(Aug. 18, 2016) With a quorum of more than 100 people present during the annual meeting on Saturday, the Ocean Pines Association announced that Brett Hill, Slobodan Trendic and Patricia Supik, as the top-three vote getters in this year’s election, were elected to serve three-year terms on the board of directors.
Hill led the way with 1,900 votes, followed by Trendic with 1,520 and Supik with 1,428.
After being introduced by Board President Pat Renaud, Elections Committee Chairman Bill Wentworth joked that it was “the first time in the last week and a half that anyone has called me ‘esteemed,’” referring to controversy surrounding the ballot counting procedures in Ocean Pines.
“I’ve been called a lot of other names, but not esteemed,” he said.
Before revealing the results of the election, Wentworth thanked the candidates who ran this year and said that the 11-candidate ballot was unprecedented in the history of the association.
Rounding out the vote totals were Frank Daly, 1,028, Steve Lind, 875, George Simon, 816, Jack Collins, 782, Tom Janasek, 770, Doug Parks, 576, Larry Perrone, 342 and Ray Unger, 242.
An organizational meeting will be held in the boardroom at the administration building on Monday at 4:30 p.m. The board will elect a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.
Three directors, Tom Terry, Bill Cordwell and Collins, will go off the board. Terry served two consecutive terms and could not run again because of term limits, and Cordwell opted not to run for reelection after serving one term.
Remaining directors are Renaud, Vice President Cheryl Jacobs, Dave Stevens and Tom Herrick.
Also during the annual meeting, Renaud presented the Sam Wilkinson Volunteer Award to John Liberto, a 17-year-old junior at Stephen Decatur High School. Renaud said Wilkinson had volunteered about 150 hours with Ocean Pines recreation and parks and earned the Presidential Award at Decatur.
“The great help that John provides and his enthusiasm while volunteering for our events did not go unnoticed,” Renaud said.
Christopher T. Woodley, from firm Williams, Moore, Shockley & Harrison, LLP, gave a brief legal report on what he characterized as the “fairly uneventful lawsuits filed during the last fiscal year.
Those included foreclosure cases and a turnover agreement of Section 17, also known as “The Point.”
Chris Hall, from Trice, Geary and Myers LLC, gave an “unmodified” grade to the association, the highest possible assurance, during the auditor’s report.
Overall, he said the income statement had an increase of $1.7 million during the last fiscal year, including a $2.3 million increase in reserves, an increase in the operating fund of about $300,000, and a decrease in the property planned equipment fund “as it relates to depreciation.”
Terry, giving the treasurer’s report, covered both recent financial results and those that occurred during the last six years, when he started serving on the board.
“I’m not here to talk about anything important – basically, just your money,” Terry said, drawing a laugh.
During the last fiscal year, he said Ocean Pines ended more than $300,000 “for the good.” A year prior, he said the association lost about $150,000.
In 2013, Terry said Ocean Pines was $1 million in deficit, partially because of major repairs to the golf course that required closing half of it, and because a “10-year IRS case” that led to a $459,000 bill.
He said Ocean Pines had recovered from all of that, finishing “in the black for the first time in 10 years.” Moreover, during the last six years he said assessments rose $113 – or 2.3 percent. By contrast, he said assessments had increased $263, for an average of eight percent during the six years prior.
“We’ve erased a $485,000 deficit that we inherited from 2009. We absorbed an IRS hit of $459,000. We survived a major investment in our golf course, which cost us $421,000 in operating loss that year. We’ve increased the dues only two percent a year versus eight.” Terry said. “Amenities have been redirected and made operationally profitable into the last two years – to the tune of almost a half a million dollars this year – and we’re back in the black. Not bad for a community that some people say is out of control.”
His message to new board members was, “take time to learn the facts before you act.”
Renaud, during the president’s report, said board accomplishments during his year-long tenure in that office included re-establishing weekly meetings with the general manager, signing a contract with Sandpiper Energy to bring natural gas to the community, setting in motion repairs of two major bridges, building bathrooms at White Horse Park and starting work on the Manklin Meadows racquet sports improvements.
He went on to say his board “stressed the need for order” by following ‘Robert’s Rules’ during public meetings, led the fight to deny access to Ocean Parkway to developer Palmer Gillis, began meetings on the reserve study with Design Management Associates, brought golf management company Landscapes Unlimited in for a first-year performance review – and established monthly and quarterly reporting with the company – and presided over a budget that did not increase assessments.
Restorations of the sports core pool should be finished next month, a turnover agreement of Section 17 was completed, the BEACON contract was terminated and the capital improvement plan process was returned to the general manager as per the bylaws, Renaud said.
Bob Thompson, during the general manager’s report, said the association had “the best performance in two decades.” Projects completed included road stripping and road trimming, repairing storm damage done to the beach club, replacing pipes to improve drainage and finishing several repairs and upgrades at the yacht club and marina.
Future projects, he said, would include road paving, bridge work, renovating the beach club bathrooms, addressing the country club, swim and racquet tennis courts and police station, and pursuing technology improvements, including adding wi-fi at the community center.
Thompson said Ocean Pines was named one of the 10 safest cities in Maryland last year and received nods for best website, best logo and best photo from the Maryland Public Relations Society and Maryland Recreation and Parks Association.
Other honors included best wedding reception venue, best residential community and best youth sports coach from Coastal Style, and best wedding and banquet facility from the Metropolitan Magazine.
Hill led the way with 1,900 votes, followed by Trendic with 1,520 and Supik with 1,428.
After being introduced by Board President Pat Renaud, Elections Committee Chairman Bill Wentworth joked that it was “the first time in the last week and a half that anyone has called me ‘esteemed,’” referring to controversy surrounding the ballot counting procedures in Ocean Pines.
“I’ve been called a lot of other names, but not esteemed,” he said.
Before revealing the results of the election, Wentworth thanked the candidates who ran this year and said that the 11-candidate ballot was unprecedented in the history of the association.
Rounding out the vote totals were Frank Daly, 1,028, Steve Lind, 875, George Simon, 816, Jack Collins, 782, Tom Janasek, 770, Doug Parks, 576, Larry Perrone, 342 and Ray Unger, 242.
An organizational meeting will be held in the boardroom at the administration building on Monday at 4:30 p.m. The board will elect a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.
Three directors, Tom Terry, Bill Cordwell and Collins, will go off the board. Terry served two consecutive terms and could not run again because of term limits, and Cordwell opted not to run for reelection after serving one term.
Remaining directors are Renaud, Vice President Cheryl Jacobs, Dave Stevens and Tom Herrick.
Also during the annual meeting, Renaud presented the Sam Wilkinson Volunteer Award to John Liberto, a 17-year-old junior at Stephen Decatur High School. Renaud said Wilkinson had volunteered about 150 hours with Ocean Pines recreation and parks and earned the Presidential Award at Decatur.
“The great help that John provides and his enthusiasm while volunteering for our events did not go unnoticed,” Renaud said.
Christopher T. Woodley, from firm Williams, Moore, Shockley & Harrison, LLP, gave a brief legal report on what he characterized as the “fairly uneventful lawsuits filed during the last fiscal year.
Those included foreclosure cases and a turnover agreement of Section 17, also known as “The Point.”
Chris Hall, from Trice, Geary and Myers LLC, gave an “unmodified” grade to the association, the highest possible assurance, during the auditor’s report.
Overall, he said the income statement had an increase of $1.7 million during the last fiscal year, including a $2.3 million increase in reserves, an increase in the operating fund of about $300,000, and a decrease in the property planned equipment fund “as it relates to depreciation.”
Terry, giving the treasurer’s report, covered both recent financial results and those that occurred during the last six years, when he started serving on the board.
“I’m not here to talk about anything important – basically, just your money,” Terry said, drawing a laugh.
During the last fiscal year, he said Ocean Pines ended more than $300,000 “for the good.” A year prior, he said the association lost about $150,000.
In 2013, Terry said Ocean Pines was $1 million in deficit, partially because of major repairs to the golf course that required closing half of it, and because a “10-year IRS case” that led to a $459,000 bill.
He said Ocean Pines had recovered from all of that, finishing “in the black for the first time in 10 years.” Moreover, during the last six years he said assessments rose $113 – or 2.3 percent. By contrast, he said assessments had increased $263, for an average of eight percent during the six years prior.
“We’ve erased a $485,000 deficit that we inherited from 2009. We absorbed an IRS hit of $459,000. We survived a major investment in our golf course, which cost us $421,000 in operating loss that year. We’ve increased the dues only two percent a year versus eight.” Terry said. “Amenities have been redirected and made operationally profitable into the last two years – to the tune of almost a half a million dollars this year – and we’re back in the black. Not bad for a community that some people say is out of control.”
His message to new board members was, “take time to learn the facts before you act.”
Renaud, during the president’s report, said board accomplishments during his year-long tenure in that office included re-establishing weekly meetings with the general manager, signing a contract with Sandpiper Energy to bring natural gas to the community, setting in motion repairs of two major bridges, building bathrooms at White Horse Park and starting work on the Manklin Meadows racquet sports improvements.
He went on to say his board “stressed the need for order” by following ‘Robert’s Rules’ during public meetings, led the fight to deny access to Ocean Parkway to developer Palmer Gillis, began meetings on the reserve study with Design Management Associates, brought golf management company Landscapes Unlimited in for a first-year performance review – and established monthly and quarterly reporting with the company – and presided over a budget that did not increase assessments.
Restorations of the sports core pool should be finished next month, a turnover agreement of Section 17 was completed, the BEACON contract was terminated and the capital improvement plan process was returned to the general manager as per the bylaws, Renaud said.
Bob Thompson, during the general manager’s report, said the association had “the best performance in two decades.” Projects completed included road stripping and road trimming, repairing storm damage done to the beach club, replacing pipes to improve drainage and finishing several repairs and upgrades at the yacht club and marina.
Future projects, he said, would include road paving, bridge work, renovating the beach club bathrooms, addressing the country club, swim and racquet tennis courts and police station, and pursuing technology improvements, including adding wi-fi at the community center.
Thompson said Ocean Pines was named one of the 10 safest cities in Maryland last year and received nods for best website, best logo and best photo from the Maryland Public Relations Society and Maryland Recreation and Parks Association.
Other honors included best wedding reception venue, best residential community and best youth sports coach from Coastal Style, and best wedding and banquet facility from the Metropolitan Magazine.