OCEAN CITY — One week after the fall Endless Summer Cruisin’ event and weeks after unofficial vehicle event ravaged the resort, emotions are still simmering over the shoulder season motorized events and how they should be curtailed or even eliminated in the future.
During the public comment period of Monday’s Mayor and Council meeting, a handful of private citizens addressed the elected officials about the shoulder season motorized special. The Endless Summer Cruisin’ event last weekend was relatively tame in comparison to the late September event loosely associated with the canceled H20i car show.
Following the H20i weekend in September, the Mayor and Council promised bold action and perhaps painful solutions on how to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
On Monday, local resident Jean Keagle asked the elected officials for an update on those proposed bold actions.
“I was just wondering if you have an update for the community about the solution to control or eliminate H2Oi in 2018,” she said. “I was also wondering if there was any truth to the rumor that H2Oi might visit us again at Christmas this year? Would it be appropriate to ask the council to update the citizens on the attempted solution to prevent a reoccurrence?”
Mayor Rick Meehan assured Keagle steps were being taken as promised to address the situation.
“It has been discussed at the police commission level, which is the first step,” he said. “Then, it will come back to the full Mayor and Council. That’s the direction and the thought to do whatever we can to eliminate that particular event. That’s the goal.”
As far as the second part of Keagle’s question, Meehan acknowledged the town has heard murmurs about a possible return visit from H2Oi in December.
“We have heard rumors about other things, but at this point they are just that,” he said. “We will be prepared to address those rumors if they come to fruition.”
Another local resident, Suzanne Ahalt, reminded the Mayor and Council the same tough talk and bold action was promised after a particularly troublesome Cruisin event last spring.
“At the last meeting, I heard the outrage about this particular event,” she said. “Somewhere in there, we missed that back in the spring there was outrage about the cruiser event. We had people standing here outraged about what had gone on. Last weekend, we had another cruiser event, and while it wasn’t as big, we live back on the bayside and we could hear the drone of the cars at 4 a.m. with our windows closed.”
Ahalt related the story over the weekend about a trip to the grocery store that ended with police shouting on bullhorns after someone had begun charging $5 to park on the store’s parking lot.
“That’s disturbing to me,” she said. “I don’t want to live in a town where this kind of thing happens. When we talk about these events, I don’t want H2Oi, while it was horrible, to be the only thing that is being looked at. You’re going to have a very hard time if you discriminate against one group because they are young and obnoxious. When you discriminate against a group, it emboldens them. I’d like to see you take a closer look at all of these events.”
Meehan assured Ahalt all of the motorized special events are on the table.
“We are looking at all of these events,” he said. “That has been a topic of discussion and it will come back to the full Mayor and Council.”
