Kayak Launch Accord Renewed

OCEAN CITY — An old Ocean City municipal dump turned into a pristine kayak launch will remain in that purpose after resort officials this week renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program to operate Ayres Creek kayak launch in West Ocean City.

In 2007, the Town of Ocean City turned over the rights to an old municipal dump along Ayres Creek to the Maryland Coastal Bays Program (MCBP) for the creation of a passive kayak launch and recreational area. The original MOU was renewed for five years in 2012, and that agreement expired in September, necessitating a renewed MOU for the next five years, which was approved by the Mayor and Council on Tuesday.

The 37-acre site is owned by Ocean City and was used as municipal dump from 1954 to 1980. From 1980 to 1989, the area was used as a police shooting range by local law enforcement agencies. The MCPB pitched the idea to the city to convert the polluted and overgrown site to a passive kayak launch and recreation area.

The town of Ocean City, which had long since exhausted its use of the property, agreed with the concept and a series of approvals and grant applications were set in motion to make it a reality. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) conducted remediation on the old dump site and cleared it for an ecologically-friendly park and kayak launch in 2007. With the renewal of the MOU with the MCBP approved on Tuesday, the property will remain in that condition for at least the next five years.

Public Works Director Hal Adkins on Tuesday presented the MOU renewal to the Mayor and Council. Adkins explained the most recent renewal had expired in September and the MCBP was interested in renewing the agreement.

“It was a landfill for decades and we spent 20 years doing remedial action,” he said. “The initial agreement has expired and the Maryland Coastal Bays Program has expressed a desire to renew it. It’s not a commercial operation and they don’t generate any money from it. It’s open to the public for free.”

Adkins said there is little commitment from the town, other than a section in the MOU that requires Ocean City to mow a section of grass in the park area each summer to the tune of around $3,000. He explained that obligation could go away when the part of the park area is used as a mitigation area for the planting of trees associated with some capital projects at the Ocean City Airport. Adkins said the kayak launch and the park represent the best use of the property.

“It has an extremely passive future,” he said. “There are no plans for any buildings or anything like that. What it is used for now is really perfect for it.”

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.