Board 'on the fence' about vinyl fences at OP pumping stations
NANCY POWELL n Associate Editor
(Sept. 18, 2009) One man's mission might come to naught, or a different result than he intended.
Grant Helvey of Ocean Pines wants the wooden stockades surrounding the community's pumping stations to be replaced with white vinyl fences. At the Aug. 8 annual meeting of the Ocean Pines Association, residents voted in favor of Helvey's motion for the board of directors to write a letter to the county asking for action.
The Ocean Pines Service Area of the Worcester County Wastewater Department owns and is responsible for maintaining the structures. Any costs would be borne by the ratepayers, the property owners of Ocean Pines.
Helvey said the 19 wooden fences are in a sad state of disrepair and some are dilapidated. He estimated the cost to replace the 19 fences would be approximately $132,000.
At Wednesday's meeting of the Ocean Pines Association board of directors, John Ross, deputy director of the county's Public Works Department, said there are actually 26 pumping stations in Ocean Pines. Some of those fences are in disrepair, but others are not and none are in danger of falling down.
Three fences were replaced in the past three years and all were replaced with wooden fences. The county expects to replace the others when funds are in place and it has always intended to replace them with wooden fencing, Ross said.
Not only are wooden fences less expensive to install, they are easier to repair if broken. Only the broken or damaged slats would need to be replaced. If the fence was made of vinyl, however, an entire section would have to be replaced.
Director Marty Clarke said he would choose wood over vinyl "in a second." He also said the color white was not even allowed in Ocean Pines for 25 years.
Lighthouse Sound has wooden fences, but Glen Riddle, where houses are white, has white vinyl fences around its pumping stations.
The Ocean Pines Water and Wastewater Advisory Board is more concerned about operations and safety than the fences, Ross said.
Its primary concern at this time is to increase the level of fire protection in North Ocean Pines. While that area has fire protection, it would have better fire protection if it had larger pipes and more fire hydrants. The plan is to use 8-inch diameter pipes, instead of the present smaller pipes, and to install additional hydrants so they are at 500-foot intervals.
The board members will make a decision about the fence issue Oct. 6.
