March-Early April 2013
Vol. 8, No. 12
410-641-6029 www.oceanpinesprogress.com
New Yacht Club groundbreaking set for March 14
THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY
RESERVE WARS
Directors split over assessments needed to fund ‘big ticket’ projects By TOM STAUSS Publisher
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‘Minority’ directors who voted to reduce reserve funding during 2013-14 fiscal year budget process ...
hen the Ocean Pines Association’s board of directors approved a NEWS $13.896 million budget for the 2014 ANALYSIS fiscal year at the directors’ regular monthly meeting Feb. 23, raising the base lot assessment $41 in the process, the handful of residents who witnessed the formal adoption of next year’s budget may not have not been Marty Clarke Dave Stevens Ray Unger aware that there’s a real split among ... and thought the assessment increase should have the directors on just how much money been been less than $41 is needed to fund the OPA’s reserves. Reserve funding -- $3.9 million in the approved spending dollars that were intended for the so-called five-yearplan for next year --- is a major component of the budget every funding-plan component of the replacement reserve and year. another reserve fund designed to recover funds from Property owners certainly heard Director Marty Clarke previous years’ operating deficits. proclaim that the projected reserve balance at the end of the Clarke’s motion failed 5-2, with Director Ray Unger next fiscal year about 14 months from now is too high and that joining Clarke in supporting it. Had it passed, the the assessment did not need to be increased $41 to fund OPA assessment increase for next year would have increased operations and reserves next year. a modest $11, attributable to increases in operational They certainly witnessed Dave Stevens offer a motion to roll expenses in the portion of the budget under the direct back the proposed assessment increase by some unspecified control of Thompson. Contributions to reserves, in amount, at the same reducing the amount of assessment contrast, are driven by board policy, specifically the sodollars flowing into the so-called “historic” component of the called five-year funding plan of programmed $30 per OPA’s major maintenance and replacement reserve. lot increases in assessment dollars flowing into the Under Stevens’ motion, dollars that had been been allocated replacement reserve. Fiscal Year 2014 is the last year of to the “historic” component would have been shifted into the the five-year funding plan. golf drainage reserve that is in the red because outlays from While Unger supported the Clarke motion because the fund have exceeded transfers in recent years. it would have reduced the assessment increase by a Once drainage improvements on holes eleven and twelve are significant amount in percentage terms, Stevens couldn’t completed, along with related fixes on nearby Hingham Lane, quite bring himself to support it, although he came that reserve will be even further in deficit. Stevens tried to very close to doing so, voicing a degree of sympathy persuade his colleagues to reallocate funds to that reserve and to the notion that the OPA’s replacement reserve in its to resume drainage improvements next year, something that totality, especially the historic component which is tied OPA General Manager Bob Thompson did not include in his to funded depreciation of OPA capital assets, is projected capital budget for Fiscal Year 2014. for balances far in excess of what’s been typical in Ocean Stevens’ somewhat complicated motion drew support from Pines’ 45-year existence. only one director – Clarke – but what observers who attended Stevens at one point said he was inclined to support the Feb. 23 meeting may not have known is that Clarke, in the Clarke’s motion as a fallback, but he said his preferred board’s final budget work session a few days earlier, offered alternative was to divert funds that otherwise would be a motion that, in straightforward fashion, simply called for earmarked for the replacement reserve to golf drainage. a reduction in the assessment increase by $30, eliminating To Page 16
Ocean Pines Association General Manager Bob Thompson has announced that the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Yacht Club is scheduled for Thursday, March 14, at 9:30 a.m. at the construction site. A reception in the old Yacht Club will follow. Meanwhile, demolition of the old Yacht Club pool will begin the week of March 11, with construction of a new pool to begin once demolition is complete. The objective is to have the new pool open by Memorial Day weekend, and the new Yacht Club completed by New Year’s Eve.
Natural gas co. company proposes to ease conversions In what could be good news for many residents of Ocean Pines and other communities in Worcester County concerned about the costs of converting household appliances to take advantage of natural gas, there are indications that Chesapeake Utilities Corp. intends to “socialize” these conversion costs over the entire customer base in the county while avoiding a separate charge on monthly billings for them. Page 6
Board approves Yacht Club pool contract Parrish Pools of Hunt Valley, Md., has been awarded a $248,267 contract to build a new outdoor swimming pool and install new pumps and filtration equipment in a new pumphouse at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club, with the objective of completing construction and having the new pool pass a state inspection in time for Memorial Day weekend, when Ocean Pines outdoor pools traditionally open for the summer season. Whether that target date is realistic remains to be seen. Parrish can’t begin construction until demolition of existing pool and decking is completed by Harkins Construction, the general contractor responsible for deck demolition and raising up the pumphouse structure from below grade to the level of the pool decking. Page 8