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Marina Deck presents first ‘King of the Wings’ contest

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Marina Deck presents first ‘King of the Wings’ contest

(June 19, 2015) Marina Deck, on Dorchester Street in downtown Ocean City, will present its first “King of the Wings” contest featuring wings from approximately 14 local restaurants, this Sunday, June 21, from 1-4 p.m.

For $10, attendees can try all the contestants’ wings and vote for their favorite.    

As of earlier this week, Marina Deck, M.R. Ducks, Pour House, Bull on the Beach, Hooters, Burley Oak, Dogfish Head, Captain’s Galley, Harborside, Shark on the Harbor, Greene Turtle, Dunes Manor, Longboard Café and Pickles Pub are slated to participate in the competition.

“Besides having a good time and hanging out tasting the wings, it’s for a good cause,” said Marina Deck owner Dennis Kalchthaler. “We are doing it for the kids and you can’t beat the [bayside] view.”

Two winners will receive a more than 3-foot-tall trophy for making the tastiest wings. A public winner will be determined by event attendees and a people’s choice winner will be chosen by a guest panel of five judges.

Celebrity judges include Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan, Big Al Reno from Ocean 98.1, DJ Wookie from OC 104, Leah from 93.5 the Beach and Albie Dee from OC 104. In addition, DJ Wax will be hosting, emceeing and providing the tunes all day.

Marina Deck’s regular happy hour and Sunday specials will be going on with $4 Fireball shots, $4.99 orange crushes, $2 domestic drafts, $1.75 Natural Lights, $3 Captain Booty shooters, $2.50 domestic bottles, $2.50 Landshark drafts, and $1 off all other drinks.

The event will have door prizes, a 50/50 raffle and auctions including rounds of golf, haircuts, a free manicure from Robin Walter Salon, gift certificates from OC Pet Spa, Brass Balls, Decatur Diner, Smokers Pit, Taylor’s Restaurant and the Berlin Coffee House, among others.

All proceeds will benefit the Cedar Chapel Special School in Snow Hill.

“We all want to have a good time, but the main focus is on the kids and raising money for the charity,” Kalchthaler said.

In addition, Marina Deck is one of the first restaurants in Ocean City to install solar panels on its roof.

The project has been planned since February and last week, 53 solar panels were placed and hooked up during a three-day period, Kalchthaler said.

“Hug a tree, we are saving money and it looks cool,” he added.

Bicycles restored for international student workers

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Bicycles restored for international student workers

(June 19, 2015) A free classified ad in Ocean City Today has helped several members of Ocean City Baptist Church collect used bicycles to restore for international student workers.

“Over the last three years it has grown and this is our biggest year by far,” said Gary Short, a member of the church. “This is the first year we have received a lot of help.”

Since its inception, the group has restored more than 200 bikes and donated them to international student workers who come to Ocean City for the summer.

Ocean City Baptist Church on Division Street offers free dinner to international students Mondays from 6-8 p.m.

“That’s how we make the connection. It’s all a first come, first serve,” Short said. “The first week is a big one. They trickle in and we gave away 60.”

Last week, the group donated 30 bikes, and on Monday, 15 bikes were given to international student workers.

“We didn’t know where to start and did not have any money set aside. Putting an ad in the classified helped get the word out and we get calls from people in the community to donate bikes to us,” Short said.

Short explained how he can put air in the tires, tighten seats and lubricate chains.

“There are guys who are really good with break cables and multi-speed tune ups. They can get the gears working right,” he added.

Short and his crew restore the donated bikes in their barns and garages.

“Thank you to the whole area and community as a whole. From Selbyville to Girdletree, anywhere the newspaper reaches we have received calls and so many bikes have been donated,” he said.

To donate an old bicycle, call Short at 410-726-1051.

MSFA’s annual convention and conference, June 20-26

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MSFA’s annual convention and conference, June 20-26

(June 19, 2015) Everyone is invited to join the thousands of firefighters for demonstrations, exhibits, a parade and events during the 123rd annual Convention and Conference of the Maryland State Fireman’s Association and Ladies Auxiliary, June 20-26.

“We have family-oriented activities for firefighters and their families and events just for kids. It’s kind of nice. The numbers fluctuate on the schools being out and we encourage families,” said Ron Siarnicki, convention chair. “What better place than Ocean City? Bring your family to the beach.”

The convention is free to the public and takes place at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center on 40th Street. There will be a variety of local vendors selling merchandise as well as informational and awards presentations all surrounding firefighting in this state.

Close to 30,000 come to town for the event each year, Siarnicki said.

Several events highlight the annual MSFA gathering and one of the most popular is the parade along Baltimore Avenue. Around 600 units will take part in the procession on Wednesday, June 24, traveling from 16th to 33rd Street starting at 1 p.m.

Other big events include a family night at Jolly Roger Amusement Park, Purse and Bag Bingo, a prayer breakfast and the annual MSFA Golf Tournament.

MSFA Night at Jolly Roger takes place Monday, June 22 from 6:30-11 p.m. at the amusement park on 30th Street. There will be music, food and unlimited rides, rounds of miniature golf and trips around the go cart track during the event. For the amusement park and food the cost is $22 per person. A family of four for both is $75. Visit www.msfa.org for additional packages and to reserve tickets in advance.

“We are trying to build our convention into a family event. It’s a chance for our state’s firefighters to receive some training and have an awesome Ocean City experience with their families,” Siarnicki said.

Purse and Bag Bingo also takes place Monday. Doors open at the convention center Bayfront Ballroom at 5 p.m. for the games starting at 6 p.m. Admission is $22 in advance and $25 at the door, which includes six face cards for 20 games as well as a door prize ticket. Coach, Vera Bradley, Thirty-One and Longaberger will be featured.

The prayer breakfast takes place Wednesday, June 24 at 7:30 a.m. in the convention center’s Bayfront Ballroom with Chaplain Preston “TJ” Lay of the Laurel, Del. Volunteer Fire Company as the guest speaker. Admission cost is $13 and includes an all-you-can-eat country breakfast with scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, biscuits, fresh fruit and more.

The 23rd annual MFSA Golf Tournament takes place next Friday, June 26, at Eagles Landing Golf Course in Berlin. Tee time is 7 a.m. and most spots are filled. Complimentary beer will be provided on the course, prizes and a continental breakfast for $75.

“We are really excited. Mayor Rick Meehan is our celebrity playing in the event and it’s a great fundraiser for programs throughout the state,” Siarnicki said.

To celebrate the arrival of firefighters in town, the Ocean City FOOLS — Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society International for advanced firefighter training — will present its sixth annual block party to benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Cowboy Coast Country Bar and Steak House on 17th Street and Philadelphia Avenue will host the event on Tuesday, June 23 from 6:30 p.m. to close.

A $10 entry fee includes a souvenir mug, food and drink specials throughout the night and live music. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and a mechanical bull-riding contest with prizes awarded to the person who stays on the longest. The Franklin Square Live Band will perform and DJ Wax will provide the tunes.

The Ocean City FOOLS keep the party going in the morning with its first 8 a.m. 5K run and walk on the Boardwalk at North Division Street.

“It’s open to the public with a minimal registration fee to benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation,” Siarnicki said. “It’s intended to be a healthy walk, no competition. A nice activity for the whole family on the Boardwalk.”

The MSFA Ladies Auxiliary will host a Salty Coast paint party on Thursday, June 25 from 2-4 p.m. in the Ocean City convention center room 208. Purchase tickets for $45 at www.tickled-paint.com or call 410-713-2013.

All presentations, educational classes and awards ceremonies during the MSFA conference are open to the public, Siarnicki said.

“For firefighters, they are exposed to great training opportunities that are fire specific and the public gets to see what our fire service does each day to keep everyone safe,” he added.

Awards will be presented on Tuesday, June 23, starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Bayfront Ballroom.

There will be presentations throughout the event, such as Liz Marks keynote presentation on Monday, “Don’t Text N Drive 4 Liz Marks,” where attendees will hear her devastating story of driving into the back of a truck near St. Michaels while texting. Other talks include “Why Sprinklered Buildings Burn” on Monday and Wednesday or “Prevention Through Testing and Research” on Sunday and Monday.

The Convention Committee and the Ocean City FOOLS have teamed up to provide not only classroom sessions, but hands-on training opportunities as well.

“This year, there are a lot more hands-on live evolutions where firefighters are not just getting a tutorial, but they are doing something and using their skills,” Siarnicki said.

A four-hour “Making the Cut” Sunday class will go over the tools for venting and flat roofs. On Tuesday, an eight-hour “Firefighter Survival Class” teaches techniques on how to help a down firefighter.

“We hope people will come out and watch the parade or take advantage of the activities,” Siarnicki said. “We are truly happy to be in Ocean City. What a great town to be in.”

Convention headquarters will again be the Quality Inn Boardwalk on 17th Street, providing an easy drive or ride on Ocean City’s public bus to the MSFA conference. There will be a free shuttle service from the bus stops and parking lot to the front door of the convention center.

For more information on the events activities, visit www.msfa.org to download a full schedule of MSFA Convention and Conference events taking place June 20-26 at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center on 40th Street.

Weekend airs it out

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(June 19, 2015) If the bumper-to-bumper traffic and shoulder-to-shoulder beach didn’t tip you off about how unusually full Ocean City was last weekend was, consider the following phrase: “world’s highest-grossing Hooters.”

Growth in visitorship leading up to the Ocean City Air Show meant that guests at the Boardwalk Hooters and Fifth Street ate more wings and things and drank more beverages than anyone else at any of the 460 Hooters in the United States and all the others on the planet, outside of Vegas.

“Of all the stores across the world, with the exception of the Hooters Casino in Las Vegas, the Boardwalk location was the number-one in sales last week,” said Matt Ortt, director of operations for both the Boardwalk and West Ocean City franchises.

“It actually wasn’t our biggest week ever, but it just happened to be bigger than all the other Hooters,” Ortt said. “I feel Ocean City this year has been a lot stronger, as far as the crowds and the business.”

This past weekend, it showed, with much of the resort filled to capacity.

“Hotel-wise, we did sell out,” said Susan Jones, executive director of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association. “All our member hotels were booked and we started to give out non-member numbers to people who called.”

At Ropewalk, the restaurant that just recently took over the old Fresco’s space between 82nd and 83rd Streets, there was a half-hour wait for dinner on Friday and Saturday.

This isn’t unusual anywhere in Ocean City, but considering that it was only Ropewalk’s third weekend open, its first weekend serving a full menu, and the fact that it has 600 seats to fill, it was quite a feat.

“We don’t even have our sign up yet,” said co-owner Chris Reda. “A half-hour wait is good. I’m sure other places had much longer waits, but for our first fully-operational weekend, I can’t complain.”

Not only has the air show become a valuable economic boost for Ocean City, it’s also become a key marker for the beginning-of-the-end of the “senior week” phenomenon, when the resort is packed with high school and college graduates whose demeanor often leaves much to be desired.

“There is definitely a group that can get out of control. You have to stay on your toes,” Ortt said. “The week leading up to the air show was just about all June-bugs at the Boardwalk location. But once the air show people came into town, the June-bugs kind of faded into the distance because it brought in so many more families.”

Although most businesses expect the influx of recent graduates to last through next weekend, the air show provides a welcome boost of less volatile customers.

“There definitely have been a lot of stories of destruction with the seniors this year,” Jones said. “I have some members that say they may not rent to anyone under a certain age again, because of the destruction of the rooms, and they only pull in a few thousand dollars from it anyway.”

Law enforcement activity was still high this past weekend, on par with the weekend before.

Officer-initiated service over the Thursday-through-Sunday of this past week, June 11 to 14, totaled 1,672 actions, compared to 1,740 over the same four-day span a week earlier.

Citizen calls actually climbed to 850 during the four-day air show practice and performance period, versus 688 the week prior. Arrests also grew by about a third, from 90 over June 4 to 7 to 120 this past weekend, including 32 drug arrests.

Although the city’s demoflush formula, which measures population based on wastewater, is imprecise, flows in the resort peaked last weekend around 28 percent higher than the flow peak from the previous weekend.

 

 

Escape Room challenges visitors

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Escape Room challenges visitors

(June 19, 2015) A zombie episode of “The Big Bang Theory” put interactive “escape room” games on national television, and now Ocean City visitors and residents can join in the fun — finding clues and solving puzzles — before time runs out.

Escape Room is on 118th Street in the OC Square shopping center and features three rooms to solve: Pirate’s Treasure, the Boss’s Office and the Quiet Room.

“It’s a new and unique experience for Ocean City,” Escape Room owner, Linar Yagudin, said. “You unlock detective abilities and use brain power to escape the room and break the code. Get together with friends to solve the mystery and have adventures you will never forget.”

In the Pirate’s Treasure room, participants have one hour to find the pirate’s hidden treasure in his haunted cabin and solve the mystery of the wreckage before it sinks below the ocean.

Players are tasked with finding the boss, who escaped with everyone’s life savings, and hacking his bank account to return the money before it’s gone forever in the second challenge room, Boss’s Office.

In the Quiet Room, participants are transported to an abandoned asylum looking for an antidote to the “sickness” before it takes over after 45 minutes.

“Every room has a personal touch and they are all different,” Yagudin said. “We make up all the puzzles for the game and we have many ideas ahead.”

People are having a hard time getting out of the rooms without clues, he added. Throughout the game, employees will send clues to participants.

“It’s like being a detective with critical thinking and problem solving,” Yagudin said. “You’re thinking outside the box and using logic to figure out how you will use items in the room.”

Each room can hold six or more players, which means participants may be uncovering clues and finding keys to unlock answers with strangers. All items in the room could be a clue except for pictures or decorations hanging on the walls.

Escape Rooms have been used as a team-building exercise, a host for special events, birthday parties, work events and even bachelorette and bachelor parties.

A friend of Yagudin experienced an Escape Room in Pittsburg, which made him think it would be a cool idea for Ocean City. They started renovations in January and the interactive escape game opened up quietly on Memorial Day weekend to decent crowds.

 “Come play the brain game rain or shine,” Yagudin said. “It’s an adult, family-friendly game where you meet new people and get a full experience.”

To keep the rooms fresh and new, two rooms will change at the end of summer with holiday themes likely to appear. The Escape Room will stay open until at least Winterfest ends, Yagudin said.

The Pirate’s Treasure Room and the Boss’s Office costs $26 on the weekdays and $28 on the weekends.

The Quiet Room is $24 on the weekdays and $26 on the weekends.

Participants are asked to arrive 15 minutes before start time and reservations can be changed up to 24 hours before arrival. Expect to spend about 90 minutes at Escape Room for orientation, debriefing and playtime.

During the summer, Escape Room is open every day 11:30 a.m. to midnight with the last session starting at 11 p.m.

Visit www.escapetheroomoc.com for more information or to purchase a slot to play.

Beach 5 Sand Soccer tournament

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Beach 5 Sand Soccer tournament

(June 19, 2015) Close to 300 teams will participate in the family-friendly Beach 5 Sand Soccer tournament taking place on Saturday and Sunday with 30 fields lining the beach from Dorchester to Second Street.

The participants range in age from under 8 years old to adult teams, with 10 players on each team. They will compete in a two-day event, beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday morning with both boys’ and girls’ teams contending until about 7 p.m. on June 20.

“Purely for the fun and experience of playing soccer in the sand, I mean really? Who knew how fun that could be, and boy what a challenge,” said Angela Lewis, the administrator for Beach 5 Sand Soccer.

The soccer-filled weekend continues on Sunday at 8 a.m. with boys’ and girls’ teams competing until after 7 p.m. Most of the championship games will take place on Sunday evening.

The event is free for spectators and Lewis says there are always surprises.

“It’s totally free to come, watch and cheer on the kids. You never know what you might see,” Lewis said. “One year, we had a boys’ under 17 team come in pink tutu’s to play in our tournament, I mean talk about fun.”

Teams will be visiting from all over the East Coast including North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware.

“We are very careful about what we allow as far as jerseys and shirts at our events and focus on the fun of the game and not the competition,” Lewis said. “It’s giving the participants an opportunity to play beach soccer as opposed to what most players are used to: grass.”

Beach 5 Sand Soccer has teamed up with Jolly Roger Amusement parks to provide a fun time for families when the kids are not playing in the tournament, she added.

In addition, they will be selling specially designed T-shirts, socks and other items on site at the tournament.

“We focus on the fun factor at our events and we emphasize this to coaches, parents, participants and our staff every day,” Lewis said. “If you can’t have fun doing what you love then why do it?”

Any soccer lovers who missed out on this weekend’s soccer tournament will receive another chance to participate. Beach 5 Sand Soccer will be back Aug. 8 for a second tournament in Ocean City.

“We’d love to have new teams come out and join us,” Lewis said.

Catch this weekend’s events on the Boardwalk between Dorchester and Second Streets from 8 a.m. to about 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Visit www.beach5sandsoccerseries.com for more information or to sign up for the tournament in August.

OC Marlin Club’s 36th Small Boat Tournament this wknd.

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OC Marlin Club’s 36th Small Boat Tournament this wknd.

(June 19, 2015) The Ocean City Marlin Club’s 36th annual Small Boat Tournament, for vessels 34 feet long and smaller, will take place this weekend.

Registration for the competition will begin today, Friday, at 6:30 p.m. at the Marlin Club, located on Golf Course Road in West Ocean City. A captains’ meeting will follow at 8 p.m. The tournament is open to Marlin Club members and nonmembers.

Participants will fish from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., either Saturday or Sunday, June 20-21. Anglers can participate in the inshore or offshore divisions. They also have the option to compete in both.

The inshore division includes categories for flounder, sea bass, tautog, bluefish, rockfish and shark.

Offshore division categories include tuna, dolphin, shark and billfish release. There is a $500 bonus award for the heaviest flounder.

Weigh-ins will take place Saturday and Sunday from 3-6:30 p.m. at Sunset Marina in West Ocean City.

An Eastern Shore-style crab feast and awards banquet is scheduled for Sunday from 6:30-9 p.m.

The entry fee is $250 per boat to fish offshore or inshore. Five banquet tickets are included in the fee. To fish inshore one day and offshore the other, the cost is $500 and includes 10 banquet tickets. Added entry-level calcuttas are available for each division and cost $100, $200 and $300. The $200 offshore billfish added entry level is winner takes all.

For more information, call the Marlin Club at 410-213-1613 or visit www.ocmarlinclub.com.

Forty-nine boats carrying approximately 245 anglers of all ages competed in the Marlin Club’s 35th annual Small Boat Tournament last year. A total of $17,290 was paid out to tournament winners.

“A fair amount of fish were weighed … I don’t think it could have gone any better,” Bill Regan, tournament co-director, said after the 2014 event. “It was a great tournament.”

Regan said there was a good mix of participants, from young children to adults.

“Some people that fish now started fishing this tournament when they were kids,” Regan said. “Some of them have been fishing this tournament 15-20 years straight. That’s really cool.”

 

Teen arrested for armed robbery at Ocean City motel

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(June 19, 2015) Ocean City police officers arrested and charged Christian Gill, 16, of Hagerstown, Md. as an adult for attempting to rob a group of people with a handgun inside a motel last week.

On June 10, police met with a group of individuals who identified Gill as the person who displayed a handgun and demanded money from the victims. They resisted and the suspect fled to a room inside the Ocean  City motel with a number of other people.

Officers were able to determine which room Gill was in, and they ultimately detained five individuals.

A search and seizure was performed in the room where a pellet gun, clothes matching the description of the suspect, marijuana and drug paraphernalia were located, according to the report.

The investigation revealed it was a drug-related robbery and Gill was charged with armed robbery, robbery, first-degree assault and theft of less than $1,000.

Gill was seen by a Maryland District Court Commissioner and was initially transferred to the Worcester County Jail on $250,000 bond. After a bond review, he is now being held without bond.

Teachers get their pay raise

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(June 19, 2015) Public school teachers and support staff will be getting an increase in pay in the new fiscal year, following the Worcester County Board of Education’s decision Wednesday to shift $1.9 million from other areas of its budget to cover the unbudgeted expense.

Despite some post-decision celebrating by beneficiaries of the board’s action, the maneuver did come with a cost: 13 education assistants were cut and other positions will not be filled.

A total of 32 positions were eliminated in the deal, but the bulk of those — 19 in all — are coming from retirements or resignations according to schools’ spokeswoman Barb Witherow. The cuts include 1.5 administrator positions and 17.5 teacher jobs. 

“Each of these 32 jobs directly supported a student’s education,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Wilson. “Their losses affect our community and mean fewer resources for students, but we have been determined to pay our employees.”

Salaries for Worcester County teachers have slipped from 11th to 16th in the state over the past couple years, are below the state average and teachers have received only a half percent increase in their salary for six consecutive years, according to Vince Tolbert, the school board’s chief financial officer.

The $102 million operating budget proposed to the Worcester County Commissioners was $4 million more than last year’s total and included salary increases for teachers and staff.

The county commissioners, however, denied that request, when they adopted a maintenance of effort budget on June 2 with only an increase for health insurance costs. Maintenance of effort is a state law requiring counties to spend an equal amount per pupil year over year to prevent them from slashing school funding and balancing their budgets by diverting that money to other areas.

The county contributed $78.6 million to schools for the current fiscal year and allocated $79.1 million for the schools for fiscal year 2016.

In response to the county’s decision not to budget the pay increases, teachers in each of the county’s 14 schools organized and executed a “work to rule” protest. A petition calling for the implementation of the increases also was started by Stephen Decatur High School students and gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

Subsequently, members of the school board, the Worcester County Teachers Association and the Worcester County Education Support Personnel Association had to negotiate a new agreement.

The new terms, based on the $98.9 million education budget the commissioners approved, provides either one step for employees or a one percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) if an employee is not eligible for a step.

In addition, employees who, due to skipped pay scale steps in 2010, 2011 and 2012, have three years more work experience than their current salary step, will also receive a one-step increase mid-year. Bus contractors will receive a similar rate increases.

 “We have been forced into a terrible dilemma and made some difficult decisions,” said Board President Robert Rothermel.

Beth Shockley-Lynch, president of the Worcester County Teacher’s Association, surveyed teachers in the county and more than 97 percent of her membership approved the new agreement.

“It’s been a tough year, but you have given us a happy ending and we thank you,” she told the board after the vote.

Robert Wood Johnson report ranks Worcester 11th in Md.

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Robert Wood Johnson report ranks Worcester 11th in Md.

(June 19, 2015) Of the 23 counties and Baltimore City, Worcester ranks 11th in “health outcomes” according to a recently-released annual report compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

The full report, found at www.countyhealthrankings.org, breaks out six major areas and ranks counties versus their states and the top performers in the country. Worcester does well in certain areas, coming in first in the state in “physical environment,” but the county falls to 20th place in social and economic factors, and 15th in health behaviors.

“Premature death is the one most troubling to me,” Michael Franklin, CEO of Atlantic General Hospital said. “It’s the one we’re all worried about.”

Defined as “years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population,” Worcester ranks 20th in the state with almost 7,300 years of potential lost life, almost a millennium more than the state’s average of 6,439.

Franklin said, in analyzing the methodology to determine these results, that 40 percent of the factors contributing to the premature loss of life were behavioral.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do as a region behaviorally and socio-economically,” he said.

The county’s high unemployment rate, 11.2 percent according to the study, along with 22 percent of children living in poverty as well as a relatively high income inequality rate of 4.2 percent, all contribute to Worcester’s low score in this area. Social associations are high at 17.3, nearly double the rest of the state, so there are a lot of private interactions within the county without a lot of results.

“I see significant issues that directly relate to the social and economic factors, which are the biggest driver of the other items,” Franklin said. “I’m concerned with the obesity, smoking and drinking rates.”

According to the study 18 percent of adults smoke and 31 percent are obese, each three percent higher than the state average. Excessive drinking, physical inactivity, alcohol-impaired driving deaths and the teen birth rate are all slightly higher than the state average. Worcester ranks 15th in the behavior section.

It’s not all bad news, though. Worcester ranks eighth in quality-of-life factors including reported amount of poor physical or mental health days and low birth weight.

In clinical care, or access to medical professionals, the county ranks fifth.

“There is still a need for providers,” Franklin said, and the numbers bear him out. Despite the county’s high ranking, ratios of patients to providers are significantly higher than state averages. The state average for a patient to primary care physician ratio is 1,131 to 1. In Worcester County that ratio is 1,433 to 1. Dentists are even more scarce with a state average of 1,392 to 1 and a Worcester County ratio of 1,912 to 1. Diabetic screenings and mammography rates are also well above state averages.

Where Worcester shines is in its physical environment. The county is ranked first in physical environment. While most, 82 percent, drive to work alone, only a few, 29 percent, drive more than 30 minutes. The county has recorded zero drinking water violations, while the state average is 16 percent, and there is a lower amount of air pollution than elsewhere.

“All of this together tells a story, not about a program or a specific message, that needs to get out there. This is what creates the whole picture of population health,” Franklin said.

Bond sale returns $300K more than CFO anticipated

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(June 19, 2015) Earlier in the month the Worcester County Commissioners empowered Treasurer Phil Thompson to enter the bond market to refinance old debt and pay for a few capital improvement projects to the tune of about $43 million, expecting between $800,000 and $850,000 in savings.

“If you see I have no fingernails left, [it’s] because the market has been up and down over the past few days,” Thompson told the commissioners Tuesday.

Thompson said his staff spent between 200 and 300 hours preparing for the bond issue. “It’s a lot of work and a difficult time of year to do it, since we just finished the budget process,” Thompson said. “We tried to schedule another time, but any savings would be worth going to market over.”

As bids were opened earlier in the week, it became clear that Worcester County’s traditionally conservative finance department had once again been conservative with its projections.

“We should save $1.1 million over the life of the bond issue,” Thompson said to a visibly pleased board of county commissioners, “about $600,000 of that will be realized in fiscal 2016.”

Thompson said the projects included in the $12 million capital improvement bond issue, called “A series,” are the Berlin rubble fill cap and closure project, which will close the operation, a new 800 MHz radio system for the Emergency Services department, financing for the construction of a new cell at the landfill and interconnections for the Mystic Harbour water and wastewater system, plus costs, fees and capitalized interest on the bonds.

The refinanced bonds will carry an interest rate of 2.716 percent.

The county is also pursuing $30 million in refunding bonds, called “B series,” which would essentially refinance old debt at a lower interest rate.

Included would be the 2007 refunding bonds, covering the Worcester Career and Technology Center construction and other public works projects, and 2008 capital improvement bonds for the Pocomoke High addition and renovation plus a loan from Taylor Bank financing the Ocean Pines Fire Protection system loan as well as fees, interest and other associated costs.

The net interest rate for these bonds is down to just 1.9 percent.

“I’m very thankful for the staff and the commissioners for supporting the bond sale,” Thompson said.

Dredging needs get $250K boost from Corps

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Dredging needs get $250K boost from Corps

(June 19, 2015) Commercial and recreational fishermen who have had trouble entering and exiting the Ocean City Inlet because of incessant shoaling can breathe a little easier as the Army Corps of Engineers has made $250,000 available to pay for intermittent dredging.

“The money is being allocated now, but that’s not to say work will begin immediately,” Sarah Gross, public affairs specialist with the Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday.

Action began on the issue after commercial fisherman Joe Letts said he was forced to move his fleet into New Jersey to avoid potential damage and delays because of shoaling at the inlet.

Some of the larger commercial boats, and most recently the vessel contracted to map the ocean floor beneath leased property for an offshore wind farm, are subject to wait for high tide to traverse the inlet. The survey boat was delayed for 12 hours.

“The requested $250,000 allows for special usage from Wilmington,” Gross said, “It’s still [Superstorm] Sandy recovery money.”

Pursuing advanced maintenance funds to finance more frequent dredging of the inlet was the first of three steps identified at an April meeting organized by Delegate Mary Beth Carozza and attended by federal, state and local elected officials, commercial fishermen and government employees.

“Operations will be performed whenever they can get out and do it. How many trips the money will fund is a function of how much material and the scope of the removal effort,” Gross said, “This is a Band-Aid until we can do something more substantial.”

The depth of the inlet is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers and is approved for a depth of 10 feet, plus and additional two feet of overdraft. Regular dredging is necessary to maintain that depth as the inlet continues to fill with sand and sediment.

In April, Corps Project Manager Bob Blama said he would attempt to secure funds to dredge the inlet to a total depth of 14 feet.

Blama said the ideal situation would be to take the entire inlet down to a depth of 14 feet, but the way the funding works and the availability of the dredge won’t allow for that at this time.

“I can go down to 14, but the way this is working, I’m only getting the dredge sporadically,” Blama said, “We’re working in a timeframe. If I have a hotspot that’s only seven or eight feet, we’re going to take it down as far as we can in the allotted time.”

The county as well as other interested parties sent letters of intent to the Army Corps of Engineers late last month asking them to act on a 1998 study recommending dredging to a permanent depth between 14 and 16 feet. The local share of funding for such a project is expected to be around 10 percent of the total cost.

A new study, also requested in the letter of intent, to pinpoint the source of the shoaling sediment, would carry a cost-sharing aspect of about 35 percent local funding. Whether that funding can be provided as an in-kind donation, by Worcester County providing a site to dispose of the dredged material, for example, will be answered when the county signs a project contract for a more permanent solution to the sediment problem.

 

Nepali crowdfunding effort hits halfway mark

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(June 19, 2015) With more than $10,000 raised of his $20,000 goal — nearly 10 percent of that raised this past weekend — local disaster relief expert Patrick Robbins said the Nepali family who adopted him is now living in a traditional albeit temporary structure until a replacement house can be built.

“What’s happening now is the typical Nepali bureaucracy taking over,” Robbins said, as the Nepali government has instituted a rebuilding ban until new design standards can be implemented.

“That knowledge is already out there around the world,” Robbins said of construction intended to withstand natural disasters.

Like many conversations with Robbins — a graduate of Salisbury University who engaged in a number of national and global disaster-relief efforts while remaining on the Lower Shore — there is a silver lining.

“Monsoon season has already started,” Robbins said, “and the best time now to build is after it ends.”

Monsoon season runs contemporaneously with the western hemisphere’s hurricane season, but is a horse of a different color. Instead of a few major storm events, monsoons in Nepal are more of a constant soaking rain punctuated with times of high winds and infrequent clear days.

“When you wash your clothes, which is all done by hand, of course, even if you hang them inside they don’t really get dry,” Robbins said. He is a frequent visitor to the area and has experienced monsoons.

Even without the first earthquake, which hit at the end of April, or the follow-up quake that hit a couple of weeks later, diseases such as cholera and diarrhea are annual deadly threats.

Sanitation is a concern in the best of times, Robbins said, and the Basnet family’s new temporary quarters is a giant step forward from the tarp they had been living under since the earthquake.

“This is separate from the house funds we’ve raised,” Robbins said of the traditional structure, built from bamboo harvested from the nearby jungle and fitted with a corrugated metal roof. The walls will be plastered with mud to aid weatherproofing, but the structure is still a far from the brick-and-mortar structure the 10 members of the family had been used to.

“It’s a 15-minute walk from where they were in a portion of field they usually plant,” Robbins said. The new structure is not without its own dangers, Robbins explained, because of its proximity to the jungle and another threat: leopards.

“I didn’t really believe animal attacks were a problem until I was introduced to an uncle who had survived an attack,” Robbins said. The scars, he said, were horrific.

Overall, the Basnet family is lucky in terms of outcomes, Robbins said.

“Of the 22 houses in the village, nine were damaged or ruined. People in the village are taking care of each other, and they’re close to the capital so there are some resources. There are lots of Nepali families who will be, let’s face it, living in tents for years to come,” he said.

The fact that some houses remain livable is no small blessing.

“In the remote villages, everyone is in the same situation. No one in this village is starving or out on their own,” Robbins explained.

The crowdfunding effort, even at 50 percent of its stated goal of $20,000 is enough to get started. After monsoon season ends, and the government passes its new standards for housing, Robbins said the boots are on the ground ready to build.

For more information, or to donate, visit www.crowdrise.com/basnetfamilyshousefund.

County wrestles with shoreline hearing system

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(June 19, 2015) Balancing lower fees and quicker decisions with the need for public comment and transparent decisions, the Worcester County Commissioners on Tuesday continued to push toward abolishing the Shoreline Commission.

Docks, piers, riprap, replacement bulkheads and soft shorelines all fall under the jurisdiction of seven-member commission, but Department of Environmental Services Director Bob Mitchell told the commissioners he thinks his staff can handle the regulatory duties itself.

“Most functions are internalized,” Mitchell said, “Mechanized even. Historically, all the problems have been neighbor disputes.”

If a neighbor believed a project under the Shoreline commission’s jurisdiction negatively affected his or her property, a hearing could be convened. Neighbors would also be alerted by mail if a major project were intended in their area.

“The power to make those decisions can go to one person,” Harold Scrimgeour, of Stockton, argued, “There’s no review process and we need a better appeal structure.”

The proposed appeal process crosses department lines in county government. As part of the proposed end of the commission, the environmental services department would conduct the initial review, and the Board of Zoning Appeals would hear appeals.

“Some people want the process. There has to be mediation,” Ginger Gillis, of Berlin, said.

An amendment offered by Commissioner Chip Bertino, and passed by the board, would still require mailed notification to adjoining property owners of applications for both major and minor projects.

Jen Cropper, a sitting member of the Shoreline Commission from Ocean City, wanted to ensure the commission could be reconvened if the substitute process doesn’t work.

“This offers economy and efficiency but we need a safety valve,” Bertino said.

Under the plan, the application fees for both major and minor projects would be halved to $125 and $75 respectively.

The commissioners voted to approve Bertino’s amendment concerning neighbor notification, and another amendment offered by County Attorney Sonny Bloxom to move relevant sections of code from Zoning to Natural Resources to facilitate the effort. They will vote on a “clean” version of the bill during the meeting scheduled for July 21.

Temperature differential to blame for bridge problems

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Temperature differential to blame for bridge problems

(June 19, 2015) When you mix a lot of hot air with loads of cool water, you don’t just get a recipe for fixing Congress, sometimes you get a stuck bridge too.

The Town of Ocean city reported via its Twitter account on Tuesday morning that the Harry Kelley drawbridge was stuck in the “up” position, and that the problem had been resolved a few minutes later. While the phenomenon was not new, it was a novel incident in Ocean City in one respect.

“When the bridge tender closes the drawbridge it has to seat properly — a sensor has to say it’s OK,” David Buck of the State Highway Administration said, “What we’ve never seen in Ocean City is the significant difference between the air and water temperatures affecting the sensor.”

The sensor is attached to a metal spring that must compress to a certain degree for the sensor to show the bridge is seated properly for safe travel. The warmer air, measuring almost 80 degrees near the time of the incident by www.wunderground.com, caused the metal spring to expand; the cooler water, measured at about 67 degrees around the same time by NOAA, was enough to play havoc with the sensor’s tolerances. The bridge, which may have been seated properly, was still showing the bridge was in the “up” position.

The fix is somewhat underwhelming.

“We just had to reopen and reclose the bridge,” Buck said, “The operator let off the button too early. If it was held down for a couple of seconds longer it would have seated properly.”

Buck said the incident was a “little bit of operator error and a little bit miscalibrated sensor.”

A potentially more exciting fix Buck suggested would be to “get out there with a fire hose and cool everything down,” but instead the State Highway Administration said it would send someone out on Wednesday to adjust the sensor.

“We know what it is because we’ve seen it on other bridges,” Buck said, “We just need to convince the sensor the difference is much less than what it is.”

Phase 2 excursion train study short on numbers

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Phase 2 excursion train study short on numbers

(June 19, 2015) In what appeared to be a stumble for the Berlin-to-Snow Hill excursion train project, the phase 2 report on the plan spent considerable time proposing a Berlin-Delaware line run that was of no interest to the Worcester County Commissioners.

Further, that proposal was bolstered by a PowerPoint presentation not provided to the commissioners in advance.

“The presentation uses new data that’s about 4 days old,” Randall Gustafson, vice president of operations for Stone Consulting, the firm leading the excursion train charge, said. Commissioner Chip Bertino voiced concern over the inability to review the information.

Gustafson advocated for the Berlin line north because of what he said was its suitability for so-called “feature trains,” or trips centered on a character or event, such as a tie-in to the Polar Express movie.

The featured events, Gustafson maintained, are the bread and butter of an excursion train operation, drawing ridership from local, rather than tourist, traffic and bolstering profitability in the off-season.

“I don’t see much attraction moving north from Berlin,” Commissioner Ted Elder said.

“For me,” Commissioner Bud Church agreed, “I don’t see the advantage of going north from Berlin. The idea is to bring people down into the county, and there’s more advantage to going south rather than north.”

“[Train operations] are more dependent on capital costs and where the money is,” Gustafson said, adding that the route the train might eventually take didn’t matter.

The capital costs are rehabilitating the tracks and installing or improving facilities to service the trains or to provide ancillary support for train operations, like a gift shop.

How fast the train will move will dictate the level of rehabilitation. The lowest level, not recommended by Stone Consulting, would result in a net replacement of 26.1 percent of the existing track and allow for speeds of 15 mph. The recommended level, allowing speeds of 25 mph would result in a 39.1 percent replacement of the existing track.

The total costs to rehabilitate the track are dependent on what route the excursion train would take. While it appears certain the train would not travel north of Berlin, how, where and at what speed it would make its way through Berlin to Snow Hill and points in-between would change the cost, according to Gustafson’s report.

Five routes were outlined in the phase 2 report, including Berlin to the Delaware State line; Berlin to Newark, Newark to Snow Hill, a Snow Hill “special event” loop and Snow Hill to Berlin.

The Snow Hill “special event” loop is the shortest and cheapest option, presupposing it operates in tandem with another station at an estimated $1.2 million. Next is Snow Hill to Newark at almost $1.7 million. Berlin to Newark is estimated to be almost $2 million, and the longest stretch, Berlin to Snow Hill is just a bit more than $3 million, according to Gustafson’s PowerPoint presentation.

“This report outlines what needs to be done,” Economic Development Director Bill Badger said, “It’s a deal involving a private partnership with a private partnership.”

The first private partnership would be the railroad, Maryland and Delaware Railroad, and the second would be the operator of the train, an as-yet-undetermined entity.

“I’ve got two operators on the line. The word is out on this project and it’s reaching critical mass,” Gustafson said.

Tickets, Gustafson estimated, would cost around $15 for a normal excursion trip and were estimated between $35 and $40 for a feature trip, though Gustafson himself said he would not endorse a $40 price tag.

The commissioners took no action on the report.

 

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