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Ocean Pines Golf and Country Club.
By Josh Davis, Associate Editor
(Jan. 3, 2019) When Ocean Pines Clubs Committee Chairman Gary Miller asked on Dec. 20 how the country club renovations were going, he didn’t know what he was getting into.
Based on the discussion that followed, all options are on the table and nothing is certain.
“What’s going on as far as the RFPs and where are we?” Miller asked. “The last thing I read was, are they talking about tearing the building down and starting all over?”
“Dear God, don’t get me started on that. I could blow a gasket,” Cheryl Jacobs said. Jacobs, a former board member, is a recent appointment to the clubs committee. “When I read that in the paper I’m like, ‘Seriously?’”
Jacobs, two years ago, unsuccessfully fought to convince board members that replacing the current building with a smaller, cheaper-to-maintain version was the best option. The current structure has suffered for years from issues such as mold, outdated HVAC systems and a leaky roof.
Committee member Gerald Horn said he couldn’t imagine how the association had already spent $500,000 to renovate the downstairs portion of the country club. Estimates to renovate the second story are now north of $1.3 million.
“It’s astounding to me,” Horn said.
As a former board member, Jacobs added, “We are so far beyond the point of discussing a tear down.”
“They’ve just got to let go of that entirely,” she said. “Are you aware that there are individual heating and air conditioning units that were purchased that are sitting somewhere, waiting to be installed [on the second story]?”
Director Slobodan Trendic, the committee liaison to the board, said he was.
According to Trendic, bid requests for the second-floor renovation have been received.
“This is where I was leading with this – are we going to have anything completed for next season for the golfers, and a new place for meetings and all that?” Miller asked.
Trendic said if a “simple renovation” were being done, it could start on Jan. 1 and be done quickly.
“But if you’re going through some major renovation, which is what the RFP was put out for, or the notion of tearing it down to replace, that’s a different scenario altogether,” he said.
Committee member Lewis Furman compared the situation to what happened at the old yacht club.
“They argued all those years and didn’t know exactly what they wanted to do … and look what we’ve got,” he said. “It’s like an elephant put together by a committee.
“You’ve gotta make a decision and push it through,” Furman continued. “We should’ve learned from this.”
Trendic said the committee meeting was not the venue for his opinion on what should be done in terms of renovating the country club.
Jacobs, later during the meeting, asked again when the board might make a decision on the second floor, “assuming that there will be a second floor.”
“As a board, we haven’t discussed that and that decision hasn’t been made,” Trendic said.
He said the general manager had a timeline in mind, but that actual timeline would depend on “which option the board will ultimately approve.”
“The next action item is for the GM to come to the board and, basically, ask for approval,” he said, adding there was no date yet for that to occur.
“What I’m hoping to see, as an individual director, is that by the time the board meets to hold a budget working session, which will be on Jan. 14, 15 and 16 … that we would have some kind of a discussion related to the numbers for the clubhouse.”
Asked whether he preferred the renovation or replacement plans, Trendic indicated there could be a third option – a less costly renovation.
“If you go on a string budget, a lot can be done by May,” he said. “But, if you go with a major renovation, which is what this RFP is about, you’re talking about six months plus of intensive work that will dictate how much of the downstairs can be open, because you have liability issues.
“Everything is on the table, from my perspective as an individual director,” he continued. “I am considering everything.”