Resort To Get $293K From Liquor License Fees

SNOW HILL – The Worcester County Commissioners discussed several items briefly at their first July meeting on Tuesday.

(BULLET)Ocean City will receive a substantial amount of money from Worcester County liquor license fee sharing, while Berlin, Snow Hill and Pocomoke City will receive much less. The county returns 75 percent of liquor license fees to the town a licensed business is located in.

Ocean City will get a check for $293,625, its share of the 117 liquor licenses in the town. The resort has 94 restaurant liquor licenses and 23 bar liquor licenses.

Berlin stands to receive only $4,688. Snow Hill will get the least, just $2,344, and Pocomoke will see a check for $9,375.

The towns will get $310,00 total, leaving about $103,000 for Worcester County.

(BULLET)County staffers will apply for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), in the amount of $500,000, to construct a building at the new Discovery Center in Pocomoke City to house a restaurant.

“It’s part of a downtown strategy to support the Discovery Center of Pocomoke City,” said Jerry Redden, director of Worcester County’s Department of Economic Development.

The county will contribute $10,000 from the Economic Development budget.

Once the building is complete, Redden said, the county would seek a local restaurateur to run the establishment.

A public hearing will be held on the CDBG application on July 22.

(BULLET)The Worcester County Commissioners will consider amending the Worcester County Water and Sewer Plan to allow a wastewater plant and the expansion of the water system at the Wal-Mart and Home Depot sites along Route 50, east of Berlin.

“This particular ground is already in the water and sewer plan. It’s designated for water and sewer service,” reported Comprehensive Planning Direcotr Sandy Coyman. “The system being proposed now is what was originally approved.”

The site developer has spent over a year attempting to work out an agreement to connect the sites to the Riddle Farm systems across the highway, but to no avail.

“That has not worked out, so they’re going back to the original proposal,” said Coyman.

The wastewater treatment plant will handle 77 EDUs, with 50 being used by the Ocean Landings II commercial project to the west of the existing stores. Wal-Mart and Home Depot will use the other 27 EDUs. The water system would be expanded to add another 50 water EDUs for Ocean Landing II.

The County Commissioners scheduled a public hearing on the water and sewer plan amendment for Aug. 5.

(BULLET)The County Commissioners voted to prioritize a request for $99,000 in state grant funds for general maintenance of boat ramps and piers over requests to fund new projects. The county already maintains those sites.

“We budget around $24,000 [a year] but there’s a lot more we could be doing,” said Public Works Director John Tustin.

Tustin offered the Public Landing pier as an example. Part of the pier decking is replaced every year, but state funds for repairs and maintenance could allow the entire pier to be redone.

More state funds would reduce the burden on the Worcester County General Fund, he said.

The county will also ask, in priority order, for $75,000 to finish the finger piers and boat ramp at South Point Landing; $99,000 to replace existing finger piers and ramps at Cedar Hall; and parking lot resurfacing at Shell Mill Landing ($50,000), and at Mason Landing ($25,000).