JANUARY 23, 2025
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BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
PHOTO COURTESY OCEAN PINES ASSOCIATION
Touch of Italy owner Bob Ciprietti responds to a question from the audience during the Ocean Pines Association town hall meeting on Ciprietti’s company’s plans when it takes over in May as the operator of the Ocean Pines Yacht Club, the golf club and the Beach Club in Ocean City. Touch of Italy has a five-year contract with the OPA to run the venues.
OPA audience gets to grill Touch of Italy’s big cheese Restaurant owner Ciprietti lays out how his company will run food, drink venues By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Jan. 23, 2025) Touch of Italy will take over the Ocean Pines Association’s three food and beverage service locations on May 1, following the expiration of the association’s contract with Matt Ortt Companies.
Last week, the community invited residents to a town hall where homeowners could ask Touch of Italy and Ocean Pines Association representatives questions about the five-year lease arrangement the two parties signed earlier this month. Per the agreement, OPA, as the owner of the Yacht Club, the Clubhouse Bar and Grille, and the Beach Club, will be the restaurant company’s landlord. See CIPRIETTI Page 6
Bay Club’s back-to-nature project nears finish line By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Jan. 23, 2025) The former Bay Club Golf Course is being transformed into a Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) property as officials work to establish trails and pollinator meadows, restore wetlands and enhance recreation space. Last week, the Lower Shore
Land Trust, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting natural resources and wildlife habitat, invited community members to an information session about the DNR’s purchase of the Bay Club golf course property on Libertytown Road outside Berlin. In 2023, the state acquired the See BAY Page 4
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