OCEAN PINES – Members of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors expressed unanimous support for the Bainbridge Pond drainage improvement project this week.
The board was presented with an update on the drainage project, which has been redefined because of reduced funding, at a meeting Wednesday. While there was no expenditure to vote on at the meeting, with a show of hands the board indicated their support of the project going forward.
“It’s been a really great team effort and I’m really proud of what we’ve put together,” said Colby Phillips, director of amenities and operational logistics.
Phillips told the board that the project, which is being done in conjunction with Worcester County, had needed to be altered as a result of reduced funding. While the project received $549,000 from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, it was just a third of the money the county had sought for the work. As a result, the project was tweaked so that it would be financially viable.
Now officials are proposing to complete eight of the initially proposed 11 sections of the project. General Manager John Viola said that would cost $804,936 and that the grant would cover $549,000, leaving the association responsible for an estimated $255,936. That funding is available in the association’s drainage reserve. He added that there was roughly $505,000 in the account.
“The team still has money for the rest of Ocean Pines or emergency work we need to do,” he said.
Phillips said the first section of the project would involve the retrofit of Bainbridge Pond. The second section will improve the existing outfall swale leaving Bainbridge Pond. Other improvements to be made as part of the drainage project include the improvement of culverts under Beaconhill Road, Sandyhill Road and Pinehurst Road. The association is hoping that future grant funding could cover the cost of improving the outfall swale from Beaconhill to Sandyhook, the outfall swale from Sandyhook to Pinehurst and the outfall swale from Pinehurst to Beauchamp.
President Larry Perrone said the elimination of the sections of the project that had involved going under Beauchamp Road and connecting with a proposed development on the other side of the road had significantly reduced the cost of the project.
Viola said he’d heard a lot of excitement about the project within the community.
“It’s a very well planned out project,” Viola said.
