5/1/2007

OPA sends referendum ballot...again
By Bob Lassahn

On Friday April 27 the news of a possible problem with the Ocean Pines Association (OPA) community center referendum mailing came to light. It was learned the Post Office was returning ballots mailed by lot owners who had included their return address stamped "Return to Sender" with a notation of "Box Closed" in reference to the P.O. Box 987 address. It was uncertain if envelopes without a return address might be ending up in a dead-letter file or other holding area and the exact extent of the problem was unknown.

OPA General Manager Tom Olson confirmed the existence of the problem and advised that it was apparently due to a "glitch" at the Post Office. A letter from the Post Office stated, "When the Ocean Pines Association Post Office box was reopened in April, the intercept tag for that specific business name and box number was still active."

A community debate ensued as to whether the Post Office was admitting an error, further fueled by a denial to inquiries that they had made an error and a refusal to confirm or deny a statement by OPA that the Post Office agreed to absorb postage for a second mailing.

In the meantime the OPA board decided that a new referendum package would be prepared and mailed to the membership, but another public hearing would not be held. The debate over the Post Office’s covering the cost of the mailing was put to rest on Friday May 4 as General Manager Tom Olson confirmed via telephone the mailing had been completed at no charge to OPA for postage.

The new referendum package is readily identifiable from the first and some Ocean Pines residents reported receiving theirs on Saturday. It was also learned that a substantial number of the first ballots had successfully made their way to OPA despite of the problem with the P.O. Box.

Send an Email Letter to Courier Editor - be sure to include your telephone number.