OPA members question pool cap
Bill Zawacki and Ray Unger secure board seats
By Bob Lassahn

Anyone expecting brevity at the Ocean Pines Association (OPA) annual meeting found their hopes dashed as numerous motions from the floor were laid before the assembly for consideration. The August 12 gathering at the OPA community hall attended by about 200 persons lasted about two hours and the announcement of election results for the board of directors seats, the most sought after information by many attending, was held in abeyance until the very end.

Following reports from attorney Joe Moore, acting general manager Glenn Duffy and a review of the financial report by a representative of Trice, Geary and Myers, LLC, the business of the association took an unusual turn. During new business a total of eight separate motions were made by members from the floor.

The first motion from member Beatrice Hirshout called for canceling the Sports Core pool enclosure recently approved by the board. Attorney Joe Moore commented that such a motion might be advisory rather than a requirement, but the matter would need to be thoroughly researched.

A total of six members spoke to the motion with five opposed and one in favor. However, when the question was called it carried by a margin of nine votes, with 84 in favor and 75 opposed. The final outcome is subject to legal review.

The second motion introduced came from board member Janet Kelley, stepping outside of her official position and acting only as a member of the association. Her motion was to not construct the new community center as approved by the board on August 10 during a special meeting. Six members spoke in opposition to the motion and two supported Ms. Kelley. A substantial “no” vote that did not require an official count defeated the measure.

Gail Kretschmar introduced two procedural motions, one clarifying submission of motions under new business which carried and one regarding inclusion of public comments at various committee meeting that was eventually tabled on a motion from Dan Stachurski.

Board candidate Bill Zawacki also introduced a motion to amend the standing rules for agenda development by placing requirements on how motions are submitted, introduced and voted upon at meetings. His motion was also tabled.

Gene Ringsdorf was much more successful with two motions placed before the assembly. One motion called for the OPA to hire a professional reserve consultant to assess the state of OPA’s funds and another required inclusion of replacement fund in OPA financial reports published in the Ocean Pines Report newsletter mailed to each property owner. Both passed easily.

Norm Katz introduced a motion for OPA to hire a professional firm to provide an appraisal of all properties owned by OPA, noting that he felt the currently published figures appeared too low. Mr. Duffy and Mr. Moore both estimated the process could cost the association well in excess of $100,000 and his motion was soon tabled.

Only one member took the podium during the public comments portion of the assembly. Roseann Bridgman spoke simply of the need for the OPA membership to come together and to get over the divisive issues.

The last issue before the membership was the announcement of the successful candidates for two board seats.  Election Committee chair Bill Snyder summarized that of 7,841 ballots mailed a total of 4,114 or 52.6 percent were returned. The successful candidates are Bill Zawacki (2,353 votes) and Ray Unger (2,050 votes), while incumbent board member Mark Venit (1,853 votes) placed third and Carmine “Joe” Cericola (1,414 votes) finished last.

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