march-early april 2013

March-Early April 2013 Vol. 8, No. 12

THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY

COVER STORY

To 6

RESERVE WARSDirectors split over assessments

needed to fund ‘big ticket’ projects

410-641-6029www.oceanpinesprogress.com

Board approvesYacht Club poolcontractParrish Pools of Hunt Valley, Md., has been awarded a $248,267 con-tract to build a new outdoor swim-ming 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 re-alistic remains to be seen. Parrish can’t begin construction until dem-olition of existing pool and decking is completed by Harkins Construc-tion, the general contractor respon-sible for deck demolition and rais-ing up the pumphouse structure from below grade to the level of the pool decking. Page 8

Natural gas co.company proposesto 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 Ches-apeake Utilities Corp. intends to “socialize” these conversion costs over the entire customer base in the county while avoiding a sepa-rate charge on monthly billings for them. Page 6

New Yacht Clubgroundbreakingset for March 14

Ocean Pines Association Gener-al Manager Bob Thompson has an-nounced 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 week-end, and the new Yacht Club com-pleted by New Year’s Eve.

By TOM STAUSSPublisher

Marty Clarke Dave Stevens Ray Unger

When the Ocean Pines Association’s board of directors approved a

$13.896 million budget for the 2014 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 aware that there’s a real split among the directors on just how much money is needed to fund the OPA’s reserves.

‘Minority’ directors who voted to reduce reservefunding during 2013-14 fiscal year budget process ...

Reserve funding -- $3.9 million in the approved spending plan for next year --- is a major component of the budget every year.

Property owners certainly heard Director Marty Clarke proclaim that the projected reserve balance at the end of the next fiscal year about 14 months from now is too high and that the assessment did not need to be increased $41 to fund OPA operations and reserves next year.

They certainly witnessed Dave Stevens offer a motion to roll back the proposed assessment increase by some unspecified amount, at the same reducing the amount of assessment dollars flowing into the so-called “historic” component of the OPA’s major maintenance and replacement reserve.

Under Stevens’ motion, dollars that had been been allocated to the “historic” component would have been shifted into the golf drainage reserve that is in the red because outlays from the fund have exceeded transfers in recent years.

Once drainage improvements on holes eleven and twelve are completed, along with related fixes on nearby Hingham Lane, that reserve will be even further in deficit. Stevens tried to persuade his colleagues to reallocate funds to that reserve and to resume drainage improvements next year, something that OPA General Manager Bob Thompson did not include in his capital budget for Fiscal Year 2014.

Stevens’ somewhat complicated motion drew support from only one director – Clarke – but what observers who attended the Feb. 23 meeting may not have known is that Clarke, in the board’s final budget work session a few days earlier, offered a motion that, in straightforward fashion, simply called for a reduction in the assessment increase by $30, eliminating

dollars that were intended for the so-called five-year-funding-plan component of the replacement reserve and another reserve fund designed to recover funds from previous years’ operating deficits.

Clarke’s motion failed 5-2, with Director Ray Unger joining Clarke in supporting it. Had it passed, the assessment increase for next year would have increased a modest $11, attributable to increases in operational expenses in the portion of the budget under the direct control of Thompson. Contributions to reserves, in contrast, are driven by board policy, specifically the so-called five-year funding plan of programmed $30 per lot increases in assessment dollars flowing into the replacement reserve. Fiscal Year 2014 is the last year of the five-year funding plan.

While Unger supported the Clarke motion because it would have reduced the assessment increase by a significant amount in percentage terms, Stevens couldn’t quite bring himself to support it, although he came very close to doing so, voicing a degree of sympathy to the notion that the OPA’s replacement reserve in its totality, especially the historic component which is tied to funded depreciation of OPA capital assets, is projected for balances far in excess of what’s been typical in Ocean Pines’ 45-year existence.

Stevens at one point said he was inclined to support Clarke’s motion as a fallback, but he said his preferred alternative was to divert funds that otherwise would be earmarked for the replacement reserve to golf drainage.

NEWSANALYSIS

... and thought the assessment increase should have been been less than $41

2 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March-Early April 2013

Across from the Ocean Pines South Gate

410-208-6655

Non-Toxic OrganicDry Cleaning Store

Ocean PinesCleaners & Alterations

410-641-6362

HO FENG GARDENSFresh CHINESE CUISINE • SUSHO BAR SPECIALS

KK 2000 NAILS Professional Nail Care

For Ladies & Gentlemen

410-208-6209

410-208-4975

410-208-3609

Ocean Pines Branch11003 Manklin Creek Road

10% Off Services with this ad

Wine TastingEvery Day

Sun - Thur 11-10:30 • Fri & Sat 11-11 • 410-208-2788www.hofenggarden.com

Across from the Ocean Pines South GateAcross from the Ocean Pines South GateAcross from the Ocean Pines South GateAcross from the Ocean Pines South GatePenningtonPenningtonPenningtonPenningtonPenningtonCommons

Berlin, MD 21811410-208-4247

8 Varietiesof Subsfor ONLY $5

All Day, Every Day

Eat-in or Carry-out

410-641-5700 1-800-922-9800 Toll Free

Owned and Operated by NRT LLC

Serving Breakfast 7-11 a.m. weekdays

Next to Subway410-6291028 • 410-629-1048 (fax)

2400 Square Foot Retail Space AvailableFor Leas ing In format ion Cal l Barbara Passwater, CAMBR Real ty LLC, 410 -208-9006

410-208-2576ROBINWALTERDAYSPA.COM

10% Off Entire Check with this AdEat-in or Carry-out • Expires 4-9-13

Check OurWebsite

for Specials

OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK!

PENNINGTON C OMMONS Shopping Center High Quality Shops

& Services in the

Heart of Ocean Pines

For Leasing Information Call CAMBR REALTY LLC, Barbara Passwater, at 410-208-9006

MARINADECKRESTAURANT

Specialty Gi�sBaskets

Fine Cigars

410-208-6655

OPEN MONDAY - SATURDAY 11-10SUNDAY 10-10

410-641-5590

Direct410-208-4297

410-208-4975

410-208-3609



410-641-6362

HO FENG GARDENSRESTAURANTFINE ASIAN CUISINE

A FullServiceHome

EntertainmentCenter

410-208-0905

410-641-5588 • 1-800-922-9800 Toll FreeOwned and Operated by NRT LLC

Casual FittingsOccassional Gifts

& Everything in Between410-208-0755

Professional Nail CareFor Ladies & Gentlemen

410-208-6209

Happy 40th AnniversaryPENNINGTON C OMMONS Shopping Center High Quality Shops

& Services in the

Heart of Ocean Pines

For Leasing Information Call CAMBR REALTY LLC, Barbara Passwater, at 410-208-9006

MARINADECKRESTAURANT

Specialty Gi�sBaskets

Fine Cigars

410-208-6655

OPEN MONDAY - SATURDAY 11-10SUNDAY 10-10

410-641-5590

Direct410-208-4297

410-208-4975

410-208-3609



410-641-6362

HO FENG GARDENSRESTAURANTFINE ASIAN CUISINE

A FullServiceHome

EntertainmentCenter

410-208-0905

410-641-5588 • 1-800-922-9800 Toll FreeOwned and Operated by NRT LLC

Casual FittingsOccassional Gifts

& Everything in Between410-208-0755

Professional Nail CareFor Ladies & Gentlemen

410-208-6209

Happy 40th Anniversary

Natural Lite$1399 30-Pak

C’MNIN!

HAPPY EASTER!

March-Early April 2013 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 3OCEAN PINES

Remodel and Enhance Your Home Today!We Specialize in Kitchens, Bathrooms, Sun Rooms,

Porches, Enclosures, New Additions and RoofsWe Also Remodel Entire Houses and Condominiums

Ask About Our New Construction Consulting Services!

www.PooleContracting.comMike Poole

[email protected]

410-251-4006Bishopville, MD 21813

MHIC #104077

CUSTOM HOMES & REMODELINGCome See Our New Home Under Way in Ocean Cty

We Specialize in Kitchens, Bathrooms, Sun Rooms,Porches, Enclosures, New Additions and Roofs

Remodel and Enhance Your Home Today!

www.PooleContracting.comMike Poole

[email protected]

Bishopville, MD 21812MHIC #104077MHBR #6927

www.PooleContracting.comwww.PooleContracting.comwww.PooleContracting.com

Newsletter 1

ΣMAINSTREET CONSULTING©

LPL Independent Investor May 2011 Managing Cash Flow in Retirement: Careful Budgeting Is Still the Key

When retirement planning goes into reverse, shifting from accumulating assets to living off investment and other income, cash flow becomes critical. The ultimate goal for most retirees is making sure their assets last as long as they live. And because of increasing longevity, managing cash flow is more critical than ever. A typical American electing to retire in his or her mid-60s may expect to live 20 or more years after retirement. While many variables come into play depending on your income level, lifestyle and health considerations, there are a number of planning moves that can help retirees live within their means and make appropriate adjustments in response to changes in income and expenses. Tools for the Task If you are retired or about to retire, you will need to gather and organize key information before you can tackle the ongoing tasks of monitoring and managing your cash flow in retirement. The purpose is to give you a clear and complete picture of your current financial situation, as well as any significant changes you expect. Two sources will provide this information:

An up-to-date net-worth statement, which provides a snapshot of your assets, debt and cash reserves.

A monthly or annual budget, with itemized breakdowns of your income and expenses. If you haven’t retired yet, it is a good idea to prepare a projected budget of your retirement income and expenses. Be sure to account for all expenses, including those that occur infrequently, such as insurance bills, college tuition and membership fees. They should be reflected in your monthly budget on a prorated basis. If you need assistance creating your net-worth statement and budget, you may want to consult a financial advisor, a book on the subject or resources that are available online. Analyzing this information will reveal any major problems that you need to address, such as insufficient cash reserves for an emergency or an income shortfall compared with current or projected expenses. It may also point out areas for improvement. For example, you may be able to free up cash by reducing debt or eliminating nonessential expenses. Regular Monitoring Plans and projections are always subject to change. Even with reasonable assumptions about investment returns, inflation and living costs in retirement, it is likely you will encounter numerous changes to your cash flow over time. Frequent monitoring of your income and expenses will detect changes that you can address in a timely fashion to prevent significant problems down the road. Experts often recommend a monthly review of your budget, as well as a comprehensive annual review of your financial situation and goals. While you can keep track of your situation with paper and pen, specialized software may make the task easier.

Published by ΣMAINSTREET CONSULTING©, 11021 Nicholas Lane # 5, Ocean Pines, Maryland 21811 410-600-0434 Securities Offered through LPL Financial, LLC Member FINRA/SIPC © Copyright 2010 MainStreet Wealth Management, LLC All rights Reserved Searching for Income:

Alternative to Fixed Annuties

Newsletter 1

ΣMAINSTREET CONSULTING©

LPL Independent Investor May 2011 Managing Cash Flow in Retirement: Careful Budgeting Is Still the Key

When retirement planning goes into reverse, shifting from accumulating assets to living off investment and other income, cash flow becomes critical. The ultimate goal for most retirees is making sure their assets last as long as they live. And because of increasing longevity, managing cash flow is more critical than ever. A typical American electing to retire in his or her mid-60s may expect to live 20 or more years after retirement. While many variables come into play depending on your income level, lifestyle and health considerations, there are a number of planning moves that can help retirees live within their means and make appropriate adjustments in response to changes in income and expenses. Tools for the Task If you are retired or about to retire, you will need to gather and organize key information before you can tackle the ongoing tasks of monitoring and managing your cash flow in retirement. The purpose is to give you a clear and complete picture of your current financial situation, as well as any significant changes you expect. Two sources will provide this information:

An up-to-date net-worth statement, which provides a snapshot of your assets, debt and cash reserves.

A monthly or annual budget, with itemized breakdowns of your income and expenses. If you haven’t retired yet, it is a good idea to prepare a projected budget of your retirement income and expenses. Be sure to account for all expenses, including those that occur infrequently, such as insurance bills, college tuition and membership fees. They should be reflected in your monthly budget on a prorated basis. If you need assistance creating your net-worth statement and budget, you may want to consult a financial advisor, a book on the subject or resources that are available online. Analyzing this information will reveal any major problems that you need to address, such as insufficient cash reserves for an emergency or an income shortfall compared with current or projected expenses. It may also point out areas for improvement. For example, you may be able to free up cash by reducing debt or eliminating nonessential expenses. Regular Monitoring Plans and projections are always subject to change. Even with reasonable assumptions about investment returns, inflation and living costs in retirement, it is likely you will encounter numerous changes to your cash flow over time. Frequent monitoring of your income and expenses will detect changes that you can address in a timely fashion to prevent significant problems down the road. Experts often recommend a monthly review of your budget, as well as a comprehensive annual review of your financial situation and goals. While you can keep track of your situation with paper and pen, specialized software may make the task easier.

Published by ΣMAINSTREET CONSULTING©, 11021 Nicholas Lane # 5, Ocean Pines, Maryland 21811 410-600-0434 Securities Offered through LPL Financial, LLC Member FINRA/SIPC © Copyright 2010 MainStreet Wealth Management, LLC All rights Reserved

11007 Manklin Meadows Lane, Ocean Pines, MD 21811 • 410-600-0434

Securities Offered through LPL Financial, LLC Member FINRA/SIPC

This article was prepared by McGraw-Hill Financial Communications and is not intendedto provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. Consult yourfinancial advisor, or me, if you have any questions. Dennis R. Hudson, MSFS, ChFC®, CRPC®

Americans – the baby boomers -- will transition from work life to retirement. With-out pensions to fall back on and with Social Security’s future in doubt, it’s no won-der many near-retirees and retirees alike are searching high and low for sources

of income. For many, the search begins and ends with a fixed-rate annuity. Not only are these

insurance contracts are locked into a fixed rate of income, they can be costly, complex, and require handing off control of your assets. What’s more, most won’t keep pace with inflation.

If you want to retain more control of your assets or just potentially build in some in-flation protection, there are some alternatives to the traditional fixed annuity route. But most require increased diligence and may involve increased exposure to various invest-ment and market risks. Before undertaking any financial decisions, be sure to consult with your financial professional.

Market Value Adjusted (MVA) Annuities – This is a type of fixed annuity that lets an investor lock in a fixed interest rate for a term that can range from one to 10 years. At the end of each term, the annuity company offers the investor a new interest rate. If the investor approves of the rate, the MVA annuity is renewed. If the investor doesn’t want to renew, the principal can be withdrawn without surrender charges. The investor bears a number of risks, including the risk that rates may rise while their principal is locked in at a lower rate. Additionally, if the investor wishes to withdraw from the contract prior to its expiration, surrender charges will apply.

Equity-Indexed Annuities (EIAs) – EIAs have characteristics of both fixed and variable annuities. The opportunity for a higher return exists when compared to a fixed annuity, but not as much as a variable annuity. EIAs are designed to give more potential return (but greater risk) than a fixed annuity, coupled with less potential return (and less risk) than a variable annuity. EIAs offer a minimum guaranteed interest rate combined with an interest rate linked to a market index (such as the S&P 500). Because of their guaran-teed interest rate, EIAs have less market risk than variable annuities and also have the potential to earn better returns than traditional fixed annuities when the stock market rises but up to a stated maximum participation rate, which means your return will be ‘capped’ at a return when compare to the index it’s tracking.

Mutual Funds – Retirement income funds, which operate like target-date funds for those already retired, are the latest new product in the mutual fund space. The funds are invested in an allocation of stocks, bonds and cash that evolves over time. Some pay divi-dends monthly – investors have the option to withdraw the income or reinvest it. These funds come in two varieties: perpetuity and non-perpetuity. Perpetuity funds attempt to balance capital preservation with income generation for as long as possible, while non-perpetuity funds pay distributions only for a specified amount of time. Note that these products are still very new and fees and returns can vary widely. As with all mutual fund investments, it is possible to lose principal. Because the market value of the fund fluctuates with changes in market conditions and the value of the underlying securities, your shares may be worth more or less than their original price when sold. Retirement income funds are subject to unique risks including, but not all-inclusive of, the risks of its underlying holdings and the markets they are invested in; volatility, interest rate, asset allocation and underperformance risk. Retirement income funds are not guaranteed at any time, including on or after the holders retirement date.

Fixed-Income Unit Investment Trusts (UITs) – The goal of a fixed-income UIT is to gen-erate a relatively predictable and stable stream of income over the life of the trust. These securities operate similar to closed-end mutual funds and are not actively managed. They are typically portfolios comprised separately of municipal bonds, corporate bonds, inter-national bonds, and government-backed or mortgage-backed securities and provide in-come on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Because the market value of the trust units fluctuates with changes in market conditions and the value of the underlying securities, shares of the UIT may be worth more or less than their original price when sold. Unit Investment Trusts (UITS) are a fixed portfolio of securities with a set term. Strategies are long-term; therefore investors should consider their ability to pursue investing in succes-sive trusts and the tax consequences. © 2012 S&P Capital IQ Financial Communications. All rights reservedInvestors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of an annuity before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Read it carefully before you invest. Investing in EIAs, mutual funds, variable annuities and UITs involve risk, includ-ing loss of principal. All of these products are offered and sold by prospectus only. You can obtain a prospectus from the investment company or your financial repre-sentative. You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, expenses and charges of the investment company before you invest. The prospectus contains this and other information. Read it carefully before you invest.

Veterans advocateThe well-being of veterans has been a major concern for many Americans, including those who are who are members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Ocean Pines - Ocean City. They recently heard from Michelle Licata (left) of the Maryland Department of Veteran Affairs, who is pictured with Kiwanis President Barbara Peletier after she spoke to the group. Licata is a state employee who works on behalf of Maryland veterans to assist them in getting veteran’s benefits from the federal government. She works in Salisbury and can be reached at 410-713-3482 or at [email protected] for more information.


Rt. 50 & Old Ocean City Boulevard, Berlin MD

410-641-0444www.mybarrett.com

1-888-641-0444

BARRETT IN BERLIN

For February, Every Ram Pickup is Priced to Go!

2013 Ram Quad Cab 4x2 Tradesman3.6 L V6 and New 8-speed auto transmission. 25 MPG Hwy Rating Was $30,795 SALE $27,750 After Discounts & Rebates

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Laredo 4x4 Was $35,710Year-end Discount $1765 Rebate $1500 NOW $33,750

Ram 1500 Quad CabBig Horn 4x4

Was $39,600-$3160 Discount- $3000 Rebate

- $1000 Owner LoyaltySALE $32,500

2013 JeepPatriot Sport

Was $21,665NOW $19,850After Discount & Rebate

2013 Chrysler200 Touring

Was $23,285NOW $18,990

After Discount & Rebate

2013 DodgeCharger SXT

Was $32,880NOW $28,990After Discount & Rebate

#2471

#2010

#2429 #2361

2013 Chrysler200 Limited

5 TO CHOOSE FROM!

Was $27,815NOW $22,990

After Discount & Rebate

SOME OF OUR BEST DEALS JUST GOT BETTER.SPECIAL AUTO SHOW DISCOUNTS MAKE THIS ONE

OF THE BEST TIMES OF THE YEAR TO GET YOUR BEST VALUE.

Save on Our Last 2012! #2472

2013 Ram Quad Cab 4x4 Express Was $36,900 NOW $32,650 After Discounts & Rebates

#2474

#2303 #2381


2299 2499

2499

26992699

The Adkins Company 3 Harrison Avenue, Berlin • 11048 Cathell Road, Ocean Pines

OCEAN PINES BRIEFS

q

10655 CATHELL RD. BERLIN, MD 21811

2013 Memberships Now Available

Join now and get up to 13 months of golf for less than the twelve month price. Ocean Resorts Golf Club is offering a

2% discount off of our individual and family memberships if you join in the month of March. Individual memberships

start at just $900 and include range privileges, discounts in the Pro Shop and handicap.

Unlimited cart plans are also available.

Call the Pro Shop for details.

JOIN NOW AND SAVE $$$ ON A NEW MEMBER-SHIP AT OCEAN RESORTS GOLF CLUB!!

A Great Golfing Experience!

410-641-5643 www.oceanresortsgolfclub.com

Owned by Wor-Wic Community College

Directors reject requestfor permit fee refund

Saying it would set precedent for similar requests in the future, the Ocean Pines Association board of direc-tors rejected a request for a refund of a home occupation application fee by one property owner.

Al “Pop” Wendling sought an after-the-fact approval of a home occupation permit from the OPA for his joke and

novelty business.“To make a long story short I am re-

questing my $30 refund for being misled concerning my application,” Wendling said in his written request to the board for a refund.

He said he was told he could not put signs promoting his business on his porch but was never told he couldn’t

locate them along Ocean Parkway. He further said it took a month to proceed through the permitting process with the OPA, only to be turned down, when he could have been looking for another lo-cation for his business.

“Basically he wants his $30 back be-cause he was rejected for a home busi-ness,” OPA President Tom Terry told board members of the request.

Director Ray Unger said Wendling had placed signs advertising his busi-ness along Ocean Parkway and on his porch “without asking what he could do.”

Unger opposed offering Wendling a refund. “I don’t think we should set a precedent for returning money,” he said.

Director Marty Clarke asked if Wend-ling could have misunderstood the per-mitting process for a home occupation.

Director Dan Stachurski the OPA has a lot of permits that it issues. Fees are associated with those permits in order to cover the cost of the work involved in evaluating those permit requests. “All of that work was done in this case. He has paid for the work that we did,” he said

Clarke was the only director to vote in favor of refunding the permit fee to Wendling.

Clarke investigationcosts OPA $11,300

The recent “investigation” of Ocean Pines Association Director Marty Clarke for several alleged transgres-sions against board decorum, a probe that yielded nothing of substance and ended without formal action against the director, cost the association $11,300 in legal fees, Clarke reported in a recent email to the Progress.

The investigation, led by OPA Gener-al Counsel Joe Moore, got off to a rocky start when it turned out that the report-ed basis for the probe, a code of conduct

regulating board member behavior, had been repealed by an earlier board of di-rectors.

Board search committeeto host open meeting

Ocean Pines Association’s 2013 Search Committee will host a public meeting on Monday, March 18, at 7 p.m. at the Ocean Pines Community Center in the East Room. The meeting will be open to association members and any-one interested in a position on the Board is encouraged to attend.

The purpose of the meeting will be to outline the function of the search com-mittee, describe the qualifi cations of the candidates they search for, outline the responsibilities of OPA Board members, and receive input from attendees about fi nding interested candidates.

The Committee’s function will be to seek at least fi ve candidates to run for the board of directors in this summer’s election. To be eligible a candidate must be the owner of record of property in Ocean Pines as of Jan. 1 of this year, eligible to vote as of May 15 and have completed and submitted an application to the Search Committee or Administra-tion Offi ce no later than 5 p.m. May 10.

An application form may be printed from the Association’s web site www.oceanpines.org or obtained from a search committee member or from the Adminis-tration Offi ce at 239 Ocean Parkway. Of-fi ce hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays (after April 28).

Members of the 2013 search commit-tee include Jim Beisler, 410-208-2682; Tom Sandusky, 410-208-3232; Ron Fish-er, 410-208-6431; Janet Morse, 410-208-9790; and Jean Louis 410-208-6219.

Platform tennis grouphosts winter tournament

The Ocean Pines Platform Tennis club held its winter tournament on Feb. 16. The tournament was called the Paddle Battle and divided into the Adi-das and the Nike teams. Play began at 8:30 in the morning as the rain clouds loomed over the four courts. The rain held off until the last half hour so only one round was cancelled.

Linda Horst and Jean Hoffman, tour-nament co-chairs, tried a new format. Each participant played three 25-min-ute rounds. Thirty-six players entered the competition and a total of 276 games were completed before the rain caused the courts to be too slippery to continue. Scoring was based on the total number of games won by each team.

The Adidas and Nike teams were evenly matched as the games were hard fought and scores close. Winning by just eight games, the Nike team was victo-rious.

The entire committee consisted of Jean Hoffman, Linda Horst, Judi Mas-trogianis, Diane Harris, Jim Freeman, and Don Pellicano.

Following this event, the members lunched at DeNovo’s. The club’s next tournament is scheduled for June.

6 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March-Early April 2013 OCEAN PINES

From Page 5

OCEAN PINES BRIEFS

OC Power Squadronamong nation’s best

The Ocean City Power Squadron has been named among the top four squad-rons in the nation as recognized by the Boat US/United States Power Squad-rons’ Distinguished Squadron Civic Ser-vice Award.

This is the most significant award honoring the best among the 420 squad-rons of the USPS.

The presentation was made at the power squadrons’ national meeting in Jacksonville in late January by National Chief Commander John Alter and Boat US Foundation’s Asst. Director of Boat-

Chesapeake Utilities proposesto socialize ‘behind-the-meter’

costs of natural gas 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 coun-ty while avoiding a separate charge on monthly billings for them.

In documents on file with the Mary-land Public Service Commission, the company that intends to roll out natu-ral gas conversion in the county in the

coming years explicitly recognizes that many lower income and fixed-income residents in the county could balk at converting to natural gas if they face hundreds if not thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket expenses related to con-verting their appliances from propane to natural gas.

The documents on file are related to the company’s application related to its pending purchase of assets owned by Eastern Shore Gas Co., as well as a pro-posed rate structure for commercial and residential users of propane and natural gas in the county during a protracted roll-out of natural gas conversions.

Former ESG assets would be trans-

ferred to a Chesapeake subsidiary temporarily called Newco in PSC docu-ments.

Earlier, Chesapeake had indicated that subject to PSC approval, its res-idential customers would be billed at an across-the-board blended rate that would charge all residential customers an equivalent rate, regardless of wheth-er they are purchasing natural gas or propane.

The blended rate would drop as more customers are converted to natural gas, and it would not matter which commu-nity in the county is the first to be con-verted.

Every customer would benefit as the

company completes more and more con-versions and is able to replace its pur-chase of higher cost propane with lower cost natural gas, spreading the benefits to all customers with quarterly rate re-ductions.

It now appears that Chesapeake in-tends to carry the idea of blended rates one step further by socializing what it calls “behind-the-meter” costs associat-ed with conversion, at least those asso-ciated with appliances inside the home. The documents seem to suggest that Chesapeake won’t demand an immedi-ate conversion fee from customers but instead will roll these costs into monthly invoices, over time.

In effect, for purposes of rate-making, before-the-meter costs such as building transmission and storage facilities will be added to the costs of converting appli-ances to determine fair and reasonable rates for residential and commercial customers.

While the PSC could decide to add some sort of separate conversion fee in the rates it approves for Worcester County, Chesapeake is not pushing for that because it says such an add-on fee would be confusing to customers not yet converted to natural gas.

Implicitly, the company is suggesting that it doesn’t need any impediments to propane customers converting to natu-

It appears the company intends to carry the idea of blended rates one step further by blending costs associated with converting appliances inside the home. Chesapeake may not demand an immediate

conversion fee from customers but instead could roll these costs into monthly invoices, over time, making it easier for lower and fixed-income propane customers to agree to switch.


q

ing Safety, Ted Sensenbrenner.Serving communities along Mary-

land’s Eastern Shore, OCPS members were very involved in many communi-ty outreach programs in 2012 includ-ing cooperative charting, maintenance of their adopted park in Ocean Pines, and conducting a flounder survey for the Department of Natural Resources.

The OCPS worked with the local Coast Guard Auxiliary to publish and distribute tide charts for the Ocean City area and provided fishing trips to sup-port kids and families in the local “Be-lieve in Tomorrow Program.”

For more information about the OCPS, contact Commander Tom Quinn at 410-641-7329 or Executive Officer Mort Brown at 410-641-8040.

BETH GISMONDIGismondi Insurance Associates

[email protected]

Get a preferred risk flood insurance policy in your area for as low as $129 a year. Flooding can happen anywhere. So call me today and protect your home.

Agent Info here

NFIP_Street Sign_4x5_0111.indd 1 1/24/11 12:23 PM

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Position: Police Administrative Assistant Pocomoke City Police are accepting applications for a full-time Administrative Assistant; this position requires a High School Diploma and previous office/computer experience. Call Ms. Gayle Waters at 410-957-1600 or pick up an application at the Pocomoke Police Department located at 1500 Market Street. Applications will only be accepted up to March 30, 2013. Pocomoke City is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Pocomoke City Police Department 1500 Market Street Pocomoke, MD 21851 410-957-1600 Phone 410-957-4597 Fax [email protected]

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

POSITION: Police Administrative AssistantPocomoke City Police are accepting applications for a full-time Administrative Assistant; this position requires a High School Di-ploma and previous office/computer experience. Call Ms. Gayle Waters at 410-957-1600 or pick up an application at the Po-comoke Department located at 1500 Market Street. Applications will only be accepted up to March 30, 2013. Pocomoke City is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

OCEAN PINES March-Early April 2013 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 7

ral gas or public relations difficulties with customers waiting for conversion.

Some documents on file with the PSC seem to indicate that outside gas stoves and heated outdoor swimming pools would be excluded from this socialized approach to “behind-the-meter” costs. Customers with those items apparently would be required to retrofit or buy new stoves and pool heaters, at their own ex-pense.

An informed source who asked that he not be quoted for this article said that

one reason Chesapeake might be willing to absorb the upfront costs of household appliance conversion is that in most cas-es, appliances can be fairly easily retro-fitted for natural gas, and the company will be able to develop good working relationships with contractors who will be authorized to handle these household conversions in an efficient and consis-tent manner.

The objective will be to make the con-versions as anxiety-free for homeowners as possible, the source said.

One document said the company had solicited the views of stakeholder groups, including the Ocean Pines Asso-

ciation, on the proposed method of han-dling conversion costs.

According to the document, there is no opposition to this methodology among the groups, also including the Worcester County commissioners, con-tacted for comment.

The Maryland PSC will be hearing testimony related to the proposed pur-chase of Eastern Shore Gas and relat-ed rate issues in March, beginning on March 13, in the commission’s 19th floor hearing room at 6 St. Paul St., in Balti-more, beginning at 1 p.m.

The evidentiary hearing will recon-vene as necessary March 14 and 15 at

10 a.m. at the same location.The proposed acquisition of ESG as-

sets by Chesapeake in recent months has run into some opposition, with fil-ings indicating that ESG’s unionized work force was objecting to it on grounds that jobs would be lost in what effective-ly would be a merger of ESG and Ches-apeake.

But in February, Chesapeake offered to hire every ESG employee on staff in the county, and there are some indica-tions that the union that represents these employees may not fight the planned acquisition at the March 13 hearing or in subsequent filings.

From Page 6

Chesapeake utilities

q

OCEAN PINES

SONIA ZAFFIRISAssociate Broker, GRI, CRS

410-251-6217 (CELL) • 410-208-9200 (offi ce)800-337-7368 Ext. 103 11065 Cathell Road, Berlin, MD 21811

[email protected]

UPDATED RANCHER

WORCESTER COUNTY - COMMERCIAL LAND

11640 Worcester Hwy ... with easy access to RT 113Had approval for 19,650 sq. ft. of Mini Storage. Drawings & survey available. 3.66 ACRES$349,900 (MLS #480481)

... this 3 BR/2 bath home with attached 2-car garage. Lots of updates, newer roof, siding, insu-lated windows. Kitchen has new tile, sink, faucet, counters, garbage dispos-al & fridge. New carpet, outside HVAC unit & just painted! Pellet stove in heated sunroom. Reduced to $177,900

OCEAN VIEW, DE.4 BR, 2.5BA in WEDGEWOODCOMMUNITYwith outdoor pool, tennis & playground. Minutes from

Beach in Bethany. Home freshly painted, new car-

pet at end of cul de sac lot. $259,900. (MLS 600493)

FRANKFORD, DE.5 ACRES READY

FOR A NEW HOME Previous home removed due to poor

condition. There is well and septic on site. Possible for horses.Address is 34106 Jones

Road. $79,900. (MLS #600490)

BACK ON THE MARKET - COME SEE THIS!

Contemporary 3BR/ 2 full baths rancher freshly

painted. Low maintenance landscaping & large black-

top driveway for plenty of parking. Gather ‘round

the fi replace in great room with cathedral ceiling.

Plus rear screened porch & roomy attached storage

shed. $169,900 (MLS #480567)

UNDER CONTRACT

UNDER CONTRACT

UNDER CONTRACT

POWELLVILLE ROAD1.48 ACRES LOT to build your new home! Approximately 15 miles to Ocean City & 10 miles to Salisbury. Septic permit & site evaluation on fi le. (MLS #482340.) $32,900

YOUR HOME ADVERTISED HEREList your home by April 30 For a FREE home warranty

& NO administration fees!


Specializing in Commercial and Residential window cleaning. Also offering: ~Vinyl Window Cleaning ~Chandelier Cleaning ~Gutter Cleaning ~Hard Water Spot Removal

Your local window cleaning company Call today for a FREE estimate

Reflections Window Cleaning

To Page 10

MARYANN O’MALLEY REALTOR

Licensed In MD & DE • REALTOR • CRS5000 Coastal Highway, Ocean City 21842Cell: 443-614-6212 • Offi ce: 410-641-5222

[email protected]

“Be On Vacation Every Day... Buy at the Beach”

Premier Properties

“Your Real Estate Connection at the Beach”

Market UpdateInventory is down, interest rates are down. Short sales and Foreclosures are down. When inventory is high, sellers have to keep lowering their price to be the ‘steal’ buyers are looking for. Looks like that’s changing...buy now before prices start to creep up! 7/08 6/12 3/13OC Condos for sale 1,600 995 889OP Homes for sale 374 178 168

Gorgeous home with open living space, desirable fl oor plan, hardwood and tile fl oors, fabulous dream kitchen, sunny fl orida room, 1st fl oor master, tons of storage space, closets everywhere, walk in at-tic, large loft area makes the perfect offi ce/den with room for extra guests, water views from many rooms, professional landscaping and hardscaping, 8K lb boat lift, minutes to the open water, no bridg-es! Nice wide canal with views of the river - see the O.C. skyline from your deck. stamped concrete driveway, 2 car garage. All this in amenity-fi lled Ocean Pines! $499,500 (481711)

WATERFRONT LIVING AT IT’S BEST!

From Page 7

Chesapeake utilities

Should the acquisition be approved by the PSC in the relatively near future, it seems unlikely that there will be any massive household and commercial con-version activity this year, but the prox-imity of a natural gas holding facility near Stephen Decatur High School and the nearby intermediate school could bode well for the conversion of these fa-cilities before next winter, a source told the Progress.

The filings indicate that in the first year of operation, all Newco customers would share in roughly $500,000 in sav-ings related to natural gas conversion in the county.

Board approves Yacht Club swimming pool contract Parrish Pools of Hunt Valley awarded project at slightly

less than $250,000


Parrish Pools of Hunt Valley, Md., has been awarded a $248,267 con-tract to build a new outdoor swim-

ming pool and install new pumps and fil-tration 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 inspec-tion in time for Memorial Day weekend, when Ocean Pines outdoor pools tradi-tionally open for the summer season.

Whether that target date is realistic remains to be seen.

Parrish can’t begin construction un-til demolition of existing pool and deck-ing is completed by Harkins Construc-tion, the general contractor responsible for deck demolition and raising up the pumphouse structure from below grade to the level of the pool decking.

Parrish is responsible for outfitting the pumphouse and pool with all the equipment needed to operate the pool as part of its contract with the OPA.

Demolition of the existing pool and

decking is expected to begin the week of March 11, Ocean Pines Association Gen-eral Manager, Bob Thompson said.

The vote approving the Parrish con-tract was 6-1, during a Feb. 20 board work session that dealt primarily with Fiscal Year 2014 budget issues. Director Marty Clarke dissented because he said the Parrish bid was more than $50,000 over the lowest bid for the pool project. He also said he checked references for Parrish in the local area and received mixed reports, with one area pool op-erator unaware of Parrish and another source giving the company a negative assessment.

OPA General Manager Bob Thomp-son, however, told the directors that his management team had evaluated the bids and determined that Parrish’s proposal was the best among those sub-mitted. In response to a question from Director Dave Stevens, Thompson said he had called references included in the Parrish bid and they all checked out, vouching for the company’s profession-alism.

In some cases, Thompson said that lower bids had old references that didn’t check out, or in another case the bidder used subcontractors rather than their personnel to complete the work.

The latter situation, he has said, has caused problems for the OPA in the past.

Thompson also said that he had discussed the proposed contract with Harkins Construction manager Don Smith, who Thompson said agreed with the Parrish recommendation. Harkins, under a change order subsequently ap-proved by the board for the Yacht Club project, is the general contractor for the pool reconstruction project, with Parrish considered a sub-contractor under Har-kins supervision.

Thompson told the board that the Parrish contract includes a two-pump system, necessary in case of a pump failure, and a four-filter filtration sys-tem that can replace all the water in the pool in six hours, as opposed to the eight hours allowed under state regulations.

He also said the new pool, to be built in the existing pool’s footprint but with-out a deep end, will include LED light-ing, a rounded coping stone perimeter and a Diamond Brite surface, that he said would be an improvement over standard plaster and will be sturdier and more aesthetically pleasing. He said Diamond Brite had been endorsed by the Aquatics Advisory Committee.

Thompson said these enhancements added about $48,000 to the cost of the pool but will be well worth the expense. No director objected to them.

OPA President Tom Terry noted that Parrish uses its own personnel to com-plete all aspects of pool construction, while the second place bidder uses sub-contractors, a factor that he said worked in Parrish’s favor.

Clarke told Thompson that Diamond Brite will crack and delaminate if the pool is not kept filled over the winter, an observation that the general manag-er did not contradict. Clarke also said he understood that Parrish had been involved in drawing up the request for proposals (RFP) for the project, a com-ment that produced some Thompson push-back.

“Walk carefully; it’s not what we did,”

the general manager told Clarke, who did not respond.

After Stevens signaled his support for the Parrish bid based on Thompson’s assurances that he had checked out ref-erences, Director Sharyn O’Hare moved to accept the Parrish recommendation, prompting additional board discussion after Director Ray Unger seconded the motion.

Thompson said the “cheapest price” is not always the best bid that produces the best product, and that his manage-ment team, including Facilities Coordi-nator Jerry Avela and Aquatics Director Tom Perry, had spent a lot of time pour-ing over and leveling the bids to come up with the Parrish recommendation.

That didn’t impress Clarke.“My duty is to the membership, not

the management team,” Clarke said.But in the end, his was the only dis-

senting vote.In a curious sidebar to the board’s

discussion and approval of the Parrish bid, OPA General Counsel Joe Moore made public the fact that one of the los-ing bidders had complained about the bid process in a recent conversation with

March-Early April 2013 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 9

$4995

A tune-up and safety check ensure your heatingsystem delivers peak performance and isoperating safely. You’ll enjoy these benefits:

• Reduced energy costs through greater efficiency

• Your heating equipment will last longer

• Prevention of costly breakdowns

• Peace of mind knowing your system is not leaking dangerous carbon monoxide into your home

OPP 9.75 x 11.5 heater tuneup_Layout 1 2/20/13 6:25 PM Page 1


public the fact that one of the losing bid-ders had complained about the bid pro-cess in a recent conversation with him.

He previously had shared the gist of that conversation with OPA officials. There is no indication that the bidder in question intends to pursue legal action against the OPA. Board members didn’t seem particularly concerned about the disclosure.

Moore did not detail the nature of the complaint in his public remarks.

In a related development, Thompson told the board that Harkins Construc-tion had agreed to accept $3,700 from the OPA as an add-on fee to supervise Parrish’s construction of the new Yacht Club pool.

From Page 8

Yacht Club pool

OPA board ratifies Thompson determination to keep

Yacht Club open this summerDirectors approve decision when they’re told that closing the amenity would only save about $11,000 in construction costs


Somewhat anticlimactically, the Ocean Pines Association board of directors during a Feb. 20 work

session on the budget agreed to General Manager Bob Thompson’s long-held de-termination to keep the old Yacht Club open this summer while construction of a new facility is under way nearby.

What persuaded most directors about the practicality of keeping the old Yacht Club open in a construction zone was the disclosure by Thompson that he was informed by Harkins Construction, con-tractor for the new building, that demol-ishing the old building before construc-tion on a new structure begins would only save the association about $11,000 in construction costs.

That amounts to a rounding error on

the $4.3 million cost that has been ap-proved by the board for the new Yacht Club.

Thompson told the board that re-opening the club for a St. Patrick’s Day special event in mid-March, after clos-ing it over the winter months, and then closing it immediately after Labor Day for good after a last summer of business,

will be a service to those who use the amenity on a regular basis.

Historically, the Yacht Club makes money for the association during the summer months, although this past August it managed only to break even. But Thompson suggested that keeping it open this summer would have no ad-verse effects financially on the associa-

tion and that it might even produce a surplus for the OPA. Thompson also said that having food service at the Yacht Club available this summer would be appreciated by those who visit the Yacht Club pool.

Director Ray Unger opined that it would be “silly” to close the Yacht Club this summer, but Director Dave Stevens, not persuaded by Thompson’s Harkins disclosure, said he’s doubtful that the new Yacht Club pool will be ready for use this summer and that if it is, patrons could be serviced from an outdoor grill.

“The alternative (to a full-service Yacht Club) is partial food service,” he said.

Director Dan Stachurski said the Yacht Club is popular with a “core group” and that he believes there will be a curiosity factor with the ongoing con-struction of a new building nearby that might attract customers.

He said that by closing down the old building immediately after Labor Day, and staying closed until the new build-ing is ready for occupancy, there is a good chance the amenity will meet or improve upon the $104,000 budgeted loss for the Yacht Club in Fiscal Year 2014.

The directors then went on to discuss whether the new building will be ready for an opening New Year’s Eve party, with the general tenor of discussion suggesting that, with some slippage al-ready in the timetable for construction, it won’t surprise any director if the new building isn’t open by New Year’s Eve.

Thompson said he remained optimis-tic about the timetable but said that if it isn’t met, the consequences of that would be lower than anticipated expens-es and, perhaps, a better bottom line.

He told the board that after a launch party sometime next winter, if the New Year’s Eve opening isn’t met, he prefers to have the new Yacht Club open for banquets only until a spring launch of a la carte dining.

One advantage to that approach is that it would not be necessary to oper-ate two kitchens during slower winter months, he said.

Some directors have asked Thompson to reconsider his preference for a go-it-

To Page 12

FREE 24/7 RECORDED INFO: 1-800-638-4502 PLUS EXT #Ocean Pines, The #1 Recreational Community

ON HIGH LOTOVERLOOKING 6TH TEEof Ocean Pines Golf course in presti-gious Bay Colony section. Well-built Nanticoke home with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, all appliances and huge sun-deck on the rear. REDUCED TO $169,900 with 1-YR. war-ranty. Call Ext. 792

Daytime Direct: 443-614-0970Nighttime Direct: 410-641-8164Offi ce: 410-524-6700

WATERFRONT HOME WITH ROOM TO BUILDSturdy rancher on huge bulheaded waterfront with 3 bedrooms. Fully functional but needs TLC. Most value in lot and huge carport. Deep water access to bay water. LOW TAXES & NO HOA. ONLY $216,000 WITH ONE-YEAR BUYER WARRANTY. Call EXTENSION 760

BAYVIEW 2BR + 2BAONLY $254,000!Mid-town OC condo w/2 large bedrooms & 2 full baths. Fur-nished with a great bay view and pool! Two blocks to beach, with traffi c light. Pristine condition, great rental. Buyer warranty. Call EXTENSION 770

FREE 24/7 RECORDED INFO: 1-800-638-4502 PLUS EXT #

REDUCED TO ONLY $157,500!Recently painted and carpet-ed with popular split-bedroom design for maximum privacy. Central heat and air condition-ing & all appliances included + one-year warranty. Has large screened porch. Short walk to park w/playground. Call EXTENSION 780

IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY!In turnkey condition w fresh paint & carpet, newer kitchen + all ap-pliances and READY NOW. Also incl. central heat & air & buyers warranty, Screen porch has golf view; large front porch has swing; near North Gate. NEW PRICE ONLY $165,000 with one-year WARRANTY. Call EXTENSION 789

NEW PARKE LISTINGFirst-time offered, large house on quiet cul-de-sac, close walk to mail pavillion, clubhouse and crabbing pier. Four bedrooms, 3 full baths large loft, separate living room, dining room, great room and sunroom. Needs some TLC. ONLY $287,500 WITH ONE-YEAR WARRANTY. Call EXTENSION 795

BETWEEN SEACRETS& FAGER’S ISLANDSuper location. One block to beach. Bayview from the elevated sundeck w/hot tub, whirlpool, fi tness room and outdoor pool. Common dock. Buyer warranty. ASKING $265,900. Call EXTENSION 775

PEACE & QUIET IN O.C.!You’re in another world in this peaceful Caine Woods neigh-borhood. Enormous 4 bedroom/ 4 bath Cape w 2 zone HVAC, 2 walk-in attics, large family, dining & living rooms + eat-in kitchen. 4 Seasons room overlooks huge yard. Warranty. REDUCED TO $429,000.Call EXTENSION 787

NEW PARKE HOME??Lived in only 18 days. All ap-pliances unused. One level liv-ing, great room for entertaining w/vaulted ceiling, huge, fully equipped, open kitchen, morn-ing room, living area with open fi replace, large separate dining room, sunroom, 3 Br + 2 Ba. Now only $275,000 with one-year Buyer Warranty. Call EXTENSION 794

NEWER CONDO, ONLY $180,000Gently used, 1st fl oor, 2 bedroom 2 full-bath in pristine condition. Nicely furnished with many NEW appliances & NEW HVAC sys-tem, in North O.C. Plenty of park-ing. Walk to parks, beach, tennis and movies. Asking $180,000 with one-year warranty. Call EXTENSION 793

CLEAN & BRIGHT HOUSEON LARGE, HIGH GOLF LOT... in prestigious Bay Colony section. Well-built Nanticoke home with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, all appliances and huge sundeck on the rear. RE-DUCED TO $169,000 with 1-YR BUYER WARRANTY.Call EXTENSION 792

Ocean City and Vicinity


www.firstshorefederal.com

Call Us Today! - Lot Purchases - Construction to Permanent Mortgages - Mobile Homes - Home Equity Loans & Lines

HOMELoansFROM START...

“Save timeand money

with just onesettlement on

our construction/permanent loan!”

11029 Racetrack Rd, Ocean Pines MD...410-208-1668310 Franklin Ave, Berlin MD..................410-641-035035742 Atlantic Ave, Ocean View DE.......302-537-5474

TO FINISH!

Patti Feeheley410-641-0350

Debbie Tingle410-208-1668

MoneySavingTip of

the Month

NMLS # 431561

OCEAN PINES

Carryout OR Delivery11073 Cathell Road, Ocean Pines, MD 21811

WEEKDAY SPECIALS* MONDAY ... Meatball Sub $699

410-208-6700www.mamadella.com

Ask About our Daily Dessert

WEEKDAY SPECIALS

New at Mama Della’sDVD/BLURAY

Rentals

PIZZA andA MOVIE

One FREE Rentalfor Signing Up!

* New Release Titles available 28 days before

Redbox and Netfl ix

FREE One Night Movie Rental with Purchase of Any Large Pizza

* TUESDAY ... Free Toppings on Any Large Or Medium Pizza

(Up to 3 Free Toppings)* WEDNESDAY ... 2 Large Pizzas $1999

* THURSDAYS ... Chicken Cheesesteak $699

NARFE meetingNARFE Chapter 2274 had as their February meeting guest speakers Michelle Parker, an Independent Living Specialist from Holly Community, Inc. and Zach Ironside, hearing Aid Dispenser from Audio Advantage Hearing Aid Center, both located in Salisbury. Shown from left: Zack Ironside, NARFE Chapter 2274 Presi-dent Arlene Page, and Michelle Parker. All active and retired Federal workers are invited to NARFE’s monthly meetings. The next meeting will be at the Woodlands of Ocean Pines, on March 28. Doors open 11 at a.m. The meeting starts at 11:30. Interested persons can call Arlene Page on 410-352-3749 for more information.


slow approach to the new facility. Direc-tor Sharyn O’Hare said she would prefer if it would operate on a four-day-a-week schedule next winter to take advantage of the curiosity factor associated with a new building.

The decision by the board to ratify Thompson’s decision to keep the exist-ing facility open this summer follows the approval of a motion offered by Di-rector Dan Stachurski in late January that directed Thompson to come back to the board with costs associated with de-molishing the existing Yacht Club before construction begins on a new one.

The applicable section of the motion read: “The General Manager is directed to estimate the impact on both the to-

From Page 10

Yacht Clubtal cost of the Yacht Club project and on the 2013-14 budget if the existing Yacht Club is closed and demolished at the onset of work on the site,” the mo-tion read. “If, in the considered opinion of the Board, the impact is favorable, the project plan, cost, and the budget will be adjusted accordingly.”

Stachurski’s motion put in Thomp-son’s court the task of coming up with cost estimates for a result that he per-sonally opposes, but he told the Progress that he will comply with the directive. He said that after he presented the board with the requested financial data, he expected that the board would concur with the decision to delay demolition of the existing building until after Labor Day.

Despite some skepticism voiced by Stevens, that’s exactly how it all turned out.

Thompson, Moorepoint out challenges

in pursuing delinquenciesBoard hears details of how recent motion

on tougher actions to collect overdue assessments will be implemented by using small claims court

By ROTA L. KNOTTContributing Writer

With nearly $1 million in delin-quent assessments owed to the Ocean Pines Association,

the board of directors is looking for ways to make property owners pay up.

During the Feb. 23 monthly board meeting, OPA General Manager Bob Thompson and Legal Counsel Joe Moore outlined the process of filing a lawsuit in small claims court. Both said the cost of filing claims, particularly those of more than $5,000, and defending them, could partially negate any award from the court.

Thompson said he was merely trying to point out some of the practical diffi-culties in trying to collect from delin-quent property owners using methods other than the traditional lien-and-fore-closure process.

In January, the board approved a motion made by director Marty Clarke instructing the general manager to pub-lish the names of association members who have failed to pay charges levied by the association in excess of $5,000 and initiate legal action against those members for all money due and rea-sonable attorney fees. In his motion, Clarke said that the OPA’s declaration of restrictions, articles of reinstatement and board resolution F4 actually require that such action be taken.

In response to that motion, Thomp-son gathered a committee comprised of the OPA’s controller, assessment super-visor, legal counsel, treasurer, assistant treasurer and budget and finance com-mittee chairman to review the financial impact on the association.

The committee recommended ex-empting delinquent property owners who have established a payment plan with the OPA from legal action and re-viewing all of the previous contact with those who owe back dues to determine if it is really likely the OPA will be able to collect the money from them. The committee also recommended initially exempting delinquent owners who live outside of Worcester County.

Clarke said he had no problem with either recommendation.

Thompson said the goal is to do some preliminary work “so the likelihood of recovery is improved and risk of throw-ing good money after bad” is reduced. “Let’s start it with a smaller group and see how it works out.” He said doing so limits the cost to the OPA as well as its risk “and we can see how the process works.”

Moore said pursuing claims of $5,000 or more require representation by an attorney even in small claims court. However, for amounts less than $5,000 anyone could represent the OPA by the judge in small claims court.

Clarke asked if the OPA could sue for an amount less than $5,000 and then later file suit to collect any remaining debt owed by the same property owner.

Moore said the court may not allow that. Instead, he suggested that it may be more practical for the association to simply sue those with large outstanding debts for $4,999 in order to avoid having his office involved in the small claims process.

“You can’t reserve that which you should have done and later sue on the same claim. Because the court is going to say you waived that claim,” Moore said. “Because it’s the same debt. It’s not a new debt.”

OPA President Tom Terry said prop-erty owners who don’t live in Worcester County also have the right to have their cases heard in the county where they reside, adding to the cost of any lawsuit for the association. The OPA can file the case in small claims court in Worcester County, but the owner can ask to have it

moved to their home county, Moore said.Thompson added that even if the

court finds for the OPA in small claims there is no guarantee of collecting the outstanding assessment money. He said the OPA will still need to try to garnish the wages of the property owner or their bank account.

There are 63 property owners, some of whom have made payment plans, cur-rently owing more than $5,000 to the OPA. Collectively they owe $355,000. Thompson said the estimated cost of pursuing those cases in court is $1,000 per case if the property owners contest the association’s claims of indebtedness.

Clarke said those costs become the responsibility of the property owner when the OPA wins the case.

Moore said the OPA can ask for reim-bursement of legal fees but “that is up to the court. They can reject it.”

Thompson outlined the current pro-cess for handling delinquent assessment accounts. He said any property owner who has not paid their assessment bill, which is due on May 1, will be sent an initial late payment notice on July 1 and a second in August. In September they will receive a certified letter that the OPA intends to file a lien on the proper-ty and in October such notices are post-ed on the property itself. Come Novem-ber the OPA actually files liens, and by the following year legal proceedings get under way. By February the “most egre-gious” cases are selected for action and foreclosure, Thompson said.

The OPA filed action in four or five cases that involved bank foreclosures in fiscal year 2013, 15 in 2012 and 26 in 2011. Thompson said he expects the FY 13 numbers to increase before the end of this fiscal year.

Additionally, property owners were in bankruptcy in nine cases in FY 13, five in 2012 and 9 in 2011.

In an effort to reduce the number of delinquent accounts, the OPA has made numerous “enhancements” to its collec-tion process including trying to contact property owners who are in arrears by phone and additional mailings, search-ing county records and websites and

To Page 14

Van’s Marine ServiceOne Stop Shop for Service & Boating Accessories

10438 Racetrack Rd., Berlin • 410-641-5204

For ‘tis green, green, green, where the ruined towers are gray,And it’s green, green, green, all the happy night and day;Green of leaf and green of sod, green of ivy on the wall,

And the blessed Irish shamrock with the fairest green of all.Mary Elizabeth Blake

O, the red rose may be fair,And the lily statelier;

But my shamrock, one in threeTakes the very heart of me!

Katherine Tynan

If you’re enough lucky to be Irish, you’re lucky enough!Irish Saying

HappySt. Patrick’s Day


Many homes built on crawl space foundations in the Eastern United States suffer from poor moisture management. Some of the common symptoms of a crawl space moisture problem are:

• Mold or moisture damage in the crawl space or living area• Musty odors in the living area• Condensation (“sweating”) on air conditioning ductwork or equipment• Condensation on insulation, water pipes or truss plates in the crawl space• Buckled hardwood fl oors• High humidity in the living area• Insect infestations• Rot in wooden framing members

Dry-Tek Environmental offers customized solutionsfor all your moisture and crawlspace issues.

Contact us today at 410-543-4848to schedule your free crawlspace assessment!!

Only $349 for a mold kill spray treatment.

Have You CheckedYour Crawlspace LATELY?

Before remediation ...

After remediation ...

818 Brown Street, Salisbury, MD 21804410-543-4848 • 866-476-4231

www.dry-tek.com

t


DBA OCEAN CITY MD RENTALS, LLC

Office: 443-664-2549 [email protected]

www.RentingOceanCity.com 11551 COASTAL HIGHWAY, SUITE 4

OCEAN CITY, MD 21842 Each office independently owned and operated.

Call today to discuss how we can make your rental property work for you!

We offer a full range of property management services to help you get the maximum return on your rental!

CROSSROADS - RENTALS

even performing Internet searches to lo-cate absentee owners. All of that is done to try to at least get them on a payment plan with the OPA.

For delinquent 2012 fiscal year as-sessments, 250 property owners are cur-rently on payment plans as compared to 121 for FY 2011. “These are the folks who have made regular payments,” Thompson said, but added that there are others who make sporadic payments as well.

“We have worked very, very hard for those who are in delinquency to engage with them in any way,” Thompson said, adding that a lot of people are struggling

DelinquenciesFrom Page 12

financially. The increase in the number of property owners on payment plans is the result of the OPA’s efforts to follow up with those in delinquency.

OPA President Tom Terry said that for property owners who are in debt to the association, setting up a payment plan “might hold off foreclosure.” But if they do not follow through with mak-ing payments “then you go through the whole process and just keep going,” he said.

The OPA also offered property own-ers the opportunity to take advantage of a prepayment plan to pay their current assessments in segments prior to the May 1 due date. Thompson said that is a program “for those who don’t want to see a large bill” come in the spring. “In-

terestingly enough, we’ve seen a large increase in those as well,” he said.

For FY 2013 the OPA had 169 on a prepayment plan, as compared to 164 in 2012 and 133 in 2011.

Director Dan Stachurski asked for clarification about the voting rights of property owners who are on payment plans for past due assessments versus those who are prepaying assessments for an upcoming fiscal year. Those who are paying back assessments are not eligible to vote in board elections or referendums or to purchase amenity memberships; property owners who are prepaying their assessments have full rights to do all of those things as long as their dues are paid in full by their May 1 due date.

OCEAN PINES

OPA slips back ‘modestly’ into the red in JanuaryYacht Club still loses

$28,000 for the month despite winter closure


The Ocean Pines Association slipped back into the red in Jan-uary, but only modestly, recording

a $6,272 operating fund variance for the month. Revenues were under budget by $35,979, while expenses were under budget by $29,707, resulting in very lit-tle change in the association’s cumula-tive financial performance for the fiscal year.

According to Controller Art Carmine’s financial report for January, made pub-lic in mid-February, the association’s cumulative operating fund variance for the year so far is a negative $346,379, reflecting revenues under budget by $524,058 and expenses under budget by $210,976. New capital spending is over budget by $33,297.

The Yacht Club’s operating deficit for the month was $28,474, $6,996 better than the forecasted deficit of $35,470. Still, the loss was actually greater than the amenity’s $25,861 loss in December, after which OPA General Manager Bob

Thompson and Yacht Club Food and Beverage Manager Dave McLaughlin closed the club down for the season.

Somewhat ironically, the club lost more in a month when it was closed than when it was open. Closure did not mean that all expenses simply van-ished. Wages and benefits for the month topped $17,000, services and supplies came in just above $3,500, utilities cost about $6,000, and other costs came in at

$1,900. Net revenues of $134 were insuf-ficient to offset these costs.

By closing the facility, the OPA saved money relative to budget in wages and benefits, services and supplies and util-ities. For instance, the approved bud-get had forecast $40,848 for the month in wages and benefits, but the actual amount was $17,114, $23,731 better than budget.

The utilities’ savings was about

$3,000, and the services and supplies line item had a $3,700 positive variance to budget.

Through the first nine months of the year, the Yacht Club has an actual loss of $105,725, with a negative variance to budget of $108,681.

Golf is the worst performing amenity three quarters into the fiscal year, with a year-to-date actual loss of $288,086

t

OPA financesFrom Page 14


OPA Net Financial Operations through Jan. 31, 2013

and a negative variance to budget of $305,907.

Golf and golf-related food and bev-erage operations (Terns Grille and up-stairs at the Country Club) performed better than budget by $16,422, but still lost $51,817 for the month. Aquatics lost $29,210 for the month, with a $6,832 negative variance to budget.

Golf generated revenues of $35,670 for the month, which exceeded the bud-geted forecast of $29,510, for a $6,160 positive variance. Merchandise, food and beverage costs totaling $9,942 ex-ceeded budget by slightly more than $9,000, resulting in net revenues of

$25,727. That was $2,846 less than the budgeted forecast of $28,574.

Unlike December, when a Prog-ress analysis showed that golf-related food and beverage operations more or less broke even, January generated a loss. Food and beverage revenues were $10,543; net revenues were $5,748. Food and beverage labor came in at $7,500.

Aquatics for January produced a $29,210 operating loss against a budget-ed loss of $22,378, for a negative vari-ance to budget of $6,832. For the year, aquatics is in the red by $63,108, with a negative variance to budget of $81,407, proving rather definitively that aquatics was aggressively budgeted for the year.

Among the departments funded mostly from lot assessments, police, rec-

reation, and public works all produced negative variances to budget. The po-lice department’s negative variance was $11,376, followed by recreation’s $10,629 and public works’ $9,219.

Status of reserves – A reserve sum-mary released as part of the January financials shows that the OPA’s total re-serve balance through Jan. 31 stood at $6,207,642, a modest drop from Decem-ber’s $6,397,755 balance. November’s balance was $6,991,574.

The balance in the roads reserve is a negative $53,746, compared to $411,039 at the end of November and $14,095 at the end of December, reflecting pay-ments for road repaving completed last year.

The bulkhead and waterways reserve

also has fallen from December’s balance of $681,147. The Jan. 31 balance is $566,890, reflecting $496,481 in bulk-head replacement expenses for the fiscal year, against $822,367 in assessment contributions, mostly from the water-front assessment differential.

The major maintenance and re-placement reserve remains as the OPA reserve most flush with earmarked as-sessment dollars. Its Jan. 31 balance of $5,576,667 is little changed from De-cember’s $5,579,803 balance.

The reserve summary indicates that $1,234,234 comes from the five-year funding plan stream of revenue with an-other $4,342,433 attributable to histori-cal depreciation expense and prior year allocations to this reserve from assess-ment revenues.

The approved $4.3 million expenditure for a new Yacht Club will take a substantial bite out of the major mainte-nance and replacement reserve whenever it is spent. The intent when the current year’s bud-get was approved last February was to spread the construction cost over at least two fiscal years.

Each year, the OPA collects between $3 mil-lion and $4 million in assessment dollars that are allocated to various reserves. What is deplet-ed in the form of capital expenditures is replen-ished by this infusion of new assessments.

Casino revenues – The OPA continues to reap local impact funds for casino operations at Ocean Downs and elsewhere in the state. Through November, the OPA had collect-ed $435,562 in casino funds. The December balance sheet showed that number reduced to $49,562, with $400,000 of casino money trans-ferred to the roads re-serve, consistent with board of directors policy.

The Jan. 31 balance sheet shows that the casino fund has grown to $63,918 from Decem-ber’s $49,562, meaning that total funds collect-ed from casino operation through January total $463,918. The pattern indicates a slowdown in casino impact funds flowing to the OPA. The board of directors last year decided to use ca-sino funds for road im-provements, beginning in the current fiscal year.


Reserve warsFrom Page 1

q

Eastern Shore Gas Company11934 Ocean Gateway, Suite 11Ocean City, MD 21842410-524-7060 (24 Hrs.)800-430-3222 (Pocomoke City Only)

Tank, Cylinder and Bulk Delivery in Worcester County & Surrounding Areas

Would you like to earn incomeon your investments and mitigate risk?

Carrie R. Dupuie, AAMSFinancial Advisor215 N. Main StreetBerlin, MD 21811

410-208-1704

©2012 Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC ©2012 Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.,member FINRA/SIPC Raymond James is a regis-tered trademark of Raymond James Financial, Inc.

Call me and let me show you how you can start earning income.

He devised a motion for consideration at the Feb. 23 meeting that would have accomplished that, while also reducing the assessment consistent with Clarke’s failed attempt to do so a few days earlier.

But Stevens lost Unger, most likely because his colleague was not sold on the idea of shifting funds to pay for more drainage improvements on the golf course. Thompson has said he will consider adding funds to the golf drainage reserve, and resuming drainage improvements, in Fiscal Year 2015.

Even so, the two failed attempts to reduce or eliminate the assessment increase next year had three directors in favor of competing proposals on how

to do so. The 4-3 split was not evident to those who witnessed board action approving the budget Feb. 23 and could foreshadow some intense board debate when the board tackles reserve funding levels in more detail later this summer.

Thompson has been given a June deadline to compile and submit for board review a “racking and stacking” of proposed capital spending projects in the coming years. In recent conversations with the Progress, OPA President Tom Terry and Director Dan Stachurski have indicated they are keenly interested in that proposed capital spending list.

Stachurski has said that he wants to compare that “racking and stacking” against projected reserve balances over the next five to ten years, with an eye towards determining whether projected funding streams into those reserves are sufficient to pay for all that projected spending for capital improvements and asset replacement. He explicitly said that it’s possible that in fact the OPA could be collecting more than is necessary to pay for anticipated projects.

“It’s possible that we’re collecting too much and if we are, it’s possible we can reduce the assessment (from where it will be in Fiscal Year 2014),” Stachurski said.

Neither Stachurski nor Terry were willing to cut the assessment this year before Thompson completes his racking-and-stacking exercise, and they formed the four-member core of directors who supported the portion of next year’s assessment increase related to funding the reserves.

Terry told the Progress he was unwilling to abort the five-year funding plan because he’s not sure that the present level of assessment contributions from property owners isn’t necessary to fund future big-ticket capital projects.

That position incenses Clarke, who said that having too much money in reserves serves as a temptation to spend foolishly. He cited the board’s aborted effort to purchase the Pine Shore Golf property in an all-cash offer that he said would have depleted the association’s replacement reserve by just less than $1.5 million had the bank that owns the property accepted the OPA’s offer.

To Clarke’s way of thinking, there is no way the association will be able to spend the roughly $40 million that will be extracted from property owners in the form of reserve contributions over the next ten years, based on the current’s year’s reserve funding of $3.9 million.

“We treat our replacement fund as a slush fund to pay for unbudgeted items,” he said, citing golf green replacement and the Sports Core pool enclosure as examples. “We need to have less money in the reserves available for that sort of unbudgeted spending in future years.”

Playing some role in the board majority’s support for a 2014 assessment increase was a document prepared by former board member and current assistant treasurer Pete Gomsak, who


q

Reserve warsFrom Page 16

Little support from boardfor Stevens’ motion to reduce

2014 assessment increaseProposal would have funneled money from

reserve to roads repaving and golf course drainage


Director Dave Stevens’ proposal to slash the property assessment increase in the fiscal year 2013-

14 Ocean Pines Association budget and redirect other funding from reserves to road and golf course improvements failed to garner majority support during a Feb. 23 board meeting.

Stevens offered a motion to reduce the overall budget by $760,230, or a to-tal of $90 per property in assessment dollars, and to make further budget ad-justments that would have reduced this year’s proposed assessment increase by $30. The proposal failed in a 5-2 vote of the board. Director Marty Clarke joined Stevens in voting for it.

By reducing the contribution to the depreciation-linked “historic” compo-nent of the major maintenance and re-placement reserve fund, Stevens said $337,880, or $40 per property, could be placed in the golf drainage reserve. That would have allowed the OPA to start work on drainage improvements at two holes this coming year, taking no more than one hole out of play at a time. Ad-ditionally, $168,940, or $20 per property, could be directed into the road reserve fund, Stevens said.

Stevens argued that those proposed adjustments to the budget would begin to restore the balance of the “historic” component of the replacement reserve to its originally intended balance of $2.5 to $3 million. At the same time, he said his proposal took into account the fact that the historic component must re-main somewhat inflated until the mon-ey borrowed from it for other projects is returned and an adequate balance is maintained. He said that based on the OPA’s proposed FY 14 budget during the next four years, the historic compo-nent of the replacement reserve fund’s balance will still be well more than its originally intended goal.

Under his proposal, Stevens said the so-called five-year funding plan, includ-ing operational deficit recovery, would continue as planned through its final year.

Redirecting funds to the roads re-serve would complement the money pro-vided by the Ocean Downs Casino that the association has designated for roads improvements, Stevens said. He added that it would bring the roads reserve contribution closer to where it was when state highway user funds were available. It would enable the continuation of the aggressive and well-planned program that was in place before the funds were cut. It would also support the necessary bridge repair work that is required this year, he said.

Redirecting funds to the golf drain-age reserve would enable the more rap-id completion of what he said had been

a very successful golf drainage program that until a few years ago was approved by multiple boards of directors over a period of five years, Steven said.

“We’ve invested a lot of money in the golf course,” he said, adding that now is not the time to get sidetracked. “We have holes that are in really bad con-dition and have been for a long time. This is a well worthwhile expenditure of funds to do this.”

Clarke gave a second to Stevens’ mo-tion, saying he did not see any negative long term effects of the revisions to the reserve funds. The OPA “will still have $7 million in the bank” in May of 2014, he said, with golf course green replace-ment and a new Yacht Club fully paid for, with the “historic” component of the replacement reserve in effect providing the financing for it.

Stevens said his proposal would have no impact on providing funding for the OPA’s “replacement needs going into the future,” a list that includes both large and small projects. “I would maintain that it has no effect on that list,” he told his colleagues.

He further said the board never in-tended the replacement reserve to cover major projects. He said the OPA’s five-year plan was created to fund items that would cost more than $500,000.

OPA President Tom Terry said the money in the historic component of the replacement reserve fund is there to cover the cost of “real deprecation for things that will have to be replaced.” He said Stevens’ motion was an inaccurate oversimplification of the reserve fund’s purpose.

“You’re talking about utilizing the depreciation of an asset. You are redi-recting the depreciation of this asset in order to pay for something else,” he told Stevens. “So that we don’t have to mon-ey to replace this other asset.”

plays an outsized role in influencing board budget policy despite opting not to run for reelection last summer. Current OPA treasurer Terri Mohr has made no secret of the fact that she relies on Gomsak’s expertise as a certified public accountant, more than once admitting that she lacks expertise in the arcana of budgets and financial management and that she is “smart enough” to seek expert advice given her background.

Gomsak’s document, titled overview of replacement reserve account, purports to show a funding shortfall in that reserve of $10,101,000 as of April 30, 2012. A copy of that overview was circulated to board members prior to the board vote raising the assessment by $41 in next year’s budget.

It appears to have had an impact.The document lists depreciable

assets held by the association, at cost, in the amount of $25,829,000, excluding roads, and accumulated depreciation of OPA assets, also excluding roads, of $13,403,000. Roads were excluded from the depreciation total because, historically, the OPA has not funded roads depreciation or used the replacement reserve to fund road improvements.

The document then itemizes the amount in the historical replacement reserve at $3,202,000 as of April 30, 2012. Subtracting $3,202,000 from $13,403,000 yields what the document calls a shortfall of $10,101,000.

Clarke and Stevens, when questioned by the Progress about the alleged shortfall, both called it a meaningless number.

“It suggests that for some reason we need to have enough in our reserves to cover the cost of our accumulated depreciation,” Clarke said, “or even worse, the replacement costs of all our depreciable assets. That’s crazy. We don’t need that kind of money. We will never in a million years need to replace all of our assets in any single year. We need to have resources to pay for asset replacements that can be anticipated over a reasonable period of time.”

Based on the current $3.9 million earmarked for reserve contributions in next year’s budget, roughly $40 million will be collected from property owners in the next ten years and earmarked for the reserves. Subtracting roughly $10 million of that for bulkhead replacement – there’s a separate reserve fund for that purpose -- that would leave roughly $30 million that could be spent on anything from new police cars to renovation of the Country Club, or even the resumption of golf drainage improvements that Stevens has been very publicly advocating throughout the recently concluded budget process for Fiscal Year 2014.

“There is no way in hell that we will need $30 million or even $25 million for all of our capital needs in the next ten years,” Clarke said. “And if we don’t need


Director Dan Stachurski said the es-timates for replacing the OPA’s facilities “are changing rapidly” and many are no longer usable because they are so old. He said the general manager has been charged with putting together a new capital plan for review by the board in June.

“I can’t sit here and agree that tak-ing $30 out of the reserves is right or wrong at this time. All I know is if you don’t have that $30 in the reserves in June, where are you going to get it?” Stachurski said. He told Stevens that he has “got a lot of changing to do here if you want to start changing these num-bers.”

Pete Gomsak, assistant OPA treasur-er and a former board member, present-ed an overview of the replacement re-serve account as of April 30 of last year. He said the question of how much mon-ey is needed in the replacement reserve account continues to surface.

Gomsak said the purpose of the ac-count was to deposit annually in that reserve an amount to cover depreciation expense for OPA facilities and to with-draw from it all the required funding for all those items that are being replaced in a given year.

The way the OPA has chosen to fund its replacement of capital items is by in-corporating depreciation into the annual dues, he said. Since the OPA has chosen to fund depreciation, it should have in that reserve account at any given time the amount of money equal to the depre-ciation for all of the association’s assets, Gomsak said.

He added that as of April 2013, ac-cumulated depreciation was at $19 mil-

Stevens’ motionFrom Page 17

lion, of which about $5.7 million is for roads, which were traditionally fund-ed not through the annual assessment but by state highway user funds. Theo-retically, he said, that means the OPA should have more than $13 million in the reserve fund for depreciation but really has a little more than $3 million.

At the same time the replacement cost for the facilities is increasing. “In-flation, ladies and gentleman, has taken its toll,” Gomsak said. The OPA has been putting money into the reserve accounts to cover depreciation of its facilities but there is not enough to cover replacement expenses, he said.

“There are many ways to use depreci-ation,” Stevens said, adding “those ways are what we’re talking about.”

He later said there is no reason why the OPA needs to have in the replace-ment reserve a balance sufficient to cov-er the depreciation of OPA assets.

Clarke also told the Progress in a subsequent conversation that Gomsak’s view is wrong because it never will be necessary to replace all of the OPA’s as-sets in any given year. He said Gomsak’s view would lead to significant overfund-ing of the replacement over time and as-sessments much higher than they need to be to cover capital spending in the fu-ture, along with routine replacement of lower cost items.

Stachurski said Stevens’ motion would transfer money from the historic reserve fund for use for purposes other than that which the fund was estab-lished. Therefore, the motion would have to be approved by a super majority of the board, with 5 out of 7 directors voting in favor, he said.

As it turned out, the motion didn’t garner a majority vote, let alone a su-per-majority.

OPA board adopts $13.56 million budget

for next yearAssessments to increase by $41, $2 less than in general manager’s draft budget. Most amenity fees to increase by five percent, as initially proposed. Most of the assessment increase is attributed to the final year of the so-called five-year funding plan.


After almost two months of at times tedious diving into the weeds of the proposed Ocean Pines Associ-

ation budget for Fiscal Year 2013-14, the board of directors on Feb. 23 approved it with relatively little drama.OPA Director Dave Stevens, support-ed by Director Marty Clarke, tried but failed to convince his colleagues to cut the base lot assessment embedded in the budget by a significant amount.[See separate story elsewhere in this edition of the Progress for details.]

The approved budget calls for a $41 assessment increase, $2 less than pro-posed in General Manager Bob Thomp-son’s draft budget, and a five percent in-crease in most amenity fees, those that haven’t seen any change in the past five year.

Base lot assessments will increase from $873 to $914. Assessment invoic-es should be arriving in property owner mailboxes very soon. Those who pay up promptly are eligible to purchase pre-paid annual memberships in golf, swim-ming and tennis.

The approved budget calls for de-partmental revenues of $9,686,289 and expenditures of $9,606,784, very close

this year’s predicted actual performance.The approved budget also anticipates

another year of hefty capital expendi-tures from reserves, $4,330,100, much of it related to construction and equipping and furnishing of a new Yacht Club.

In addition to $3.3 million in Yacht Club construction expenses – some ex-penditures for the new facility are be-ing incurred this year – the approved budget includes $184,400 for new Yacht Club kitchen equipment and $39,000 for new furniture.

Other significant capital expen-ditures included in the budget are $100,000 for a new dump truck, $60,000 for Sports Core pool resurfacing, and $60,000 for new golf cart batteries.

[See the complete capital expenditure list published elsewhere in this edition.]

Another $55,005 to be expended in Sports Core pool enclosure loan principal brings total budgeted spending for next year to $13,991,889. It balances with a total revenue number of an equivalent

to Thompson’s draft budget, which had revenues and expenses balanced at $9,667,408.

These totals, in turn, were very close to what the board approved a year ago for the current fiscal year. The current year’s budgeted departmental revenue number is $9,696,358; budgeted depart-mental expenditures are $9,623,819.

Relative to forecasts for actual de-partment performance this year, howev-er, the approved budget represents more significant changes.

On the revenue side, the current

year’s forecast is $8,986,595. The ap-proved departmental revenue budget calls for $699,694 more in revenue than this year’s predicted actual performance.

On the expenditure side, the current year’s forecast is $9,269,521. The ap-proved departmental expense budget calls for $337,263 more in spending over To Page 20


BUILDERS-

EASTERN SHORE, INC.

410-352-3439

J & A

Skip Lyons

REALTOR VA & MD Cell: 443-235-0200 Office: 1-888-241-9590 [email protected] www.Skip.Lyons.pcragent.com 37054 State Line Rd., P.O. Box 28 Greenbackville, VA 23356

8660 Whaleyville Road Whaleyville, MD 21872

MHBR NO. 4790

J & A Builders specializes in spec home sales and new home construction. All of our models are “stick built” and feature a first floor master site with a whirlpool tub, separate shower and ceramic tile floors. These are a few of our models that we can build on your lot.

2 story Contemporary Home has 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Great Room, Kitchen, Dinette, Dining Room, Loft, Rear Deck and 2 Car Garage. 2050 SQFT $188,559

Two-story Contemporary Home has 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Living Room, Formal Dining Room, kitchen, Dinette, Rear Deck and 2 Car Garage. 1874 SQFT $170,309

Ranch Style Home has 3 Bed-rooms, 2 Baths, Living Room, kitchen, Dining Area, and Rear Deck. 1 Car Garage 1349 SQFT $126,590

The DOLPHIN

The BARRACUDA The MARLIN

Two-story Contemporary Home has 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Area, Loft, Family Room. 2300 SQFT $224,802

The GRAND TARPON

Ranch Style Home with 3 Bedrooms 2 Baths, Screened Porch, and Appliance Package. 1304 SQFT $119,173

The PERCH

Two-story Contemporary Home has 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Area, Loft, Rear Deck and 2 Car Garage. 1696 SQFT $155,625

The TARPON

Ranch Style Home has 3 Bed-rooms, 2 Baths, Kitchen, Dining area, Breakfast Nook, Great Room, 2 Car Garage, and Rear Deck. 1527 SQFT $166,412

The SAILFISH

Ranch Style Home has 3 Bed-rooms, 2 Baths, Kitchen, Din-ing Area, Great Room, 1 Car Garage, and Rear Deck. 1408 SQFT $145,644

The WAHOO

Note: Above prices include all appliances and builders standards, but do not include cost of lot and are subject to change.

BUILDERS-

EASTERN SHORE, INC.

410-352-3439

J & A

Skip Lyons

REALTOR VA & MD Cell: 443-235-0200 Office: 1-888-241-9590 [email protected] www.Skip.Lyons.pcragent.com 37054 State Line Rd., P.O. Box 28 Greenbackville, VA 23356

8660 Whaleyville Road Whaleyville, MD 21872

MHBR NO. 4790

J & A Builders specializes in spec home sales and new home construction. All of our models are “stick built” and feature a first floor master site with a whirlpool tub, separate shower and ceramic tile floors. These are a few of our models that we can build on your lot.

2 story Contemporary Home has 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Great Room, Kitchen, Dinette, Dining Room, Loft, Rear Deck and 2 Car Garage. 2050 SQFT $188,559

Two-story Contemporary Home has 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Living Room, Formal Dining Room, kitchen, Dinette, Rear Deck and 2 Car Garage. 1874 SQFT $170,309

Ranch Style Home has 3 Bed-rooms, 2 Baths, Living Room, kitchen, Dining Area, and Rear Deck. 1 Car Garage 1349 SQFT $126,590

The DOLPHIN

The BARRACUDA The MARLIN

Two-story Contemporary Home has 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Area, Loft, Family Room. 2300 SQFT $224,802

The GRAND TARPON

Ranch Style Home with 3 Bedrooms 2 Baths, Screened Porch, and Appliance Package. 1304 SQFT $119,173

The PERCH

Two-story Contemporary Home has 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Area, Loft, Rear Deck and 2 Car Garage. 1696 SQFT $155,625

The TARPON

Ranch Style Home has 3 Bed-rooms, 2 Baths, Kitchen, Dining area, Breakfast Nook, Great Room, 2 Car Garage, and Rear Deck. 1527 SQFT $166,412

The SAILFISH

Ranch Style Home has 3 Bed-rooms, 2 Baths, Kitchen, Din-ing Area, Great Room, 1 Car Garage, and Rear Deck. 1408 SQFT $145,644

The WAHOO

Note: Above prices include all appliances and builders standards, but do not include cost of lot and are subject to change.

SKIP LYONS, REALTOR, VA. & MD.Cell: 443-235-0200 • Office: 1-888-241-9590SkipLyons@PenFedRealty.comwww.SkipLyons.pcragent.com37054 State Line Road, PO Box 28Greenbackville, VA. 23356

Captain’s Corridor • $181,850

The TARPON 2012

MODEL OF THE MONTH$156,625*Turn Key on Your Captain’s Cove Lot (Lot Clearing by Owner)

• 100% Stick Built • 1696 Sq. Ft. • Quality in Every Detail• Two-story Contemporary• Master Suite • 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths• Volume Ceilings • Circle Top Window• Energy Star Appliance Package• Screened Porch • Loft • 2-Car Garage

Ranch-style home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, screened porch, and appli-ance package. 1304 sq. ft. $120,273

Ranch-style home with 3 bed-rooms, 2 baths, kitchen, dining area, great room, 1-car garage and rear deck. 1404 sq. ft. $145,644

Ranch-style home with 3 bed-rooms, 2 baths, kitchen, dining area, breakfast nook, great room, 2-car garage and rear deck. 1527 sq. ft. $166,412

Ranch-style contemporary home home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, kitchen, dining area, loft, rear deck, great room, 12x24 garage. 1496 sq. ft. $152,088

Two-story contemporary home home with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, living room, formal dining, kitchen, dinette, rear deck, 2-car garage. 1874 sq. ft. $170,309

Two-story contemporary home home with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, great room, kitchen, dinette, dining room, loft, rear deck and 2-car ga-rage. 2050 sq. ft. $188,559

OTHER MODELS AVAILABLE

TURNKEY MODELPACKAGES

Call Skip Lyons 443-235-0200

Your Ocean Pines/Captain’s Cove Builder

The PERCH The WAHOO

The SAILFISH The DOLPHIN 2012

The MARLIN The BARRACUDA

* Ocean Pines Prices Higher Due to Worcester County’s Sprinkler System requirement

2012 BRER Affi liates, Inc. An independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affi liates Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc., and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license with no other other affi liation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity. Prudential PenFed is an independently owned and operated member of BRER Affi liates, Inc. PenFed membership is not required to conduct business with Prudential PenFed Realty

Great Layout!! Fan-tastic value. Large rooms with easy flow throughout, 3BR, 2 1/2 BA Tar-pon model by J & A Builders. Ask about 100% Financing.

Home/Lot Packages available Ask us about

Home/Lot packageswith 100% fi nancing


amount, including capital from reserves.The approved budget notably bud-

gets deficits in golf operations, aquatics and the Yacht Club, with all three bud-geted for improvement over current year forecasts.

The approved $41 increase in as-sessments includes $26 for the five-year funding plan component of the major maintenance and replacement reserve and another $4 for the operating fund recovery reserve. Another $3 is going toward amortizing golf drainage im-provements, with $8 attributable to in-creases in operating costs. As part of its budget guidance in preparation of next year’s spending plan, the directors told staff that it should strive not to increase the operations side of the budget, a goal missed by only $8.

The $26 for the five-year funding plan represents the fifth and final year of that program, which was designed to collect additional resources for major capital expenditures over time, to help with the replacement , rehabilitation or repairs of Ocean Pines’ inventory of aging facilities. The $4 allocated to the operating fund recovery reserve will go to offset OPA operating losses from 2007 to 2009.

The approved increases in amenity membership fees – golf, swimming and tennis fees among them-- do not in-clude Beach Club parking fees, marina fees and weekly pool and tennis mem-berships, which have been increased in recent years. But daily user fees at the pools are increasing by $1, with the cost of an electronic pools pass increasing by $5 to $35.

The approved spending plan includes increases in salary and related costs of 1.7 percent over what was approved for the current year, but 4.7 percent over

the most current projections.The approved budget anticipates that

golf operations, projected to lose about $500,000 in the current fiscal year, will improve next year to a $350,000 loss.

The approved budget forecasts an operating loss of $105,000 in Yacht Club food and beverage operations next year, compared to this year’s forecasted loss of $142,000. That’s based on the assump-tion that the old facility will close for good immediately after Labor Day and the new Yacht Club will open for the first time for a New Year’s Eve party. The budget also assumes that next win-ter the new facility will be open only for banquets, but that may change, as some OPA board members are urging Thomp-son to open it four days a week for regu-lar dining during winter.

The Yacht Club budget is some-what speculative because no one knows whether in fact the new facility will be open by the target date. If not, Thomp-son said it could actually help the bot-tom line because operating expenses during a time of the year when the Yacht Club loses money would probably be re-duced from what otherwise could be an-ticipated.

Changes in the approved budget from what had been included in the draft bud-get in January were relatively modest.

In addition to decreasing the assess-ment by $2, the approved budget de-creased supply expense by $504, added sponsorship revenue to the recreation department in the amount of $7,000, and added $34,050 in projected marina revenues.

The draft budget had included no “new capital” items funded out of the current year’s assessment, but the board added a handful of capital expenditures, including $1,000 for a batting cage at the Southside ballfield, $6,000 for secu-rity cameras and $2,000 for an AED unit at the Community Center.

OPA budgetFrom Page 18

OPA board disposes of numerous policy issues

in run-up to budget OKDirectors elect not to fund roads

depreciation by increasing lot assessments even more than

the $41 increase that’s been adopted for Fiscal Year 2014

By TOM STAUSS

Publisher

As the board of directors continued to labor over the 2013-14 Ocean Pines Association budget in the

run-up to its formal adoption Feb. 23, the OPA’s elected policy-makers dis-cussed and finally resolved numerous policy issues that arose during their budget review sessions that took place in the latter part of January and Feb-ruary.

The directors:l Reduced the proposed increase in

base lot assessments from $43 to $41, with $11 of that attributable to opera-tions and $30 for increases in contribu-tions to the OPA’s reserve fund.l decided not to fund $384,000 in

roads depreciation or to incorporate that expense into the roads reserve, after OPA Art Carmine told them that roads depreciation has never been funded in his years with the OPA and that roads depreciation is not, nor ever has been, reflected in the OPA’s replacement re-serve balance.

OPA Director Marty Clarke had pro-

posed shifting roads depreciation out of the replacement reserve to the roads reserve, but Carmine said in effect that such a shift can’t be done because roads depreciation is not “parked” in the re-placement reserve to begin with.

Once it became evident that roads depreciation has never been funded, on the theory that road maintenance has had a dedicated funding source, for many years state gasoline tax revenues and more recently casino local impact funds, directors voiced little interest in starting to fund it through the lot as-sessment. That apparently would have required an assessment increase over and above that which had already been baked into the budget, and there was no appetite for that. l agreed not to increase the police

budget by $100,000 or more to reflect additional revenue the board hopes to collect from Worcester County officials after an energetic lobbying effort for more county funding.l inserted batting cages back into

the capital budget at a cost of $1,000.l vetoed paving the Beach Club

parking lot to squeeze out a few more parking spaces.l heard a report from OPA General

Manager Bob Thompson that hazard insurance for Ocean Pines swimming pools, currently not covered, is not avail-able as a rider to existing policies, nor can it be purchased separately. l decided to accept Thompson’s rec-

ommendation not to demolish the old Yacht Club before launching construc-tion of a new facility. l decided not to cut the police de-

partment budget from what had been proposed in Thompson’s original budget draft. Clarke had advised his colleagues that the proposed budget was $258,538 more than the department’s five-year average, equivalent to $30.66 per Ocean Pines property. His colleagues were not persuaded to make any changes in the police budget, with Director Sharyn O’Hare voicing strong opposition to any cuts.l took no action for budgetary pur-

poses on asking individual employees to share in the cost of their health insur-ance premiums (additional family mem-bers require cost-sharing). Discussion of this topic during the January review sessions suggested that there wasn’t a board majority that would favor this change in time to affect the 2014 budget.l opted not to set aside $320,000

representing $27 in higher lot assess-ments in the golf drainage reserve to pay for drainage work currently under way on holes 12 and 13 and Hingham

q


HOMECOndO & OutdOOr r.E. pOwEllCOnvEntiOn CEntEr40th Street Ocean City, Md

FRIDAY 12 – 6 • SAtuRDAY 10 – 6 • SuNDAY 10:30 – 3:30

and art & Craft Fair

MARCH 8 • 9 • 10

www.Oceanpromotions.info [email protected]

EnJOY tHE SHOw SpECiAlS & SEE tHESE prOS Builders • Remodelers • Contractors • Landscapers • Painters • Plumbers • Carpenters • Electricians • Pools & Spas Stone Products • Security Systems • Doors & Windows • Roofing • Siding & Gutters • Flooring & Wall CoveringsAppliances • Waterproofing • Skylights • Solar Energy • Carpets • Heating & Cooling Systems • Kitchen & Bath

Interior Decorators • Custom Woodworks • Cookware • Water treatments • Insurance ServicesCabinets & Counters • Marble • Flooring • Mold Solutions • Closet & Garage Organization

$2.00Off AdMiSSiOn

Any Day, with Coupon.Good for Everyone in Your Party OPP

SHOw

Lane. Previously, the board had decided to self-finance this work over 25 years, costing $3 per year in assessment dol-lars. Thompson’s draft budget had in-cluded this $3 as part of his proposed $43 assessment increase, and it remains as part of the approved budget. l decided to adjust marina boat slip

revenues higher to reflect a more opti-mistic outlook on gasoline sales. Thomp-son had lowered expectations because of construction of the new Yacht Club this summer, which might convince some boaters that the marina itself will be closed. It won’t be, and some board mem-bers during discussion said that gaso-line purchases might even increase over last summer because boaters will want to see the new building under construc-tion. The action added about $34,000 to the boat slip revenue line.l decided to accept a $150,000 loss

in projected losses in golf operations, de-spite voicing concern that the budgeted loss may not be realistic. l agreed that the Parks and Recre-

ation Department should be encouraged to solicit commercial sponsorships for events, such as the Fourth of July fire-works, as a way of offsetting substantial annual deficits. This added $7,000 to the department’s revenue line.l approved the Parks and Recreation

Department despite the fact that a for-mal business plan had not been submit-ted as part of the budget request.l approved in a unanimous 7-0 vote

$6,000 for security cameras at the Com-munity Center, at the urging of Director Sharyn O’Hare and the recommendation of Chief of Police Dave Massey and Rec-reation Director Sonya Bounds. Anoth-er $13,500 was approved in the Public Works department for security cameras and new electronic locks.l took no action on a fee for access

to the White Horse Park boat ramp this summer. This still could happen, howev-er, as board members seemed interested in this proposal that originated with the Budget and Finance Advisory Commit-tee.l took no action on a proposed elec-

tronic sign or signs at one or more of the major access roads into Ocean Pines. l approved AED (automatic external

defibrillator) units in the capital budget for the Manklin Meadows recreation complex and the Beach Club ($4,000).

Policy issuesFrom Page 20

Approved capital expenditure summary for FY 2014

The following are major capital ex-penditures approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2013-14 Ocean Pines

Association budget by the board of di-rectors Feb. 23:

Yacht Club – New building, $3.3 million (some expenses incurred in the current year); new kitchen equipment, $184,400; furniture, $39,000; signs, etc., $10,900; micro registers, $32,000.

Golf operations – Heavy duty turf utility vehicle, $25,000; light duty turf utility vehicles (two), $15,000; dedicated rough unit, $50,000; outfront rough unit, $25,000; golf cart batteries, $60,000.

Aquatics – Sports Core pool resurfac-ing, $60,000; truck for aquatics director, $32,000; pool fencing, Mumford’s Land-ing, $20,000; pool fencing, Beach Club, $18,000; furniture, all pools, $18,000.

Tennis – Umbrellas, stands, bench-es, $1500; wind screens, $2000; gates, courts 2-5-8, $1800.

Marina – Furniture, equipment, $5000.

Beach Club – Steamer, $5000; AED unit, $2000.

Finance – Computer, $1,500.Membership – Computer, $1,500.General maintenance – truck,

$33,500; cameras,locks, $13,500.Public Works – Wood marquees,

$22,500; truck, $30,000; dump truck, $100,000; plow, $10,000; Z-mowers, $20,000; sprayer, $36,000; sand trike, $16,500; mower, $28,000; spreader, $3,900; computer, $1,500; North Gate aerator, $$3,000.

Bulkheads – Canal aerators, $3,000.

q

OCEAN PINES


ASIAN CUISINE

410-208-2788 • 410-208-3488

10% OFFENTIRE CHECK with this AdEat-in Or Take-Out

Sushi SPECIALSSushi Roll 2 for $950 (lunch) 3 for $1250 (lunch) 3 for $1450 (dinner)Choose Any 2 for $2295 (anytime)Special Roll

Any kindof roll orhand roll

50% OFF SAKE, BEER & WINE SATURDAYS

CHINESE LUNCH SPECIAL $520 & Up

Try OurNEWSushiRolls!

3/31/13 Exp

Visit Our Web Site www.hofengarden.com

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEKMon-Thurs & Sun 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

PENNINGTON COMMONS SHOPPING CENTER - Unit 7, 11007 Manklin Creek Road

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEKPlease Join Us on ST. PATRICK’S DAY

CALL FORRESERVATIONS

410-208-2788410-208-3488

Free Bottle of Red Wineat any table of $80 or more

March 15-31, 2013

AZAR/FILIPOV,M.D.,PA

The high quality eye care you havecome to expect from Azar EyeInstitute, Accurate Optical andAtlantic Retina is now available inOcean Pines at one convenientlocation. Whether you need an eyeexam, treatment for glaucoma orcataracts, retina care, diabetic care;glasses, contacts or sunglasses, youcan find it all at one friendly andcaring location.

410-546-2500 410-208-4604410-742-4100

Come see the newest incoordinated eye care.

Visit us at theSouth Gate of Ocean Pines at 11031 Nichols Lane or call for an appointment.

Azar Eye Institute

Dr. Alex Azar, Founder, Azar Eye Institute; Dr. Joseph C. Schwartz,Atlantic Retina Center; Dr. John F. Lynch, Jr., Principal Optometrist,Accurate Optical

q

Police – Vehicle, $32,000; computer, $1,500; radar, two, $4,000.

Recreation/parks – Batting cage, $1,000; security cameras, Communi-ty Center, $6,000; AED unit, $2,000; Manklin Meadows ballfield, scoreboard, $6,500; computers, two, $3,100; safe, $1,000; truck, $25,000; table/chairs, $1,500; speakers, $1,500; portable stage, $7,000; resurfacing of paddle ball court #1, $7,000.

Total: $4,330,100. General fund, $24,500; replacement reserve, $4,305,600.

Capital summaryFrom Page 21

Budget committee rebuffed on proposal to hold referendum on whether

OPA should remain in golf businessTerry decides not to conduct

board discussion on controversial suggestion


In perhaps the most controversial and far-reaching of any of its recommen-dations to the board of directors in

the 2013-14 budget review process, the Ocean Pines Association’s influential Budget and Finance Advisory Commit-tee suggested that, sometime in the next three to five years, the Ocean Pines com-munity should be given the opportunity to decide, in a referendum, whether the OPA should continue to operate a golf course.

In a recommendation to the board, the committee members said that, should the golf course continue to rack up significant operating losses each year despite the OPA’s best efforts to reduce deficits and close in on break-even results or even profitability, then

the board should initiate a referendum process that would leave the fate of the community’s golf course in the hands of property owners.

The recommendation, discussed at length during the committee’s review of the draft budget in early January, failed to gain any support or even any public discussion of it by the board of directors during the recently concluded budget re-view process.

But after one of the budget work ses-sions conducted by the board in January, OPA President Tom Terry told the Prog-ress that he would bring up the issue for board discussion before allowing a final vote on the 2014 budget at the board’s Feb. 23 monthly meeting.

He didn’t. Questioned about the lack of follow-through, Terry indicated that he had changed his mind and said that he had discussed the issue with Budget committee chairman Dennis Hudson.

Director Dan Stachurski told the Progress that he did not favor board discussion of a golf referendum idea be-

cause he said he did not want to convey the impression to the OPA membership that he is open to the possibility of the OPA getting out of the golf business.

“I’m opposed to that,” he said.Director Marty Clarke told the Prog-

ress recently that he believes any rec-ommendation that puts off a decision on the golf course to a three-to-five-year timeframe is destined to go nowhere.

“It’s too far in the future,” he said. “We’re facing a $500,000 deficit this year, and who knows how much next year. Putting off a decision that long means millions of dollars in operating losses and capital expenditures.”

Clarke said any decision about the golf course should be made sooner rath-er than later, but he added that he is not in favor of any referendum that could re-sult in the closure of the golf course and its conversion into a park or open space.

Instead, Clarke said, the OPA should immediately begin prospecting for indi-viduals or companies willing to take the

course over for a minimal annual rent, eliminating the huge operating subsi-dies and capital expenditures that he said routinely cost property owners a million dollars per year or more.

He said he knows that a core group of golf members in Ocean Pines would fight hard against the lease option, but he said the time is fast approaching when a shrinking number of property owners will be able to force the majority to continue to subsidize their pastime. He said members continue to control the best early morning tee times, and that the elderly membership base is not


From Page 22Budget committee

OCEAN PINES

q

For ALL Your Heating & Air Conditioning Needs -- Serving Ocean Pines & All of Worcester County

“Ask about “36 months No interest”INSTANT REBATE

www.coastalcomforthvac.net

Benefi tsof Routine

Maintenance:• More Effi cient System

• Lower Utility Bills• Longer System Lifespan

• Priority Customer Service• 15% off parts and labor

for repairs• Never an Overtime Charge

410-742-1435Residential, Commercial & Emergency Service

Locally Owned & OperatedAsk About

Our Ocean PinesHomeowners Pricing!

John Talbott, 410-603-7373Prudential PenFed RealtyOcean Pines South Gate - 11001 Manklin Meadows Lane, Ocean Pines MD 21811

410-208-3500 • 1-866-666-1727 (Toll Free)

#53 BorderlinksSpacious, lowest priced waterfront in Ocean Pines. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, maintenance-free year-round or vacation living on canal & golf course. Deeded boat dock, new windows, fi re-place, all appliances, elevated cedar deiling, wet bar, decks, assigned parking, new carpet and paint. All outside maintenance including roof, decks, siding, lawn, trash, windows and A/C unit included. $247,900

2012 BRER Affi liates, Inc. An independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affi liates Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc., and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license with no other other affi liation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity.Prudential PenFed is an independently owned and operated member of BRER Affi liates, Inc. PenFed membership is not required to conduct business with Prudential PenFed Realty

PRICE REDUCTION!


410-208-3500 • 1-866-666-1727 (Toll Free)

#53 BorderlinksSpacious waterfront, possibly the lowest priced waterfront structure in Ocean Pines. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, maintenance-free year-round or vacation living on canal & golf course. Deeded boat dock, new windows, fi replace, all appliances, elevated cedar deiling, wet bar, decks, assigned parking, new carpet and paint. All outside maintenance including roof, decks, siding, lawn, trash, windows and A/C unit included. $257,900


being replaced with younger members.“This really can’t continue,” he said.So far, there is no indication that any

of his colleagues are receptive to the lease option, but Clarke said he is not giving up, especially if Billy Casper Golf fails to make improvements in the golf bottom line in Fiscal Year 2014.

Meanwhile, the board’s refusal to ac-cept the committee’s recommendation on a golf course referendum, or even to give it the courtesy of a public airing, is likely to leave some of its members un-happy.

Board schedules April hearing on proposed OPA charter changes


A public hearing on proposed ex-tensive updates and revisions to the Ocean Pines Association’s

charter will be held on April 24 prior to the board of directors regular monthly meeting. The OPA is currently accepting comments from property owners on the draft documents, and all comments are due by April 17.

Most of the draft changes are of a house-keeping nature.

“This goes back a long time,” Direc-tor Dave Stevens said of the proposed changes to the OPA’s governing docu-ment. The matter was included for dis-cussion at the board of directors Feb. 23 monthly meeting.

With recommendations from the as-sociation’s legal counsel now incorporat-ed into a draft of the new charter, Ste-vens asked the board to schedule a pub-lic meeting on the proposal so it can then give final approval to the document.

Stevens said a draft of the proposed restatement has been prepared by the by-laws and resolutions advisory com-mittee and legal counsel is posted on the OPA’s Web site, along with the existing charter and a comparison of the two doc-uments that outline the recommended changes.

Stevens said the current charter re-quirements call for having an announce-ment of proposed changes sent to each member of Ocean Pines. But simply posting it on its website and including an announcement in the winter issue of the Ocean Pines quarterly print news-letter meets that requirement, he said.

“They have a revised charter,” Ste-vens said, adding “The charter has been on the webpage, both the proposed new and the comparison to the old charter. What we need to do next is set a time for approval of the charter.”

He said it does need to be approved

at a separate meeting of the board of di-rectors. However, he said that meeting could simply be held immediately before the April 24 regular board meeting.

In the meantime, Stevens said the OPA board members need to read and agree on the changes. After holding the public meeting, they can then issue an official approval of the new charter. The approval of charter amendments re-

To Page 24


Richard L Ropp, Agent10514 Racetrack RoadBerlin, MD 21811Bus: [email protected]

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company • State Farm Indemnity Company - Bloomington, IL • StateFarm.com

Richard L Ropp, Agent10514 Racetrack RoadBerlin, MD 21811Bus: [email protected]

P051011 1/05

STRONGCD rate with an even stronger

GUARANTEE.Looking for a secure place to grow your money? Get a guaranteed yield with a fixed rate CD from State Farm Bank.® For information, call me today.

STATE FARM BANK • HOME OFFICE: BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS • statefarm.com®

Like a good neighbor, State Farm iS there.®

5.00APY*

%

1 - YEAR CD

4.90APY*

%

2 - YEAR CD

*Annual Percentage Yields as of 10/10/07, rates subject to change without notice.Minimum balance to open an account and obtain the stated APY is $500. A penaltymay be imposed for a withdrawal prior to maturity. Certificates automatically renewat maturity at the then current rate for the same term. Some products and servicesnot available in all areas.

Richard L RoppState Farm AgentBerlin, MD 21811-3241Bus: [email protected]

Car insurance with

PERSONAL SERVICE.No extra charge.

At State Farm® you get a competitive rate and an agent dedicated to helping you get the coverage that’s right for you and the discounts you deserve. Nobody takes care of you like State Farm. Contact me. I’ll prove it.

Richard L Ropp, Agent10514 Racetrack Road, Suite EBerlin, MD 21811Bus: [email protected]

At State Farm you get a competitive rate and an agent dedicated to helping you get the coverage that’s right for you and the discounts you deserve.

Nobody takes care of you like State Farm. Contact me. I’ll prove it.

Richard L. RoppState Farm Agent10514-E Racetrack RoadBerlin, MD 21811-3241Bus: [email protected]

End-of-year forecast projects $338,000 operational loss for OPA

Latest numbers show Yacht Club will lose only $159,000

for the year, compared to more than $204,000

predicted in October


A financial forecast for the remain-der of the current fiscal year pre-sented by General Manager Bob

Thompson in February shows that the Ocean Pines Association will be gener-ating a substantial operating loss for

the current fiscal year, with very little on the horizon that could alter the OPA’s fortunes for the remaining three months of the fiscal year.

During the general manager’s report segment of the Feb. 23 meeting of the OPA Board of Directors, Thompson pre-sented a “by the numbers” chart that

forecasts a $337,968 operational loss for the year ending this coming April 30. This three-quarter mark forecast, reflecting actual financial performance through Jan. 31, is very little changed from the half year forecast issued three months ago. At that time, the forecast was for an operational loss of $334,659.

The budget for the current year ap-proved last February forecast a $72,539 surplus for the year. The projected loss in the revised numbers represents a rather substantial $410,507 negative variance to budget.

Amenity losses in golf, Yacht Club food and beverage operations and aquat-ics are driving the projected loss for the year. Thompson’s latest chart indicates that golf will lose $496,191 for the year, an improvement over the six-month pre-diction of a $517,622 deficit. The Yacht Club is now projected to lose $158,754 for the year, a significant improve-ment over the earlier projected loss of $204,570.

Under the three-quarter year fore-cast, aquatics is projected to lose $173,178 for the year, a slight uptick

quires an approval of at least two-thirds of the entire board. The association members do not have a vote in the ap-proval process.

Jim Trummel, bylaws and resolutions committee chairman, said that commit-tee submitted its draft of the charter to the OPA’s legal counsel, Joe Moore, for review. Trummel said the committee has seen Moore’s changes to its proposed plan and “we’re not second guessing” his revisions. He said the committee “does not plan to make any comment on it as it came back from counsel,” when asked by board members if it intended to do so.

Moore said his changes to the docu-ment were minor. “I normally grab all the credit I can but on this one he did it, and his committee,” he said referring to Trummel and the bylaws and resolu-tions committee.

The draft makes changes like moving the topic of police and fire protection to a separate paragraph and including ref-erences to working cooperatively with county and state police and fire author-ities.

Instead of listing all potential annual charges that the OPA may levy on prop-erty owners, the charter amendment re-fers to declarations of restrictions as the source documents for annual charges. Member eligibility to vote is now cov-ered in a separate section that states that the board of directors can suspend the voting rights, and right to use of the parks and other recreational facilities and amenities, of any member who owes the association money or has a continu-ing violation of the restrictive covenants on their property.

In the new charter changes are also made to group together common top-ics, delete paragraphs that are rele-vant to the articles of restatement not an amendment of the charter and that

From Page 23

Charter change

March-Early April 2013 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 25WORCESTER COUNTY

Rent just what you needfor any occasion

11048 Cathell Road

410-641-5420ThatchersAerators

from the earlier projection of a $172,230 loss.

The negative variance to budget for each of these amenities is projected at $336,032 in golf and $108,942 at the Yacht Club, compared to the respective negative variances of $357,463 in golf and $154,759 in Yacht Club food and beverage predicted at the six-month mark.

The improved outlook at the Yacht Club in particular reflects a decision by Thompson last year to close the Yacht Club over the coldest months of the year, with a St. Patrick’s Day event in March marking a partial reopening of the facil-ity.

Aquatics revised variance to budget of $124,162 is virtually unchanged from

the earlier estimate of a $123,214 defi-cit.

The budget forecast for the remain-der of the fiscal year is based on actu-al financial results for the first nine months of the fiscal year, May of last year through January of this year.

OPA Controller Art Carmine was in-volved with assembling the numbers in Thompson’s summary.

The general manager made no effort to sugarcoat the latest budgetary predic-tions in his remarks to the board during the Feb. 23 Board of Directors meeting, although he said they represented an ef-fort “to chip away” at projected deficits at the Yacht Club and in golf operations.

The three-quarter-year forecast gen-erated no discussion among the direc-tors, in contrast to sometimes critical remarks offered by some directors fol-lowing the release of the six-month pro-jections last October.

From Page 24

Budget forecast

OPA seeks nearly $1 million in county grant fundsTerry, Thompson make a case for money to help cover costs

of the police department, road and bridge maintenance, tourism and Ocean Pines recreation and parks programs


Arguing that the Ocean Pines As-sociation supports the largest year-round population in the

county, the board of directors has asked the Worcester County Commissioners to provide nearly $1 million to help cover the cost of its services and programs.

OPA President Tom Terry, along with Directors Sharon O’Hare and Ray Unger, on March 5 presented the asso-ciation’s requests for funding for fiscal year 2013-14 budget to the commis-sioners. The OPA is seeking a total FY 2013-14 contribution from the county of $975,000, or $83 per capita. The request includes $25,000 for tourism, $100,000 for recreation and parks, $600,000 for public safety, and $250,000 for public works and roads. In FY ’13 the OPA received $436,000 in county funding; it had requested $1.055 million.

Although Ocean Pines contains more than 7,700 homes and a year-round pop-ulation of 11,700 residents, or 23 percent of the county’s population, Terry said the per capita funding coming to the OPA is lacking. He said the municipalities get at least four times more money from the county on a per capita basis.

“We would like to find a way to ad-dress that imbalance to some level, without hurting any other municipali-ties,” he said.

Despite having the largest year-round population, he said Ocean Pines receives only a minimal amount of fund-ing when compared to the funding pro-vided to other communities by Worces-ter County, OPA General Manager Bob Thompson said in his funding request letter to the commissioners.

“Our funding request involves four distinct needs, public safety, roads and bridges, tourism and recreation. To gain some perspective on the financial picture between Ocean Pines and the rest of the county, we have captured several of the

critical elements directly from the coun-ty budget as they pertain to the Ocean Pines community,” Thompson said.

“The minimal amount we receive is surprising when you compare the per capita dollars allocated,” Thompson said.

In the current fiscal year, the coun-ty allocated $4.56 million in grants to Ocean Pines and the four municipali-ties of Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill and Pocomoke.

The county’s current per capita grant contribution is $2,130 for Ocean City, $329 for Snow Hill, $191 for Berlin, $181 for Pocomoke but just $37 for Ocean Pines. Ocean Pines received $436,000 in grants or 9.6 percent of that allocated by the county

With a population of just 2,104, Snow Hill received $583,000 or 12.8 percent. Berlin has a population of 4,491and re-ceived $597,000 or 13.1 percent of the county allocation. Pocomoke City, with a population of 4,190, received $448,000 or 9.8 percent. Ocean City, which has a population of 7,110, received most of the grant funding at $2.49 million or 54.7 percent.

The county also shared $13.33 mil-lion in tax revenue with all four mu-nicipalities but gave nothing to Ocean Pines. Snow Hill received $109,035 or .8 percent, Pocomoke got $311,484 of 2.3 percent, Berlin garnered $262,815 or 2 percent and Ocean City received $12.65 million or 94.9 percent.

For several years, the county has provided the OPA with a grant that has been used to fund the police department. This year in the area of public safety the OPA is asking the county for funding “of at least $600,000.” The total budgeted cost to Ocean Pines to operate the police department during the 2013-14 fiscal year exceeds $1.5 million.

“We look for not only continued sup-port but hopefully expanded support,” Terry said.

Last year the OPPD handled more

than 11,000 calls for service, directly assisted the Worcester County Sheriff ’s Department and Maryland State Police with more than 100 calls for service in the areas surrounding Ocean Pines. Continued growth in the Route 589 cor-ridor places increased demands on the 15 sworn member police agency.

Thompson said the OPA has seen a dramatic increase in calls for service in the past five years and anticipates fu-ture growth in public safety demands to keep pace with development. In an effort to reduce demands on the county and the state police, the OPA agreed to assume all public safety calls for service on Manklin Creek Road. In addition, in response to recent tragic events, the po-lice department is called upon to provide patrols and visits to the various schools in the area.

“While we do not mind being called upon to support Ocean Pines and the surrounding communities, it does put additional strain on our already stretched resources,” Thompson said.

To ensure that the Ocean Pines bridges and roadways remain safe, the association requested county funds of $250,000. In previous years the county provided funding in the average amount of $500,000 annually but that money was passed through from the state’s highway user funds, better known as the gas tax.

“We clearly understand the fuel funding problem,” Terry said, adding, “It ought to be coming to you so you can share it with us.” Even so, he said, “any-thing you can do to help us we certainly would appreciate.”

Thompson in his letter also acknowl-edged the county’s loss of liquid fuel funding has restricted its ability to provide Ocean Pines needed road main-tenance dollars for paving, drainage, bridges and similar projects. “Our roads and bridges are an important part of our infrastructure. Safe passage of emer-gency vehicles, school buses and coun-ty wastewater vehicles are just a small part of daily activities on our roadways and bridges. Funding for roadways and

bridges are vitally important to the well-being of our community.”

The OPA is also jumping on the tour-ism wagon and wants $25,000 in coun-ty funding for unspecified promotional purposes.

“We would like to officially join in the effort to promote the county,” Terry said. He added that Ocean Pines has a “fairly sizable number of people coming to town every weekend” who are looking for things to do and places to go.

Thompson said the OPA understands that tourism is of vital importance in Worcester County. He argued that its efforts to provide amenities like boat ramps, marinas, the Yacht Club, Rob-ert Trent Jones golf course, Worcester County Veterans Memorial and Beach Club in Ocean City all contribute and add value to the tourism industry in Worcester County.

“We would appreciate your consider-ation of a small portion of tourism fund-ing to help us in our efforts to provide amenities and programs that highlight the benefits of visiting Worcester Coun-ty,” Thompson said.

For recreation and parks, the OPA asked for $100,000 to assist in provid-ing various recreational programs and facilities.

Terry said the OPA’s recreation and parks programs and services have grown and become more diversified and that attracts a lot of nonresident users. “Forty percent of the people who partici-pated in our rec and parks activities are not from with inside the Pines,” he said.

Thompson said the OPA supports various activities that attract partici-pants of all ages who reside in and out of Ocean Pines. “Our free amenities and ac-tivities include concerts in the park, ten-nis facilities, skateboard park, fireworks display, marinas, boat ramps, basketball courts, soccer fields, playgrounds, walk-ing trails and so much more that are open to the public.”

The OPA’s annual budget for rec-reation and parks, in addition to the aquatics department, exceeds $1.5 mil-lion.


Need Automotive, Body or Marine Repair? Visit One of our 2 LocationsRACETRACK AUTO

& TIRE CENTER10436 Racetrack Rd., Berlin

RACETRACK AUTO& BODY SHOP

& MARINE REPAIR10834 Ocean Gateway, Berlin

410-641-5262 410-641-3200Boat Storage and Winterization (Call 410-641-3200) Transmission

Mechanical Repairs Standard & Custom Exhaust Certified TechniciansMarine Mechanics •• Auto Body Racetrack Trailer Sales

10% OFFExhaust ServiceAll coupons must be presented before estimate.

Most vehicles cannot combine coupons. Exp. 12/31/12

$64.95Md. State Inspection

All coupons must be presented before estimate.Most vehicles cannot combine coupons. Exp. 12/31/12

$20 OFFAny Brake Job


FREETire Rotation

With Purchase of Oil, Lube & FilterIncludes 10W30 or Sw30, up to 5 quarts of oil, other weights available at extra charge.

Diesel oil & filter extraAll coupons must be presented before estimate.

Most vehicles cannot combine coupons. Exp. Exp. 12/31/12

ALIGNMENTThrust Angle $4999 • 4 Wheel 5999

On rear wheel adjustable suspensions. Cost of shims & installation extra when required. Cars requiring

Macphearson Strut correction extra.All coupons must be presented before estimate.

Most vehicles cannot combine coupons. Exp Exp. 12/31/12

10% OFFMarine ServiceUp to $30 Discount

All coupons must be presented before estimate. Exp 12/31/12

All coupons must be presented before estimate.Most vehicles cannot combine coupons. Exp. Exp 12/31/12

OIL CHANGE SPECIALExcludes diesel & synthetics

Includes most vehicles. Up to 5 qts.$2995

All coupons must be presented before estimate. Exp. 3/30/13All coupons must be presented before estimate.

Most vehicles cannot combine coupons. Exp. 3/30/13All coupons must be presented before estimate.

Most vehicles cannot combine coupons. Exp. 3/30/13





WORCESTER COUNTY

AROUND THE COUNTYWorcester, Anne Arundel partner for slots money

Worcester and Anne Arundel coun-ties are working together to submit a proposal to receive video lottery termi-nal small and minority owned business account grant funds.

Bill Badger, director of economic de-velopment, presented the partnership effort to the Worcester County Commis-sioners for approval during a Feb. 19 meeting.

The joint application will seek $4.1 million, with Worcester County’s por-tion being a yearly grant of $500,000. This has the potential to bring Worces-ter County $2.5 million over the 5-year timeframe to support local businesses through small and minority business loans and equity investments.

The revenue for this grant program is generated by directing 1.5 percent of all Maryland casino proceeds to this fund, which is estimated by June 30 to make as much as $7 million available to provide capital for a local revolving loan fund for targeted business loans. A request for proposals was issued by the Maryland Business and Economic De-velopment Department.

The Maryland Board of Public Works is expected to approve review committee recommendations by April 2013 with grant awards of up to five consecutive years to begin July 1, 2013. Counties

Chili dayOn Saturday, March 2, 51 people showed up to play platform tennis in Ocean Pines and to enjoy some good old fashioned home made chili. The event was organized by Jim Freeman, president of the Ocean Pines Platform Tennis Association, as a fund-raiser for the group. The chili for this event was prepared by Michael Petito, Audery Wahl, Jim Freeman, Mike Henderson, Diane Harris, Tom and Meg Herrick, and Dan Freymeryer. Volunteer Dot Waters made sure the tennis clubhouse was clean after the event. The event raised $173. Pictured is Audrey Wahl stirring up her chili.

with an operating casino are targeted for a significant portion of the fund al-location.

Badger said that in January the county was approached by the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corpo-ration to determine if it was interested in submitting a joint application.

“After much discussion and review, we determined that this partnership is in the best interest of the county,” he said.

Badger said the partnership is ad-vantageous because the AAEDC has an established in-house revolving loan fund program with dedicated staff and a strong partnership with Minority Busi-ness Enterprise contractors, which is a priority requirement of the RFP scor-ing review. Additionally, he said that both counties have established casinos within their borders, making for a very strong proposal.

Traffic signal will beinstalled at route 12, 113

In response to requests from the Worcester County Commissioners as well as area residents, the State High-way Administration has relented and agreed to install a traffic light at the in-tersection of Routes 113 and 12 in Snow Hill.

Donnie Drewer, SHA district engi-

q


Traditional & Cremation ServicesAvailable for Pre-Need Arrangements

The Burbage Funeral Home108 Williams Street, Berlin

208 W. Federal Street, Snow HillBerlin• Ocean City

Ocean Pines • Snow Hill

410-641-2111Since 1810, we’ve been caring for people like you

WORCESTER COUNTY

IO # PublicationMarket Ad Size Headline1st InsertionAD

SPEC

S 5405-1 Ocean Pines Progress MD1/8pg (2.4” x 5.67”) JTN-VA8/2012 jtn-va

In the Nation, what matters to us iswhat matters to you.

When it comes to protecting what you love, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Someone who cares about what you care about. At Nationwide Insurance, we call them agents. You’ll call them friends. We put members first, because we don’t have shareholders.

Join the Nation where protection is personal.

Products underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Company and Affiliated Companies, Columbus, Ohio. Not all Nationwide affiliated companies are mutual companies and not all Nationwide members are insured by a mutual company. Nationwide, Nationwide Insurance, the Nationwide framemark, Nationwide is On Your Side and Join the Nation are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. ©2012 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. All rights reserved. NPR-0501M1 (07/12)

Join me in Berlin.Robert G. Hulburd, LUTCF10318 Old Ocean City Blvd.(410) 641-3939

County makes Section 3 drainage improvementsCommissioner Jim Bunting cited for coming up with low-cost solutionBy ROTA L. KNOTTContributing Writer

Construction of drainage improve-ments along Beauchamp Road that will help to reduce flooding in

Section 3 of Ocean Pines was expected to wrap up by the end of February.

During a Feb. 23 meeting, Ocean Pines Association President Tom Ter-ry thanked the project team of OPA, Worcester County and River Run repre-sentatives who worked together to find a solution to the drainage problem. He

gave special recognition to Worcester County Commissioner Jim Bunting for getting “down in the ditch” and deter-mining how to address the drainage is-sue.

“Everyone’s working together to make this work,” OPA General Manager Bob Thompson said.

He said that increase in the flow ca-pacity of the pipe should improve drain-age in Section 3 neighborhoods that are often under water after heavy rains.

Terry agreed and said that Worcester County worked with River Run develop-er Lew Meltzer to find a way to make improvements to the drainage system at a “tremendous savings” as compared to original project estimates at more than $1 million. The county reached an agree-

ment with Meltzer for the installation of a drainage pipe from Beauchamp Road to a pond in River Run.

The Worcester County Commission-ers awarded a $38,126 contact for the drainage work to the company of Bun-ting and Murray. The commissioners held a ground breaking ceremony for the drainage project on Feb. 19 near the 16th hole tee box at the River Run Golf Course, which sits close to the intersec-tion of Beauchamp Road and River Run Lane.

The project includes the placement of approximately 156 linear feet of 24-inch stormwater pipe on the lands of River Run. An easement for this activity was granted to the county by Meltzer at a cost of $1. The easement runs from the

northwesterly side of the Beauchamp Road right-of-way north to a pond in River Run.

Thompson said the improvements include installing the larger pipe under Beauchamp Road at a less severe angle so there is no “deadhead spot” in which water can back up. The pipe will carry water away from the affected areas in Ocean Pines and funnel it to the storm-water retention pond in River Run. That pond in turn drains into the St. Martin’s River.

Thompson and the county-OPA working group, of which he is a mem-ber, had looked at solutions that in some cases would have cost more than a $1 million. One such option looked at dou-bling the size of the Bainbridge Park pond. Another option involved running a drainage pipe down the full length of Beauchamp Road to the White Horse Campground.

The River Run solution suggested by Bunting has the benefit of probably be-ing able to deal with the flooding caused by a 100-year storm, defined as a weath-er event producing up to 6.4-inches of rain in an hour. It would be more than adequate to drain heavy rains from a two-year, ten-year, and 25-year storm of lesser intensity, he said. Bunting is a former surveyor and land planner who dealt with such issues during his profes-sional career.

neer, in a Feb. 8 letter to the commis-sioners, said “after careful consideration of the immediate safety concerns and community feedback” the agency has decided to install a fully operational traffic signal at that location instead of the flashing beacon that is currently in place. He said the decision was made based on 2012 accident data and 2013 traffic projections for that intersection.

Drewer said the signal will only be temporary; it will remain in place until the SHA constructs a new interchange, a project that is not currently funded by the state. He said the traffic signal will be installed and operational by mid-summer.

The SHA also plans to continue its design of J-turns at the intersection of Routes 113 and 365 near Snow Hill. Construction of that project will begin as soon as funding becomes available,

AROUND THE COUNTY

From Page 26

Drewer said.

Tourism officials seek Green nominations

Worcester County Tourism is accept-ing nominations through April 9 for the second annual Worcester Green Awards, which celebrate excellence in promot-ing environmentally friendly practices, strategies and products.

Awards will be granted to Worcester County businesses that demonstrate ex-traordinary performance related to sus-tainable environmental practices, such as water conservation, wastewater man-agement, the promotion of alternative transportation and transit, recycling, energy conservation, on-site renewable energy production, use of local products and food sources and the purchase of re-newable energy. Nominations are being accepted in the categories of community leader, business, lodging, restaurant and teacher.

Applicants will be judged on their

overall level of commitment, measur-able environmental benefits or progress, cost savings, and customer outreach and engagement. To qualify, applicants must reside or operate businesses in Worces-ter County. Awards will be announced during the Ocean City Hotel-Mo-tel-Restaurant Association dinner meet-ing on April 18 in Ocean City. For more information about the Worcester Green Awards, visit www.visitworcester.org.

County honorsalcohol licensees

Worcester County Health Depart-ment and Maryland Highway Safety Office officials honored alcohol licens-ees during the Alcohol Licensee Recog-nition Breakfast at the Restaurant at Lighthouse Sound on Feb. 7 for refusing to sell alcohol to underage law enforce-ment cadets.

Licensees represented at the event include Coral Reef Restaurant, 7-11 at

To Page 29


Professional Services

COATES, COATES& COATES, P.A.

General Practice of Law• Real Estate Settlements• Wills & Estates• Personal Injury• Taxes

• Incorporation• Domestic Relations• Criminal• Landlord-Tenant

Thomas K. CoatesCathi V. Coates

Raymond D. Coates, Jr.6200 Coastal Hwy, Suite 300, Ocean City

410-723-6000

B. Randall Coates(former State’s Attorney for 12 years)

204 West Green St., Snow Hill • 410-632-3090

Haynes & Ott, P.A.Charles G. Haynes, D.D.S.

Gerard F. Ott, D.M.D.

1 Pitts StreetBerlin, MD 21811

410-641-3490

Carpet Cleaning

Automobiles/trucks

Racetrack Auto SalesWe buy and sell like-newand used cars and trucks

WE BUY JUNK CARS!!CALL (410) 641- 4600

Dentist

[email protected]

Financial Services

Health Care ServicesPainting & General Contracting

Attorneys

[email protected]

CARE-GIVER IN YOUR HOMEHonest, Dependable, Trustworthy

& Compassionate Care35 Years of Medical & Home Health Experience

EXCELLENT REFERENCES

Call Debbie at 302-629-0402

FINANCIAL SERVICES

DOES YOUR 401K, IRA OR CD

PROVIDE 10% SIGN-ON BONUS?$$ $$

Tax Deferred Earnings?Guaranteed Returns Over 6%?Guaranteed Lifetime Income?

OUR PRODUCTS DO!Allow us to run a FREE illustration for you.

Call Jason today 410-726-8725


ANTS? SPIDERS? FLEAS?BED BUGS? RODENTS?

MOISTURE ISSUES?

Dean [email protected]

Bishopville, MD [email protected]

Bishopville, MD 21813

Call a Local Company That You Can Trust!

FREETERMITE INSPECTION

410-352-3222 MD • 302-856-2127 DE

CALL TODAYTO SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENTWWW.BENNETTTERMITE.COM

Now DoingYard Spraying

for Ticks, Fleas, etc.

AROUND THE COUNTY

From Page 27120th Street, Macky’s, Wine Rack at 85th Street, Brewski Brothers, 7-11 at 139th Street, Seacrets, Snow Hill Duck In, Pour House in Ocean City, Finneg-an’s, Taphouse, M.R. Ducks, Don’s Sea-food and 7-11 N. Division Street.

Softball league open to girls

The Worcester County Department of Recreation & Parks has opened its youth softball league for girls in grades 2 to 8. The cost is $25 per child and $20 per additional sibling. Financial Aid is available to those who show a demon-strated need.

Teams will be formed in Berlin, Pocomoke and Snow Hill. Practice be-gins in March, and games begin in April. Pigtail (grades 2-5) games are played on Tuesday nights and Ponytail (grades 6-8) games are played on Wednesday nights. Games will be played in Ocean Pines, Showell Park in Berlin, at New-town Park in Pocomoke, and John Wal-ter Smith Park in Snow Hill. The league will run until the end of May with a Cel-ebration Day on Saturday, June 1.

Volunteer coaches and paid umpires are needed. Contact Kelly Rados, pro-gram manager, at 410-632-2144 x102.

Animal control offersrabies vaccination clinics

Pet owners, mark your calendars and take advantage of the inexpensive rabies vaccination clinics offered this spring by the Worcester County Health Department and Animal Control.

Low-cost rabies clinics are offered to help residents protect their dogs, cats and ferrets. The scheduled spring clin-

ics will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Bishopville Volunteer Fire Department on Thursday, May 9, and at Worcester County Animal Control on Wednesdays, March 13, April 17 and May 8.

The cost for a rabies vaccination is $5 per pet for Worcester County resi-dents and $10 per pet for non-Worcester County residents. Proof of residency is required. Vaccinations are available for dogs, cats and ferrets. Call the Worces-ter County Health Department at 410-

352-3234 or 410-641-9559.

New youth sports lineup storms Worcester County

Spring is just around the corner, and it’s time to Get Up, Get Out and Get Ac-tive with Worcester County Department of Recreation & Parks (WCRP) new youth sports lineup this spring.

WCRP Youth Spring Soccer storms the 2013 Spring Sport line-up! This new

league is open to children ages 3 through 8th grade. Players will be divided into five co-ed age divisions (Age 3-4, grades K-1, grades 2-3, grades 4-5, and grades 6 – 8). The league runs Sunday afternoons and kicks off April 7, when all age divi-sions will meet their coaches and team mates. Teams from each town will be formed, and games will take place at the John Walter Smith Park in Snow Hill.

After School Dodgeball, back by pop-ular demand, takes place on Thursdays from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. for participants in grades 4 - 8. Participants will play traditional dodgeball games and oth-er versions of this favorite throughout the session. The games will test play-ers’ abilities to throw, catch, dodge, and out maneuver their opponents. The six-week program begins Thursday, April 11, and costs $25 per participant.

Spike Express Youth Volleyball re-turns for participants ages 9 -14 on Tuesdays from April 9 – June 25 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Participants will devel-op volleyball skills with jumping, set-ting and handling the ball. The cost for this exciting program is $25 per person.

Girls, don’t forget to register for the Youth Recreational Softball Program. Pocomoke, Snow Hill, and Berlin teams are being formed now, and practices are being scheduled. The league will be open for girls in grades 2 – 8, with a cost of $25 per participant. Practice begins in March, and games will begin in April. Pigtail (grades 2 - 5) games take place on Tuesday nights, and Ponytail (grades 6 - 8) games take place on Wednesday nights.

Financial aid is available for the spring youth programs to those who demonstrate a need. Call the Recreation Center at 410.632.2144.

Pine’eer Craft Club officersAt the Dec. 20 holiday luncheon, the Pine’eer Craft Club installed the 2013 officers. Beginning in February, the Pine’eer Craft Club meets the third Thursday of the month in the Ocean Pines Community Center. All residents of Ocean Pines and communities in close proximity are welcome to join. Members are invited to display and sell their crafts in the Pine’eer Craft and Gift Shop. New officers are (left to right): Carol Mills, parliamentarian; Janet Rosensteel, corresponding secretary; Sharon Puser, president; Linda Brindley, recording secretary; Jane Wolnik, treasurer; Midge Powell, assistant shop manag-er; Grace McCormac, assistant treasurer; Nancy Welsh, shop manager; Luz Castillo, shop treasurer; and Barbara Stillwell, assistant shop treasurer.


County considers funding security officersat every school, facility improvements


In response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecti-cut, the Worcester County Board of

Education is proposing a series of phys-ical improvements that are designed to enhance security at local school build-ings.

Jerry Wilson, superintendent of schools, presented the school system’s proposal that includes adding security officers at all facilities to the Worcester County Commissioners during a March 5 meeting. Wilson said the proposed se-curity enhancements were developed by a school system safety committee that

was formed to review current practices and to develop recommendations in the areas of personnel, capital improvement and administrative procedure.

“The biggest change is the need for security presence in schools,” Wilson told the commissioners, adding that “people do not feel as safe as they did.”

Topping the list of recommendations is the addition of 13 school security offi-cers – two are already provided by the Town of Berlin at schools in its jurisdic-tion -- so there is a police presence at every school building. The Board of Ed-ucation’s central office in Newark will receive support from the school resource officer stationed at the adjacent Worces-

ter Technical High School.Wilson said he does “not see arming

teachers as a solution” instead of provid-ing security officers. That would create a “less safe environment with multiple weapons in schools.”

The officers would be added to the schools starting in the 2014-15 school year and would be employees of the Worcester County Sheriff ’s Office.

“This is important since in the event of a crisis communication with county-wide law enforcement is essential,” Wil-son said.

Sheriff Reggie Mason was called away at the last minute and was unable to attend the commissioners’’ meeting to discuss the proposal from the perspec-tive of his office or to present a cost esti-mate for the 13 officers.

The committee also recommended installing electronic buzzer entry at 14 facilities at a cost of $65,000. The sys-tems will include a camera and two-way speakers to help identify visitors who are requesting entry to the facility.

Another security addition at six schools is a $63,000 expense for card swiping entry systems for doors that leads from portable classroom areas to the main school building.

Those schools are Buckingham Ele-mentary, Berlin Intermediate, Showell Elementary, Stephen Decatur Middle, Snow Hill Elementary and Snow Hill High schools.

Security cameras would be added at eight schools at a cost of $25,000 and six front entrance vehicle barriers would be

added at six schools at a cost of $20,000. The barriers would be either over-sized flower pots or bollards and would be placed to prevent a vehicle from driving through the primary entrance doors of a facility.

Standardized visitor identification systems are being proposed by the com-mittee at all 15 school locations and the central office. The systems would pro-duce photo ID badges and provide sex offender background checks on all vis-itors. The first year installation cost is $20,425, with annual licensing fees cost-ing $5,000 for all future years.

Wilson said the proposals will allow the school system to “screen all visitors and know exactly who is in our schools at all times.”

At four schools the committee sug-gested installing window blinds and tinting on windows that currently have an unobstructed view into a classroom from adjacent parking lots and road-ways. The cost is estimated at $25,000.

“Our goal is to have all of this in place for the next school year,” Wilson said.

He asked the commissioners, who did not commit any funding during the March 5 meeting, to consider providing money to begin making the security im-provements at the schools. He asked for the commissioners to fund $150,000 that will allow the school system to move for-ward with bidding for the new entry and card swipe systems.

He said the state also has a pro-gram that he anticipates will help with funding for some security items. If the county provides $150,000, then the state program may provide a match of about $75,000, he said.

However, Wilson said the state hasn’t even published its guidelines for distrib-uting that funding.

Commissioner Virgil Shockley asked if the school system had given any con-sideration to installing metal detectors at each of the schools to screen everyone as they enter the building.

Wilson said he did not receive such a proposal from the committee and add-ed “nor do we see that as level of secu-rity we want to provide.” He said there must be a “balance around the idea of community schools” and that adding metal detectors would “up the idea of se-curity and intrusiveness.” Those devices are currently only seen in urban area schools, he said.

Steve Price, chairman of the school safety committee, said metal detectors were not a priority item that was dis-cussed with the sheriff ’s office.

In response to concerns about school safety, the Worcester County Health Department is also seeking funding of $112,198 to expand its services. The de-partment is proposing the addition of a licensed mental health professional to specifically address high risk youth with serious emotional problems at a cost of $78,763.

It also wants funds to cover a $33,435 financial shortfall in its budget in order to allow the crisis response team to con-tinue providing 24 hour a day coverage seven days a week.

WORCESTER COUNTY

Stephen Decatur High School is slated for a variety of safety improvements, including a new key card entry and the addi-tion of a visitor identification system and security officers.

Just Call Judy,410-726-8560 [email protected] PenFed Realty11001 Manklin Meadows Lane, Ocean Pines MD 21811

410-208-3500 • 1-866-666-1727 (Toll Free) 2012 BRER Affiliates, Inc. An independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affiliates Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc., and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license with no other other affiliation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity.Prudential PenFed is an independently owned and operated member of BRER Affiliates, Inc. PenFed membership is not required to conduct business with Prudential PenFed Realty


410-208-3500 • 1-866-666-1727 (Toll Free)

#53 BorderlinksSpacious waterfront, possibly the lowest priced waterfront structure in Ocean Pines. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, maintenance-free year-round or vacation living on canal & golf course. Deeded boat dock, new windows, fi replace, all appliances, elevated cedar deiling, wet bar, decks, assigned parking, new carpet and paint. All outside maintenance including roof, decks, siding, lawn, trash, windows and A/C unit included. $257,900


133 Pine Forest Drive • The Point • OPEN WEEKENDS

Judy Froman

MOVE-RIGHT-IN CUSTOM HOME IN 'THE POINT', a neighbor-hood of newer custom homes. Open floor plan in generous TRUE 4 bed 2-1/2 bath! Just completed, repainting thru-out and new land-scaping. Super-sized living areas incl. living AND family rooms with cathedral ceilings, skylites, gas fireplace in family rm. Separate office/den just off foyer, 1/2 bath, laundry. First floor master bed/bath. 2nd level offers 3 full bedrooms plus open 16'X10' loft/sitting area. Side-load garage. A private and tranquil waterview setting! $339,500 (479156)


Saturday, June 8 $100 per player

9 a.m. shotgun startCaptain’s Choice Scramble

Spring Golf Tournament Marian Colbert

Memorial Scholarship Fund

to benefit

Hosted by Ed & Margaret Colbert

Includes continental breakfast, lunch, golf & cart, range balls, one mulligan per player, team prizes,

hole-in-one prize, silent & live auctions, putting contest, cash raffle & much more

To Register, Call Deer Run at 410-629-0060

H NORan educator

SWING AWAY ~ GOLF FOR EDUCATION!

WORCESTER COUNTY

School board seeks funds to study expansion of Showell elementaryBy ROTA L. KNOTTContributing Writer

The Worcester County Board of Education is hoping to include funding to begin architectural

planning for the renovation and expan-sion of Showell Elementary School or construction of a new school to replace it in the fi scal year 2013-14 budget, but needs to have the project cost excluded from the state’s maintenance of effort calculations. The estimated cost of the SES project is $100,000.

Jerry Wilson, superintendent of schools, presented a request to send that project, along with a purchase of computer tablets and business soft-ware upgrades, to the Worcester County Commissioners on March 5. He needed the commissioners OK to move forward with asking the Maryland Department of Education if the cost of those projects, totaling $400,000, can be excluded from maintenance of effort calculation for the upcoming budget year.

Maintenance of effort requires the same amount of money to be expended per student as in last year’s budget. Any deviation from that requirement needs state approval.

Wilson said architectural engineer-ing feasibility study is needed before the school system can begin planning the SES project. He said the renovation and expansion or replacement of the school is next in line following renovation of Snow Hill High School.

A 2008 study estimated that it would cost about $27.7 million to make the ex-isting school big enough to accommodate future student populations, but building a new school on the same site would only cost about $25.8 million.

The Showell Elementary School land use study determined that the existing property is suffi cient to accommodate a renovation and addition to the exist-ing school or the construction of a re-placement school. The study included an extension evaluation of the existing site features, including topographic sur-veys, wetlands delineation, evaluation of parking and circulation patterns and investigation of utility options.

The existing 53,610 square foot facili-ty was constructed in 1976 and augment-ed with a 12-classroom addition in 1990. Over the years as northern Worcester County has grown, SES, which is locat-ed on Route 589 north of Ocean Pines, experienced increased enrollment to the point where nine portable classrooms are currently used to accommodate all of the instructional programs. Those porta-ble classrooms provide 25 percent of the classroom spaces that are available at the school.

Restrooms and other support func-tions are included in the main school building. Pedestrian traffi c between the portables and main building occurs via uncovered walkways that expose stu-dents to inclement weather.

The 2008 study said renovating and expanding the existing school has many

drawbacks, including limitations on ex-panding support areas like the media center and cafeteria, signifi cant up-grades to bathrooms and mechanical systems, interior classrooms would not have suffi cient windows. Another con-cern was construction coordination with the school operations.

The study also evaluated the site to determine if suffi cient space was avail-able for construction of a replacement school. The study found that the 22.07 acres available at the Showell site meet the state requirement for such a project.

Two conceptual plans incorporat-ing an additional 32,000 square feet of

building space were developed at that time to confi rm that renovation and ex-pansion or construction of a new school could be accomplished on the property. Those plans also incorporated expanded parking, improved vehicular circulation patterns and student drop-off areas, playgrounds, stormwater management areas and geothermal well fi elds.

Based on those designs, the renova-tion and expansion was estimated to cost $27.7 million while the new school would cost about $25.8 million to build. Those costs were based on projected fi s-cal year 2011 building square foot esti-mates of $261.80.

The study found that with 81 employ-ees plus students arriving at school in private vehicles, the existing parking lot is insuffi cient to satisfy the parking demands of the school. Only two hand-icapped parking spaces are provided for the entire facility and are located in the front of the bus loop. In order to be hand-icapped compliant, a total of fi ve spaces is needed.

About half of the students are dropped off and picked up at school by parents, many of whom park and walk their children to and from the school. That causes a signifi cant demand for parking in the morning and afternoon.


Plaza Tapatia opensin Pennington Commons

The newest entry in Ocean Pines’ crowded and competitive restaurant space is Plaza Tapatia, a Mexican eatery that opened in the former site of the Ma-rina Deck in the Pennington Commons Shopping Center, across from the Ocean Pines South Gate, in late January.

“Business has been good so far,” said Armand Saldana, owner of ten Plaza Tapatias in the region. Its West Ocean City location, in the Bedtime Inn and Suites on Route 50, has closed, but Sal-dana and his son, Armand, have plans to open another restaurant in the West Ocean City area, as time permits.

The Saldanas remodeled the former Marina Deck in a Mexican theme. The menu is comparable to those of other Plaza Tapatias in the area.

Armand, the son, said he believes the Ocean Pines area can accommodate an-other Mexican restaurant. La Hacienda, the Bill Herbst-owned restaurant inside the Ocean Pines South Gate, opened last year in the space once occupied by the Village Inn.

Pier One opensin West Ocean City

Longtime fans of Pier 1 Imports, won’t have to travel to Salisbury, Reho-

both Beach, Dover or Easton anymore. Pier 1 Imports is now open at White Marlin Mall in West Ocean City.

White Marlin Mall is located at 12641 Ocean Gateway, 1/2 mile west of Ocean City on Route 50 at Route 611 next to the Tanger Outlets.

The Pier 1 Imports store features merchandise that ranges from home ac-cessories such as pillows, candles, vases and picture frames, to full-sized, uphol-stered furniture, hand-carved armoires and eclectic wall décor. The store offers merchandise that fi ts many decorating styles, as well as a broad array of spe-cial occasion decor, furniture and gifts. Buyers import goods from more than 50 countries.

“Pier 1 Imports is known as one of the world’s greatest home furnishings and accessories stores,” said Matt Mitten-thal, vice-president and assistant direc-tor of asset management at Greenberg Gibbons Commercial, the mall’s leasing and property management fi rm. “We are excited to have Pier 1 Imports join our lineup of national and local retailers. Their concept is stronger than ever and is a perfect fi t for White Marlin Mall.”

This new Pier 1 Imports store is a boost to the local economy by job cre-ation as well as providing local and visiting shoppers with new purchasing

BUSINESS

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Taylor Bank knows the value of a dollar, and we’re imparting that knowledge to the children of our

community. Our Assistant Vice President, Margaret Mudron, chairs our award-winning Financial Literacy

Program, which teaches smart money management skills in local schools. This innovative approach to

financial responsibility, coupled with our vast experience, is why many people choose to do their banking

with us. We’re strengthening our community for the future and we look forward to you being a part of it.

Visions of the future can be seen RighT heRe in The communiTy.

Everything a good neighbor should be.

Main Office • 24 North Main Street • Berlin, MD 21811

410-641-1700 • www.taylorbank.com

margaret mudronAssistant Vice President

Member FDIC©2012 Taylor Banking/Calvin B. Taylor Company

TBC_3863_Classroom_10.125x5.67_4c.indd 1 4/3/12 12:07 PM

opportunities. Those who will staff the new Pier 1 store are a diverse group, ac-cording to new Manager Frank Pileggi.

“We have hired 21 store associates from our local communities to go along with two assistant managers and two key sales leaders,” Pileggi said. “We are proud to have a diverse mix of new Pier 1 employees who reside in Ocean City, Berlin and Ocean Pines.”

Pier 1 Imports offers an eclectic mix of furniture, wares and goods that possess a decidedly magical, far-off land feel. The

new 9,800-square-foot store at White Marlin Mall promises to take customers on “a treasure hunt” through the rustic, yet modern open bazaar-meets-antique shop, fi lled with bold hues, decadent textures, thought-provoking patterns, hand-blown glass, cracked ceramics, wrought-iron accents, whimsical conver-sation pieces and vintage spirit.

This is the fi fth Pier 1 Imports loca-tion in the Delmarva area, and it is the only one that features their new store concept.

Cropper honored Raymond M. Thompson, right, president & CEO of Calvin B. Taylor Banking Company, has announced the recognition of Reese F. Cropper Jr. for 50 years of continuing service to the bank. Cropper joined Calvin B. Taylor Bank in 1962. He later became president, succeeding his father, Reese F. Cropper Sr. He remains active with-in the company, holding the titles of chairman of the board of directors of the bank and its holding company, Calvin B. Tay-lor Bankshares, Inc. and chairman of the executive committee of the bank.


SPECIAL OFFER

QUEEN SET$199Cash-Check Only

34 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March-Early April 2013 CAPTAIN’S COVE

Captain’s Cove Association-Owned

Building LotsBuilding LotsFrom $2000 to $5000

CALL FOR LISTCindy Welsh

PO Box 28, 37054 State Line Road, Greenbackville, VA. 23356

757-854-1604 (Offi ce)410-912-4701 (Fax) 302-381-6910 (cell) [email protected]

© 2012 BRER Affi liates, Inc. An independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affi liates Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc., and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license with no other other affi liation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity. Prudential PenFed is an independently owned and operated member of BRER Affi liates, Inc. PenFed membership is not required to conduct business with Prudential PenFed Realty ©

Virginia Offi ce:4243 Captain’s CorridorGreenbackville, Va. 23356

757-854-4141

EASTERN SHORE 1-800-258-5843www.ColdwellBankerEasternShore.net

Maryland Offi ce:513 Market Street

Pocomoke, Md. 21851410-957-2220

• Canal Front Homes from $199,900• New Home/Lot Packages from $128,400• Ready to Build Lots from $8,500• Weekly, Monthly, Yearly Rentals

Virginia Offi ce:4243 Captain’s CorridorGreenbackville, Va. 23356

757-854-4141

EASTERN SHORE 1-800-258-58431-800-258-5843www.ColdwellBankerEasternShore.net

Maryland Offi ce:513 Market Street

Pocomoke, Md. 21851410-957-2220

• Canal Front Homes from $199,900• Canal Front Homes from $199,900• New Home/Lot Packages from $128,400• New Home/Lot Packages from $128,400• Ready to Build Lots from $8,500• Ready to Build Lots from $8,500• Weekly, Monthly, Yearly Rentals• Weekly, Monthly, Yearly Rentals

Management change-over in Captain’s Cove


With long-time general manag-er Lance Stitcher’s last day in Captain’s Cove Feb. 8, per-

sonnel changes brought about by a new board of directors in October are gain-ing momentum.

Stitcher has obtained a new job in Ocean City.

One of the initial changes imple-mented by the new board was the deci-sion to hire Billy Casper Golf to manage Captain’s Cove golf course as well as its food and beverage and aquatics opera-tions.

A transitional staff gave way to more permanent staffing in February, when Tim Johnson took over as golf pro and food and beverage and amenities’ man-ager.

Johnson has been in Casper’s employ for about two years, with his previous stint as a golf pro in North Carolina.

Captain’s Cove association president Tim Hearn has announced another sig-nificant personnel change.

Justin Wilder will take over as the

association’s new communication’s coor-dinator, with his first day of work set for March 4.

He most recently was employed in the communications department of a Charlotte, N.C., based energy company.

Hearn said that property owners should be noticing upgrades to the as-sociation’s online media soon, possi-bly starting with both video and oral streaming of monthly board meetings in March.

Heretofore, they have been available orally online.

The association’s board of directors approved the creation of communica-tions director at its January meeting. The position includes communication, marketing and administrative duties with the association, with a focus on in-teraction with the membership.

The coordinator will work with the board to develop, edit and manage all Cove POA communications, including electronic distribution of community materials, newsletters, Web sites, and social media.

The coordinator will also provide support for the association’s core oper-

ations, including the board and associa-tion departments and annual meetings. Also included in the job description is assistance to community committees and Environmental Control Committee processes, Hearn said.

The opening was listed on monster.com the last week of January and had produced about ten applications by the end of January.

New club meeting space – In an early March telephone interview, Hearn said that about 95 percent of the renova-tion of the former Cove administration building on Captain’s Corridor had been completed, with the building expected to be available for use by Cove clubs and organizations by mid-month.

The board previously decided to make the building available for card-playing and other free activities in order not to lose valuable space in the Marina Club, which Hearn said is better used for rev-enue-generating functions.

“We’re finding that there is great de-mand for our banquet facilities,” he said.

For the same reason, he said that the board’s Saturday, March 16 monthly meeting has been moved from the Mari-na Club’s banquet room to the Pocomoke Volunteer Fire Department’s meeting room.

March 16 board meeting -- The board meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Hearn said one item on the agenda is what to do with the Cove’s fleet of aging golf carts. The discussion will in-volve whether to attempt another sea-son using the existing fleet, or whether to trade in the association’s 36 carts for newer models, he said.

The choice is to spend roughly $45,000 in making needed repairs or using that money instead for new carts.

Collections – Hearn said that ongo-ing efforts to improve collections from property owners who are delinquent in paying their association dues have pro-duced about $200,000 through January, an effort that will be moving into the foreclosure phase shortly, perhaps with as many 50 lots to be sold at auction in an initial block.

Details will be announced as the as-sociation’s attorneys work through the inventory of lots with unpaid assess-ments.

The Cove president said that the as-sociation’s finances in general are look-ing up, with overall operations about $240,000 ahead of budget through Jan-uary, the first four months of the Cove fiscal year.

Chamber raffle tickets availableThe Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce is once again hosting the Annual Ocean

Pines Dues Raffle. The drawing will be held April 11. Tickets are just $10 each. Only 1,500 tickets will be sold and there is no limit on

the number of tickets that can be purchased.The prize for the raffle is a choice of $1,000 cash or the Ocean Pines basic assess-

ment fee paid for 2013, plus free residential trash pick-up for one year from Waste Management (Ocean Pines Residents only).

The winner will also receive a $200 gift certificate towards an electric bill from Choptank Electric, one free house cleaning from Git R Done Cleaning Services, and one free in-home computer check-up from Computech Computer Services.

Tickets are sponsored by PNC Bank and printed by Copy Central of Ocean Pines. Raffle tickets may be purchased at the Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce,

11031 Cathell Road, or online at www.oceanpineschamber.org.

Former General Manager Lance Stitcher accepts position with Ocean City real estate company


800-K S. Salisbury Blvd.,Salisbury, MD

(Next to the Greek Pita Place Restaurant)

410-546-1369M & F 9-7 • T-W-TH 9-5:30 • Sat 9-3

16-B South Main St., Berlin, MD

(1 block south of Atlantic Hotel)

410-641-2020Mon., Tues., Thurs. & Fri. 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Salisbury

ptical

Berlin

ptical

We accept many vision insurance plans. Ask us about YOURS.Then make your appointment at: Salisbury Optical or Berlin Optical

3536

71

20% OFF

Some Restrictions Apply Expires 3-31-13

EVERY FRAMEIN STOCK

With Purchase of Rx Lenses. IncludesDesigner Frames. Outside Prescriptions Welcome.

GIVE THE GIFTOF SIGHT

Make an Appointmentfor a Loved One

GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE

Roses are red, Shamrocks are green,in one of our frames,it’s great to be seen!

LIFESTYLES

Storage unit auctions for fun and profitOcean Pines auctioneer Tom Janasek gets a kick out of bidding and presiding over festive Saturday events

Genuine imitation leather! Solid pressed wood oak that burns re-ally well! A brand new used bed!”

Auctioneer Tom Janasek is a sales-man with the cadence, enthusiasm, and persuasion of a carny barker, who entertains as he sells all types of myste-rious possessions, left behind when fate prevents owners of storage unit lockers from paying the bill.

“500, 550 ... 1000, 1050 ... 1900, 1900, 1950, 1900... sold!”

Janasek said that the recent storage unit auction on Route 50 in West Ocean City that produced a winning $1900 bid was amazing.

“There was a pool table with leather details that the bidder will probably list on Craig’s List by the end of today,” he said. “There was jewelry and the bike was worth $2,000 alone.” It was the “best unit” he’d seen “in ten years.”

He explained that the auctioning of storage units’ contents has been around for years, but with the advent of televi-sion shows like Storage Wars and Stor-age Hunters, interest in attending the real thing around the country has ex-ploded.

His “real job” is selling ads for a na-tional trade magazine. But the self-de-scribed obsession of this long-time Ocean Pines resident is auctions.

In the beginning, he was always on the side of the bidders and, even now, when he works as the auctioneer at the storage units in Berlin and on Rte. 50 in West Ocean City, he is always bidder number one in case he persuades him-self to enter the competition.

He started selling real estate when he was only 18 years old and bought his house in Ocean Pines not long after. But, back in the early 1980s, way before the television viewing audience became aware of these events, he said he would go to construction materials auctions in the D.C. and Baltimore areas.

He still participates in auctions, both physically and on-line, but acting as an auctioneer offers the best of both worlds: He’s able to quench his desire to partici-pate in the auction while curbing, a bit, the excitement he feels bidding.

He recalls how in the earlier days, before the number of attendees grew from 25-30 people to 100-150, each item in the locker was bid on individually. Going through dresser drawers was, he said, “awesome”.

When he first started going to auc-tions he could buy what he calls “morn-ing boxes” for a mere dollar. He said, “I’d go through the box and see if there was anything valuable. There was a mystery to be solved; what would I find in the next box? Could there be a box of gold?”

That’s not an impossible dream. Six

months ago someone discovered eight ounces of gold jewelry in a Tupperware box at the Route 50 auction.

“At current gold prices, around $1,700 an ounce, the jewelry was prob-ably worth between $3,000 and $5,000, depending on its quality. The price de-pends on carat weight,” he said. “When people see jewelry, the bidding jumps up immediately.”

He once bought a four-drawer filing cabinet at an auction in Annapolis that detailed a couple’s entire life.

“The cabinet must have weighed 200 pounds; I bought it for $5. One day, with the Redskins game on the television, I started going through the files. The cab-inet contained the couple’s whole life, from their birth and death certificates, diplomas, Navy transfer orders, even x-rays of the man’s brain tumor that killed him,” Janasek said. “One enve-lope contained $32. I spent four hours looking at these people’s lives. I learned he died in Rehoboth. I missed the entire football game, I was so fascinated.”

Janasek did an internet search of the couple’s name and discovered their son is a well-known Hollywood producer. He emailed him to tell him of his find, but the son had no interest in what he had, leaving another mystery.

Janasek became an auctioneer by serendipity. He started while attending a fundraiser auction and the scheduled auctioneer didn’t show up, and the or-ganizer asked if he’d step in. The same thing happened when he was at one of the Route 50 auctions.

He has a Barnumesque ability to make the crowd so excited that bidding takes on its own exhilarating momen-tum. He said people still talk about the woman who got so caught up in the frenzy at a Yacht Club benefit she forgot what she was bidding on; she paid $250 for a box of toilet paper.

The reasons why a unit owner’s pos-sessions are auctioned vary widely: from the couple who died and whose son was not interested in their possessions to the guy who put his marijuana growing equipment in storage because he knew jail was in his future; from the elderly woman who rented a locker for years when she entered a nursing home and no longer needed anything except the WWII veteran flag given to her at her husband’s funeral; to those who die without heirs or simply can no longer afford the fees.

Janasek thinks people who attend auctions come for three reasons: 10 per-cent to buy; 40 percent for curiosity; and 50 percent for the entertainment.

It is definitely no mystery that he knows how to provide the entertain-ment. He got his first gratuity recently from a non-bidder because the man so thoroughly enjoyed the whole experi-ence.

Tom Janasek, Ocean Pines resident and storage unit auctioneer

Ocean City Mini-Storage auctions are held every two months with the next taking place on Saturday, April 20, at 9 a.m. They begin at the Berlin site, located behind Atlantic General Hospital, continue on to the Rte. 611 location, and end at the facility on Rte. 50, Ocean Gateway.

By JUDITH SULIKSpecial to the Progress

36 Ocean Pines PROGRESS March-Early April 2013 LIFESTYLESSaturday, March 9

Ocean Pines Anglers Club, monthly meeting, 9:30 a.m., Ocean Pines library. Featuring Sgt. Robert McQueeney of the Maryland State Police, currently stationed at the Berlin Barrack “V”. He has over 26 years’ investigative experience handling all manner of criminal and traffic matters. Presentation on identity theft. All welcome.

Monday, March 11Friends of the Ocean Pines

Library, monthly meeting, 10 a.m., Ocean Pines. Refreshments 9:30 a.m. Featuring Patrick Renaud, a local author of a collection of short stories entitled Tales My Mother Never Told Me. Graham Caldwell of Radio Airwaves Productions will read one of Mr. Renaud’s stories. All welcome. 410-208-4014.

Ocean Pines Camera Club, monthly meeting, 7 p.m., Ocean Pines library. Club photo competition with people’s choice awards. New members welcome.

Thursday, March 14Ocean Pines Garden Club,

monthly meeting, 10 a.m.,Ocean Pines Community Center. Plant exchange and Chinese auction of garden items. New members welcome.

Saturday, March 16The Pine’eer Craft and Gift

Shop, White Horse Park, Ocean Pines, reopening for the new year, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The store features handcrafted home decor, jewelry, and fashion accessories, created by members of the Pine’eer Craft Club.

Monday, March 18OPA Search Committee open

meeting, Ocean Pines Community Center, East Room, 7 p.m. Anyone interested in a position on the board of directors is encouraged to attend. The purpose will be to outline the function of the Search Committee, describe the qualifications of the candidates they search for, outline the responsibilities of OPA Board members, and receive input from attendees about finding interested candidates.

Tuesday, March 19Town meeting, Ocean Pines

Association general manager Bob Thompson, Ocean Pines Community Center, 6 p.m. Topics of general interest, questions and answers.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,March 19-21

Coast Guard Auxiliary Boating Course – Worcester County Library, Ocean Pines, 6-9 p.m. Basic boat handling, navigation, federal and state regulations, piloting, knots, boat terms, aids to navigation, equipment, maintenance and more. Written exam on last night. Meets certificate requirements for operating a boat in

Maryland. $15; 16 and under $10. 410-726-1509, 410-641-6535 or 410-641-8940 for advance registration. www.ocpowersquadron.org.

Wednesday, March 20Retired Nurses of Ocean Pines,

anniversary luncheon, Lighthouse Sound, 11:30 a.m. Michael Franklin CEO of Atlantic General Hospital and Coleen Waring, vice president in charge of patient care. To attend luncheon dues must be current. $17per person. Reservations by March 12. Gail Alford [email protected] or 410-208-1590.

Thursday, March 21Pine’eer Craft Club of Ocean

Pines, monthly meeting, 9:45 a.m. Following the business meeting, mem-bers will create a flower pot pen holder. Cost $3.50. Call 410-208-3032 to reserve a kit. All residents of the Ocean Pines Community are welcome, as well as members in close proximity to the Ocean Pines area. Refreshments.

Worcester County Tea Party, monthly meeting, 7 p.m., Ocean Pines Community Center. Guest speaker, former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino. Doors open 6:30 p.m. 443-614-7214.

Friday, March 22Family fun night, Sports Core pool,

6-8 p.m. Games, races, music and prizes. $4 swim members, $5 residents, $6 non-residents.

Saturday, March 23Easter dive and pool party, Sports

Core pool, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Ten and under. Easter egg dives to be divided into age groups and separated by open swim parties. Pre-registration, 410-641-7052, regular admission rates apply.

Sunday, March 24,Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orches-

tra, spring concert, Spring Vibes, Community Church of Ocean Pines, Racetrack Road. 3 p.m. Jerome Benich-ou’s Concertino for Marimba and Or-chestra, “Wolves”; Bach’s Concerto No. 1, Warren Wolf ’s Marimba, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. Pre-concert talk 2 p.m. www.midatlanticsymphony.com for tick-ets.

Saturday, March 30Spring celebration, sponsored by

the Ocean Pines Recreation and Parks Department, White Horse Park, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Easter egg hunt, Easter bonnet contest, roving magician Willy Woo Woo, face painting, pony rides, carriage rides, moon bounces, Easter-themed arts and crafts, food and goodies for sale. Easter Egg Hunt times: ages 0-2, 11:30 a.m.; ages 3 and 4, noon; ages 5 and 6, 1 p.m.; ages 7-9, 1:30 p.m. Easter bonnet contest 12:30 p.m. Candy donations accepted at the Ocean Pines Community Center.

410-641-7052.

Wednesday, March 27Ocean Pines Association, board

of directors’ monthly meeting, 9 a.m., Ocean Pines Community Center. Approval of 2013-14 OPA budget expected.

Sunday, April 7Bus trip to “Sister Act” at the

Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Bus to depart the Ocean Pines Community Center at 8:30 a.m. to arrive at the theater for the 1 p.m. show. The bus will stop for lunch approximately 11:30 a.m. The bus will return to Ocean Pines immediately following the show, stopping for dinner in Wilmington. Cost $80 and includes transportation and admittance to the show. 410-641-7052

The Sunday, April 14Kiwanis’ annual Italian Din-

ner fundraiser, DeNovo’s Trattoria, Manklin Creek Road. Three seatings, 5, 6 and 7 p.m., tickets only, on a first-come, first-served basis for all time slots. If a particular time slot is sold out, no walk-ins will be allowed for that seat-ing time. Tickets $10 for adults and $5 for all children under 12. Four people per table. Call Ralph Chinn at 410-208-6719 for reservations/tickets. Fuull ser-vice bar available for all seatings. Car-ry-outs available. Benefits local youth.

Sunday, April 21Concerts by the Tidewater

Singers, a 20+ voice acapella choir, from Easton, Md., featuring Renaissance, ecclesiastical and contemporary music, Community Church of Ocean Pines, 3 p.m. matinee and 7 p.m. Tickets $20 each. Proceeds from the concerts will support the Jesse Klump Memorial Fund, sponsors of the Worcester County Youth Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program, and the Tidewater Singers. www.jessespaddle.org or 443-982-2716.

Sunday, April 28Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orches-

tra concert, “Joyous to Glorious,” Community Church of Ocean Pines, Racetrack Road. 3 p.m. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3. Pre-concert talk 2 p.m. www.midat-lanticsymphony.com for tickets.

OngoingPine’eer Craft and Gift Shop, open

Saturdays and Sundays in White Horse Park, Ocean Pines, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The craft store features handcrafted home decor, jewelry, and fashion accessories, created by members of the Pine’eer Craft Club.

Worcester Chorale rehearsals, Atlantic United Methodist Church, 4th Street, Ocean City, Wednesdays, March 6, 13, 20, and 27, April 3, 10, 17, and 24,

and May 1 and 8. 410-208-4707.Pancake breakfast every Satur-

day, 8 a.m. till noon, Ocean City Air-port, to support the Ocean City Aviation Association’s Huey Memorial Display restoration and continuous mainte-nance fund. The display is located near the Terminal and requires no security procedures to view. Contact Tom One-to, 410-641-6888, or Airport Opera-tions,410-213-2471.

Suicide Grievers’ Support Group, 3rd Wednesday every month, 6 p.m., Worcester County Health Department, Healthway Drive, Berlin, adjacent to At-lantic General Hospital. Open to anyone who has lost a friend or loved one to sui-cide. Free of charge. Quiet listening, car-ing people, no judgment. 410-629-0164 or www.jessespaddle.org.

Kiwanis Club meets every Wednes-day at 7:45 a.m. in the Ocean Pines Community Center except Wednesday, Nov. 14, and the third Wednesday of the month when they meet at the Wood-lands in Ocean Pines from January through May 2013 for an evening dinner meeting starting 6 p.m., $18 per person. Doors open 5:30 p.m. all 410-641-7330.

Sanctioned duplicate bridge games, Ocean Pines Community Center, Sundays 1 p.m., Mondays noon, Tuesdays 10 a.m. Partners guaranteed. $5, special games $6. Third Sunday of every month is Swiss teams (no partner guaranteed for teams). Felicia Daly, 410-208-1272; Pat Kanz, 410-641-8071

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 12-05, meets the first Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the U.S.C.G. Station, Ocean City. Visitors and new members are welcome. Dennis Kalinowski, 410-208-4147. Web site http://a0541205.uscgaux.info.

Kabbalah class with Saturday services, coffee, juice and bagels, 9:30 a.m., Saturdays, Temple Bat Yam, 410-641-4311.

Life after loss support group, second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Community Church at Ocean Pines, 11227 Race Track Road, Berlin, 11 a.m. Help in coping with any type of loss. 410-641-5433.

Worcester County Democratic Club meeting, fourth Thursday of each month, 7 p.m., Marlin Room of Ocean Pines Community Center. No December meeting. Club membership is not required. All those interested in Democratic platforms and agendas are welcome.

Beach Singles, every Thursday, 4-6 p.m., Castaways, Coastal Hwy. at 64th Street, Ocean City, 45+ singles for socializing and monthly activities, 302-436-9577.

Republican Women of Worcester County, fourth Thursday of each month, 11 a.m. meeting (doors open at 10:30), lunch at noon, local restaurants. Membership chair Barbara Loffler at 410-208-0890. January through June and again September and October. Dinner meeting in November. No meetings July, August and December.

HAPPENINGS

AQUATICS

March-Early April 2013 Ocean Pines PROGRESS 37LIFESTYLES

Decatur does well at regional, state meets

The Stephen Decatur High School swim team recently completed a successful year. Pictured are, left to right, front row, Coach Jenny Miller, Maria Zweifel, Hailey Williams, Madison Tinus, Julia Wellen, Molly Wooten, Carly Deickman, Marley Rakow, and Kailey Mihavetz. Back row: Zack Keiser, Chris Poole, Shayne Custodio, Jake Middleton, Tate Socha, Collin Bankert, Cory Campbell, Coach Damien Sanzotti. Not Pictured: Jeff Middleton.

As many people know, Stephen Decatur High School has a swim team. The fact that it does is due to not

only their swimmers but, thanks to the Ocean Pines Association and its Sport Core Pool, they have a place to swim.

Thanks also to the Ocean Pines Swim Team, which has developed age group swimmers since 1975. The high school has local talent to call upon when they reach high school age.

In 2009, the high school decided to develop a swim team which started as a club sport. Access to the pool was provided, coaches were located among the high school staff and the job began.

By the second year, the club had achieved varsity sport status and reserved a block of time starting in mid-November (3:15 to 5 p.m.) until the regional and state meets at the end of February.

Pool time was arranged by contract and paid for by SDHS and donations.

While the Sports Core pool does not meets depth standards for high school swim meets and therefore cannot host swim meets within the league, the team has used the Pocomoke Y as its home pool for meets and also practice for starting blocks.

This year, the Ocean Pines Swim Team shifted five of its blocks from the Swim and Racquet pool where their meets and competitions are held during the sum-mers to the Sports Core pool for the winter.

Both teams plus the Master Sharks can practice with the blocks during their seasons. The blocks oc-

By GINNY REISTERContributing Writer

cupy space at the deep-end well; they will seasonally migrate back and forth between the two pools with the help of the OPA’s Public Works department.

Also making use of starting blocks is a new addi-tion to the Sports Core pool, the Mid-Delmarva YMCA, whose swim team began using the Sports Core pool for practices as a convenience to its members from Ocean Pines this winter.

Now in its 4th competitive year, the Seahawks have stood at the top of the regional teams that it competes against.

In 2011 the boys team almost won the state meet, missing first by a half point. But the state league was reorganized after that into the 1A, 2A, 3A groupings, which evened out the competitive status.

Teams from the Eastern Shore now have more com-petition from the other side of the Bay.

By the time of the two championships, the teams (which are normally restricted to 40 swimmers) have been culled by their swimmers’ qualifying times for each event.

The Seahawks sent 16 swimmers (8 girls and 8 boys) to those events. In regionals this year, the Girls team took first and the Boys team was second.

At States, the Boys team finished 8th and the Girls team 11th.

Results for 2013 at States: Boys: Jake Middleton (3rd in 200 Free, 5th in 500 Free, tied for 2nd in 200 Free Relay and 13th in 200 Medley Relay); Shayne Custudio (4th in 200 IM and 100 Back, tied for 2nd in 200 Free Relay and 13th in 200 Medley Relay); Jeffrey Middle-ton (13th in 200 Medley Relay, 14th in 100 Back, and

22nd in 400 Free Relay); Chris Poole (tied for 2nd in 200 Free Relay and 13th in 200 Medley Relay; Colin Bank-ert (17th in 100 Free, 22nd in 100 Breast, and 22nd in 400 Free Relay), Cory Campbell (tied for 2nd in 200 Free Relay; Zack Keiser 22nd in 400 Free Relay; and Tate Socha (22nd in 400 Free Relay).

Girls: Madison Tinus (7th in 100 Free, 14th in 200 Free Relay and 17th in 200 Medley Relay); Hailey Wil-liams (12th in 200 Free and 500 Free, 17th in 200 Med-ley Relay and 14th in 400 Free Relay); Carly Dieckman (14th in 100 Breast and 200 Free Relay and 17th in 200 Medley Relay); Maria Zweifel (14th in 200 and 400 Free Relays); Julia Wellen (14th in 200 Free Relay and 17th in 200 Medley Relay); Molly Wooten (14th in 400 Free Relay and 18th in 200 Free); and Marley Rakow (14th in 400 Free Relay).

The coaches are Jenny Miller in her second year and Damien Sanzotti in his first year. Both have consider-able swimming and coaching experience. Sanzotti is a teacher, works on the Beach Patrol summers and has coached the Ocean Pines Swim Team for several years.

Certificate of ExcellenceAt the end of every year, the Health Department

staff that checks all pools in Worcester County (some 580 facilities) awards a certificate of excellence to the pools that have best maintained proper standards for that year.

For 2012, Swim and Racquet and Mumford’s Land-ing pools each have received this award through their certified training as pool operators and their attention to cleanliness and maintenance on a daily basis.


COMMENTARY

LIFE IN THE PINESAn excursion through the curious by-ways and cul-de-sacsof Worcester County’s most densely populated community.

By TOM STAUSS/Publisher



The Ocean Pines Progress, a journal of news and commentary, is published monthly throughout the year. It is circulated in Ocean Pines, Berlin, West Ocean City, Snow Hill, Ocean City and Capain’s Cove, Va.Letters and other editorial submissions: Please submit via email only. We do not accept faxes or submissions that require retyping. Letters should be original and exclusive to the Progress. Include phone

127 Nottingham Lane,Ocean Pines, MD

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

Tom [email protected]

410-641-6029Advertising

ART DIRECTORHugh Dougherty

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rota [email protected]

443-880-1348

PUBLISHER/EDITORTom Stauss

[email protected]

Advertising

ART DIRECTORRota Knott

CONTRIBUTINGWRITERSRota Knott

Ginny Reister

OPINION

Reserves debate is crucial for Ocean Pines’ future

Not many Ocean Pines property owners attended all or even most of the work sessions in which the board of directors hashed out the budget for

the 2013-14 fiscal year. As in all sausage-making, it’s not a pretty sight, and very few people, aside from the directors themselves, have the patience and stamina to endure the budget marathon. In a way, that’s a shame, because the January-February period is the time of the year when the board most directly and intimately deals with major policy issues that affect the future of the Ocean Pines Association. Buried in budget minutiae is any number of policy decisions that impact the lot assessment that property owners – 97 percent of us, anyway – contribute to the OPA every year.

As the cover story in this edition of the Progress details, the directors were split 4-3 this year on the need to raise the lot assessment $41 in the 2014 budget. This is the last year of the so-called five-year funding plan of programmed $30 per year per lot increases in the replacement reserve. Several votes by the board during the budget marathon suggest that support for this annual extraction is eroding – with directors Dave Stevens, Marty Clarke and Ray Unger indicating that their allegiance to the five-year funding plan is not rock solid. Nor should it be, as projected OPA reserve balances driven in part by the five-year funding plan make a case for the fact that OPA assessments are too high and could be rolled back in future years without any detrimental effect on OPA finances.

Having an outsized influence on the board majority, former OPA director and current OPA Assistant Treasurer Pete Gomsak prepared an overview of the replacement reserve account as of April 30, 2012, that probably helped convince the board majority to continue funding the five-year plan this year. The

five-year funding plan is responsible for $30 of the $41 assessment increase approved by the board for next year.

In his reserve overview, Gomsak makes the case that there is $10.1 million shortfall in the OPA’s replacement reserve. The shortfall is the difference between the amount of money in the depreciation-tied “historical” portion of the replacement reserve and the accumulated depreciation on applicable OPA assets. To Gomsak, and a board majority, that alleged shortfall looms large; to a board minority, not so much. And for good reason.

According to the assistant treasurer, since the OPA historically has funded its replacement reserve by funding depreciation of the OPA’s capital assets, the objective should be to fund the accumulated depreciation in its entirety.

That logic does not hold up to scrutiny. Certainly no rational person would say that lot

assessments should be raised in one year sufficient to extract another $10.1 million to meet the Gomsak objective. Moreover, another $10.1 million is not needed in any rational Ocean Pines universe because under no conceivable set of circumstances will the OPA need to have parked in its reserves funds sufficient to cover the cost of replacing all of Ocean Pines assets in any given year.

The pernicious effect of the Gomsak argument is that could justify raising the assessment every year for the foreseeable future in order to raise that $10.1 million he says is needed. Bear in mind that no accounting principle says an organization must have in its reserve an amount sufficient to cover the replacement cost of all its capital assets. Generally accepted accounting principles, of which Gomsak is well versed, require accounting for depreciation. But recording depreciation on the books of the association according to GAAP and actually funding it are two completely different matters entirely. A board majority apparently doesn’t quite grasp that simple fact, and so apparently it has bought into the incorrect notion that

we’re somehow underfunding our reserves.What the Gomsak overview didn’t include was the

projected reserve balance on April 30, 2014, the end of the next budget year, when total reserves are forecast to stand at $2.97 million and the replacement reserve at $2.34 million. This will be OPA’s reserve balance after having paid for a $4.3 million Yacht Club, new golf course greens, and a myriad of other replacement assets from police cars to dump trucks and the like.

And then, during May of 2014, another $4 million will flow into the reserves courtesy of property owners, most of whom will be clueless about that fact.

Not too shabby, Ocean Pines’ financial condition. Who would have thought that, even after major expenditures on major projects, the condition of OPA’s reserves could be so healthy. Underfunded? Not even close.

Project $4 million in reserve allocations out over ten years, and the extraction comes close to $40 million. A significant portion of that, maybe $10 million or so, will flow into the bulkhead replacement reserve, so in reality the OPA over that ten year period would have roughly $30 million to spend on various big-ticket and small-ticket capital replacement items, absent some corrective surgery on the OPA’s assessment base.

Even Gomsak, in a recent conversation with the Progress, admitted that he doubts that OPA capital spending will be anywhere close to $30 million over the next ten years.

By a June target date, OPA General Manager Bob Thompson is supposed to have compiled a list of capital spending projects that he foresees over the next ten years or so. That “racking and stacking” as he likes to call it can then be compared to the projected contributions to reserves over this same ten-year period.

It won’t come anywhere close to $30 million. The extent to which it is less than $30 million is the extent to which the portion of the annual assessment that flows into replacement reserves can be reduced. – Tom Stauss

The Ocean Pines Progress, a journal of news and com-mentary, is published monthly throughout the year. It is circulated in Ocean Pines, Berlin, Ocean City, and Cap-tain’s Cove, Va.Letters and other submissions should be sent via email only. We do not accept faxes or other submissions that require retyping. Letters should be original and exclusive to the Progress. Include phone number for verification.

127 Nottingham Lane,Ocean Pines, MD. 21811


[email protected]

ADVERTISINGTom Stauss


CONTRIBUTING WRITERSRota Knott

Ginny Reister

PROOFREADINGJoanne Williams







PUBLISHER/EDITOR




CONTRIBUTING WRITER


443-880-1348


[email protected]

Advertising



Ginny Reister

OPINION








PUBLISHER/EDITOR




CONTRIBUTING WRITER


443-880-1348


[email protected]

Advertising



Ginny Reister

OPINION

LETTERS

Legal costs of Clarke investigation a poor investment







PUBLISHER/EDITOR




CONTRIBUTING WRITER


443-880-1348


[email protected]

Advertising



Ginny Reister

OPINION

Toxic pool“Dumping a pool” means the water

has gotten so toxic that the filter system in place cannot correct the problem. The easy solution, dump the toxic water -- unless you have patrons that expect the pool to be clean and warm (if it is a heated pool).

Here is a thought: How much energy does it take to bring 170,000 gallons of water from 55 degrees to 83 degrees? 8.34 BTUs per gallon x 170,000 x 28 degrees = 39,698,400 BTUs, but that figure is with no loss of heat. About one degree an hour is lost in an uncovered pool; 110 hours to heat the pool is about 200,000,000 BTUs or about $3000 in gas or nearly $5000 in electricity. How much does 170,000 gallons of water cost? About $600.

But that does not include sewage costs which are metered by incoming water, so figure an additional $400 for those. Now double that because we just threw away the same amount, so nearly $4000. And figure dumping two times a year. What about down time when patrons have paid for pool usage? And man hours of public works and aquatics department employees? The cost on the environment from dumping toxic water? How about medical costs and lost time at work and pain and suffering for sinus, ear and other infections caused by toxic water?

Deadly Cryptosporidiosis, an infection with the chlorine-resistant Cryptosporidium parasite, can be present in pool water and spray features. A proper Ultra Violet or ozone system as part of a pool’s normal filter system sanitizes water, eliminating any possibility of an outbreak.

Pools that use them can avoid dumping and reheating water for as many as ten years or more.

Why hasn’t Ocean Pines installed a UV or ozone system at the Sports Core pool?

Erik HertzOcean Pines

Anti-renter bigotryIn response to your story on the

changing demographics posing risk to Ocean Pines [February-Early March edition], it is true that crime is on the rise during these economic hard times. That’s as far as my agreement goes on the matter. I say, shame on you, Chief of Police Dave Massey, and shame on any resident that looks down on renters in the Pines of any financial bracket.

We didn’t move here to have the chief of police and, more than likely, members of the board of directors profile the residents they were hired to serve. I’ve seen this bigotry in some of the residents. I don’t need it from officials. Other than a scant few instances, I have been happy to know my neighbors; they couldn’t be nicer.

One is one of the fire department chiefs and his family has been so nice to us. Others comment on how nice we keep our yard since we moved here. Our house was empty for two years before we moved in. We watch our neighbors’ house while they spend the winter in Baltimore and helped them with damage from the storm.

We’re renters; we’re not poor or on assistance. We live on two modest incomes, but I personally grew up poor in a poor neighborhood. It wasn’t a bad thing, I’m proud of where I came from.

I resent the fact that Massey seems to think that because some people are on assistance they have “less than stellar backgrounds.” Maybe we should instead concentrate on the lack of jobs and programs and the fact that Annapolis seems to forget about this side of the bridge.

Bud and Karen HumelsineOcean PinesEditor’s Note: The article, headlined

“Changing demographics pose risk to Pines’ low crime rate,” specified that Chief Massey did not say or imply that long-term renters are greater crime risks than property owners. He said that some Section 8 tenants “have less than stellar

backgrounds” but did not say or imply that because people receive assistance, that means they have “less than stellar backgrounds.”

Fiscal decline“Negative variance” is the euphemistic

way to describe the continuing decline of the association’s fiscal affairs. But wait, the “negative variances” are just beginning. The golf course is a bottomless hole that will cost more and more because it is a failed business that has no market niche. The New Yacht Club sales job is finally starting to lose its luster as the numbers just refuse to be persuaded by our “Pied Piper” general manager. And to demonstrate how truly silly this whole “budget” folly is, we now read that Ocean Pines property values have fallen again.

Now remember, we are not talking about critical community infrastructure, but frill that clearly serve a minority of association members. The Golf Club is a defacto “private club” that is really on the “dole.” It doesn’t matter what you try to change, it will never break even because it cannot compete with the other 17 courses within a 45 minute drive. Ask any golfer you know (other than the Ocean Pines golf members), and they will almost universally tell you the same thing.

The Yacht Club has shown a “negative variance” for at least 40 years. I was not impressed with the “Pied Piper’s” rant at a recent Board meeting about how his skilled management needs time to correct “40 years of going down the wrong road.” Putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t make it anything but a pig with lipstick.

Maybe it is time for the residents of Ocean Pines to vote with their feet and get out of the community before the “going out of business sale” that is sure to follow the spending blitz of the “Pied Piper” and his mesmerized followers.

Reggie Shephard, Jr Ocean Pines

According to a recent disclosure, the “investigation” into OPA Director Marty Clarke conducted

a couple of months ago by General Counsel Joe Moore cost property owners a little more than $11,000. That is not a cause of celebration.

It’s more like a marker that measures the cost of board dysfunction, the inability to manage differences of opinion effectively.

A healthy board of directors is not always in lockstep, singing from the same choirbook. Dissent and even the occasional loss of decorum are indicators of a board that is functioning well, as paradoxical as that might sound.

When the majority turns on the

minority for some alleged infraction, initiating an “investigation” for alleged violations of a non-existent code of conduct (repealed in 2008), that is when healthy debate and dissent turns ugly and dysfunctional.

Moore’s investigation of Clarke yielded exactly nothing of consequence, other than a determination that he did nothing wrong. Sure, some of his comments had offended some of his colleagues, notably General Manager

Bob Thompson and Director Sharyn O’Hare, but those kinds of verbal contretemps need to be hashed out and, if possible, resolved without calling in the general counsel. Sometimes people just need to agree to disagree.

The code of conduct that once had governed situations such as these is no longer in force. Absent a firm set of guidelines that govern board decorum, and the fact that factors justifying removal of directors for “cause” in the

OPA bylaws are ill-defined, calling in the general counsel to “investigate” allegations of director misbehavior should be used rarely, if at all.

So it was disconcerting, to say the least, when word leaked more recently that, once again, Clarke had drawn the fire of an OPA official or officials offended by something he said, did, or allegedly said or did.

As best as can be confirmed by the Progress – and details are murky, because no one is talking on the record – Clarke is said to have allegedly “colluded” with one of the bidders on the Yacht Club pool contract, precisely how and in what way is unknown.

Clarke employed some colorful barnyard epithets in response to a request for confirmation. Translated from the barnyard vernacular, the normally outspoken director had nothing to say whether he once again had been accused of some sort of wrongdoing.

Since he’s still serving on the board, the alleged wrong-doing appears once again to have been baseless, a waste of association dollars if, once again, Moore was asked to investigate.

Clarke publicly opposed the awarding of the contract to Parrish Pools on the grounds that it was some $50,000 or more than the lowest bid.

That’s an entirely defensible position to take, just as the alternative point of view, that Parrish Pool’s bid was the “best” even if not the lowest bid, is defensible.

Clarke also made a few phone calls to check out the local references of Parrish – there is no reason a director can’t take that degree of initiative – and came back with information that contradicted the assessment of General Manager Bob Thompson’s team that Parrish’s bid was the best submitted.

None of this comes even close to collusion with one of the bidders. It’s conceivable that Clarke’s private investigation of the pool bidding process incensed the general manager – clearly, much of what Clarke says and does has precisely that effect.

But it’s also the case that Thompson works for the board, which includes Clarke, so the general manager has little choice other than to counter views with which he disagrees as respectfully and artfully as he can.

He did so during the Feb. 23 meeting in which the contract was approved, and six directors accepted the general manager’s recommendation to hire Parrish to build the new Yacht Club pool.

It would be unfortunate if charges of Clarke collusion originated with Thompson.

Any general manager taking on an elected director, no matter how justified he feels in the rightness of his cause, cannot have an auspicious ending.

In the case of Clarke, it’s like poking a hornet’s nest with a two-inch pole.


t

march-early april 2013

Documents