410-641-6029
February - Early March 2014
Vol. 9, No. 11
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress GM announces interior design team for Yacht Club With construction well under way at the Ocean Pines Association’s new Yacht Club, General Manager Bob Thompson is turning his attention to interior design elements of the building. During the Board of Directors’ Feb. 5 meeting, Thompson said he has established a decor team to help with some of the more creative aspects of the building’s interior. ~ Page 6
Knepper sworn in to repalce Stachurski on OPA board Jeff Knepper, who has attended most meetings of the board of directors since moving to Ocean Pines in 2006 as a rank-and-file Ocean Pines Association member, has gained a seat at the head table by virtue of his appointment to the Board of Directors as a replacement for Dan Stachurski, who resigned in mid-January. Knepper was appointed to complete Stachurski’s term in a special meeting of the board Jan. 16. He was formally sworn in by Ocean Pines Association General Counsel Joe Moore Feb. 5, at the board’s twice-postponed regular meeting for January. ~ Page 7
THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY
OPA board informally agrees to avoid assessment increase; decrease likely Mandatory $10 coupon idea rejected, as directors call for break-even operations at new Yacht Club By TOM STAUSS Publisher he proposed $15 increase in the base lot assessment proposed as part of General Manager Bob Thompson’s draft budget for the 2015 fiscal year that begins May 1 won’t be approved when the Board of Directors votes on the budget Feb. 22. After two days of budget review on Feb. 3 and 4, the board had trimmed the budgetary need for an assessment increase by about $20, with another $1.30
T
or so saved by action taken at a regular board meeting Feb. 5 by voting to pay off the Sports Core pool enclosure loan.
Budget update ... Board ready to increase some amenity fees/22 Budget and Finance Advisory Committee recommends no assessment increase/22 Directors OK with most of GM’s proposed capital projects/24 OPA reserve balance could drop precipitously if all approved projects get under way/25 Board ponders new homeowner entry fee/28
That action saves roughly $11,000 in interest expense because the bank loan is being replaced by an in-house funding mechanism that carries an interest rate of about 1 percent. If the $21.30 net decrease from Thompson’s proposed assessment level survives any further budget tinkering before the scheduled board vote Feb. 22, the current assessment of $914 would decrease to $907.70. In any event, it appears almost inconceivable at this stage of the budget process that the originally proposed $15 increase will survive. The real question is whether the board will actually decrease the assessment year-over-year, action that would To Page 19
Former director calls for franchising golf , Yacht Club Within days of resigning from the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors, closing out about eight and half years as a director, including two as OPA president, Dan Stachurski found his voice, as if no longer serving as an OPA decision-maker liberated him to say publicly what’s he’s been thinking for some time. In a telephone interview from his home in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Stachurski, who remains an Ocean Pines homeowner, offered some advice to his former colleagues while recapping what he considered his chief accomplishments as a director. ~ Page 10
Taking shape
Joe Reynolds photo
While some white weather affected the pace of exterior construction at the new Yacht Club site in January, work continued in the interior. OPA General Manager Bob Thompson expects Harkins Construction crews to stay on schedule. For a progress report on the Yacht Club project, see story on Page 6.