November - Early December 2013
Vol. 9, No. 8
410-641-6029
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress Thompson, board dodgy on Yacht Club interior materials
N THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY
obody is anxious to pick the interior materials and colors for the Ocean Pines Association’s new Yacht Club - not the project consultants, not the general manager and apparently not the board of directors. General Manager Bob Thompson presented three proposed interior material and color selections to the board for consideration during a Nov. 5 work session. All very similar in color palette, the materials included options for tile and wood flooring, countertops, paint and carpet. Thompson said he needs a decision on the interior colors and materials by next month. ~ Page 9
Board tables motion to give committee earlier involvement in budget prep The exterior of the new Ocean Pines Yacht Club as it appeared under construction in late October. The latest projections have the building open for business in April. The first wedding banquet has been booked for May.
COVER STORY
Cost overruns hit OPA capital projects Board authorizes final phase of Hingham Lane drainage project with $75,000 in unbudgeted costs. General Manager indicates that the Yacht Club project will exceed the authorized $4.3 million cost by almost $400,000, attributable to new kitchen equipment. It’s up to the board to approve the increase By TOM STAUSS Publisher
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s anyone dealing with a household remodeling budget can attest, sometimes best guess estimates on certain planned expenditures turn out to be wildly optimistic. In governmental or quasi-governmental circles, it’s all too typical when real time costs exceed original estimates, and the result is what’s called a cost overrun. When it happens in Ocean Pines, it occasionally generates angst among elected officials, although any evidence of extreme distress is rare. The exception is Ocean Pines Association Director Marty Clarke, who seldom misses an opportunity to object whenever an instance occurs, such as the recently disclosed overrun for the Hingham Lane drainage improvement project. If he doesn’t make it explicit, then he implies with regularity that the overrun is the fault of OPA General Manager Bob Thompson. Clarke will usually vote against the overrun, but not always. His constant criticism is the proximate cause of ongoing friction between the general manager and Clarke, who
shared the role of Thompson’s irritant-in-chief with former Director Dave Stevens, said to be biding his time for a reelection bid next summer after six years of service on the board. With almost clocklike consistency in these matters, other directors will defend Thompson, absolving him of any personal responsibility for the overrun or the failure to anticipate it. Thompson’s most reliable defenders are Directors Sharyn O’Hare and Terri Mohr, but often OPA President Tom Terry and sometimes Director Dan Stachurski will defend him as well. Newly elected Director Bill Cordwell is tending toward the pro-Thompson camp, while Jack Collins tends to agree with Clarke without, as he has said more than once, Clarke’s “nastiness.” The two most recent examples of costs exceeding estimates for a major capital improvement are hardly dealing with chump change. At his town meeting in late October, Thompson disclosed for the first time publicly that the new kitchens at the Yacht Club designed with the help of a professional will To Page 10
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t appears that the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors may try to finesse a request by its Budget and Finance Advisory Committee to engage early in the 2014-15 OPA budget development process. After an Oct. 2 board work session, Director Jack Collins confirmed he is working on a proposal that won’t require General Manager Bob Thompson to accept the committee’s offer to help but will encourage it. “Call it a sense of the board” that the general manager should accept the offer, Collins told the Progress. ~ Page 16
Fond memories of Ocean Pines’ pioneering days
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alking about the early days in Ocean Pines with Gloria Richards is like sharing stories from the old days with family. And that’s how it happened, around the kitchen table with Gloria and her husband, Jerry, as she tried to remember details about being the original writer for the first newsletter that informed residents of the tiny new community more than 40 years ago, and later, as a columnist for a local weekly newspaper, where she “took on” developer Boise Cascade. ~ Page 34