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Pines candidates speak out on controversial pool topic

 (July 20, 2017) The Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors announced last Monday it would end the decades-old policy of restricting the use of the Oasis pool, adjacent to the community yacht club to adults only.
A vote, held in a closed session following an open session on Sunday, July 9, was unanimous.
Interim General Manager Brett Hill issued a statement last week that the decision was made “after exhaustive research by [Ocean Pines’] legal firm, Lerch, Early, and Brewer.”
He said the former adults-only policy violated state and federal laws in part because of Ocean Pines’ tax-exempt status.
“There was not a strong demand for change, but there has been significant dialogue regarding the legality of the operation, which prompted OPA attorney involvement,” Hill wrote. “The decision agreed to … was the recommendation of counsel, which was approved unanimously by the board.
“As far as a time, the board took prompt action upon receiving the legal opinion, but is still exploring other avenues to accommodate a facility of similar operations if legally permissible in some manner for the association,” Hill continued. “There has been some initial resistance from regular users of the adult pool, however this was a matter of complying with the laws of the state of Maryland, and the Fair Housing Act, which supersede the authority of a Board.”
The association put out a press release last Friday titled “Oasis Pool Policy Clarification”
“In conjunction with the change in the adults-only pool policy, the Ocean Pines Board of Directors adopted further policy changes on Sunday, July 9 to help promote the ‘oasis’ atmosphere at the Oasis Pool,” the release stated.
According to the release, the Oasis pool will be restricted to lap swimming and exercise from 8-11 a.m. Monday through Sunday and from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Sunbathing and other activities on the deck can continue as they have in the past, but the pool should be designated for exercise activities during the aforementioned hours,” the release stated. “The lap lane dividers will be removed during recreational swim periods.”
Initial public reaction to the policy change was largely negative.
The Gazette contacted all four of the current board of directors candidates. Three, Marty Clarke, Nicole Schafer Crosariol and Dr. Colette Horn, emailed statements.
“Agree or disagree has very little to do with this issue,” Clarke wrote. “I am not going to second guess a unanimous decision of our sitting board who are under direct communication with our law firm on the issue of the adult pool.
“I will, however, stick my neck out and admit that after reading the 1988 amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and much related case law, we were probably not in compliance with the Act until now.
“I know this answer will anger some of our membership, but it is how I understand the law. If elected I would be happy if our attorney could find a loophole that would once again allow for the Yacht Club pool to be for adults only.”
Crosariol largely defended the decision as a necessary one by the board, but offered a slight change.
“In order to abide by the law and Fair Housing Act, (and to avoid a possible lawsuit) the policy change wasn’t a choice,” she wrote. “Could we not split the pool membership and have an adult-only and a regular pool membership? This solution would have to be approved by our lawyer of course, but it would be a step in the right direction towards a solution.”
Horn said the change in policy raised two issues: transparency and fairness.
“This year our board has created a situation that has undermined the homeowners’ trust in their decisions,” Horn wrote. “An important element in the distrust is the decision to appoint from among themselves an acting general manager who has a financial interest in a business that he is promoting to OP. Furthermore, they have allowed the AGM to overstep the bounds of an ‘acting’ management position by making wholesale personnel and policy changes without the foresight to realize they could (and ultimately did) result in adverse impact on finances and the homeowners. When these adverse impacts revealed themselves, a 5-2 vote several months ago allowed the AGM to continue on this path.
“Now, at what one might call the ‘eleventh hour,’ the board and management find themselves in crisis mode trying to do damage control while at the same time continuing to allow the AGM to push his agenda before the election creates a new dynamic on the board – one that could bring a halt to what I would call a ‘damaging’ agenda.
“I believe this is at the root of the perceived need for so many ‘emergency’ and ‘closed door’ meetings that have prevented homeowner input to decisions, and eliminated transparency in important decisions. Unfortunately, the transparency ship has sailed for the remainder of the term of the AGM and the remainder of the board as currently composed.
“I can only hope that going forward with new directors added to the mix on the board that transparency will return. If elected, I will bring knowledge and skills from my profession as a Ph.D. trained and licensed psychologist to attempt to shift the dynamic back toward transparency.”
In terms of fairness, Horn wrote that she realized “OPA must abide by laws that relate to this issue.”  
“However, I am not in favor of rashly eliminating the adults-only designation at the YC pool,” she wrote. “I do not believe that the fairness issue is being addressed properly, and that less shallow thinking is required when addressing the matter.
“The AGM and board seem to be focusing solely on the Fair Housing Act’s protections for families with children. When the FHA was amended to bring families with children under its umbrella as a protected class, people with disabilities were also brought in as a protected class.
“In 1990 the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, providing people with disabilities additional protections against any barriers to accessibility in public accommodations.
“Both laws must be considered in determining the fate of safe recreational and fitness swimming options for adults in OP. Since there has not been transparency in the decision to eliminate adults-only swimming there is no way to know whether it is based on consideration of both of these laws and both protected classes, or just one.
“The current plan to allow 2 hours of adults only fitness swimming in the mornings, in my view, does not adequately address the need for safe recreational and fitness swimming for adults with disabilities. At the very least, we should be inviting input from adults comprising this protected class when considering the fate of adult-only swimming in OP.  In order to know how their accessibility will be affected by changing the status of the YC pool, we need to know what barriers this population of adult swimmers currently face, and how adding families with children into the mix will affect their accessibility.   
“All of our pools have chair lifts, which addresses one aspect of physical accessibility.  We must also address other aspects of accessibility faced by disabled adults who need safe recreational and fitness swimming options. This issue needs deeper thinking that seems to have been applied to it.”
One candidate, current Director Doug Parks, did not reply to requests for comment.