October Budget and Finance Advisory Committee meeting that reserve funds held by the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department were too low, the OPVFD has made a cash infusion into its capital reserve fund to allay Viola’s concerns.

According to committee chair

Doug Parks in comments at the Nov. 29 meeting of the committee, the OPVFD has increased the reserve balance from $863,000 to $1.03 million, “a more appropriate amount based on the Memorandum of Understanding” governing the financial relationship between the OPVFD and Ocean Pines Association.

Parks and committee members Dick Keiling and Brian Reynolds

recently met with the OPVFD leadership to discuss the reserves and pending expenditures from those reserves.

The result seems to have been the agreement to make an additional contribution.

In related discussion, committee members came up with a series of questions they will be asking the OPVFD leadership when they meet

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in December to discuss the OPVFD’s budget request for 2024-25.

One question is whether the OPVFD is maxmizing its interest income on the $1.03 million it has in its capital reserve account.

Committee members were also told that rather than replace one of its aging pumpers, the OPVFD has decided to buy a new engine instead for the apparatus instead, costing about $50,000 and with a two-year wait for delivery. Parks also that the OPVFD is treating new ambulances as a higher priority than the replacement engine.

Whether this means that funding for new ambulances will be included in the OPVFD budget request for next year remains to be seen, but will become clear at the department’s budget review session tentatively scheduled for Dec. 19.

In other discussion, the committee debated whether there needs to be a reference in a Board resolution to the convenience fee imposed on property owners who choose to pay their annual lot assessments using a credit fee.

One issue to be decided is whether the annual percentage for the convenience fee should be established in a Board resolution or left for OPA management to decide.

Parks said he would have a conversation with the chair of the By-laws and Resolutions Advisory Committee for some insight on how best to proceed.

Any committee recommendation would need to go to the Board of Directors for a decision.

Appeal process

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From Page 22 The continuing violation must be found by at least five of seven directors.

If the violation involves a failure to maintain a property in a manner satisfactory to a Board super-majority, then the Board can authorize entry onto the property and make exterior repairs or improvements, with the cost to be billed to the property owner with the annual lot assessment.

If legal action is approved, legal counsel may also be directed to issue a final warning letter to the property owner, indicating legal action to be taken and remedies to be sought, including legal fees.

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 25

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Board tweaks resolutions to align them with M-01 ARC no longer to assist in restrictive covenant enforcement

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer he Board of Directors approved revisions to one resolution and held a first reading of changes to one-on-one complimentary, no obligation * (0.00%) TAX-FREE 3.25 TAX-FREE* se contact me at 410-208-1704 for a% oneoron one complimentary, consultation attend our seminar.no obligation, consultations oranother to bring them into alignment with Resattend our seminar.

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Call for times, date anddates location olution M-01, which establishes policy and procedures Prince Georges Md (Name of MuniCnty Bond) for violations of the restrictive covenants and ArchitecCarrie Dupuie, AAMS 98.500 Price: Dupuie, (00.00) Carrie AAMS® My picture tural Control Committee guidelines, to include an apCoupon: (00/00/00) 3.25 (Financial Advisor Financial Advisor Name) Financial Advisor here peals process.

Maturity Date: 07/15/2036 (00/00/00) (Approved Title) 215 North Main Street 07/15/2028 Callable Date: (00/00/00 or N/A) The Board during its Nov. 18 monthly meeting ap215 North Main Street 100 Call Price: (000) Berlin, MD 21811 proved on second reading revisions to Resolution C-02, Berlin, Aaa /MD AAA 21811 Rating: (XXX/XXX) (Address) Architectural Review Committee to bring it in line with Other:410-208-1704 (Obligor) 410-208-1704 (City, ST 00000) Resolution M-01.

Carrie.Dupuie@RaymondJames.com (000-000-0000) I (Toll-Free: The revision removes language stating that the ARC Carrie Dupuie, AAMS 800-000-0000) Raymond James(Financial Financial Services Inc.,Name) Member FINRA/SIPC Advisor assists the general manager and Department of Com(Approved Title) Investments advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Fax: (000-000-0000) (Address) pliance, Permits and Inspections with implementing a (E-mail (City, STAddress) 00000) program to enforce the Declaration of Restrictions with (000-000-0000) I (Toll-Free: 800-000-0000) (Website) Fax: (000-000-0000) courtesy, respect and professionalism; reviewing possi(E-mail Address) (Website) ble violations and referring them to the general manager for action.

The resolution outlines the duties of the ARC and Subject to availability and price change. Minimum purchases may apply. The yield is the lesser of yield to maturity or yield to call. Interest is generally exempt from federal taxation and may says they include developing, reviewing, and publishing also be free of state and local taxes for investors residing in the state and/or locality where the bonds were issued. However, bonds may be subject to federal alternative tax (AMT), and Guidelines which delineate the criteria to be applied by profits and losses on tax-exempt bonds may be subject to capital gains tax treatment. Ratings by Moody’s/Standard & Poor’s. A credit rating of a security is not a recommendation to the committee in accordance with the Declarations of 6/07/2018 buy, sell or hold the security and may be subject to review, revision, suspension, reduction or 0/00. withdrawal at any time by the assigning Rating Agency. Insurance pertains only to the timely Restrictions. payment of principal and interest. No representation is made to any insurer’s ability to meet its vailability and price change.

Minimum purchases may apply. The yield is the lesser of yield to maturity or yield to call. Interest is generally exempt financial commitments. Ratings and insurance do not remove risk since they do not guarantee taxation and may alsothebemarket free ofvalue stateof and local taxes for investors residing in the state and/or locality where the bonds were issued.committee However, the bond.

The is charged with consistently applying be subject to federal alternative minimum tax (AMT), and profits and losses on tax-exempt bonds may be subject to capital gains tax treatment.

Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FNRA/SIPC. the restrictive covenants and the guidelines in regard Moody’s/Standard & Poor’s.

A credit rating of a security is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the security and may be subject to review, (c) 2015 Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC 15-MFI-0113 ICD BS 8/15 spension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by the assigning Rating Agency. Insurance pertains only to the timely payment ofmatters principal and inter- coming before the ARC and with establishto esentation is made as to any insurer’s ability to meet its financial commitments. Ratings and insurance do not remove market risk since they do

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Financial Advisor

215 North Main Street Berlin, MD 21811 410-208-1704

Carrie.Dupuie@RaymondJames.com

06/07/2018 **As As ofof 00/00/00.

Subject to availability and price change. Minimum purchases may apply. The yield is the lesser of yield to maturity or yield to call. Interest is generally exempt from federal taxation and may also be free of state and local taxes for investors residing in the state and/or locality where the bonds were issued. However, bonds may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax (AMT), and profits and losses on tax-exempt bonds may be subject to capital gains tax treatment.

Ratings by Moody’s/Standard & Poor’s. A credit rating of a security is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the security and may be subject to review, revision, suspension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by the assigning Rating Agency. Insurance pertains only to the timely payment of principal and interest. No representation is made as to any insurer’s ability to meet its financial commitments. Ratings and insurance do not remove market risk since they do not guarantee the market value of the bond.

Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

©2015 Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC 15-MFI-0113 ICD BS 8/15

ing a schedule of meetings and review sessions and making the schedule available to the members of the association.

The Board also held a first reading for revisions to Resolution M-04, maintenance of lots, again to align with Resolution M-01.

The resolution establishes criteria used in determining whether a lot has become in violation of the Declarations of Restrictions as a result of unattractive growth or the accumulation of rubbish or debris.

The restrictive covenants require that lots “ ... shall at all times be maintained in such manner as to prevent their becoming unsightly by reason of unattractive growth ... or the accumulation of rubbish or debris thereon.”

The governing documents give the association the right, upon a super-majority Board vote, to enter upon lots and maintain them if an owner fails to maintain the premises in a satisfactory manner.

Unattractive growth of grass or exceeding ten inches, or less if specified in the applicable Declaration of Restrictions, is considered unsightly growth.

The revisions to the resolution remove language stating that the general manager is authorized to have agents of the OPA cut the grass and weeds on lots found in violation and to add the related cost to the owners’ annual dues. That apparently will only happen upon Board approval.

ee the market value of the bond.

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28 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

OCEAN PINES

Cheaters still scaling fence to avoid racquet facility fees Viola says that cameras may be needed to deter miscreants

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer o avoid paying to play, some people are scaling the fence at the Racquet Sports Complex, General Manager John Viola told the Board of Directors during a Nov. 18 meeting that a new fence at the amenity isn’t keeping out the non-payers.

Viola said the OPA erected a fence at the request of the new racquet sports director. “And I didn’t disagree with that because he was telling me that people were circumventing paying,” he added.

At a cost of $2,200, Public Works crews enhanced existing split rail fences with wire fencing material. ‘That fence is a hefty fence,” he said.

Half an hour before the Board meeting, however, Viola said he received an email from Director Tim Johnson that people were climbing over fence.

“I guarantee they’re the same people that are saying that the cost to play is probably expensive,” Viola said.

An estimate for installing an aluminum fence was $40,000. “We thought this would work. They probably would have scaled that also,” Viola said.

He said staff will revisit the issue with the fencing and is also investigating the possibility of installing cameras.

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Leaf collection

Residents are being asked not to rake leaves to the roadside as they have in the past because the Ocean Pines Association has discontinued use of the vacuum truck to pick up the yard waste. “I did see along Ocean Parkway people were still piling their leaves up on the side of the road,” Viola said.

Instead all leaves must be bagged for pick up or bagged and taken to Public Works. Residents can put up to four bags of leaves on the roadside to be picked up by Republic during regularly scheduled trash collection days.

Public Works will pick up bagged leaves through Dec. 29 on non-Republic collection days. Yard waste can be dropped off to Public Works yard, which is open on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Dec. 30. Leaves must be in paper bags and each bag must have a free sticker that is available from Public Works.

Bulkhead replacement

The 2023-24 bulkhead replacement program got under way in October and is aniticiapted to be complete by April 2024. The Board of Directors approved this year’s program in December of 2022, granting a contract or $977,500 for the work to Fisher Marine.

Bulkheads will be replaced at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 Watergreen Lane; 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23 and Goldeneye Court; and 20, 22, 24, 26, 34 and 42 Wood Duck Drive.

New fencing

At the request of Racquet Sports Director Tim Johnson, General Manager John Viola authorized the Public Works Department to augment the fencing at the Racquet Sports Complex in South Ocean Pines with additional material design to deter cheaters from using the facilities without paying. The new material, according to Johnson, apparently isn’t solving the problem. Options include adding cameras to

Drainage

Viola reported that the installation of two secondary drainage pipes was completed by Deppe Bros. in September and October. The stormwater pipes were installed at the 191 and 193 Teal Circle bulkhead at a cost of $12,640 and at 60-61 Moonshell Drive for $12,964.

Pelican Underground is scheduled to be on site in the winter to do pipe lining at about 20 locations. The total forecasted cost for the project is $250,000 from reserves and $175,000 from drainage maintenance.

Viola said the piping lining program has been a successful part of the u OPA’s drainage improvement plans. u

1,595

OCEAN PINES

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS

Out with the old

29

As part of continuing beautification efforts throughout Ocean Pines, General Manager John Viola working with Public Relations and Marketing Director Josh Davis directed the Public Works Department to replace the aging and deteriorating Sherwood Forest sign at the intersection of Manklin Creek Road and Ocean Parkway. New signage was installed in around the same time day as the refurbished Yacht Club sail sign. Recent inhouse improvements completed by the Public Works Department also include the refurbishment of the iconic gazebo near the 9th and 18th hole ponds at the Ocean Pines golf course.

Road paving

A little less than three miles of roads will be resurfaced this year as part of the annual roads program. The Board of Directors approved a $356,618 contract with Asphalt Maintenance LLC for the work, which will be starting next month.

Roads scheduled for repaving this year are Battersea Road, Cathell Road, Deerfield Court, Driftwood Lane, Moonraker Road, Waters Edge Court, Wharf Court and an overlay of St. Martins Lane.

Trash contract

Linda Martin, OPA senior executive office manager, said the current contract for trash and recycling collection in Ocean Pines ends Dec. 31. The OPA received bids from three contractors, including the current contractor Republic, and are being reviewed by staff.

An all-inclusive contract is scheduled to be reviewed and approved by the Board in December.

Viola said one of the contractors submitted a proposal that is different than in the past. “One of the contractors is looking at basically mechanical, where you would see the big arm of the truck come and pick up the waste bins or the recycle bins.”

He said if that contractor is awarded the contract they will need distribute new bins to residents at the company’s cost.

Viola also said that the OPA may need to check with the other two vendors to see if they want to submit a bid for automated trash pick-up.

Holiday decorations Ocean Pines has been decorated for the holidays with 25,000 lights and seven Christmas trees.

Viola said he gave Public Works the go ahead to add more holiday decorations this season. The decorations include seven trees, five artificial and two live. Live trees are located at the North Gate and South Gate. This year there will be trees in the ponds on both sides of the North Gate bridge.

Additional lighting and garland have also been added to the North Gate Bridge. Flags and wreathes have been added to the street light poles. Public Works is working with Recreation and Parks Department to install trees in White Horse Park.

The Santa House has been redone, at a cost of $2,000, by Public Works staff Ed Mille and Jon Brown Recreation and Parks is taking part is Be a Santa to a Senior with Home Instead. Email crystal.

heiser@homeinstead.com. Aquatics has an Angel Tree to help support local children and families. Call 410-641-5255. Administration will have an Angel Tree to support a local family. Registration for Light Up the Pines is through Dec. 8. Email info@oceanpines.org.

Dashboard activity

The Compliance, Permits, and Inspections office started October 2023 with 122 outstanding violations and processed and additional 155 violations during the month. CPI was able to close out 77 violations, leaving 200 outstanding at the end of the month. Of the open violations, 90 are for maintenance, grass, or trash, 40 for no permits, and 70 miscellaneous. Legal counsel is handling 67 violations, with 2 closed and 27 new cases were sent to counsel during the month.

Martin reminded property owners that if they have any questions about whether a permit is needed for work on their lot to call the OPA. Most things will need a permit, she said.

Public Works started October with 119 open work orders and received 91 new work orders during the month.

During the month, crews closed out 81 work orders, leaving 129 open, with 60 of those being for drainage.

On the customer service side of operations, the OPA received 199 contacts from residents in October via email at info@oceanpines.org or phone calls. Of those calls, 106 were related to amenities, 16 for CPI violations, 67 general information, and 10 for public works.

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30 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

Patti Stevens says ‘dream’ is to link north, south sides with bike and walking trails Board told of benefits that a connection would bring to Ocean Pines

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer cean Pines residents may one day be able to walk or ride a bicycle from the South Gate to the North Gate and onto Route 90 via a safe, separate trail.

That is the hope of Patti Stevens, chair of a work group appointed to identify, set priorities, and study resources available for improved pedestrian and bicycle safety and access in the community.

Stevens, who also chairs a Worcester County bike and pedestrian coalition and serves on a state commission, told the Board of Directors during a Nov. 18 meeting that a north-south pedestrian and bicycle connector trail would benefit the community.

“This is my dream, that we can connect our north gate and south gate community…,” she said.

She said such a trail could be part of a larger effort to create pedestrian and bicycle access from Ocean

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Pines to Ocean City as part of the widening of Route 90 by the State Highway Administration.

She said people who responded to a state survey seeking input on the project said they want to have bike and pedestrian access on the Route 90 bridge.

“Then people could ride a bike from Ocean Pines to the Beach Club in Ocean City.,” she added.

The state’s Route 90 Planning and Environmental Linkages Study report recommends accommodating bike and pedestrian travel within the Route 90 Corridor and identifies OPA and the Worcester County Bike and Pedestrian Coalition as key stakeholders whose input will be important in ongoing planning.

She said the state’s Route 90 document specifically calls out Ocean Pines as having places of note that could be affected by the highway’s expansion and states that the planning process must consider the impact to community.

The state study of the Route 90 corridor is continuing and four potential designs, all of which include pedestrian/bicycle lanes, have been shared with the community for input.

“But we still have to get people to the bridge,” she said, and that responsibility will fall to the Ocean Pines Association since it has ownership and control of the roads within the community.

Stevens said the onus will be up to the OPA to determine what pedestrian and bicycle safety and access improvements it wants to make and to find ways to fund them.

To begin that process, the Ocean Pines Association established an Ocean Pines Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety and Access Community Work Group.

Members include include Stevens; Kerrie Bunting, president and chief executive officer of the Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce; Mickey Lobb, a Realtor with Berkshire-Ha-

OCEAN PINES thaway Realty in Ocean Pines and an avid cyclist; Paul Rogers, a pediatrician and child safety advocate; Pam McGregor, from the Maryland Pedestrian Advisory Committee; OPA Police Chief Tim Robinson; and Eddie Wells, Ocean Pines Public Works director.

“We’re keeping it small at this point,” Stevens said of the work group, which had its first meeting that same week.

Its initial focus will be on opportunities for immediate improvements of pedestrian and bicycle safety and access in the community.

Then it will turn its attention to longer term projects.

Its official purpose is “reflecting the interest of residents, business owners, and employees of the Ocean Pines community including OPA, identify immediate and longer term actions to improve access and safety for walking and biking.”

Creating the work group demonstrates collaboration and a commitment to improving safety and maintaining infrastructure, two top priorities in the Ocean Pines Strategic Plan.

Stevens said that reflecting state and national trends, Ocean Pines has seen an increase in the number of traffic incidents resulting in fatalities or serious injury to pedestrians and bicyclists in the past ten years.

In just the past year there have been five such incidents. u

Ott suggests contest to name lakes, ponds Would like to honor important people in early days of Ocean Pines

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer ong-time Ocean Pines resident Marlene Ott approached the Board of Directors during the Public Comments segment of the Nov. 18 monthly meeting to encourage the administration to consider renaming some of the ponds and lakes in the community.

Ott said the waterbodies could be renamed to honor important people in Ocean Pines’ history, such as Colonel John King, the first community manager not affiliated with Boise Cascade, the primary developer in the early days of Ocean Pines.

She suggested the OPA could hold a contest to solicit suggestions for naming of the lakes and ponds, and even an island that can be seen from Route 90. “Just the idea that we would have a name and perhaps honor somebody that was important in the development and history of Ocean Pines,” she said.

Ott also queried the Board about the placement of life rings at the Ocean Pines waterbodies. She said she believes they are required at the lakes and ponds as a result of past accidents.

She reminded the Board about an Ocean Pines youth who was killed when he fell through ice at Northside Park in Ocean City decades ago,

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and another youth who was rescued in Ocean Pines.

Next up during Public Comments was Gene Ringsdorf, a former long-time member of the Budget and Finance Advisory Committee and former OPA treasurer, who reminded the Board of Directors that it is limited in how it can use some association funds.

He said there has been discussion of a potential 1,000 square foot additional to the administration building in White Horse Park for a new Board room and that it could be funded using the replacement reserve fund. But he said that is not how the costs associated with such a project should be paid.

“That’s not correct,” he said.

Ringsdorf said the addition, which is not under active consideration by the Board at this time, would not be considered replacement for an existing Board meeting.

“In the case of this addition, you’re going to add another 1,000 square feet to a structure. You’re designating it as a Board room but you haven’t removed the old Board room. The old Board room is just a designation of a physical room. So I believe that has to come out of [the] new capital reserve,” he said. u

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 31 Also reflecting state and national trends, residents and visitors in Ocean Pines indicated on community surveys that walking and biking safely are priorities for recreation, health and wellness, and as alternatives to vehicle transportation for short trips.

Safe places to walk and bike and improved trails were among the top priorities listed in both the Ocean Pines Community Survey and the 2022 Worcester County Land Preservation and Parks & Rec Plan public comment process.

Stevens said it will be valuable for the OPA to be engaged in this work at the same time the state and county are also studying potential pedestrian and bicycle improvements.

Worcester County has contracted for development of a Greenways and Trails Plan that will be conducted by the firm Mead and Hunt.

The plan will identify trails and crossings to connect communities and resources and link existing and planned trails and shared use paths.

But that plan will not include improvements within the individual communities such as Ocean Pines or Berlin.

“Each community has to do that themselves,” Stevens said.

She added that Worcester County Commissioner Chip Bertino has been clear that the planning for and funding of any improvements within Ocean Pines is the responsibility of the OPA. That also means the OPA doesn’t need to seek approvals from the county or state for any improvements except where they would meet a road that is not under OPA control, such as Route 90.

“We don’t have to ask for permission. That’s a bonus,” Stevens said.

As an example, Stevens said if the OPA wants to pursue a trail connecting the north and south gates, the OPA would need to plan for the project including acquiring easements where necessary.

In that case, she said the OPA already owns much of the land. Other portions are controlled

by Tidal Health and the state Department of Transportation.

Director Steve Jacobs asked if the OPA would be limited in the types of funding it would be eligible to receive because it is not a municipality.

Stevens said she originally thought so and that was why she approached the county. But she said Bertino told her “quite firmly” that the county is not responsible for Ocean Pines.

However, she said the OPA has in the past received money directly from state and should be eligible for future improvements.

She said the Maryland Highway Safety Office administers grants to improve safety for drivers, walkers, and bicyclists for projects that address engineering, education, enforcement, or emergency services.

Technical and program assistance is available.

Also, she noted that the AARP has a Walk Audit Toolkit to assess and report on the safety and walkability of a street, intersection or neighborhood.

In general, Stevens said there are three ways to make roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, and one of those is education of walkers, bikers, and drivers.

Another way is through engineering of alter-

Public Comments From Page 29 “That’s my professional opinion,” he said.

OPA President Rick Farr thanked Ringsdorf for his comments but said an addition for a new Board room is not a priority for the Board at this present time.

Ringsdorf said he was aware of that, but he offered his comments anyway.

General Manager John Viola agreed with Farr that the addition is not in the current list of funding priorities but he queried Ringsdorf more about his comments.

Viola used an example of meeting room at the Golf Clubhouse that is used for Board meetings and asked if that could qualify as being replaced by a new Board room.

“Wouldn’t it be a replacement for that?” Viola asked.

Ringsdorf said no, because the room already exists on the OPA’s inventory, for purposes other than as a space for Board meetings.

If the Board would determine that the addition is a replacement for existing space, funds to build it could come out of the replacement reserve, which generally has no direct impact on the lot assessmnent in the year in which the funds are spent.

If the addition has to be financed out of the new capital reserve, it’s more likely to have an assessment impact.

Also addressing the Board during Public Comments was Lora Pangratz, who serves as chairman of the OPA’s Bylaws and Resolutions Advisory Committee. Her comments were offered as a member of the OPA, however, and were not intended to represent the view of her committtee.

She expressed concerns about an item later on the Board’s meeting agenda, digital signs.

She said there is still a lot residents don’t know about the latest proposal for digital signs that would replace the existing wooden marquees along Ocean Parkway. She said she was not in favor of such electronically operated signs currently but was opened minded.

Pangratz said she was interested in learning about the new plans for digital signs and the proposed locations. Still, she said it isn’t appropriate to have such signs in a residential community. She wasn’t even in favor of having them at the North and South Gate entrances to Ocean Pines.

Instead, if the project goes forward she said the signs should be located near the major amenities.

“I feel like that would change the aesthetics of coming into my home. Now I’m coming into a business complex,” Pangratz said of seeing electronic signage when entering Ocean Pines.

She also questioned the cost of maintenance and repairs for that type of sign.

“What happens that one time either a kid or Mother Nature has a storm and it gets broken?” she asked. “Now we have to fix it.”

Cheryl Jacobs, chairman of the Communications Advisory Committee that has submitted recommendations for digital signage to the Board on several occasions, responded to Pangratz’s comments.

“I feel compelled to speak given what the previous community member [Pangratz] said about the electronic signage,” she said.

Although the committee has discussed its recommendations in the past, Jacobs said she is happy that people will finally be able to see an example of the type of signage being proposed by the committee during the presentation later in the meeting by Director Elaine Brady.

That presentation went well, with the Board authorizing the general manager to seek bids for four electronic signs.

“Finally people will see what we’re really talking about and it is not commercial at all,” Jacobs said. “If you have a problem currently with coming into the North Gate and the sign that is there currently, which has a message which has to be changed manually at a cost and a map,” then those people will dislike the new proposed digital signs.

“Because it’s going to look exactly the same,” she said, adding there will be no difference at all.

Jacobs said as more people see the most recent presentation on digital signs they will have a better understanding of the proposal and that the committee has never wanted a commercial type of sign to be installed in Ocean Pines.

“What we want is simply the ability to have the message changed quickly, efficiently and in a safe manner,” Jacobs said.

Colette Horn, former OPA director, said she was interested in a presentation on bicycle and pedestrian access and safety in the community that was also on the agenda for later in the meeting. She said she is an avid bicyclist year-round and in the past year had two “mishaps” while cycling around Ocean Pines.

One of those was a collision with a trash truck. She said those close encounters were the direct result of the absence of a bike lane along Ocean Parkway.

nate ways to get around in communities, such as narrowing lanes, reducing speed limits, and

marking lanes. The third way to improve safety is through enforcement of laws and speed limits.

32 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

Mailloux attorneys file opposition to appeal of Knupp case dismissal Argue that Circuit Court correctly decided case should have been filed in District Court

By TOM STAUSS Publisher he appeal of the dismissal of all charges against West Ocean City resident Tyler Mailloux in the death of Ocean Pines teenage Gavin Knupp in the summer of 2022 may in the end make some new case law in determining whether certain kinds of charges should be filed in District Court or Circuit Court when a defendant does not ask for a jury trial.

A Worcester County Circuit Court judge in August dismissed 17 charges against Mailloux related to the Knupp fatality on the grounds that the charges were improperly filed in circuit court rather than district court.

The defendant’s attorney, George Psoras, argued that the District Court has “exclusive original jurisdiction” in cases in which violations of the state’s transportation code are alleged.

The Office of Worcester County State’s Attorney filed a notice of appeal shortly thereafter, with the office of the Maryland attorney general filing an appeal brief on Oct. 19.

The appeal was filed with the Maryland Court of Appeals, which has the option of taking on or deciding not to accept the appeal. Both sides are asking for oral arguments, and the state’s case record indicates that a “session month” for a possible hearing would be March of 2024.

The state argued that Circuit Court Judge Brett Wilson “utterly misconstrued” governing state statutes relating to jurisdiction of courts and that Worcester County State’s Attorney Kris Heiser had properly exercised her discretion to file in Circuit Court.

At issue is Judicial Proceedings Article, Section 4-0301, which generally confer jurisdiction to the District Court, and exceptions to that rule.

In a Nov. 17 brief in opposition to the appeal, attorneys Celia A Davis and Natasha M Dartigue of the Maryland Office of Public Defender, Appellate Division, argue that exceptions to the relevant statute had not been triggered at the time Judge Wilson dismissed the charges.

“There could have been concurrent jurisdiction [in both courts] for trial of misdemeanors and felonies charged, but not for charging them,” they argue. “Examination of the plain language of the statutes, the legislative history of the provisions, the implications of alternatives interpretations of the statutes, and relevant case law should lead” the Court of Appeals “to conclude that the trial court ruled correctly.”

Regarding the plain language of the relevant statutes, Davis and Dartigue argue that all 17

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charges, a mix of misdemeanors and felonies, constituted violations of motor vehicle laws. Charges included failure to stop at the scene of an accident, remain at the scene, or return to the scene of an accident involving death of serious bodily injury.

They say that the state’s argument focuses on Section 4-302(d)(1) of the judicial proceedings articles that says that, with exceptions, jurisdiction of the District Court is concurrent with that of the Circuit Court in a criminal case in which confinement of three years in prison or a fine of $2500 or more is possible, or in which a felony is charged, “The state would have the exception swallow the rule,” they argue, adding that the “first and more specific statute, Section 4-301,” should be the controlling statute, giving the District Court “exclusive original jurisdiction” over the alleged violations.

The attorneys concede that the Circuit Court could have properly obtained jurisdiction over the charges if the criminal information had first been filed in District Court.

They add that “an offense may be tried in Circuit Court on a criminal information ... “if a defendant requests or consents in writing to being charged by information or if a defendant prays a jury trial from the District Court.”

Neither occurred in the charges against Mailloux, they argue.

Regarding legislative intent, Davis and Dartigue say that the original, exclusive jurisdiction of District Court to handle less serious charges or misdemeanors was expanded in 2002 to include violations of the Transportation article, both felonies and misdemeanors.

“The 2002 legislation committed all violations [of the Transportation Code] to the exclusive original jurisdiction of the District Court,” she writes.

Regarding consideration of alternative interpretations of the statutes at issue, the attorneys argue that the state prosecutor improperly decided that the Office of the State’s Attorney gets to decide where certain offenses should be tried.

They say there are two problems with that assertion.

“First, it renders meaningless the words in Section 4-301(a) and (b) that gives exclusive original jurisdiction of motor vehicle laws to the District Court.

“It is a fundamental principal of statutory construction that no word, clause, sentence of phrase should be rendered surplusage, superfluous, meaningless of nugatory,” they write, argu-

OCEAN PINES

Court of Appeals declines to expedite Mailloux case appeal

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he Appellate Court of Maryland has rejected an attempt by the state to expedite oral arguments in its appeal of a Circuit Court dismissal of charges filed against a West Ocean City resident, Tyler Mailloux, accused of leaving the scene of an accident that killed Ocean Pines teenager Gavin Knupp in July of last year.

The rejection leaves March of next year, on a date yet to be set, as the most likely month when oral arguments in the appeal will be heard.

The state had requested that the oral arguments be moved up to February, and attorneys for Mailloux, the West Ocean did not oppose it.

According to an order signed by Chief Judge Gregory Wells on Dec. 1, the motion for an expedited hearing and due date for reply was denied. No reason was given.

ing that the state’s interpretation of the statutes “would violate this canon of construction.”

In addition, they argue that the state’s interpretation would deprive Mailloux of the right to choose where and how he would be tried, either by a judge in District Court or a jury in Circuit Court.

“Curtailing a criminal defendant’s choice in this way contradicted the statutory right to have a traffic offense and one specifically mentioned by name [in Section 4-301] tried in District Court,” they say, adding that it also interfered with his right to a fair trial under both the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitutes and the Maryland Declaration of Rights.

According to Davis, and Dartigue, citing subsection (c) of Maryland Rule 4-201, an offense can be tried in Circuit Court on a criminal information filed in that court if the defendant requests or consents in writing to be charged by criminal information, a preliminary hearing has been held and probable cause found, the defendant has waived a preliminary hearing, or the defendant has requested a jury trial or filed an appeal to Circuit Court.

In the case of Mailloux, “none of these conditions has been met,” they write. “If and when one of the conditions is met in the future, only then will the Circuit Court have concurrent jurisdiction to try the offenses.”

Davis and Dartigue then go on to cite case law that might apply in this case, acknowledging that “the precise question presented in this case has not been addressed” by the Court of Appeals.

But they present several cases that they suggest provides guidance to the Court of Appeals should it decide to take up the appeal.

They conclude by asking the court to affirm Judge Wilson’s decision.

WORCESTER COUNTY

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 33

Commissioners want redistricting completed for the 2024 election Ask staff to prepare legislation and maps for a public hearing in December

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer espite a tight timeline, the Worcester County Commissioners have opted to move forward with redistricting prior to the 2024 election cycle. During a Nov. 21 meeting the commissioners instructed county staff to prepare a legislative bill and associated maps for introduction and public hearing in December.

“The negatives of pushing this off seem to overwhelm the positives,” Commissioner Eric Fiori said.

He said county staff will simply have to work a little harder to get everything in place before the filing deadline for candidates in February.

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But if the county delays the redistricting, he said. “It looks like we have so many different factors that would be affected by not putting it in now.”

Since maps of the proposed new election districts were released to the public in October, Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said he has received numerous emails from constituents concerned about the timing of the redistricting and it potentially delaying the election. “They were very concerned [that] the timing to get it done for the next election wouldn’t be possible or would create confusion,” he said.

During the four-week public comment period, which closed on Nov.

14, the county received 11 responses, two of which pertained to the maps, and nine pertained to the timing of the redistricting process, Jennifer Keener, director of the county Department of Development Review and Permitting, said. She said her office is finalizing the revisions to the election maps utilizing Draft Map A as the basis.

The bulk of the map revisions are in the south end of the county, but they do include some minor adjustments in the Ocean Pines District 5 and Northern District 6, shifting some Ocean Pines residents from one district to the other. With Ocean Pines seeing the highest number of new residents according to the 2020 U.S. Census, District 5 needs to “lose” voters to District 6, the Northern District that already includes portions of the community but stretches to the Delaware state line.

In the Ocean Pines District 5, the population grew by 8.8 percent to 8,179 people, and northern District 6 grew by 7.6 percent to 8,083 people.

Based on the overall county-wide Census data, the ideal population per district would be 7,515 people.

District 5, the most populated in the county is surrounded by District 6, which also already includes some of Ocean Pines and is the second most populated.

The latest plans call for moving 199 people in the north Ocean Pines from District 5 to District 6, including around Essex Court to White

Cap Lane. Boundary adjustments now also call for shifting 175 people in the area of Moby Dick Drive to Lighthouse Court who were proposed to be moved into District 6 back to District 5.

Keener met with the commissioners to discuss the timing of proceeding with the adoption of the map and accompanying legislative bill.

She said staff will be able to put together a legislative bill and the associated maps and have them ready for introduction at the Dec. 5 meeting. The public hearing will be held at the commissioners second meeting of the month on Dec. 19.

When asked about the timing of the materials relative to next year’s election, during which three seats on the Board of Education will be up, Keener said her department can have all of the necessary documents to the Board of Elections Supervisors quickly. “We can even get them information based on this revised Plan A as soon as possible if there are no changes to what we’re going to present,” she said.

Commissioner President Chip Bertino called on Patti Jackson, county supervisor of elections, to discuss the timing.

Jackson said the candidate filing deadline is Feb. 9, 2024 and said it would be a tight turnaround to get all of the materials and any needed new polling places lined up in time.

“That’s really tight. I can’t promise the work will be done by Feb. 9th,” she said.

She said she checked with state Board of Elections to discuss the redistricting and didn’t receive much feedback. She said the state has never had a county complete a redistricting off cycle from when the u

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WORCESTER COUNTY

34 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

Planning commission approves a trio of residential and commercial projects in and near Ocean Pines Second phase of Triple Crown Estates to include playground

By ROTA L. KNOTT Contributing Writer trio of new residential and commercial development projects near Ocean Pines are all moving forward, having received approvals from the Worcester County Planning Commission. Plans for a new single family development on Beauchamp Road, expansion of Triple Crown Estates south of Ocean Pines, and a shopping center rumored to include a Giant Supermarket on Route 50 all received the commission’s endorsement in September.

Refuge at Windmill Creek, a proposed 90-lot single family home subdivision located on the former Pine Shore Golf Course property, received approval for the preliminary plat as a residential planned community. The 94.74-acre site is zoned R-1 Rural Residential and Resource Protection District and is located on the northwest side of Beauchamp Road abutting St. John Neumann Church and the River Run community.

Planning Commission member Marlene Ott asked how the developer will handle any potential stormwater management issues coming across from Ocean Pines beneath Beauchamp Road.

Ronnie Carpenter of Carpenter Engineering said they have been working with Ocean Pines to resolve any drainage issues. Carpenter said they are picking up a small amount of drainage from

the roadside area but not much stormwater that’s flowing over naturally to accept into their system.

Ott said the drainage issue along Beauchamp Road has been an issue for more than 30 years because the stormwater must flow naturally to Windmill Creek and over to the St. Martins River.

She expressed concern because of the amount of flooding that occurs in the Beacon Hill Road and Pinehurst Road areas of Ocean Pines. Carpenter said there are various possible solutions to the problem, and they said they made a good faith effort to work with Ocean Pines to address any issues.

Planning Commission member Jerry Barbierri asked if the sole loop road serving the subdivision will be a private lane or would be turned over to the county. Representatives for the developer responded that it would be a private lane.

Following the discussion, Commission member Mary Knight made a motion, seconded by Ott and carried unanimously, to approve the preliminary plat as submitted.

The Planning Commission reviewed and approved the preliminary plat for Phase II of Triple Crown RPC, which includes 30 single family homes located west of Preakness Drive south of Ocean Pines. The project is part of the 92-acre Triple Crown Estates section developed by Steen Associates.

Redistricting

of the affected streets cross a legislative district that creates a new precinct which means finding a new polling place,” she said.

Jackson said the state requires that polling places be set six months before any election, and that deadline already passed on Nov. 14 for the 2024 election. The county will need to request special dispensation from the state if new polling places are needed.

Mitrecic made a motion to move forward with the redistricting and introduce it as an emergency legislation. It was given a second by Ted Elder and approved unanimously. If the redistricting bill is approved by super majority of commissioners, it will become effective immediately.

Worcester County experienced population growth and a shift in population across the existing election districts.

The only other district to grow in population was Sinepuxent District 3, up 6.6 percent to 8,009 people. Districts 1, 2, 4, and 7 each lost population. District 1 in Pocomoke dropped by 3.9 percent to 7,224; District 2 in Berlin/Central by 4.2 percent to 7,197, Western District 4 down 7.1 percent to 6,981; and the Ocean City District 7 saw the largest shift of 7.7 percent to 6,934 people.

The population disparity between the county’s election districts is at of 16.6 percent, higher than the recommended 10 percent disparity.

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From Page 33 state does it too. “They didn’t have an answer,” she said, adding that the only suggestion was to stay the Board of Education election until 2025 and to hold a special election after the redistricting is completed or to wait until 2026.

Mitrecic said his initial inclination was to hold off on the redistricting then anyone whose district is changing and is filing as a candidate in the election would know that they will be running in a different district.

“That’s correct because all the work would be done,” Jackson said, Mitrecic then said even if the county moves forward with the redistricting now anyone filing as a candidate will know if they are going to be redistricted.

“This is something the Board of Elections could also mention when they come in” to file as a candidate, he said.

Jackson said if Kenner can provide her with a list of affected addressed the elections office can verify and notify candidates of their district when they file.

She pointed out there is another issue with the timing of the redistricting in that it may necessitate the creation of new polling places. “if any

The project is required to have 2.7 acres of active open space and 5.5 acres of passive open space, as well as another 13.8 acres of natural spaces. The developer is providing 3.4 acres of active, 11.4 acres of passive and 32 acres of natural spaces.

The active recreation space will consist of two areas with commercial multi-component playground equipment to include swings, slides, and climbers and will be in a defined boarder with wood chip/mulch surface. The surrounding area will consist of grass for additional active recreation activities.

The passive recreation area will consist of existing wooded area with a 4-foot wide 1,800-foot long winding walking trail with a wood chip surface. The natural recreation area consists of existing wooded area that will remain in its natural state for wildlife habitat.

To satisfy the active open space requirement, the developer will identify the amenity, obtain a cost estimate, and bond the construction costs with the county.

Planning Commission member Rick Wells made a motion that carried unanimously to approve the preliminary plat with the condition of bonding the active open space amenity.

Site plans for the Coastal Square Shopping Center, a proposed regional shopping center with 120,561 square feet of floor space to be leased and seven proposed out-parcels along Route 50, also received the Planning Commission’s approval. The property is located on the southern side of Route 50 at the intersection with Route 589 zoned C-3 Highway Commercial District, once again rumored to be the proposed location for a new Giant supermarket.

The project was revised from the initial sketch plans presented to the planning commission because of the recent passing of a text amendment which allows residential uses in a C-3 Zoning District.

The proposed shopping center is approximately half the size of the sketch plan submittal and consists of one anchor store and multiple strip units.

Consultants for the developer are working with State Highway Administration to address the entrance requirements and will be dedicating the extension of Samuel Bowen Boulevard to the county.

There will be a roundabout at the intersection of Racetrack Road and Samuel Bowen Boulevard at the request of SHA to allow for smoother traffic flow in and around the center.

Planning Commission member Phyllis Wimbrow asked if the county agreed to accept the dedication of the Samuel Bowen Boulevard.

Consultants for the developer said they are in discussion with county officials regarding the matter. The county would be responsible for the extension and roundabout and that the lane south of the roundabout would be private. Public water and sewer services are provided by the Riddle Farm Sanitary Service Area.

Following the discussion, Knight made a motion, seconded by Ott, and carried unanimously to approve the Coastal Square Shopping Center site plan.

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 35

OPA FINANCES

OPA ahead of budget by $93,000 in October Positive variance for the year reaches $578,000

By TOM STAUSS Publisher he Ocean Pines Association recorded a $92,967 operating fund variance in October, up from the $44,273 positive variance in September, and is approaching a $600,000 operating fund surplus for the fiscal year so far. According to the October financial report posed by Controller/Director of Finance Steve Phillips in mid-November, the operating fund variance resulted from revenues over budget by $49,111 and expenses under budget by $43,856.

The operating fund variance for the year continued to climb because of the solid performance.

The positive fund variance through the end of October was $577,509, with revenues over budget by $625,877 and total expenses over budget by $48,368. Amenity department financial performance was the typical mix during October.

The Yacht Club, golf operations and maintenance, the Clubhouse Grille, pickleball and beach parking were all in the black for the month.

Aquatics, tennis, platform tennis, marinas and the Beach Club recorded losses for the month.

The Yacht Club, golf operations, and marinas all outperformed their budgets.

Missing budget targets were aquatics, the Clubhouse Grille, the Beach (closed for the season) and all three racquet sports.

Actual results and results compared to budget

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are the two primary ways to measure financial performance. A third way is to compare cumulative results with the same month of the prior year.

For the year through Oct. 31, most of the amenities are in the black for the year. The exceptions are tennis, in the red by $14,154, and platform tennis, with a loss of $1,405.

As it has for much if not the entire year, golf continues to be the OPA’s top amenity performer through October with a $654,799 operating surplus. That’s $109,473 ahead of budget and well ahead of the $559,963 net through October of last year.

Beach parking has the next highest net, $474,510 through October. That’s $50,008 ahead of budget and better than the $465,246 net recorded through October of last year.

The Yacht Club has the next highest net, with a $450,320 operating surplus through October. That’s ahead of budget by $12,293 and not far behind the October 2022 cumulative net of $478,161. After months of performing under budget, the Yacht Club is now out-performing budget for the year so far.

Despite an operating deficit and performing under budget for October, Aquatics remains in the black for the year, recording $200,966 in net operations.

That’s $24,162 ahead of budget but off the pace

18 72ÿ; 2 ÿ7 18 73 12 2 3ÿ1; 73 2 ÿ5ÿ6 ;7 30 23ÿ 1831by ÿGHGB OPA Net Operating Results Department - October 2023 01234 01234 536 536 536 78397 96 3 ÿ 7 728 78397 96 3 ÿ 7 728 7 3ÿ5 7 !""ÿ !# $ÿ %%# ÿ #% "%&ÿ #&&#'%'ÿ !&"'%ÿ #%( "!&ÿ ÿ )*ÿ+,, - . "# / . ( "%/ "$&ÿ . &"#$&/ . %"$(&/ (($(ÿ . $&!%"/ , - ."' #%/ .& #(#/ $!&ÿ .$'!& "/ .$$ #&!/ !&%#&ÿ .!("'&&/ 012 -ÿ 3 + * . ($/ . '"'"/ %$ ÿ . %$&'/ . $$&' / " ! ÿ . $ &"'/ -+ 0 - ÿ4ÿ0 3* . ! !(/ . ( / . ($%/ .!"' $/ .!#$ / .! $% / .$$(&!/ ÿ 3 .& $/ .#& ! / . !(($/ .$' '(!/ .!##&$$/ .$#!$(/ .! #&"(/ 012 -ÿ5+ 6* . $# &/ . #&"#&/ !! (ÿ ."%('"%/ .%"'&$(/ & "% ÿ .&!#&& / .%$'&"/ .%$'&"/ 'ÿ .#'$$#(/ .#'$$#(/ 'ÿ .#! ' / , ÿ4ÿ * 0+ - . $ $!/ . # &#/ !%'!!ÿ .!'$ %/ .$$!(!(/ !(% ÿ .$!$# %/ . $#(#/ .!#%'%/ !ÿ . %('%%/ . '('& / ((%$ÿ . %"&' / - 3 + ÿ4ÿ0 6* 3 * .#& &/ .!&& / . (#"/ . $ #$/ #& ÿ . (%"#/ $" $ÿ 0 -6 2 " "&ÿ $'('ÿ .&( / &#"&"ÿ "&('#ÿ &&& ÿ ""$!"ÿ 0 3,+ ÿ3 * . &&!/ . % &/ .(#"/ . $'#/ !!$$ÿ .$&$(/ # #"ÿ .$ $' / .! ! (/ . ''% / ''(""ÿ &"%'$ÿ $ " ÿ % $#'ÿ 71 3 -* $('"%ÿ !#($"ÿ ! ÿ "#$&((ÿ #$#! "ÿ '($&!ÿ ##(("!ÿ + ,ÿ+0*ÿ8ÿ 3 - 129+1* ÿ "#&$ÿ # &ÿ .%"$!/ #$(&ÿ %"(& ÿ %# "ÿ & !"#ÿ .# %'/ .# !"/ . $$/ !%& !ÿ &&&$ ÿ "'(& ÿ !$$"#ÿ 2 -9ÿ- 12 2 -9ÿ0 6 %#ÿ '! "ÿ (#(ÿ $&$# 'ÿ $ $#' ÿ #'''%ÿ $"# $"ÿ : -93ÿ- 12 (( ÿ ."$ '/ ($' ÿ $#'! 'ÿ $!%' %ÿ (!ÿ $&% " ÿ * ." '!/ .&" '/ $'&ÿ $!"#ÿ &'&!&ÿ .$"!& / "'#$(ÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿ2 3ÿ1; 73 2 <=>=?@ABC <DE@?F@>C >G?>F@ÿ D?B>>?BEAÿ =?EGA?E@Gÿ D@@?DH>ÿ D?B@F?H@Bÿ

Source: Ocean Pines Association Finance Department

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of $282,450 through October of last year.

The Beach Club food and beverage operation, which closed for the season after Labor Day weekend, recorded a $238,713 operating surplus through October, ahead of budget by $60,972.

That’s slightly above the October 2022 cumulative net of $234,465.

The perennial OPA success story, marinas, also closed for the season, were in the black by $224,365 through October. Affected by poor weather in the early months of the fiscal year, marinas were behind budget by $46,372 and off the October, 2022, net of $260,549.

The Clubhouse Grille, like golf, continues its stellar performance. Through October, this food and beverage venue recorded a $115,497 operating surplus, and that was $28,586 ahead of budget. That compares favorably to the operating net through October of last year of $71,365.

All three racquet sports in combination are doing well financially for the year, led by pickleball, which recorded a $75,676 operating surplus through October. That was $17,771 over budget.

By way of comparison, pickleball’s net through October of last year was $66,436.

Platform tennis through October was in the red by $1,405, under budget by $4,749. That’s off last year’s pace through October, when the net was $5,156. The $14,154 tennis deficit for the year through September was $19,865 under budget and off last year’s pace of a $4,624 net.

Reserve summary -- The Oct. 31 eserve summary shows a total balance of $8,992 million, a decline from the September balance of $9.13 million, the August balance of $9.164 million, the July 31 total of $9.298 million, $9.9 million in June and $9.66 million in May. The replacement reserve balance on Oct. 31 was $6.25 million, with bulkheads and waterways at $1.16 million, roads at $1.09 million, drainage at $376,816 and new capital at $112,311.

Balance sheet -- The Oct. 31 balance sheet shows total assets of $43.005 million, down from $43.73 million at the end of September but ahead of the $441.98 million in total assets on Oct. 31 of last year.

October cash position at $17.4 million

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he Ocean Pines Association’s cash and investment position dropped about $600,000 from September to Octob er, with about $17.4 million on hand as of Oct 31. The September figure had been $18 million.

According to a report by OPA Treasurer Monica Rakowski at the November Board of Directors meeting, cash increased $700,000 from the same time period last year, while cash decreased $600,000 from September 2023.

Of the $17.4 million on hand, $11.2 million was invested in CDARs, and $54,000 in interest income was recognized during the month, courtesy of a high interest rate environment.

The remaining $6.2 million was invested in an insured cash sweep, treasury bills, money market and other operating accounts, diversified between two local banks.

36 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

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LIFESTYLES

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 37

The Pine Tones Chorus

Pine Tones to present Christmas concert Dec. 8

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n Friday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m. the Pine Tones Chorus will present a Christmas Concert at Atlantic United Methodist Church in Ocean City, Baltimore Ave. and 4th Street.

The concert is titled A Very Jazzy Christmas and will feature spirited and syncopated selections as well as some with dream-like harmonies.

Chorus president Dave Holloway said “My favorite song is our arrangement of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear with its jazzy, spirited sound,” Chorus president Dave Holloway said.

Other songs featuring high energy will include Perfect Christmas Night from the movie

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and also a rollicking version of Joy to the World.

From the story A Charlie Brown Christmas comes the song Christmas Time is Here, a well known popular theme. Other songs reflecting the mellow, contemporary harmonies will include White Christmas and I’ll be Home for Christmas.

The Pine Tones Chorus includes about 50 singers from Ocean Pines, Ocean City, and nearby areas. The chorus is under the direction of Jenny Anderson and Pete Anderson. Guest musicians will accompany the chorus with Tom Baione playing string bass and Frank Pasqualino adding percussion.

Admission is free and an offering will be received. After the concert, guests may enjoy refreshments in the church social hall.

The Pine Tones Chorus has been entertaining local audiences in the Ocean Pines and Ocean City areas since 1984. For additional information, call Dave Holloway, 410-641-5672, or Jenny Anderson, 443-655-5636.

Funding for Pine Tones Chorus activities has been from patrons, ads and grants, including the E. Bowen and Francis H. Quillin Foundation, the Worcester County Arts Council, Maryland State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ocean Pines Chamber announces name change Worcester County Chamber of Commerce will be based in Ocean Pines, and familiar events will continue

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s of Jan. 1, the Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce will be known as the Worcester County Chamber of Commerce.

“It is with great excitement that the Board of Directors makes this announcement,” said Kerrie Bunting, president and chief executive officer. “After a year of research, meeting with leaders from other Worcester County chambers, economic development agencies and officers, and countless thoughtful conversations across the county, the newly named Worcester County Chamber of Commerce will be expanding its services, advocacy, and community outreach throughout the entire lower shore region.”

Bunting said the intended outcome of the name change “is a regional unification of our economic and non-profit leaders, continuing our role as a trusted resource and referral agency for residents and visitors, and assisting county officials in combining local business and tourism efforts.”

She said that the renaming does not replace or combine any other chambers in the county.

“We are all separate 501(c) 6 non-profits governed by our own unique boards of directors. We aim to create a supplemental assistance resource to businesses and non-profits that wish to reach a larger consumer and client base.”

She noted that the Chamber’s membership base extends out from the Ocean Pines commercial district, with many members having their “brick and mortar” locations throughout the Lower Shore.

Bunting said that Worcester County can easily be divided into northern and southern regions with the north being predominantly tourism

and hospitality-based businesses and the south being home to service providers, agricultural endeavors, and “Main Street” communities.

“With the growth of the agri-tourism and eco-tourism industries, our county aims to provide residents and visitors with a more diverse and enriching experience by highlighting our regions museums, scenic waterways full of recreational and educational opportunities, and driving more economic stimulus toward our smaller, southern county towns. We will support these efforts alongside our county economic partners,” she said.

Over the next month or so, the Chamber will be “slowly making all the necessary changes such as web address, email domain, and social media page names. We appreciate your patience and continued support during the transition,” she said, adding that the existing Ocean Pines Chamber Website URL will be retained with a link added to direct visitors to the new Worcester County Chamber page.

The newly renamed Chamber will continue to be located inside of and operate the Ocean Pines Visitor Center on Racetrack Road. Signature community events such as the annual flounder tournament, car show, and Oktoberfest, will remain in Ocean Pines.

“However, we look to create events throughout the county that become a part of other communities’ traditions,” Bunting said. “We look forward to working alongside partners as we support a region where business, residents, visitors, and non-profits prosper.”

Bunting said that Chamber members have been notified of the name change and that there has been no push-back among them.

“Once we explain our reasoning, there has been acceptance,” she said.

38 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

LIFESTYLES

OPA doubles down on holiday displays

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Public Works puts in 25,000 lights, live Christmas trees at north and south gates; OPVFD hosting weekend train garden at Northside fire station

cean Pines Public Works is leading an effort to make the community merry and bright this holiday season.

General Manager John Viola said spending was increased for holiday decorations this year, thanks to a reallocation and repurposing of budget funds.

That includes about 25,000 lights, seven large and illuminated Christmas trees, and live trees at both the north and south gates.

Public Works also put in more than 50 live trees at White Horse Park, ahead of the annual Hometown Christmas tree lighting.

The community response to the increase in decorations has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I’m just so impressed with the decorations and the whole place,” resident Peggy Sedor said.

“I rode through yesterday and I said, ‘this is the best place in the world to live!’ It’s just beautiful and the decorations are just exquisite. Everybody is saying it.”

Public Works Director Eddie Wells credited Tony Howard and his team for putting up decorations around the community.

“Tony is a valued employee, and he has a great eye for landscaping and decorating,” Wells said.

“He and his crew have done an awesome job with everything so far, and there’s more to come over the next several weeks.”

Viola said roughly double the holiday decorations are going up this year.

“We are getting many, many positive comments about all the new decorations, and it’s a credit to Public Works,” he said. “We hope everyone in the Ocean Pines community enjoys all the new displays, and we hope everyone has a very merry Christmas and holiday.”

Ocean Pines Recreation and Parks launched the holiday season with the Hometown Christmas celebration at White Horse Park Nov. 25.

During the event, the park was transformed into a festive winter wonderland, as the Recreation and Parks Department officially flips the switch on 50 Christmas trees decorated by local community groups and businesses.

Recreation and Parks Director Debbie Donahue led the opening announcements.

The ceremony featured a special appearance

by Santa Claus himself, who will then took upresidence in the Santa House to greet local children and help spread Christmas cheer.

Additionally, Carol Ludwig and the Delmarva Chorus graced the event with a series of Christmas carols, and free cookies and hot chocolate was provided.

“Christmas is a magical time and it’s very special for us to be able to share this event once again with the people of Ocean Pines,” Donahue said. “We hope everyone comes out to join us, as we help kick-start the holiday season with our wonderful community.”

The event coordinator was Katie Goetzinger of

Rec and Parks.

Also in White Horse Park, or at least very close to it, the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department is hosting a train garden at the Northside Firehouse through December.

Joe Enste, a member of the OPVFD Board of Directors and a lieutenant in the department, brought the train garden to the Northside firehouse with his dad, Don, and friend Mark Libertini, for the second consecutive year.

The train garden has multiple trains, a Disney monorail, neighborhoods, work areas, new construction, a farm and roadways. Matchbox cars travel down roads and are parked in driveways.

The firehouse, ponds, ice skating rink and a Disney show are all on display. Joe’s son donated his monster trucks.

Craig Thomas of Seaside Hobbies has helped

to keep the trains running smoothly.

The train garden is open every weekend through Christmas with someone from the OPVFD hosting.

Hours are Fridays, 6-9 p.m.; Saturdays 8 a.m.

- noon and 6-9 p.m.; and Sundays 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Visitors will have to opportunity to scour the train garden for a scavenger hunt to find various items. Participants will be entered into a drawing for a $150 gift card for a stay at the Francis Scott Key in West Ocean City.

In addition, Donna Frankowski of ERA Martin Associates purchased five 911 address signs that the OPVFD will be raffling off each week. Winners will be selected each Monday and people can participate every week.

Visiting the train garden is free, but donations are appreciated and will support the OPVFD.

Aquatics continues Angel Tree program

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he Ocean Pines Aquatics Department is looking for “angels” to help support local children and families this holiday season.

The department started the Angel Tree program in 2014. Each year, a Christmas tree in the Sports Core Pool lobby is decorated with angel ornaments that represent a local person or family in need.

The ornaments include a short list of needed items, such as winter clothes for a newborn, stem toys for a 10-year-old boy, and Playdough for a 4-year-old girl.

Aquatics Manager Michelle Hitchens said the department this year worked with Worcester GOLD and two local churches to identify potential beneficiaries of the Angel Tree program.

“People can come to the Sports Core, pick out a numbered ornament, write their name and phone number in our book, and then sponsor a local person or family with Christmas gifts for the holiday season,” she said. “It’s just our way of giving back and trying to spread a little Christmas cheer.”

The deadline to return gifts ranges from Dec. 5 to Dec. 13.

For more information, call the Sports Core Pool at 410-641-5255.

The angel tree at the Sports Core pool

LIFESTYLES

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 39

‘Light Up the Pines’ returns

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cean Pines residents and property owners interested in adding holiday cheer to the community are invited to participate in this year’s “Light Up the Pines” outdoor decorating program.

Those who register with the program will be featured on an online Google map, which will include locations of the decorated properties.

Participants will also be entered into a drawing to win one of three $50 bill credits donated by Choptank Electric Cooperative, which sponsors the program. Additionally, the first 25 registered participants received a goody bag, also courtesy of Choptank Electric.

Households interested in participating should submit a name, address, and phone number via email to info@oceanpines.org. Participants are also asked, if possible, to submit a photo of their lighted home for a special holiday video.

The initial deadline to register is Friday, Dec. 8, although residents may continue to sign up after this date and through the holiday season to have their homes included on the online map.

The map of participating homes may be viewed via the link on the home page at oceanpines.org.

Community donations sought for single mom family with five kids

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he Ocean Pines Administration is asking for help to support a local family in need during the holiday season.

Michelle Lane-Ross, administrative assistant to the General Manager’s Office, said she worked with the Berlin Crisis Center to identify a single mother with five children.

Staff set up an “Angel Tree” in the administration building lobby decorated with ornaments that represent items requested by the family. To participate, pick an ornament from the tree and return new, wrapped items by Dec. 20.

Lane-Ross said it was important for staff to be able to give back to a family in need.

Requested items include, for a 16-year-old girl, size 8 women’s shoes, size small shirts and pants, hair clips, camo hunting stuff, and soft and fuzzy blankets.

For a 15-year-old boy, size 15 men’s shoes, size 2X shirts, size 36x32 jeans or XL sweats, bed set for a queen bed, anything for a PlayStation 5, and music.

For a 13-year-old boy, size 12 men’s shoes, size XL shirts, size large pants, basketball stuff, Washington Commanders football stuff.

For a 12-year-old boy, size 11 men’s shoes, size large shirts, size medium pants, Xbox stuff, basketball gear/stuff.

For an 8-year-old girl, size 9 women’s shoes, size medium shirts, size medium pants, Arts and crafts supplies, fake nails set, baby doll clothes, games, coloring books.

‘Tinsel & Twine’ coming to December farmers markets

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Candy cane scavenger hunt set for Dec. 8

oliday cheer, family friendly activities, fresh local produce, and handmade gift items can all be found at the Ocean Pines Farmers & Artisans Market this December.

Market Manager David Bean said the marketplace, open every Saturday, will feature special “Tinsel & Twine” markets from Dec. 2 to Dec. 23.

“The winter holiday season at the Ocean Pines Farmers &amp; Artisans Market is a wonderful time of year,” he said. “Come get all the trimmings at the market for the most delicious holiday meal ever, and don’t forget to get your fresh produce, floral arrangements, and goodies while you’re here.”

Bean said market merchants are now taking special orders for the holiday season, and the marketplace is full of great holiday gift ideas.

“Homemade jams and jellies make a wonderful gift for a co-worker or neighbor,” he said. “Guys, you’ll find that one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted jewelry she’ll cherish for years to come.”

“Our bakers also create a bountiful selection of baked goods,” he continued. “From homemade cookies to made-from-scratch pies, it’s all available from the marketplace.”

Fresh, local oysters are another holiday favorite. Dize Seafood will stock oysters each week, just hours out of the local waters and sold both shucked and in the shell.

On Saturday, Dec. 9, market goers are invited to join the fun with a Candy Cane Scavenger Hunt.

“Shoppers will receive a scavenger hunt

T

clue board that will direct them to participating market merchants, community partners and artisans,” Bean said. “When the shoppers follow the clues and arrive at the market location, they’ll be rewarded with a small token, like a mini candy cane or some other small gift.”

Once the scavenger hunt clue board is filled out, shoppers can return their board to special market guest Miss Ginger, the head baker from Santa’s workshop at the North Pole.

“Miss Ginger will have a holiday treat for all that complete the scavenger hunt,” Bean said.

Singer and keyboardist Logan Oluvic will be on the market stage performing holiday music.

Oluvic is a local favorite and always draws a crowd. Additionally, Moon Face Painting will offer special holiday face painting.

Bean added that his office recently confirmed with the North Pole that Mrs. Claus plans to attend the scavenger hunt.

“Mrs. Claus shops at the Ocean Pines marketplace each year to gather items for her holiday dinner needs,” he said. “It’s a big honor for all of us.”

This year, Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Mondays. Because of that, Bean said there would be no disruption to the Market’s regular schedule.

The Ocean Pines Farmers & Artisans Market is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon in White Horse Park, next to the Ocean Pines Administration Building and Police Department.

Rec and Parks continues involvement in ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ program

he Ocean Pines Recreation and Parks Department has announced its continued participation in the county-wide “Be a Santa to a Senior” program, organized by Home Instead.

Recreation and Parks Director Debbie Donahue said the program helps “brighten the hearts of seniors in the community by giving thoughtful gifts they might not otherwise receive.”

In Ocean Pines, ornaments with the names of local seniors are placed on a Christmas tree in the Community Center lobby.

Each ornament includes a list of requested items for each senior.

Crystal Heiser, who coordinates the program, said last year nearly 900 local seniors received

gifts through the program, with almost 200 of those coming from the Ocean Pines community.

“This cause is important because these seniors are asking for essentials – not for what they want,” she said. “That said, most of the ‘Santas’ that take a tag will tuck in a special treat or item that wasn’t asked for to make the giving more personal.”

Those interested in participating can simply stop by, pick up an ornament, purchase the requested items, wrap them, and bring them back to the community center by Dec. 6.

Home Instead will do the rest.

For more information, email Heiser at crystal. heiser@homeinstead.com.

40 December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS

OPINION

COMMENTARY A more modest Southside firehouse project?

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ord that the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department now plans to focus on renovating the 40-year-old Southside firehouse rather than building a mostly new facility was the most notable result of an impasse over a tangential issue related to financing a portion of the cost of a new facility.

As initially disclosed by Ocean Pines Association President Rick Farr and reported in a front page article in the Progress in early November, the OPVFD and OPA hit a snag over the OPA’s proposal to assume ownership of the building and/or the land it sits on.

The proposal and the way it was handled was hardly unreasonable or some sort of public relations blunder, as one local pundit mischaracterized it. Farr was simply using the media to communicate a matter of importance to the OPA membership.

Farr was taking seriously one function of an OPA president -- media relations and communicating with the membership -- and he did it honestly and with refreshing candor.

When asked by a reporter about rumors that were circulating, he didn’t dodge and weave.

There was no pulling of punches -- just calling it as he saw it, letting the chips fall where they may.

Farr has gotten off to an excellent start as OPA president. The hand-off from former President Doug Parks was seamless, cordial and professional, and the Board continues to operate in the open with no evidence of the public infighting present in prior years.

True enough, the departure of certain former directors prone to actions that invited litigation, bad internal relationships and poor public relations has made Farr’s tenure less problematic from the get-go.

Inheriting a stable situation, it still has been his obligation to keep it that way. He has.

The alleged rift between the OPVFD and the OPA is more smoke than fire. Given time, if the OPVFD is in need of some additional financial assistance, it can be requested and dealt with as part of the annual budget process.

As the OPA was leaning towards financing its $4 million (or so) contribution share of the construction cost of a new firehouse with a bank loan, and as lenders normally expect borrowers to own the property on which a mortgage is extended, the OPA’s proposal as explained by Farr was perfectly appropriate.

No nefarious motive was implied nor should be inferred.

The OPA was not interested in owning the land and building out of avarice or acqusitiveness.

The OPA proposal came with some sweeteners, according to Farr.

One was a offer by the OPA to fund all maintenance of a new building, which would have resulted in considerable savings in annual oper-

The USDA’s Farmers Home Administration, which funded the firehouse expansion in the mid-1980s, is no longer in operation, having been merged out of existence in the 1990s, but its low-interest loan programs are still available in an agency called Rural Housing Service. Facilities that support rural housing, such as firehouses, are explicitly identified as eligible for RHS loans. ating costs.

And, to ease concerns of the OPVFD membership, a 50-year contract with the OPA was offered to provide fire-fighting and ambulance services to Ocean Pines.

This offer underscored the lack of interest by the OPA in providing that service directly at some distant point in the future.

The OPVFD membership and Board of Directors, as was their right, expressed a preference for continuing to own the Southside firehouse.

As an independent non-profit organization that depends on contributions from the OPA to operate, it’s possible that the OPVFD has decided that retaining a few degrees of separation from the OPA is in its best interest.

In the end, that’s the business of the OPVFD membership and leadership to decide. Second-guessing that decision and preference is not productive. That there’s pride of ownership within the OPVFD is hardly a cause for criticism or concern. It’s admirable.

The effort expended by the OPA’s working group on behalf of a new Southside firestation was hardly for naught, despite the impasse.

It’s now been estimated that a new building, should the OPVFD decide to pursue it at some future date, will be costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million, perhaps $4.5 or $4.6 million with transition and other costs included.

That’s useful information to have as a benchmark.

But for now, according to a letter from OPVFD President Dave Van Gasbeck to Farr, the OPVFD is shifting gears, with a focus on renovation rather than a new building.

So be it.

It’s possible that the OPVFD will be able to accomplish this without asking for a contribution from the OPA, and this lower-cost options means zero impact on the annual lot assessment.

Those OPA members who want to donate to the building fund can certainly do so; the campaign is ongoing.

The OPVFD has a reported $1 million on hand in a building fund, and another $1.6 million in promised state grants, that presumably can be repurposed for a renovation.

For $2.6 million, the OPVFD might be able to pull off a well-designed renovation.

The current facility, upgraded in the 1980s through a low interest U.S. Department of Ag-

riculture loan, has a reinforced roof that could support the possible addition of a second floor.

For $2.6 million, it seems plausible the existing administrative offices could be gutted and a second floor added, but of course that is all subject to detailed engineering that would need to be completed.

Although supply chain issues in the economy reportedly are not as acute as they once were, inflation remains a headwind. Unfortunately $2.6 million doesn’t go as far as it once did.

Perhaps there’s enough for the two additional apparatus bays that the OPVFD has been envisioning as an appendage to the three bays that are there now.

In his letter to Farr, Van Gasbeck alluded to the possibility of the OPVFD pursuing a bank loan to fund a renovation.

Another option not mentioned in the letter is for the OPVFD to pursue a loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA’s Farmers Home Administration, which funded the firehouse expansion in the mid-1980s, is no longer in operation, having been merged out of existence in the 1990s, but its low-interest loan programs are still available in an agency called Rural Housing Service.

Facilities that support rural housing, such as firehouses, are explicitly identified as eligible for RHS loans.

The OPA’s working group checked into this, only to learn that, had OPA initiated an application for a low-interest loan, it needed to own the property for it to have been considered for a loan.

Those who make funds available set the rules.

If OPVFD applies for this loan, this is not a problem, as the department already owns the land and the building it sits on.

Indeed, should OPVFD explore this option, there is no reason it could not shift gears again and opt for a new building.

All the work that’s gone into a new building to date could then be resurrected, to everyone’s benefit.

Yes, the OPA no doubt would need to help pay the debt service on a Rural Housing Service loan.

It’s more or less obligated to do this through the existing Memorandum of Understanding, if not explicit in the text then implicitly.

Traditionally the OPA has paid half of new buildings and equipment deployed by the OPVFD in its operations.

There’s no reason to change what has worked in the past.

So, while the OPA and OPVFD have reached an impasse on the ownership issue, it might only be a temporary hiccup.

Let the OPVFD pursue renovation and, in the fullness of time, decide whether that still is the best course of action. If in the end a decision is made to shift back, no doubt the OPA stands ready and willing to assist. -- Tom Stauss

OPINION

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Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023 41

Seeing the light on electronic signage

t now appears that the Board of Directors has seen the light on the merits of electronic signage as an alternative to the dreary 1970s’era manual signage.

New director Elaine Brady made the sale with her colleagues at the November Board of Directors meeting, with all seven directors in favor of authorizing the general manager to obtain bids for four electronic signs, one to be installed at the North Gate in the current fiscal year and the other three due for installation in the fiscal year starting this coming April 1.

In addition to the North Gate, locations include Cathell Road and Route 589, the South Gate and in White Horse Park in the vicinity of the Community Center. A fifth sign might be added at the Yacht Club What changed the mind of directors that heretofore had been hostile to the idea -- or at least not convinced it was a good use of OPA funds?

No doubt it was the persuasive arguments by Brady and Communications Committee chair Cheryl Jacobs that the electronic signs would look very similar to the existing signage -- without any of the rotating text and bright lights that are often associated with e-signage.

Somehow this had never been effectively communicated to the Board whenever the idea made it to the Board for consideration in recent

The Ocean Pines Progress is a journal of news and commentary published monthly throughout the year. It is circulated in Ocean Pines and Captain’s Cove, Va. 127 Nottingham Lane Ocean Pines, Md 21811 PUBLISHER-EDITOR Tom Stauss stausstom@gmail.com 443-359-7527 ADVERTISING SALES Frank Bottone frankbottone@gmail.com 410-430-3660 CONTRIBUTING WRITER Rota Knott 443-880-3953

LIFE IN THE PINES

An excursion through the curious by-ways and cul-de-sacs of Worcester County’s most densely populated community

By TOM STAUSS/Publisher years.

Brady closed the deal, proof that her role as part of a functional governing coalition of directors, including all three elected earlier this year, is a vital one.

What is a governing coalition?

It’s really not much more than individuals who see the world through more or less the same prism and can discuss issues and work through differences amicably with no rancor.

This is what we have now in Ocean Pines, and that’s a credit to everyone who has made it happen.

These understated electronic signs are consistent with the way in which the OPA, and General Manager John Viola, went about the renovation of the iconic North Gate bridge this past year.

It retains its essential character even with the elimination of the dysfunctional lighting -- 1970s-era globes -- and their replacement with a brighter, more modern look.

The old guardhouse was never anything more than an archaic throw-back with no redeeming architectural value, and its replacement with seasonal plantings is a vast improvement.

Does anyone still pine for the

outdated look of the guardhouse and the globe lighting? Probably not.

The same sort of dynamic will very likely play out once the new electronic signage is in place.

For those interested in the cost aspect of electronic signage, it is true that there is an upfront investment, to be quantified once the bids come in.

There will be considerable time and expense saved by Public Works staff no longer changing the manu-

al signs scattered throughout Ocean Pines. The old marquee signs will be removed, and it’s doubtful they’ll be missed when that happens.

And as Brady said during discussion, the old manual signs can’t be read anyway at a reasonable rate of speed down Ocean Parkway.

Electronic signage operated through software allows for immediate changes, important during emergencies.

The important point, though, is that, other than the fact that messages will change more frequently, the product of off-site software, the signage itself won’t look much different from the 1970s-era signage.

For traditionalists, that’s a positive.

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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

CAPTAIN’S COVE

CURRENTS

Captain’s Corridor ownership issue to be reheard Plaintiffs’ attorney challenges judge’s bench ruling, declines to sign off on written order

By TOM STAUSS Publisher ne of the issues decided by Judge Revell Lewis III in the Birckhead litigation during an Oct. 2 Accomack County Circuit Court hearing will be reheard in the same court Dec. 12, the Cove Currents has learned.

The issue is the ownership of Captain’s Corridor in the vicinity of a planned townhome development at the east entrance into Captain’s Cove.

Judge Revell ruled from the bench that the Captain’s Cove property owners association,

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Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club, does not own roughly 1,200 feet of Captain’s Corridor that abuts the planned townhome project.

He determined that CCGYC lacks the authority to restrict use of the road only to Captain’s Cove property owners and residents, thereby preventing access by future residents of the townhome project from Captain’s Corridor.

The normal practice is for the attorney who prevailed in a dispute in which a judge rules from the bench to draft a written version of the order to be signed off by the presiding judge.

Letters to Santa

Anyone with a child or grandchild who would like to drop off a letter to Santa can drop it in the mailbox at the Marina Club. The property management team will make sure it gets to Santa. For a reply, add child’s name and address.

Mark Baumgartner, the attorney for CCG Note, a defendant in the Birckhead lawsuit with CCGYC, drafted a proposed written order and submitted it to the court, with a courtesy copy to Doug Kahle, the Virginia Beach lawyer representing Teresa Birckhead and six other plaintiffs, all of whom are officers in the Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove advocacy organization.

CCG Note is the developer/declarant in Captain’s Cove.

Kahle on behalf of his clients objected to the proposed order and asked Judge Revell to reverse his earlier ruling, on the grounds that he erred on the ownership question.

The judge has declined to reverse himself, but the proposed written order nonetheless will be the subject of a hearing Dec. 12 in Circuit Court, possibly but not necessarily before Judge Revell once again.

One possible outcome will be that he signs the order, which then would trigger a 30-day window for the plaintiffs to appeal an adverse ruling to the Virginia Court of Appeals.

In a social meida message to supporters after the annual meeting of Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club Nov. 18, Birckhead, who is president of the CCCC, hinted that the plaintiffs may be appealing recent adverse rulings in lawsuits filed against the CCG Note, CCGYC, and Aqua Virginia.

“Let’s all take a deep breath and be thankful.

The last few days have been busy and trying. I have had many visitors and telephone calls since Saturday [the day of the annual meeting of the CCGYC membership], and I feel your frustration.

The hostility in our community is warranted but not necessary. It’s a shame that the members can’t vent to their own Board of Directors without retaliation.

“Folks, the Concerned Citizen’s of Captain’s Cove do not care what Tim Hearn writes on the Members Forum or in that Cove Currents. We are fighting our battle in Court. When CCG Note or the CCGYC Board misrepresents the facts in Court, we will appeal. We have also reached out to our state legislators, Attorney General’s office, and the FBI. That’s really the only way to change our situation,” she wrote in a text obtained by the Cove Currents.

She went on to say that “Hearn has proven repeatedly to misrepresent the facts and slander To Page 45

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December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 43

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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 45

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS Captain’s Corridor From Page 43 us. I know that it is hard to be called names, have your message twisted, and be insulted. Don’t let these tactics ruin your time with your families this year.

“Just know it is honorable to have your own thoughts and opinion, but it is more honorable and healthy to not respond with the same negative energy,” she concluded.

She again hinted of an appeal in a post on the message board of the CCGYC Website, obtained by the Cove Currents. The post was a response to Hearn comments about the recent Circuit Court dismissal of the two of the issues that comprise components of the Birckhead litigation.

Hearn had referred to the two lower court victories as “universal.” To be sure they were significant, because unless overturned on appeal they do make it possible for the new owners of the Hastings/Mariner property to proceed with developing a townhome project at the east entrance.

In addition to the Captain’s Corridor ownership issue, Judge Lewis ruled on an issue that involved Aqua Virginia, the Cove’s water and sewer utility.

Judge Lewis determined that a 2016 sale of about ten acres in Section 14 to Aqua Virginia by

the Cove POA had been authorized by the State Corporation Commission. He accepted a motion

by Aqua Virginia attorney John Byrum to dismiss the complaint by the seven Birckhead plaintiffs seeking to enjoin future use of that acreage by Aqua to construct what are called rapid infiltration basins, or RIBs, on grounds that the Circuit Court lacked subject jurisdiction over the issue.

That action effectively removed Aqua as a defendant in the case, an outcome to which the plaintiffs don’t object. Aqua had not been an original defendant in the case and was only added after the original filing because the Court ordered it.

In her comments Birckhead wrote that “Mr. Hearn, dismissing Aqua from the lawsuit does not constitute ‘universal’ dismissals. Baumgartner claiming Captain’s Corridor as an abandoned road will be challenged in Court. Please, refrain from misleading the members. It doesn’t help your credibility.”

The reference to Captain’s Corridor as an abandoned road refers to the fact that, prior to the early development of Captain’s Cove in the 1970s, the road was a numbered state road. There was some discussion of that and its possible “abandonment” during the earlier court hearing, but it’s not clear how that would help the plaintiffs’ case, because they are claiming that the entire

length of Captain’s Corridor is owned by CCGYC. Baumgartner vigorously opposed that notion during the hearing, asserting that there is no deed that shows that the original developer/ declarant ever conveyed Captain’s Corridor to CCGYC, particularly the 1,200 feet that abuts the townhome project parcel.

Kahle’s response: No deed is necessary, for reasons that apparently didn’t persuade Judge Revell, who was receptive to Baumgartner’s argument that the stretch of Captain’s Corridor at issue is developer-owned, both east and west of the road’s center line.

The judge ruled from the bench that the owners of each half of the relevant roadway can’t deny the other access to and use of the road, in effect deciding that Captain’s Corridor is a road in which public access is guaranteed.

If Judge Revell again rules against the plaintiffs after the Dec. 12 hearing by signing the disputed written order, then the 30-day window for an appeal to Virginia’s Court of Appeals is opened.

Judge Revell ruled that the 1,200 feet of Captain’s Corridor west of the road’s center line adjacent to the Hastings/Mariner parcel was at the time of the hearing owned by CCG Note as a successor to the Hastings/Mariner families. CCG u

46 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023 Captain’s Corridor

From Page 45 Note sold the property to a group of investors in early October, and thus the new owners now own this portion of Captain’s Corridor west of the center line.

East of the center line, there is a solid argument to be made that it is owned by CCG Note, the owner of Section 14 on the opposite side of Captain’s Corridor from the Hastings/Mariner parcel.

In a response to the initial Birckhead post, Hearn, who recently resigned as a director of CCGYC, said that appeals generally are confined to matters of law.

“Not sure what she means by misrepresentations of fact,” he said, adding that it was the judge, not Hearn or the defendants, who determined factually that CCGYC did not own Captain’s Corridor on either side of the road adjacent to the townhome project and had no authority to confine its use to Captain’s Cove residents.

Hearn also joked about Birckhead’s reference to contacting the FBI. “Do we know if she contacted FBI, FBI Most Wanted, or FBI International?” he said.

He agreed with the sentiment to avoid negative energy during the holidays.

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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS “A good way to do that would be for the defendants to drop their suits against CCGYC and CCG Note,” he said. “It would reduce negative energy and save the association considerable legal expense.”

Issues in the CCCC lawsuit that remain include whether CCG Note has improperly failed to pay CCGYC $50,000 per year, or even a reduced amount, for a loan mentioned in the 2012 settlement agreed but which the defendants assert was never executed by the Cove POA. The Cove Currents has learned that this issue will also be heard in Accomack County Circuit Court on Dec. 12, with both sides asking for a summary judgment on the merits.

The other four issues include: • whether CCG Note should have installed or could be ordered to install bulkheads on two lots it owns on Starboard Street, adjoining Swan’s Gut. The defendants have argued that these lots are among the several hundred in this area for which

the US. Army Corps of Engineers has not issued bulkheading permits, and probably won’t, for environmental reasons.

• whether CCG Note is authorized in governing documents to convey lots to the Greenbackville Fire Department for possible use as a future site as an emergency medical satellite facility or even a future firehouse.

This option apparently has been taken off the table, with the developer no longer envisioning an EMT or firehouse within the confines of Captain’s Cove, but it nonetheless remains as an issue to be decided by the court.

• whether a developer, Stonewall Capital, hasn’t been paying assessments on lots sold to it by CCG Note, and whether this was a benefit to CCG Note.

The defendants have argued that Stonewall Capital in fact has paid in full lot assessments that were in arrears at one time, and that there is no disagreement over the meaning of language in the 2012 Settlement Agreement that exempts the DeclarTo Page 49

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 47

48 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS Captain’s Corridor

From Page 40 ant/Developer from paying lot assessments. That exemption expires when lots are sold, and Stonewall Capital is liable for assessments on lots it owns.

• whether Seaview Street has to be built by CCG Note or is the responsibility of the Cove POA to complete.

Currently it’s on a priority list that a working group on roads has established.

Plaintiffs interpret Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the Articles of Incorporation as requiring the developer, not the Cove POA, to build out roads, with the association having the responsibility for maintaining them once built.

The applicable language in the Articles of Incorporation says that the Cove POA has the responsibility “to repair, maintain, rebuild and/ or beautify all streets and their rights of way.” There is similar language in the restrictive covenants, often called the Declaration, but the plaintiffs and defendants interpret the language differently.

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 49

Hearn resigns from CCGYC Board after ten years of service Intends to focus on townhome project

By TOM STAUSS Publisher ithin a few months of resigning as president of Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club, Tim Hearn has resigned from the Board of Directors.

The resignation was announced in a statement from the Board dated Nov. 19, one day after the annual meeting of CCGCY membership. Some members during the Member Forum segment of the meeting had called for the resignation, but Hearn had made his decision to resign days before the annual meeting.

The Nov. 19 statement said that Hearn had “tendered written resignation from the Board of Directors. Mr. Hearn has volunteered considerable time and effort over the past decade that specifically improved the finances and operational health of the Association. The Board wishes him continued success in his future projects and expresses thanks for his many years of service.”

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There was no explanation in the statement for why Hearn had decided to resign, but in an interview with the Cove Currents Hearn gave several reasons.

Recently hired by new owners of the Hastings/Mariner parcel near the east entrance into Captain’s Cove to be the on-site manager of a townhome project planned for the site, Hearn said resigning from the CCGYC Board will Tim Hearn allow the time to “focus on that project.”

But he also suggested that other development opportunities will be presenting themselves in Accomack County as public sewer services will be extended northward from a public utility based in Hampton’s Road. u

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50 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023 Hearn resignation

From Page 49 “It will be exciting what happens in Accomack County,” he said. “Public sewer will be great for the environment, for towns with a lot of failing septic systems. But it also will presents lots of development opportunities in addition to the townhome project” on the Mariner/Hastings parcel, he said.

Hearn also said he feels comfortable in stepping aside from the Cove property owner association Board because of the high quality of candidates that were running for the Board at the time he made his decision to resign.

“These are real solid people running,” he said. “Hopefully my financial skills won’t be needed going forward. The balance sheet is being repaired, the management of the community is in good hands, with a very competent property management team that works well with the Board.”

Hearn has been president of the Cove POA for about ten years, with

roughly a year off when current director Jim Silfee served as president, only to be succeeded again by Hearn.

He became involved in the affairs of CCGYC in the run-up to the completion of the 2012 Settlement Agreement between the Cove’s developer/declarant and CCGYC in June of 2012. That followed with his election to the Board in November of that year along with representatives of the CCG Note, the developer/declarant.

He’s been on the Board ever since.

He regards as one of his primary accomplishments the assembling the leadership of the property management team, including the hiring of Colby Phillips as senior general manager while retaining Justin Wilder as general manager.

Another is “being part of a Board of Directors that built a consensus between Class A members and representatives of the developer/declarant.”

He is proud of the association’s strong balance sheet and “improving the net worth of the POA by almost

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS $10 million during his tenure.

Even with financial setbacks in the fiscal year that ended in September, he said he believes the Cove POA will return to surplus operations in the current fiscal year.

As a private investor, he purchased the bankrupt Captain’s Cove Utility Company and operated it until 2015, when it was sold to Aqua Virginia, which owns and operates it now.

“The investments were made to turn the utility into a modern facility that serves the community,” he said.

Hearn declined to say whether he might decide to run again for the Board in 2024 or later.

“Anything’s possible,” he said. “I certainly will be continuing to stay interested in the affairs of the Cove, only now with some distance from actual operations.”

He intends to stay engaged, as evidenced by recent posts on the Members Comment section of the Cove’s Website obtained by Cove Currents.

He is continuing his no-holdsbarred commentary that he deployed

during his time on the Board, much to the consternation of those caught up in the verbal crossfire.

The vacancy caused by Hearn’s resignation was filled in a vote of the Board of Directors during its Nov. 27 meeting.

George Guthridge, elected as the alternate director in the just completed Board election, was elevated to fill the remainder of Hearn’s term.

That term expires in November of next year, along with terms of CCG Note investors Michael Glick and Jim Silfee and Director Frank Haberek.

The alternate position also will be filled in next year’s election.

That means that five seats will be contested in the 2024 Board election.

Whether and to what extent CCG Note decides to participate in the election by casting votes will no doubt be a contentious issue next year, and it’s not clear whether Glick and Silfee, who have been recusing thenselves for Board votes, will be candidates.

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 51

Majerus elected CCGYC president Guthridge appointed to fill Board vacancy

By TOM STAUSS Publisher ark Majerus and other corporate officers of Captain’s Cove Golf and Yacht Club were elected by the Board of Directors at a Nov. 27 Board meeting.

Majerus was nominated by Dave Felt, who remained the Board as the winner of the open seat in the Board election decided earlier in the month.

Felt was nominated by Director Frank Haberek.

Felt said that as someone who has been on the Board for roughly ten months, elevated to a full directorship from the alternate position to fill a vacancy, he did not feel he was yet prepared to assume the presidency.

He also lauded Majerus as someone who listens to his colleagues and is easy to work with.

In the end Majerus was elected unanimously by all those voting.

He recused, and directors Jim Silfee, and Michael Glick abstained as they have been on all matters that come before the Board.

Haberek also abstained.

Felt was nominated and elected as corporate vice-president.

Also elected as corporate vice-presidents were Colby Phillips, the CCGYC senior general manager, and Pat Pelino, who serves on the Board.

CCGYC general manager Justin Wilder was chosen as corporate secretary, a role that includes oversight over the annual Board of Directors election.

Assistant secretaries elected include Angela Winder, the Cove’s accounts receivable clerk; John Costello’s, the Cove’s director of operations; and Charlie Getz, the Cove’s food and beverage manager.

Sara Shifflett, the Cove’s director of finance, was elected corporate treasurer, with Dana Massey, accounts payable and payroll coordinator, elected as assistant corporate treasurer.

With the recent resignation of Tim Hearn as a director, there was a vacancy on the Board to be filled.

George Guthridge, who had been elected by the CCGYC members as the alternate director, was elevated to fill the remaining year of Hearn’s term on the Board.

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In other action at the Nov. 27 Board meeting, the directors: • approved spending authority limits for unbudgeted expenditures.

Up to $5,000, the senior general manager is authorized to sign for expenditures.

Up to $15,000, the senior GM and treasurer must sign. Up to $50,000, the CCGYC president and one director, along with the senior GM and treasurer, must approved.

Over $50,000, expenditures for unbudgeted items require full ap-

proval of the Board.

• approved the applications of three committees - CERT, potluck, and arts and crafts - to spend up to $1,000 to operate during the current fiscal year. u

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52 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023 all in about eight minutes.

Majerus elected • voted to form a working group

From Page 51

Majerus invited other groups that want to operate under the aegis of CCGYC to submit applications.

An application form was included in a recent e-blast sent out by Senior General Manager Colby Phillips.

• approved a motion that will allow 783 association-owned lots to be used as proxies during the continuation of the annual meeting scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 2, in the parking lot of the Marina Club.

The only purpose of the continued annual meeting was to approve minutes from the 2022 gathering. The Nov. 18 annual meeting lacked a quorum and was unable to take any official action, including approval of minutes.

Under association governing rules, 20 percent of properties in the Cove or 976 lots must be represented either in person or by proxy for an “official” annual meeting to occur and adjourn.

With the 783 proxy lots added in, the Dec. 2 meeting took place, minutes from the prior year were approved, and the meeting adjourned,

that will work with the Property Management Team and legal counsel to pursue accounts that have gone to foreclosure sales that did not yield sufficient funds to settle what is owned the association in dues and related costs.

The working group will comb through the list of foreclosed properties to determine those that might result in additional monetary collections, or those that should be written off.

The original motion by Majerus suggested a subcommittee to perform what will probably be a tedious administrative function, but General Manager Justin Wilder suggested a working group rather than a committee or sub-committee.

Majerus agreed that the working group was the “clearer” approach and modified his motion according.

• took no action to appoint Rosemary Hall to this working group, after she volunteered for the position.

Felt reminded Hall that this committee would be involved in post-foreclosure activity only, having nothing to do with collection ac-

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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS tivity that occurs before that.

Hall recently resolved a length and contentious dispute with the association over past due assessments on properties she owns. She said during the Nov. 28 Board meeting said she wanted to help other property owners avoid what she says she went through.

• approved a set of rules of procedure for the conduct of Board of Directors meetings, including a section that “allows members a fair and adequate opportunity to be heard” during Board meetings. Under the new rules, members are limited to three minutes, unless extended by the presiding member of the Board.

Members are encouraged to sign up to comment ahead of time, live meetings will feature a sign-up sheet, and for Zoom meetings members should submit a request to be heard either to the Board secretary or General Manager (in both cases Justin Wilder) via email.

After lists are exhausted, the new rules say that other speakers may be provided time to comment.

The rules say that comments should be limited to one topic and that Public Comments are not to be

considered a “question and answer” period.

“The Board will not respond to comments made during the public comment period unless it becomes necessary to ask a clarifying question, correct a factual error, or provide specific factual information.

The rules are posted on the Cove Web in the section pertaining to the Nov. 27 Board meeting.

• Discussed a suggestion by Majerus to hold several town hall meetings that would allow for more a thorough, two-way exchange between directors and the Cove membership on topics of interest that might receive short shrift during regular or special meetings of the Board.

Majerus summarized some of the major points of the October financial reports posted on the Cove Website before the meeting.

The association got off to a healthy start in October, recording a $86,000 favorable variance to budget. Net income was $164,562.56, compared to the budgeted net of $78,180,77. Among other points: dues revenue was on plus side and golf income was ahead of budget.

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 53

Dave Felt wins open Board seat Rosemary Hall comes up short in bid to return to the Board

By TOM STAUSS Publisher esults of the 2023 Board of Directors election were announced at the Nov. 18 annual meeting of the Captain’s Cove property owners association.

There was only one full three-year term to be filled.

Dave Felt was the top vote-getter with 1,272 votes, followed by Rosemary Hall with 424 votes and Richard Painter with 21 votes.

Felt, the alternate director this past year, will therefore be seated for a three-year term on the Board.

For the alternate position, George Guthridge was the winner, with 1,282 votes.

Runners-up were Hall with 362 votes, Dave Kieffer with 45 votes, and Painter with 28 votes.

Guthridge was subsequently promoted to a full Board seat on the Nov. 19 resignation of Tim Hearn. Guthridge will fill the remaining year of Hearn’s term.

It was apparent that Class B votes were cast for Felt and Guthride by developer/declarant CCG Note in accordance with provisions in the 2012 Settlement agreement.

There had been some suggestion, particularly by former director and president Tim Hearn, that the declarant might not vote in this year’s election. He recently admitted he was wrong.

Had his prediction come true, Hall probably

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would have been elected with her base of support among year-round residents who are Class A members of the Cove POA. The participation of the developer/declarant did not sit well with most of the 250 or so Cove POA members in attendance at the annual meet-

ing. But the right for the CCG Note to vote is contained in the CCGYC by-laws, Article IV. Hall expressed her displeasure with the results. Concerned Citizens of Captain’s Cove President Teresa Birckhead expressed disappointment in a text to members following the meeting.

Board makes three appointments to Environmental Control Committee Mark Majerus, Dan Dawson and Brad Hopkins among five applicants

By TOM STAUSS Publisher he Board of Directors appointed two new members to the Environmental Control Committee and reappointed one more during a special meeting Nov. 13.

The new members are Cove residents Dan Dawson and Brad Hopkins. Mark Majerus, who later in the month was elected president of the Captain’s Cove property owners association, was reappointed to the three-member committee.

The new members were appointed to replace Michael Glick and Jim Silfee, who resigned as part of a coordinated effort by the Cove developer/declarant, CCG Note, to retreat from active involve in Cove affairs. Glick and Silfree, principals in CCG Note, remain as directors on the Cove POA’s Board of Directors.

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On Nov. 13 the Captain’s Cove Property Management Team presented Women Supporting Women Executive Director Cindy Feist and Mentoring Coordinator Jocelyn Feist with a check for $1,100 raised during October as part of the Breast Cancer Awareness walk. Pictured are Julia Knopf, Captain’s Cove Community Relations Manager; Jocelyn Feist, Women Supporting Women Mentoring Coordinator; Colby Phillips, Captain’s Cove Senior General Manager; Carol Pedrick, Captain’s Cove Community Member and creator of an auctioned quilt; Angela Winder, Captain’s Cove Accounts Receivable Clerk; and Cindy Feist, Women Supporting Women executive director.

Majerus, a member of the ECC for some time, resigned from the panel earlier in the day, only to be reappointed later. He recused himself from voting. So did Glick and Silfee.

Majerus, who opened the special meeting, handled off the ECC appointment matter to Director Dave Felt, who said there were five applicants for the three positions, including Dawson, Hopkins, Majerus, Brad Lamberson and Wayne Sharp.

Felt called all five candidates well qualified for the positions.

In the end, though, Lamberson, who is the owner/operating of the local contracting firm Bradco, was thought to be too actively involved in the building business. Felt said Lamberson would likely have to recuse himself from considering applications for conflict of interest reasons.

Sharp is a property owner currently involved in building a home in Captain’s Cove, and because he currently spends much of his time out of state, he might not be able to make ECC meetings, Felt said. But he and other directors thanked them for applying and encouraged them to stay active and volunteer for other committees or working groups in the Cove.

Felt also said it may be possible to create an alternate ECC member position similar to the alternate role on the Board of Directors. He said he checked the by-laws, which neither specifically authorizes nor rejects the notion of an alternate member. After checking with counsel, Felt said he might come back with a proposal to create the alternate position.

Before the vote appointing Dawson, Hopkins and Majerus to the committee, Cove POA member Kathryn Orbanek expressed the view that she hoped the ECC members would help “bridge the divide” evident in the community between some POA members and the Board of Directors.

Although the ECC is non-political in is deliberations, reviewing applications for new home homes and renovations, Felt said he believes all three ECC members are committed to working for the best interests of Captain’s Cove.

Dawson was an site manager for high rise construction in New York City before retirement.

Hopkins worked in finance and operations for a Harley-Davidson dealership and served as a deputy director of the Delaware Development Office during his career.

54 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023

CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

CAPTAIN’S COVE BRIEFS Digital voting still on the table

Captain’s Cove resident Kathryn Orbanek during the Nov. 13 special meeting of the Board of Directors asked the Board to reinstate a working group that had been looking into the possibility of conducting annual Board of Directors electronically.

Mark Majerus, who was presiding over the special meeting, said the working group had not been abolished and would be reconvening soon to continue work on the idea, which could involve the elimination of paper ballots cast by hand in favor of some sort of digital voting system. A hybrid system of paper ballots and voting electronically is another option.

Pilot lot sale program off to solid start

The recent launch of a pilot program to sell lots owned by the Cove property owners association has gotten off to a solid start, CCGYC President Mark Majerus said during the Nov. 27 Board of Directors meeting.

Two lots have sold bringing in $17,000, with one lot still listed on the local multiple listing service (MLS). Three more lots will be added in December, with more coming in January, he said.

“The idea is to do a [gradual] roll-out of 25 lots,” to avoid over-saturating the market, he said.

Later in the meeting, during Member Comments, Rosemary Hall asked how the sales price for the lots were determined.

General Manager Justin Wilder, who is handling the program, said it’s based on a comparative value analysis, “what similar lots have actually sold for” recently.

Dredge boat insurance issue unresolved

Association President Mark Majerus said during the Nov. 27 Board of Directors meeting that the insurance claim to cover expenses related to

repairing the boat dredge vandalized earlier this year remains unsettled.

He said the matter has been elevated to the level of a East Coast vice-president of the insurance carrier that has resisted paying the claim to date. Pending resolution of the dispute, the association has gone ahead and authorized the repair so that a dredging program can take place in the new year.

“We’ve not given up hope” that the association will be reimbursed for the repair expense, Majerus said, adding that litigation remains a possibility should the matter not be resolved. The problem with litigation is that legal expense for relatively small claims can carve out a substantial percentage of the pay-out, Majerus said, adding that a settlement is preferable.

Bathymetry survey of canals under way

To help the association identify canals in Captain’s Cove most in need of dredging, Majerus disclosed that a high resolution bathymetry survey of the bottom of the canals are under way. In another year or so, such surveys will be required before a dredge permit will be issued, but the Cove POA is getting an early start on the pending requirement.

Once decisions are made about which canals will be targeted for dredging this year, a map will be posted on the Cove Website indicating locations.

Board approves monthly meetings

In action taken at the Nov. 28 Board meetings, directors agreed that they will schedule monthly meetings for the rest of the fiscal year.

Initially director Frank Habarek suggested every other month, but directors Dave Felt and Pat Pelino said they thought a monthly meeting would work better. The consensus was that a monthly schedule would result in shorter meetings and fewer special meetings.

Dates for Board meetings will be announced once determined.

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CAPTAIN’S COVE CURRENTS

DeGeorges defeats Ron Wolff for Board of Supervisors seat

December 2023 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 55

Captain’s Cove resident defeats 20-year incumbent, who says his vote for the townhome probably contributed to his loss

By TOM STAUSS Publisher aptain’s Cove resident Roger DeGeorges defeated 20-year incumbent Ron Wolff in the District 2 election for the District 2 seat on the Accomack County Board of Supervisors Nov. 7.

DeGeorges won the election on the strength of votes he received in the Greenbackville precinct that includes Captain’s Cove.

Wolff, a resident of Atlantic, carried his home town precinct, but there were more votes cast for DeGeorges in the Greenbackville precinct than were cast for Wolff in Atlantic, reflecting the population of voters in Captain’s Cove.

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DeGeorges won the election with 662 votes, or 54.44 percent of the votes cast. Wolff had 549 votes, or 45.15 percent of the votes cast.

In the Greenbackville precinct, DeGeorges dominated with 513 votes, 67.41 percent of the total cast.

Wolff had 247 votes, or 32.46 percent of the total.

In Atlantic, Wolff dominated with 299 votes, compared to DeGeorge’s 144. Wolff’s vote percentage was 66.89 percent, while DeGeorge’s was 144.

In a statement after the election, DeGeorges thanked everyone who supported him during his campaign.

“I also would like to thank all those who believe that it was time to elect

a new voice to represent District 2 and who cast their votes to make that happen,” he said.

DeGeorges advised those who voted for him not to expect a seachange in the decisions that the Board of Supervisors makes because of the election outcome.

“Because I will serve as only one of the nine supervisors who work cooperatively to make decisions regarding the services, progress, and development in Accomack County, I cannot promise that District 2 constituents will have all of their wishes and needs met,” he said in his statement. “I do, however, vow to make sure that the concerns of taxpayers and businesses in our

district are always considered as the Board of Supervisors does its work.”

DeGeorges told the Cove Currents he would decline further comments on his goals as a supervisor until his term begins in January.

The election results probably indicates that voters in Captain’s Cove turned on Wolff because of his affirmative vote for the controversial townhome project planned for the east entrance of Captain’s Cove.

“I think that’s probably right,” Wolff said the day after the election.

He thought the election might not be going his way when he noticed a heavier than usual turn-out in the Greenbackville precinct during the day on Nov. 7.

In a statement after the election, Wolff expressed appreciation for the voters who made him the second longest serving member of the Board of Supervisors.

While he won’t be returning to the Board when the new term begins in January, he remains a member of a number of boards and commissions active in the area.

56 Ocean Pines PROGRESS December 2023