Board selects officers: Perrone to serve as president, Horn as vice president

(Aug. 12, 2020) Larry Perrone will take over as Ocean Pines Association President after a 4-3 vote during an organization meeting, Wednesday at the Ocean Pines Golf Clubhouse.  

Also decided during the meeting, Colette Horn will serve as Association Vice President, Camilla Rogers will continue as secretary, and Doug Parks will be treasurer. Each were unanimous choices and without opposition.  

Board appointments included Michelle Bennett as assistant secretary and Steve Phillips as assistant treasurer. Directors agreed to keep the current legal counsel and auditing firm. Board members did not immediately select a parliamentarian. 

Directors also set the regular Board meeting schedule for the next year, with each meeting scheduled in the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway. 

Regular Board meetings were scheduled as follows: 
 

• Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. 
• Saturday, Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. 
• Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.  
• Saturday, Dec. 19 at 9 a.m.  
• Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.  
• Saturday, Feb. 20 at 9 a.m.  
• Saturday, March 20 at 9 a.m.   
• Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m.  
• Saturday, May 15 at 9 a.m.  
• Wednesday, June 16 at 7 p.m. 
• Wednesday, July 21 at 7 p.m. 

After the meeting, Perrone thanked his predecessor, Parks, who had served as president since 2017. 

“I and the rest of the Board want to thank Doug Parks for last three years, serving as president and agreeing to step up as treasurer going forward,” Perrone said. “Doug has put a lot of time and effort into the community and he’s done a good job.”  

Perrone said the biggest issue over the next year was likely to be "dealing with the COVID-19 [pandemic] … whether or not that goes into next summer and managing our financial situation through that.” 

Also important, he said, was the Bainbridge Pond drainage project.  

“It now appears that it may become a referendum issue,” Perrone said. “We’re planning, in September, to have the General Manager give a complete presentation on the scope of that project, the cost, the funding, the impact on our profit and loss statement, and the impact on our homeowners’ assessments. 

“[While] we were fortunate to get a grant of approximately $550,000, my understanding is that is about a third of what we were hoping for and the project cost has grown recently,” he continued. “It’s an issue that needs to be brought to the community’s attention.” 

Perrone added there may be more grant funds available next year, but, “this whole project may exceed our referendum number.” 

“Because of the size of this project, my preference would be to make sure that the community is aware of what we’re talking about here,” he said. “Up to this point, I think everyone felt … that the $550,000 was going to be the amount of money to do the project – and it’s not even close.” 

Perrone said he hoped many people from the community would attend the Sept. 9 Board meeting.  

“This is a very important issue and it could be a very expensive issue,” he said.  

“Besides that, I just hope that we’re able to continue the collegial nature that the Board has had over the last year, and the overall good working relationship,” Perrone said.  

To view a video of the meeting, visit https://youtu.be/ACJgTCB87ZQ.