Bike Week Reflections
Editor:
If history is any indicator, I am sure that The Dispatch will be receiving a great deal of feedback regarding the events of Bike Week. There will be those that will demand it be ended because of noise and congestion. Then there will be those that rave about the dramatic economic impact that the bikers bring to the bottom line of many area businesses. As a biker, and a property owner in Ocean City, I wanted to take a moment to offer a different perspective, and what Bike Week means to me.
Putting aside the ongoing debate about noise and economic impacts, to me Bike Week is about bonding and the creation of friendships. I have been fortunate enough to participate in each Bike Week since the very beginning. My early days of just puttering over to the race track (prior to the casino) and back by myself are long gone. Over the years, the race track has turned into a fancy casino and now my experiences have also deeply broadened.
Thanks to local friends (Sam and Chris) who introduced me to a few of their riding friends (Sherrie and Huggy), the seeds were planted for an ever growing crop of friends. I never would have imagined the group turning into such a large and diverse cast of characters. Year after year, you never know who will attend for sure. The juggling of work schedules and personal affairs is always an issue for some in the group, and Mother Nature has not always cooperated for ideal riding conditions. But you can count on everyone looking forward to what has become an annual ritual of friendship at its best.
2015 offered some of the best riding conditions possible. Rides were taken to Chincoteague, Tyaskin, Seaford, Wachapreague, Laurel, and just about every town in between. We all made a bit of noise at times, and we all spent a lot of money. But the one constant thing is that year after year, the friendships get stronger. Whether intentionally or not, someone in the group will always do something silly that will lead to fodder for the rest of the week and years to come.
Bike Week 2016 is only 51 weeks away. I have the calendar marked and will be looking forward to what next year may bring. Some in the group may not make it. Some new faces will join. It may rain or be another great sunny year. There are so many variables with Bike Week. The only constant thing year after year is the strong friendships that have been created. When the inevitable debate of noise versus money takes place, please do not forget to think about the friendship aspect.
- Scott Chismar
Lake View, N.Y.
Ocean City
Guard Coverage Suggestion
Editor:
On the cover of the Sept. 11 issue of The Dispatch is a photograph taken from the pier, looking north at the huge Sunday afternoon crowd. On page 31, there is a shot of the south side of the pier, where the beach is even busier. The pictures were taken at 3 p.m. on Sunday, and in two and a half hours it will be 5:30 p.m. and the lifeguards will be getting off duty. There will be a lot of people who still want to go in the water.
At the height of the summer, it doesn’t get dark until around 8:30 p.m., which means the beach has no lifeguards for at least three more hours. Of course, the lifeguards can’t stay until dark, the beach is 10 miles long. But how about manning the beach between the pier and the jetty for those three hours? There are three lifeguard stands; one by the pier, one by the jetty and one in between.
Many people want to avoid the beach during the midday hours when the sun is at its strongest. They wait until later in the afternoon to visit the beach and swim. You can walk out on the pier at 6 p.m. any day and see what I mean. What if the surf is rough? When people come to town and they are only there for the day, they like to park in the inlet parking lot, close to the sand and water. For many people this may be their only visit to the beach this summer. Why not keep this section of the beach ‘open’ until dark?
It would be good for the town and more importantly save lives.
Daniel King
Berlin
No To Zoning Change
Editor:
The September Meeting of the Fenwick Island Town Council will include a first reading of a proposed zoning change relating to the density of hotel rooms. My belief has always been there cannot be a first reading until the details of said first reading are worked out and the public informed so that they can properly comment.
Personally, I again feel that the Town Council and its committees are on their own course regardless of input from the residents and are considering a major zoning change that affects everyone in our community and yet they have not even sent out a letter or posted the proposal on the town’s website.
The proposal to increase hotel density for all of the commercial properties is exactly the opposite of what is stated in the Fenwick Island Comprehensive Plan. I do not see how significantly increasing the allowable hotel room density in all of the commercial zone can be considered in compliance with the stated goal of the comprehensive plan. The ramifications would allow for an increase of thousands of people on our beaches, an increase of traffic and trash that would tax our small community’s capabilities and destroy the quiet family oriented atmosphere that this community so desires.
The consideration of this zoning change was brought about by a request from a developer who recently purchased an existing hotel and wants to redevelop it. What has he brought to the town for review? Nothing more than a simple drawing that is a “vision” of what he wants to do. What has he offered to the town in exchange for significantly increasing the value of his property? Nothing.
Really, are we going to potentially double the value of this property without anything in return besides the taxes we are due by code already? I was involved in commercial development in Virginia and I can tell you that no less than 10 percent of our development budget would be for community improvements outside of our development area. This developer has offered nothing. The town is not even asking him to use sustainable building practices, another theme in our Comprehensive Plan. Fenwick Island has a huge drainage problem and this development could contribute to that.
If the Town of Fenwick Island really wants to follow its Comprehensive Plan, then much more needs to be done than simply changing zoning. It is the way we are going about this that is wrong. Make the owner give you firm plans and commitments to enhance our community. Seek community input on those plans. Reach a consensus of what should and shouldn’t be allowed and then, and only then, consider how to change the zoning without the potential of adding thousands more to our beaches each day.
Richard Benn
A Spectacular Success
Editor:
On behalf of the Art League of Ocean City’s Black and Gold event committee, I would like to thank everyone involved who made the evening of Sept. 16 “Ocean City’s Event of the Season.” It really does take a community to support the arts and to have an event as spectacular, delicious and fun as this year’s Cirque des Artes gala.
The venue at The Gateway Grand Residences provided a beautiful oceanfront setting. Many thanks to the Gateway and staff for providing such wonderful hospitality.
Thank you to Governor Hogan for having Sr. Advisor Marty Maden represent the state’s support of the arts on the Eastern Shore, and to State Senator Jim Mathias, Delegate Mary Beth Carroza, County Commissioner Joe Mitrecic, Mayor Rick Meehan, Council members Tony Deluca, Mary Knight, Dennis Dare, and Lloyd Martin for attending and for all you do for our state, county and town in support of the arts.
Our gratitude goes to our Black and Gold sponsors, who have given exemplary support to the Art League. They are Seacrets, Michele and John Fager, The Greene Turtle, Candy Kitchen, Salisbury Mercedes, The Gateway Grand Residences, Nancy Fortney, Nadine Wieder, Jeff and Jamie Albright, Gayle and Dirk Widdowson, Jeff and Rina Thaler, Erik Cantine, Misaki Sushi, Jim and Jan Perdue, Baked Desserts Cafe, Evolution Craft Brewery, Blu Crab-house, Sysco- Eastern Shore and Lloyd and Monica Martin.
I would like to thank our hardworking committee: Rebecca Galyon, Eileen Stamnas, Nadine Wieder, Jan Perdue, Gayle Widdowson, Lisi Rucynski, Nancy Fortney, Emmy Challenger, Judy Tremellen, Cheryl Taustin and Suzanne Lamont, the most talented and committed group of women, who created a magical evening for 250 people. I would also like to recognize our ALOC President Marian Bickerstaff, 2nd Vice President and Sand Castle Tour Chairperson Katy Durham and Executive Director Rina Thaler for their constant support.
Thank you to our incredible entertainment, AirPlay Entertainment from Philadelphia and the Brian Perez Quartet who provided memories and music for everyone. Thanks to our caterer, Waterman’s Inn of Crisfield who delighted our guests with a palette of food selections that overwhelmed all. Thank you to all the wonderful local businesses who contributed to our “one night only raffle. Please, please, please, buy local.
Thank you to our volunteers who sold raffle tickets that evening, served champagne, tended bar and directed traffic.
Finally, to our guests who came from near and far in their black and gold attire, we thank you for making this a great evening and successful event and look forward to seeing you at next years ALOC Gala. We welcome you to visit us at the Ocean City Center for the Arts on 94th Street any day of the week.
This is a wonderful community,
Thank you everyone.
Jamie Albright
(The writer served as the chairperson of the 2015 Cirque des Artes Gala.)
Right To Vote On Taxes
Editor:
Thank you Veronica Potter for providing a Supreme Court case supporting those who are carrying forward the fight in federal court for the right to vote on our taxes, and on behalf of the almost 1,500 voters who signed the petition declaring their desire to vote on their taxes.
Although we are not lawyers, we have been forced to defend the voters’ legally valid petition in court because the Mayor/Council/City Solicitor moved in court to get a judgment to quash the Petition. We only want the City to follow Maryland law and schedule the vote as required. Instead, the city broke Maryland law and used a court filing rather than a Charter Amendment to deal with the Petition.
We submitted the recent Supreme Court decision in the Arizona case cited in the Potter letter to the editor to our federal district judge. That case also related to a voter group that was inappropriately sued by their own elected officials. More importantly, we believe it is an important case that supports our motions to the court. We also call for Solicitor Ayres to stop wasting city money on litigation to repress the city’s voters’ lawful petition, while personally benefiting from the wrongful litigation he initiated with his advice to the council. We are doing our best to defend the peoples’ right to vote on their taxes, despite the barrage of motions supported by the ill-advised council. Though not lawyers, we promised voters that, for the first time in Maryland history, they would have a right to vote to cap their tax rate. We are doing our best to fulfill our promise to the voters.
So far, here is what the City has done: 1. On June 1, 2015, our Petition was certified as legal and valid by the Election Board with 249 extra signatures; 2. On June 23, at an open Tuesday Work Session, Mr. Ayres said the council voted 7–0 in closed session to go to court to quash the petition; 3. Upon advice of two prominent local attorneys stating that petitioners could not get a fair hearing in Worcester County Court, we filed a petition of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore and were assigned to The Honorable Richard D. Bennett on July 1 (along with the first Affidavit by the undersigned); 4. On July 18, the Council/Ayres sued the petitioners and Mr. Christ in two identical suits in Snow Hill; 5. On July 24, Mr. Christ submitted an Emergency Motion to Remove the Snow Hill lawsuits to Federal District Court in Baltimore; 6. On July 27, Council/Ayres filed a Motion to Dismiss our Motion to Remove; 7. On Aug. 5, Judge Bennett gave us an Order to Remove the City’s Snow Hill suits to federal Court; 8. On Aug. 8, the city filed a Motion in Opposition to Removal; 9. On Aug. 12, petitioners responded to Council/Ayres Motion to Dismiss; 10. On Aug. 14, petitioners submitted the entire file to Snow Hill Court along with Federal Judge Bennett’s Order to Remove Ayres’s actions; 11. On Aug. 18, Council/Ayres submitted a federal Motion to Remand the entire file back to Snow Hill, with redundant assertions and claims for legal bills for litigation Council/Ayres initiated; 12. On Aug. 24, Petitioners responded to Motion in Opposition to Removal (with second Christ Affidavit); 13. On Sept. 3, Petitioners responded to City’s Motion to Remand; and 14. On Sept. 15, Petitioners submitted Ms. Potter’s cited Supreme Court Arizona Decision, dated June 29, 2015, in support of their position that voters have the right to vote on their taxes.
It is important that all petition signers and supporters of the right to vote on taxes know what the council and the aggressive City Solicitor have done to stop the voters’ lawful petition. We are not lawyers. We will continue to fight for all petitioners’ right to vote. I have listed all the legal actions because it is important for voters to know the expenses the council has incurred and the lengths to which they are going to stop the Petition.
As Solicitor, Mr. Ayres created legal work for his own law firm and the council acquiesces, in what we believe is an ill-advised and expensive effort to stop our lawful petition. Please do not forget this article, and please vote to expel this Mayor and four Council members in next year’s election. Thank you, Veronica Potter, and all of you who are silently supporting the petition. We will not quit the fight.
Tony Christ