By Greg Ellison

(Oct. 21, 2020) Following a brief closed session discussion on Wednesday, the OPA Board voted unanimously to appoint Frank Brown to serve out the remainder of departing Director Steve Tuttle’s term.

Currently a member of the Budget and Finance Committee, Brown, who was one of several candidate under consideration, received the nod to fill Tuttle’s seat until the term ends in August 2021.

Tuttle, who stepped down from his elected position at the conclusion of the board meeting on Saturday, is planning to relocate from the area next month.

Speaking on Wednesday following the appointment, Brown said he enters the fray without a preconceived agenda, short of continuing to chart the association’s current course.

“I’m interested in seeing the continued improvements that we have at Ocean Pines,” he said. “Over the last four years or so we’ve done a tremendous amount of stuff [and] I’ve been involved in a lot of it.”

While now filling in for Tuttle on the board, Brown said the pair previously worked closely in developing building plans for both the new Golf Clubhouse and renovated Police station.

“Steve Tuttle and I worked on both of them a lot,” he said.

The golf clubhouse project, which was approved for an estimated $1.6 million by the OPA Board in April 2019, completed construction this spring for a final tally of $1.49 million.

Besides having a vested interest as a lifetime member of the Ocean Pines Golf Club, Brown also fit the bill as a “resident expert” in planning both capital projects.

“One of the things I did in my other life, I was a contractor,” he said.

Jumping on board to assist local builder Marvin Steen, Brown helped to develop initial design schematics.

“We had our design and we met with the architects,” he said. “We ended up with a design that we were all happy with.”

After final tweaks were added by architectural firm Davis, Bowen and Friedel, the Whayland Company began construction of the 7,400-square-foot clubhouse last October.

“It was a cooperative group,” he said. “A lot of people contributed to putting all that together.”

Based on past involvements Brown now joins a board group comprised of largely familiar faces.

“I have relationships with just about all of them,” he said. “I think we can all work together quite well.”

Brown  began laying family roots in the Pines back in 2005.

“We bought a little place in Teal Bay 15 years ago,” he said.

Formerly residing outside Annapolis on the Magothy River, after retiring a half dozen years back Brown threw down anchor full time in the Pines.

“We built our new home over in Terns Landing,” he said. “It’s the one we expect to be in for the rest of our lives.”

Besides building know-how and business savvy, Brown also brings extensive educator experience to the board.

“I’ve always been in numbers,” he said. “Besides owning a contractor business I was a teacher for 30 years.”

Brown stepped down from his position as a physics teacher at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 2004.

“I kept running my building business for ten years after that and then we totally retired down here in 2014,” he said.

Looking ahead, Brown remains undecided about becoming a candidate for the 2021 OPA Board election at the conclusion of the interim role.

“That depends on my wife, number one, and how things go over the next nine months,” he said. “If it seems to be a fit then I might consider that [but]if not I’m glad to be someone to substitute for Steve because I knew him quite well.”