OCEAN CITY – A brief Mayor and City Council work session last week covered several action items, including council member appointments to legislative committees and commissions, an update by Comcast, the approval of the Annual Hazard Mitigation Plan and the council voting to keep the Springfest and Sunfest beer truck rotation closed.
Commission Appointments
Mayor Rick Meehan appointed the new council to Mayor and City Council legislative committees and commissions at last week’s meeting.
As a result of the Nov. 4 elections, the council received three new council members — Wayne Hartman, Matthew James and Tony DeLuca — while incumbent Council President Lloyd Martin was voted to return to the council. Council members Dennis Dare, Doug Cymek and Mary Knight each have two years remaining on their terms.
The mayor explained several commissions and boards are set forth in either the Town Charter and/or the Town Code. Historically, the Mayor and City Council have recognized these entities and serve as members.
Those serving on the Police Commission will remain the same with Meehan, Cymek as chair, Martin and Dare. Knight will return to the Tourism Commission as chair, along with Meehan and Dare who will be joined by James. Martin and Dare will also return to the Recreation and Parks Commission and will be joined by Hartman. The chair is yet to be determined.
Serving as Noise Board Liaison will be Hartman with the alternate being Cymek. Serving on the Pension Committee once again is Meehan and Martin. Now serving on the Beach Mediation Committee is James with the alternate being Knight, and now serving on the Risk Retention Committee is DeLuca with the alternate being Cymek.
Meehan will return to the Tri-County Council being joined by Knight and Meehan, Knight and Dare will return to the Humane Society Committee.
Serving on the Americans with Disabilities Committee is now Hartman. DeLuca will serve on the Coastal Resources Legislative Committee and Dare will return to the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation Board of Directors with the alternate being City Engineer Terry McGean.
Hartman will now serve as a Liaison on the PRESS Committee along with Cymek, and Meehan, Dare, Knight and DeLuca will serve on the newly formed Transportation Committee.
Comcast’s Annual Update
Next, the new government affairs liaison for Comcast, Chris Comer, provided an update.
Comer reported there will be change in several channels. WBAL, or NBC, will move from Channel 11 to Channel 91 but continue to be part of the Limited Tier; WJZ, or CBS, will move from channel 13 to channel 93 but continue to be part of the Limited Tier; WBAL HD, or NBC, will move from channel 810 to Channel 911 on the Limited Tier and will no longer be carried on channel 211, which was a duplicate feed; and WTTG, or FOX, will no longer be on channel 255 but will continue to be on channel 905.
Also, the management of paid advertising on Channel 8, Beach TV, will be transitioned from Comcast Spotlight to Comcast Leased Access starting Jan. 6.
According to Comcast General Sales Manager Susan Dalton, there has been a change in the direction of many advertisers to utilize Comcast’s 40 plus insertable networks and online products, which has brought Comcast to the decision to turn the channel back over to the system side of the business that runs cable operations. Channel 8 in Ocean City and Rehoboth areas will be converted to a leased access channel.
Mitigation Plan Approved
Ocean City Planner Bob Nelson came before the Mayor and City Council to request approval of the Annual Hazard Mitigation Plan Report.
According to Nelson, the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires each participating community under the Community Rating System (CRS) Program to submit an annual report to their leadership for approval, which allows the community to continue their efforts to diminish storm damages in tandem with the local Hazard Mitigation Plan. For those efforts, Ocean City receives a discounted flood insurance premium of 15 percent.
Nelson furthered, as part of the implementation of the 2011 Ocean City All Hazards Mitigation Plan, a progress report is submitted to the Mayor and City Council each Fall season, prior to the annual CRS recertification.
The update to the plan included items such as major implementation efforts continue to address the problem of having owners raise their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment above the base flood elevation and the town’s additional elevation requirement. Every new unit is being placed above the flood elevation.
Also, the city’s website offers an article on flood protection that explains how utilities should be raised to avoid damage from floodwaters. The article is mailed to all property owners in Ocean City twice each year and summarizes such topics as flood zones and floodplains, Ocean City’s warning system, how to evacuate the city, proper protection measures and our permit requirements for building in a floodplain.
As well as, beach and dune system maintenance is identified in the plan as an important hazard mitigation effort. The beach and dunes continue to be maintained and replenished as scheduled. The Public Works crews continually removes sand that blows up against the seawall from 4th to 27th streets.
To view the entire report, visit the Town of Ocean City’s website, www.oceancitymd.gov.
Charity Beer Truck
Rotation Stays Closed
The final item brought before the Mayor and City Council was an update on the Springfest and Sunfest beer truck rotation presented by Internal Auditor Susan Childs.
According to Childs, at the Oct. 14 work session, former Councilman Joe Mitrecic made a motion and council approved to evaluate adding other Ocean City-based non-profit groups to the closed Springfest and Sunfest beer truck rotation list. The current list consists of 42 organizations that operate a truck every five or six years at either Springfest or Sunfest.
Childs furthered, the original rotation list was established on Feb. 20, 1996, via a lottery drawing, determining organization placement for four concessions to sell beer at Springfest and four concessions to sell beer at Sunfest.
In 2011, the Mayor and Council entertained the idea of allowing new non-profit organizations into the rotation. A notice was published and two organizations met non-profit status criteria. However, at the April 4, 2011 regular meeting, a motion was made to approve adding both organizations but failed. It was at this time that a motion was made and unanimously passed to freeze the nonprofit beer truck rotation list.
Childs concluded, in 2013 groups in the rotation were asked to provide current nonprofit tax status. At that time, Eastern Surfing Association, asked to be removed from the rotation. Also, the department found it more effective to manage two separate lists, one for Springfest and one for Sunfest, rotating the groups through each event.
Upon Councilman Dennis Dare’s recommendation, the council voted unanimously to keep the beer truck rotation closed. However, at the time an organization drops out the town will hold the lottery to add another non-profit origination to the list.