City Considering Budget Funds For More Tall Ships

OCEAN CITY – This week’s Tourism Commission meeting touched on several hot topics, including further discussion of a post Labor Day school start date, the use of a potential workforce grant, the happenings of the Ocean City Development Corporation (ODCD), an update on the construction of the Performing Arts Center (PAC) at the Convention Center and including funding in this year’s budget to better accommodate tall ships in Ocean City.

More Tall Ships In OC?

Ocean City Special Events Director Frank Miller announced the Recreation and Parks Department is being re-organized as Director Tom Shuster retires. The Special Events Division will report to City Manager David Recor as of April 1 and is looking to move to the convention center to work more closely with Noccolino.

Commission Chair and City Council Secretary Mary Knight asked Miller about the ongoing efforts in having tall ships visit Ocean City. Miller shared some details without wanting to give away too much.

In August, Ocean City hosted El Galeon, which was berthed at the bayside boardwalk between 3rd and 4th streets. The tall ship is a replica of the 16th Century ships that Spanish explorers sailed on to discover much of the new world.
According to National Sea, Air & Space Foundation President Brian Lilley, there were between 14,000 and 15,000 people who visited the ship while it was in Ocean City, and at least 13,000 boarded the vessel for a tour.

As the city approaches budget discussions for the upcoming fiscal year, conversation has included implementing a master plan in better accommodating tall ships.

“We are looking at possibly being able to house two vessels at once in the future without encroaching upon the boundaries of 3rd and 4th streets, and without creating any other issues with the fishing that takes place along the pier,” Miller said.

City Manager David Recor added the plan is to supply more of a long-term provision for tall ships, such as constructing a better cleating system, a power system for the vessels while docked and restrooms.

“We recognize that we cannot do it all at once but there are certain needs … we all saw the crowds the tall ship brought last summer and we are recognizing that and incorporating that into a master plan,” Recor said.

School Start Bill Unlikely

Michael James, Carousel Hotel and Resort managing partner and Ocean City Economic Development Committee (EDC) Chairman, reported on last week’s EDC meeting when the resort’s business community met with Superintendent of Worcester County Public Schools Dr. Jerry B. Wilson to discuss proposed legislation to require Maryland public schools not to start until after Labor Day.

Wilson stood strong in stating his, and other superintendents’, reasoning in opposing the effort, such as the complications it would cause with school activities that start in August, parents prefer a two-week winter break versus having kids out of school through August, and the issue of snow days extending summer as it is.

Chairman of Maryland Tourism Development Greg Shockley, who also serves on the task force considering starting the school year after Labor Day, said a task force meeting last week did not go as planned.

“It doesn’t look like any legislation will be introduced this session,” Shockley said. “We are mandated to have a report by June 30, and that report will be turned over to whoever is governor next, and it will happen next year.”

The proposed legislation’s main sponsor, Delegate Anne Healy of Prince George’s County, has also backed off the effort for this year’s legislative session because the task force’s report will not be done in time, and there are other bills that have moved up on the priority list, such as the minimum wage change.

“The school start date will continue, and hopefully we will get post labor day but realistically if we can get something in the week before that is good too because there is an arms race in education,” Shockley said. “If one superintendent starts on Aug. 18 and he sees a tenth of a tick increase on his test scores, then the superintendent in the next county will say ‘well if I start two days earlier I may get another tenth’.”

According to Shockley, 20 counties out of 26 counties in Maryland return to school before Aug. 25, and the other six are starting even earlier.

“The trend continues,” he said. “All of them will start going back before the 25th and then we will see schools starting on the 15th. There is no legislated mandate on school start date starting before or after Labor Day.”

Shockley concluded the misconception is those who are pushing the post Labor Day school start want to shorten time and days of school.

“We have actually suggested adding hours to the school day because if you add 10 minutes a day you would pick up an extra day every three weeks, so you would pick up 10 to 12 days in total. We have been trying to give them ways they can re-work their schedule but they have been steadfast in saying ‘no.’ We have never said we want to take days away, we would rather sacrifice June to get all of August,” he said.

Workforce Grant Sought

According to the State of Maryland, EARN (Employment Advancement Right Now) Maryland Planning Grants mark the first funds awarded under the new state-funded competitive workforce and economic development grant initiative, which took effect in June 2013.

EARN Maryland is a first-of-its-kind state skills training and economic development initiative that is business-led, flexible and collaborative, and is designed to ensure that Maryland employers have the talent they need to compete and grow while providing targeted education and skills training to Maryland workers.

The $4.5 million in state funding for the EARN Maryland program for FY 2014 will be distributed in a two-phase competitive process: Planning Grants and Implementation Grants.

Planning Grants provide modest seed funding to allow emerging partnerships to analyze their respective workforce needs in detail, expand their partnerships by adding additional members, and develop the best possible Workforce Training Plans to close skills gaps, grow our economy, and increase employment opportunities for Marylanders.
Implementation Grants, to be awarded in June of 2014, will fund worker training in the skills that employer’s demand, from the training provider best able to meet industry-identified needs.

Ocean City has received the Planning Grant is working on receiving the Implementation Grant.

“The Chamber and our association are working with EDC to receive a Workforce Grant,” Executive Director Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association (OCHMRA) Susan Jones said. “We have pulled together and met with some businesses to find out what the gap is in the workforce … one of the things we have identified is the lack of people coming out of UMBC and Wor-Wic who are in the hotel and restaurant program that are actually becoming supervisors in the real work force before they graduate, so we are going to try to work on a Hospitality Boot Camp.”

Jones explained the grant would fund qualified participants to come to a four-day boot camp that would be a tourism/hospitality educational experience with courses, such as basic property management and payroll skills.

The Chamber of Commerce, OCHMRA and EDC are working with Wor-Wic Community College in writing the grant application.

Façade Project Eyes Milestone

Todd Ferrante, past president of the Ocean City Development Corporation, announced the completion of the 146th Façade Project and there are nine other projects under way. He recalled when Gov. Martin O’Malley attended the 100th Façade Project celebration at the Buckingham Hotel and hopes the next governor will attend the 150th Façade project completion.

“The OCDC has completed more façade projects than any other organization in the state, including Baltimore City, and that is significant,” Ferrante said.

Ferrante continued OCDC will be coming before the Mayor and City Council to discuss an additional sculpture location within the Public Art Program. There is a white marlin sculpture at the foot of the Route 50 Bridge and an eagle sculpture on 142nd Street, and the OCDC hopes to add an additional sculpture mid-town at the foot of the Route 90 Bridge. Fundraising efforts are underway to support the project.

Also, the OCDC has applied for Community Foundation grant funds to purchase additional bike racks to place on the Boardwalk as the existing bike racks are overcrowded.

Center Work On Target

Roland E. Powell Convention Center Director Larry Noccolino reported the construction of the new Performing Arts Center is on time and the removal of the second story concrete floor is scheduled for March 12-April 1. Steel work has already begun to construct three catwalks along the ceiling of the new auditorium.

“That is going to be about a three-week process and you will really see things come to shape once that floor is gone,” Noccolino said.

As far as scheduling events for the new PAC, discussions continue with promoters and in-house convention center tenants. Events are being booked two years out into 2016.

The most recent meeting was with Sean O’Neal, Regional Youth & Discipleship director at Delmarva-DC Church of God, who puts on large religious concerts.