Inactive for months, it will resume its facility reviews as budget sessions begin

(Dec. 19, 2019) With the Ocean Pines Association budget process kicking into high gear in January, board of directors member Larry Perrone said a reconstituted Recreation and Parks Committee is slated to meet next month to examine facility upgrades and program expansions.
Although the advisory committee has been inactive in recent months, Perrone said several new and returning members will convene in early January.
“During that week is when we start the budget process,” he said.
Perrone said the first step during the pending committee meeting would be distributing pertinent resolutions from the OPA governing documents, selecting a chairperson and establishing goals.
“We’ll briefly go over that [and] talk about what we should be looking for as part of a group,” he said.
While campaigning for the board of directors earlier this year, Perrone said criticism was expressed over a perceived lack of recreational facilities for children.
“One of the things I heard when I was running … was there’s nothing to do for children here in Ocean Pines,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the case at all, as evidenced by the new playground at White Horse Park.”
Implying that improvements could be on tap for additional park areas in the pines, Perrone said the matter would be fleshed out during the budget process.
“Since we’ll be right in the middle of t

Larry Perrone

he budget process we may be able to see if the GM is looking at those particular parks for any renovations or updates,” he said.
In light of taking over as recreation and parks committee liaison this year, Perrone reached out to former liaison Dr. Colette Horn to ascertain what earlier priorities remained.
“There were some projects we were looking to move forward, but we didn’t have money in the budget,” he said. “This may be timely if there are some projects that the committee wants to bring to (program supervisor) Debbie Donahue who is running park and recs at this point.”
Perrone said the committee should be on schedule for inclusion with the upcoming budget disbursements.
“We should be in the middle of the process and we’ll be able to see if any additional projects are available,” he said.
Perrone said aside from funding considerations, the committee’s objective would likely be assuring equitability of resources.
“From my perspective, the focus is going to be that we are looking at continuing to improve the availability of facilities for both children and the adults here in Ocean Pines,” he said.
Emphasizing that the committee is advisory in nature, Perrone said the goal is coordinating actions through the board of directors and in conjunction with both General Manager John Viola and Donahue regarding maintenance issues and program offerings.
“Since we’re sort of re-energizing the committee, they’ll be a lot of things to discuss,” he said.