SNOW HILL – County officials delayed acceptance of a grant meant to improve drainage in Ocean Pines to get more information regarding project plans and the Ocean Pines Association’s involvement.
The Worcester County Commissioners this week voted unanimously to table a decision on a grant from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Commissioners Chip Bertino and Jim Bunting said they had concerns about the project’s scope and recent comments by Ocean Pines Association (OPA) officials, who indicated that if the work was too costly the project would have to go to referendum.
“I don’t want the county to be on the hook if there’s a change of thought on the OPA board,” Bertino said.
Bob Mitchell, director of environmental programs, told the commissioners on Tuesday that the county had received $549,000 for a drainage project in Ocean Pines. Because the amount is only a third of what was requested, the project’s scope will have to be reduced. He assured the commissioners the county would still be able to use the funding.
“We’re going to do what we can with the money we got,” Mitchell said, adding that the county could do a different drainage project than what was originally applied for.
Bunting asked if negotiations were still ongoing with the proposed Refuge at Windmill Creek, which like Ocean Pines was supposed to be involved in the project.
“I know they have some changes they want to do that may affect this project or may not affect this project,” Mitchell said, adding if necessary the project could go a different route.
Mitchell said there were 11 segments to the project and perhaps some of those could be done rather than all. He said a completely different project was also an option. He added that Ocean Pines had $600,000 in its capital budget for the project.
Bunting said he was uncomfortable proceeding without knowing exactly where the county stood. Bertino agreed.
“There are some comments I’ve heard emanating from the OPA board with regard to this project that have left me with a number of questions as to how we’re going to proceed…,” he said. “It happened quickly last week, some comments were made. I’d feel more comfortable if we had all of our I’s dotted and all of our T’s crossed before we accept this money because we’re on the hook for it.”
Mitchell said all the county had to do to use the grant was find a project that helped with flooding and provided some treatment to runoff. He acknowledged, however, that questions had been raised in the past week.
“I think we have some moving parts here we have to reconcile,” he said. “I’m confident we can come up with something that would be acceptable to OPA and this board.”
