Great G reat s spring pring e events vents i in no ocean cean p pines! ines!
April 12, noon-3PM at Sports Core Pool April 12, 8-11AM at Community Center
April 19, 11AM-2PM at White Horse Park April 26, 11AM-2PM at Veterans Memorial Park
April 2025
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THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY
COVER STORY
OPA to challenge county plan to impose ‘unfair and illegal’ costs on Ocean Pines ratepayers Board sends letter to county commissioners detailing objections
By TOM STAUSS Publisher hen County Commissioners Chip Bertino appeared before the Ocean Pines Association’s Board of Directors March 29, he appealed for Board support of efforts by he and fellow commissioner Jim Bunting to prevent the County Commissioners from saddling Ocean Pines ratepayers with costs not incurred by the Ocean Pines water and wastewater service area. He received that support, rhetorically but also by actions subsequent to that meeting. Bertino said he would be reporting back to the OPA about any roll-back of the cost-sharing plan at the commissioners’ April 2 meeting, as well as any evidence of a posting of information on the county’s Website about the plan’s impact on the county’s 11 service areas, including Ocean Pines. The commissioners had voted to post the information at its previous meeting, after voting down a proposal by
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Bertino to send out the material via regular mail. In brief discussion of the issue at their April 2 meeting, there was no retreat by any of Bertino and Bunting’s colleagues, and as of April 3, no information on the proposal has appeared on the county Website, according to Bertino, nor a copy of the material that would be posted provided to the commissioner. Apparently it had been drafted but not shared as of April 2. He said there was some discussion of what service area budgets would have to be if the costs were properly allocated. He said the cost allocation to service areas such as Glen Riddle would be burdensome, acknowledging that property owners in that very high-end subdivision might be able to afford it. But he said there was no indication that his colleagues were prepared to abandon cost-sharing, which he said means maximum pressure To Page 3
H U N G R Y?
FROM BREAKFAST TO HAPPY HOUR FIND IT HERE
Special Report
Extensive coverage of the attempts by Worcester County’s elected officials to force ratepayers in the Ocean Pines water/wastewater service area to pay for expenses run up over many years in other service areas. Unrefuted poor management in the county’s treasurer’s office contributed to the crisis the county is facing today. Coverage begins as this edition’s Cover Story on this page and continues on Pages 36 through 41.
Mailloux sentencing
It was an emotional day in court for two local families when Tyler Mailloux, driver of a vehicle in July of 2022 that killed Ocean Pines teenager Gavin Knupp, was sentenced to a year and a half in jail for leaving the scene of the accident. Testimony from members of both families sheds light on the toll the death has had on them. The closing argument by Mailloux attorney George Psoras sheds light on one possible narrative of what really happened that night. Coverage appears on Pages 34 and 35.
INSIDE THIS EDITION
Ocean Pines .............. Pages 1-35 OPA Finances ................. Page 43 Mailloux hearing ... Pages 34-35 Special Report ..................... 36-41 Opinion ...........,...... Pages 44-45 Lifestyles ................. Pages 46-49 Captain’s Cove ...... Pages 50-63