4/4/2007

Community Center Pros and Cons

Ocean Pines property owners will once again vote on a referendum to allow the construction of its Community Center to proceed.  The project has been the focus of community discussion and controversy for many years and most recently a lawsuit.  For the benefit of its readers, The Courier invited the Ocean Pines Association and Stop Taxing Ocean Pines (S.T.O.P.) to present their views on the project, for and against, during the month of April.  In each edition during the month this space will be devoted to their arguments.

This is an unfiltered presentation of their respective positions.

________________________________________________________________
FOR
Community Center referendum
Defining the issue
By Tom Olson,
Ocean Pines Association General Manager

There are certain indisputable facts that guide the Ocean Pines Association in planning for today's needs and tomorrow's demands.  First and foremost is the recognition that more than 8,400 families call Ocean Pines "home" year round, seasonally, or occasionally.  The Association offers a wide variety of social and recreational activities that require safe, comfortable space to accommodate members and their guests.  These facilities are the cornerstone of a quality of life unparalleled in any other Eastern Shore Community. 

Another indisputable fact is that many of our facilities are each approaching 40 years of age.  They were designed for seasonal use on a much smaller scale than community growth has mandated.  That's why the Ocean Pines Association has found itself in the dilemma of meeting today's needs and tomorrow's demands by rehabilitating and replacing our facilities.  The existing Community Hall is heavily used today and in many ways is inadequate both aesthetically and functionally.  After much study and review, the Association has determined this facility should be replaced. 

History tells us that the Association has attempted, on at least four different occasions to secure membership approval to construct a new Ocean Pines Community Center.  It was the referendum in 2005 that did gain the approval of the membership.

Since August, 2005, the board of directors has proceeded to move the desire of the membership from concept to completion.  Unfortunately, a great deal of controversy surrounds the project and calls the effort into question.  The referendum proposal presented in 2005 estimated the cost to be 3.94 million dollars.  The estimate was prepared by using architect and engineering "estimates."   Upon membership approval in August 2005, the Association evaluated project costs using bid specifications prepared by experts and estimated by one of the best construction management firms in the area.  This analysis came in substantially higher than the original construction estimates.  The issue has been mired in debate as to why the original estimate fell so far short of the reality of the project.  We can spend an enormous amount of time debating why this occurred but it will not change the reality that to construct the new community center, as re-engineered and redesigned, will cost 5.4 million dollars in 2007.

Should the board of directors have stopped the project and returned to the membership for re-approval after the estimate was received?  Obviously, there is a judge in Worcester County, who upon first review of the question believes so.  When a Temporary Restraining Order was granted stopping the project for a 10 day period, the board had an option to continue arguing the rationale behind their efforts in subsequent court hearings or to seek a new referendum.  A great deal of time, effort, and money has been invested in this project and more of each will be required to complete the project.  Rather than allow the project to wallow in controversy for several more months, the board agreed to seek a definitive answer from the membership to a very simple question.  Do you approve the Ocean Pines Association continuing construction of the new Ocean Pines Community Center at a cost estimate of 5.4 million dollars?

Will the Association look at alternatives in site, design or construction methods?  The answer is no.  To do so would waste funds already expended for design and planning for the project.  Our current fixed price contracts would also be voided.  The structure as proposed is 29,000 sq. ft. and incorporates the recommendations of the Comprehensive Planning Committee in assessing current and future community needs.

During the next 30 days, I will outline the issues and provide information to help the Ocean Pines community make an informed decision on this project.  Future editorials will include; exploring the cancellation costs, methods of funding and the board's recommendation supporting the referendum.  This issue is important to each and every member of the Ocean Pines Association and I want to make sure that you have as much information as possible to make your decision.  See you next issue…
__________________________________________________________

AGAINST
What is S. T. O. P.? 
Just who are these guys?
By Martin Clarke,
Vice President, S.T.O.P.

S.T.O.P. members have been called everything from being naysayers to nut cases.  Actually we are your neighbors.  We are members of the Ocean Pines Association, Inc. (OPA) and represent every section; we are conservatives and liberals; we are Republican and Democrat.  We have one trait in common however, we all love Ocean Pines, Berlin, Ocean City, Worcester County, our home, or home away from home.  We are just like you.

In a month or so we all will be faced with a decision on a new referendum question.  The referendum is to authorize another $1.5 million that our Board of Directors tells us is needed for the construction of the proposed new community center.  This vote is made more important by the fact that the membership was divided down the middle on the 2005 referendum which only passed by 214 votes. 

Over the next four weeks your neighbors, fellow Association members, and friends who support S.T.O.P. would like to take the opportunity afforded to us by The Courier newspaper to articulate what S. T. O. P. and its supporters are all about and why we will vote "NO."

S. T. O. P. is an acronym for "Stop Taxing Ocean Pines" a grass roots organization to counter uncontrolled spending sprees by our Board of Directors, including:
1.The $25,000.00 study to try to obtain a permit for a 90 slip commercial marina at the Swim & Racquet Club before they decided whether or not we needed it. 
2.The unbudgeted and ill conceived $930,000.00 pool enclosure at the Sports Core Swimming pool.
3.The new Community Center.

Let's talk about number three.  On the evening of September 21, 2004, at a public board meeting, OPA's consulting firm, Design Atlantic, addressed our "space needs."  It became apparent that the community center concept which had been soundly defeated by referendum just three years earlier was alive and well.  Just who does our Board think they represent?

S.T.O.P.'s concerns were justified.  In short order the board was railroading through a "do over" of the 2001 referendum.  There was one major difference.  This one was going to be "FREE." 

Yes, a FREE new 28,000 square foot brick community center.  The "anticipated cost" of $3.9 million would be funded by the sale of 19 building lots, and the sale of 2.8 acres of commercial property owned by the Ocean Pines Association, Inc.  This was too good to be true.  Why did this referendum pass by only 214 votes?  This endeavor started to fall apart within months after its approval.  In no time the board was 38 percent over budget.  To make matters even worse, after 20 months the Board of Directors has yet to sell the first lot.  Not one.  It was indeed too good to be true.

The other side of the coin is that our Board of Directors now tells us that the cost to stop is going to be as high as $900,000.00.  Wow.  Nine hundred thousand dollars and we do not even have a building permit?  Of course it is important to put this number into context.  It comes from, for the most part, the same board that purposely and intentionally lowered the "anticipated cost" to $3.9 million because "it would sell better."  Where I come from that is called a low ball.  Would this same board now dare to pitch us a high ball? 

S.T.O.P. believes it is not a good idea to "throw good money after bad."  The board was 38 percent over budget in less than a year and still does not even have a building permit.  They have yet to sell a single lot and want $1.5 million more of our hard earned assessment money.  We believe that it is better to sell the 19 lots for a more realistic price of $1.4 million and use the first $900,000.00 to pay off this fiasco.  The remaining $525,000.00 could be used to start the necessary renovation of our existing community center.  Others in Ocean Pines will opt to pay the estimated $640 per member/lot ($5,400,000/8415 lots) in capital cost as well as the increase in our assessments to fund the new operating costs for the proposed center.  

Next week this column will be authored by Association member Edward Moran, a highly respected and well know business man whose opinion will be worth reading.  I hope that David Honick, the attorney who successfully orchestrated S. T. O. P.'s lawsuit, will write our third column on Homeowner Association law.  Till next week, thank you and God bless.

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