A February 7, 2025 News Release from Worcester County stated:

"The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has exempted residents in the Ocean Pines Sanitary Service Area (SSA) from paying the $5.00 monthly charge to the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund (BRF) for the upcoming year. This exemption will result in an annual savings of $60 per household in the Ocean Pines SSA. 'This exemption is due to the exemplary work done by our staff,' Public Works Director Dallas Baker said."

Hogwash! The exemption is due to the money provided by Ocean Pines ratepayers to finance the infrastructure and maintenance of a superb facility. It is, perhaps, the best in the State of Maryland. Ocean Pines ratepayers have also funded perhaps a million gallons greater sewage treatment capacity than currently needed - despite the then Worcester County Director of Public Works promising during a public hearing that the plant expansion was needed "only" for the Ocean Pines subdivision.

Will the investment of many millions of dollars, paid solely by Ocean Pines ratepayers, be used to benefit developers seeking cheap sewer connections to the Ocean Pines area plant? If history is any indicator, you can make book on it. Hundreds of new homes and commercial developments are in the pipeline, up and down Route 589 and even on the south side of Route 50 -- all hoping for inexpensive connections to the Ocean Pines plant.

That February 7, 2025 news release was and is an insult to the ratepayers of Ocean Pines. There is no mention that for two prior years the Ocean Pines ratepayers had to pay that $60 per year state fee because a Worcester County employee dropped a rake in the sewage collection system, didn't tell anyone, and the plant subsequently failed to meet the standard for the $60 per year exemption.

The insulting behavior of Worcester County towards Ocean Pines ratepayers does not end there. Worcester County Public Works mismanagement of operations and maintenance of the Glen Riddle sewage treatment service area resulted in the complete inability of the service area to properly treat the incoming sewage flow. Solution? Worcester County Public Works just decided to haul untreated sewage from Glen Riddle to Ocean Pines in tanker trucks, but failed to tell the County Commissioners. That may have started four or more years ago, and continues today.

Even more insulting is the decision late last year by the Worcester County Commissioners to give Glen Riddle a gift of $2.7 million of taxpayer funds to cover part of massive operational losses amounting to over $9 million over 10 service areas. The loss, none of which was in the Ocean Pines service area, was apparently covered up for years, with a very sizable part of those losses coming from Glen Riddle. The Commissioners provided Glen Riddle with the $2.7 million of your tax dollars on the premise the financial problems it faced were caused by Worcester County employees.

Why is the above even more insulting? Rather simple really. Commissioners Chip Bertino and Jim Bunting previously asked that the County pay for the $1.2 million the Ocean Pines ratepayers were obligated to pay because of the actions of a Worcester County employee. Motion rejected by the other commissioners.

In a nutshell - The Worcester County Commissioners force Ocean Pines ratepayers to pay for a $1.2 million County mistake; the Worcester County Commissioners vote to gift Glen Riddle with $2.7 million for a County mistake.

As if all this is not enough to enrage the ratepayers of Ocean Pines, Commissioner Eric Fiori and Commissioner Ted Elder, with the support of Commissioners Joe Mitrecic and Diana Purnell seem intent on making Ocean Pines ratepayers share equally in repaying perhaps $6 million in loans made to 10 other service areas. The loans, initially in excess of $9 million (now about $6 million with the Commissioners gifting Glen Riddle with almost $3 million), were due to what some claim were improper or even illegal transfers of funds between sewage service areas by the County Treasurer's Office to cover financial losses, thus avoiding rate increases.

Want more outrage? At the April 1, 2025 County Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Bertino proposed a motion to have an outside firm do an independent audit of the County Treasurer's Office to look into improper transfers of funds and other irregularities. Bunting seconded the motion. It was rejected by the other five Commissioners. During discussion of the motion, Fiori tried to act like a prosecuting attorney while questioning Bertino. Bertino put him down -- with class.

Interestingly, most of the loan money was to service areas in Fiori's district. With primary elections coming up next spring, a few weeks ago Fiori said he would not vote to increase rates for service areas in his district, but surely will be a hero in his district if he can pull off having Ocean Pines ratepayers foot the bill.

Perhaps the most outrageous statement made at that meeting last Tuesday was Commissioner Ted Elder saying he opposed any independent audit of the County Treasurer's Office because it might have an adverse impact on the "morale" of County employees. To which Bertino replied he was more concerned about the morale of County taxpayers.

There is also great irony here. Ocean Pines area ratepayers may be required to pay a substantial portion of sewage treatment financial losses exceeding $4 million at Glen Riddle, even after the County gifted Glen Riddle $2.7 million in general fund taxpayer dollars.

Glen Riddle is one of the most expensive, richest subdivisions in the entire County. Glen Riddle ratepayers should pay the $4 million and return the $2.7 million gift from taxpayers. Glen Riddle alone owes $6.7 million to date, if Worcester County law was followed.

If irony was water, this would be a FEMA disaster area.