July 2017
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress
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THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY
Acting GM’s tenure emerges as key issue; Clarke, Parks support current board Horn stakes out contrarian viewpoints, sharply critical of Hill By TOM STAUSS Publisher
R
SUMMER
The days of an adults-only Oasis swimming pool at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club may be numbered. Ocean Pines Association President Tom Herrick recently confirmed that Jeremy Tucker, the OPA’s legal counsel from the Bethesda, Md., law firm of Lerch Early, has been looking into whether the OPA can legally continue to operate the Oasis pool as primarily adults-only.
~ Page 14
OPA ELECTION
educed from an original slate of eight candidates to four, this summer’s Board of Directors election seemed destined to be a civilized affair compared to last summer’s raucous competition, when the fate of then General Manager Bob Thompson hung on the outcome. Nicole Crosariol But at the June 21 candidates’ forum conducted by the Ocean Pines Elections Committee, some sharp contours began to manifest. Candidates Marty Clarke and Doug Parks emerged as the candidates most supportive of the current board and most supportive of efforts to reduce what they regard as excessive contributions to OPA reserves. Their position on reserve contributions make it conceivable if not likely that they will be pushing for a reduction in lot assessments next year if they’re elected to the board. Colette Horn emerged as the candidate most sharply critical of the board, and more particularly Acting General Brett Hill. She criticized the unaudited operating deficit in 2016-17 as reported in the April financials. But Clarke later said that he has been advised that, because of the zeroing out of the deficit recovery reserve and the transfer of roughly $430,000 contained within it to the general fund, the Ocean Pines Association actually will show a profit of about $150,000 when the audited numbers are presented to the membership
Lawyer researching adults-only option at Yacht Club pool
Trendic fends off directors over contact with OPA employees
A testy and at times heated closed meeting of the Board of Directors June 19 did not result in a reprimand of or attempt to remove Director Slobodan Trendic from the board, despite some indications that Trendic was in trouble with some of his colleagues for discussions with unnamed Ocean Pines Association employees over allegations of hostile working conditions in recent months and other matters.
~ Page 29
Marty Clarke
Colette Horn
Doug Parks
at the annual meeting in August. “She committed a bit of a faux pas criticizing the board for a deficit that isn’t a deficit,” Clarke quipped. She criticized the board for not having started a search for a new general manager back in the fall, suggesting that it had done so, some of the reported infighting among the directors in recent months might have been avoided. OPA President Tom Herrick and Hill staunchly defend the nine-month tenure of Hill, who will shortly be replaced by a new, professional general manager. Hill, who has been serving in the role as an unpaid volunteer, has made no secret of his desire to return solely to his To Page 45
Clarke slams Jacobs, Trendic for ‘pressuring’ OPA employees ~ Page 36
Directors interested in shifting restaurant ops to Country Club
In an apparent nod to retiring Director Dave Stevens, who has let it be known that he supports shifting restaurant operations from the Yacht Club to the Country Club this winter, two Ocean Pines Association directors with influence on the matter have said they are in general agreement with Stevens. OPA President Tom Herrick and Director and Acting General Manager Brett Hill in recent interviews with the Progress said they are favorably disposed toward Stevens’s idea.
~ Page 30