Viola: Golf clubhouse nearly finished

(May 4, 2020) Ocean Pines General Manager John Viola supplied construction and other project updates during his May 2 report to the Association Board.  

Viola said the new Golf Clubhouse is “basically complete,” with issuance of a certificate of occupancy expected this week. The project, begun last fall, remains under budget.  

“It’s looking pretty neat,” Viola said. “There’s a patio that’ll come from the Clubhouse Grille for the golfers … [and] there is another patio that will be used for the banquets and the community center.”  

Viola said the multipurpose building would accommodate golfers, as well as banquets and community events, and the new Clubhouse Bar & Grille restaurant.  

He said construction of the Police station expansion is still on schedule and on budget. On the software side, efforts continue to implement the new Northstar financial systems across all departments.  

“It is moving,” Viola said of the latter. “It is a team effort ... and, at the end of the day, I believe we will be successful.” 

A drainage improvement project in the Borderlinks area has wrapped, with the total price slightly over the $100,000 budget, coming in at $101,350.  

Elsewhere in operations, Viola said the Association is focused on communications during the unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I believe we have a very good communication team,” Viola said. “I just want to point out, for this type of situation ... there’s no playbook.” 

Viola said the communication plan includes monitoring state and federal updates and sharing those across Association platforms. Ocean Pines also continues to exchange information with neighboring communities, including Worcester County, Ocean City and Berlin, to help supply benchmarking.  

“We’re certainly doing the best we can, and I believe we’re addressing everything,” he said.