OCEAN PINES – Officials last week highlighted plans for distributing a strategic planning survey.
Last week, Strategic Planning Advisory Committee Co-Chair Bernie McGorry presented the Ocean Pines Association (OPA) Board of Directors with an update on costs and communication plans for a homeowner survey.
Officials noted the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee was charged by the board to gather information necessary for them to make recommendations regarding the development of a strategic plan for OPA. As a result, the committee has prepared a property owner survey for distribution.
“The bottom line here is this is all being done at no cost,” McGorry told the board last week. “We’re going to take advantage of the communication boards out there, hopefully work with the local papers, and really it’s just putting a link up on the website. There’s really not a lot of cost for this.”
McGorry noted the survey, which was finalized earlier this summer, has been tested using computers, tablets and cellphones. However, hard copies will also be available in the administration building and at other locations throughout the Pines.
“We’re confidence having this hybrid approach, both online and having it available for the people that want it, will be successful,” he said.
McGorry said the association has spent $1,260 on software to develop this year’s survey. But he told board members he was seeking their approval of a communication plan to inform homeowners.
While the last strategic planning survey, completed in 2018, cost the association roughly $8,000 in mailing costs alone, McGorry said he was proposing a budget of $650. That money, he noted, would be used for printed materials and business cards reminding homeowners to complete the survey.
“The goal for the number of completed surveys is 1,000, and the reason is if you go any larger than that the margin of error is small,” he said. “We want to get at least 1,000 residents, ideally 500 part-time to represent the part-time residents … Additionally, the previous survey was under-representative of younger families so we want to make sure we sample in places where there are younger families and children.”
After further discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the distribution of the homeowner survey, as well as the detailed communication plan and associated cost estimates.
“We’ll be ready to release this on the 27th …,” McGorry said. “We feel really good about where we are at.”
