OCEAN PINES – An ADA-compliant playground, a new firehouse and a new racquet building highlight just some of the capital projects being proposed for the Ocean Pines community.
In a meeting of the Ocean Pines Board of Directors last Saturday, General Manager John Viola presented association members with a list of proposed capital projects for the next fiscal year. While the budget process typically kicks off later in the year, Viola said officials have already begun looking at potential capital projects that could be funded in fiscal year 2024-2025.
“Obviously we’re in the second month of our fiscal year,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean our team, all of us, aren’t already working on capital items. That’s the way to do it, not in October, November, December.”
Viola said he is currently meeting with committees and gathering input as he begins to plan for certain capital projects. He said those projects would then be reviewed by budget and finance.
“What I’ll do next is start talking to budget and finance on them,” he said.
Proposed capital items for the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget include a new irrigation system at the golf course, a pavilion for Veterans Memorial Park and a new fire station for the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department.
“The workgroup will probably come to this board in August …,” he said. “We’re hoping to get more grants, and we want to see the results of that before we come forward. But we do have sketches.”
Viola added that an ADA-complaint playground is also being eyed for Bainbridge Park. He said a survey on the Bainbridge Park playground has been distributed to association members.
“We’re going to try to get as much input as we can,” he said. “We’re certainly looking into wherever we can get grants … It is a big initiative.”
Viola also shared plans for a new racquet center.
“I will sit down with our team and talk to some contractors, high level, and see what is viable and what we actually need,” he said. “It’s either renovation or a completely new building, one-story or two-story.”
During public comments, however, resident Dave Tanner shared his objections to building a new racquet center.
He argued the current building was in good shape and met the community’s needs.
“Why do we need the racquet center?” he said. “Nobody seems to really be able to answer that question. I hear the old building is fully depreciated on the books, so we need a new one … There’s just no justification to spend over $1 million for a new building, not even close.”
