(May 19, 2016) The OPA and Salisbury University group BEACON have terminated a contract between the two for services that involved the development of a new comprehensive plan.
In 2015, the OPA board voted 5-1 to hire the Business, Economic, and Community Outreach Network for that purpose, at a cost of $33,000.
BEACON Director Dr. Memo Diriker at the time said a grant would cover half that cost. The balance was to be split into two payments of $8,250.
Diriker was apparently paid $8,250 before the termination, which happened during a closed meeting two weeks ago, and was approved by a unanimous vote of the directors.
The relationship between SU and BEACON seemed to sour following a meeting in March of this year, when, possibly because of scheduling confusion, Diriker did not show up. Members of the Pines Comprehensive Planning Committee who then tried to run the meeting – essentially providing an update on their work on the survey – seemed ill prepared to do so.
One committee member later termed that meeting “an unmitigated disaster.”
Details on the termination are few, in part because OPA Board President Pat Renaud said the agreement included a clause “not to speak about each other at all.”
“That was a stipulation that we had to agree to that they would not disparage us and we would not disparage them,” he said. “Other talkative members of our directors may not find that to be true, but it is true and that’s what we agreed to. We all signed it.”
Renaud added that the meeting “was so closed it was confidential.”
Diriker confirmed the decision to terminate the contract was mutual, but declined to comment further.
Steve Cohen, chairman of the comprehensive planning committee, said he was blindsided by the dissolution.
“We were not notified of the cancellation, and it was a complete surprise,” he said, adding that the committee “did not know yet” how it would proceed next.
“I’m not sure yet, because I want to talk to Pat [Renaud] and see what they expect of us,” Cohen said. “I think we can still do something.”
In 2015, the OPA board voted 5-1 to hire the Business, Economic, and Community Outreach Network for that purpose, at a cost of $33,000.
BEACON Director Dr. Memo Diriker at the time said a grant would cover half that cost. The balance was to be split into two payments of $8,250.
Diriker was apparently paid $8,250 before the termination, which happened during a closed meeting two weeks ago, and was approved by a unanimous vote of the directors.
The relationship between SU and BEACON seemed to sour following a meeting in March of this year, when, possibly because of scheduling confusion, Diriker did not show up. Members of the Pines Comprehensive Planning Committee who then tried to run the meeting – essentially providing an update on their work on the survey – seemed ill prepared to do so.
One committee member later termed that meeting “an unmitigated disaster.”
Details on the termination are few, in part because OPA Board President Pat Renaud said the agreement included a clause “not to speak about each other at all.”
“That was a stipulation that we had to agree to that they would not disparage us and we would not disparage them,” he said. “Other talkative members of our directors may not find that to be true, but it is true and that’s what we agreed to. We all signed it.”
Renaud added that the meeting “was so closed it was confidential.”
Diriker confirmed the decision to terminate the contract was mutual, but declined to comment further.
Steve Cohen, chairman of the comprehensive planning committee, said he was blindsided by the dissolution.
“We were not notified of the cancellation, and it was a complete surprise,” he said, adding that the committee “did not know yet” how it would proceed next.
“I’m not sure yet, because I want to talk to Pat [Renaud] and see what they expect of us,” Cohen said. “I think we can still do something.”