BERLIN – Fears that Berlin is being held to a more strict sewage disposal standard than other local plants are unfounded, according to Worcester County.Berlin’s elected officials expressed concern this week that spray irrigation effluent disposal has been mandated for Berlin’s wastewater treatment plant expansion, but not for the new Mystic Harbor and Snow Hill… Read more »

BERLIN – The Cannery Village workforce housing project should be under construction by the end of June if all goes well.Frank Gunion, president of the Berlin Community Development Corporation, said he would know more about the next step at the end of next week when he expects a decision from the state on a necessary… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – A significant dredging project of the main channel in the Isle of Wight Bay behind Ocean City is underway amid questions about its timing and potential effects on habitat, but federal officials this week offered assurances the work is routine and a wide variety of environmental factors were considered before it began.The… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – The ongoing budget hearings have produced the unusual sound of cost cutting at City Hall, and some members of the City Council are sharpening their pencils trying to find more things to cut.Two notable hearings this past week included the Recreation and Parks and Tourism departments as both presented hundreds of thousands… Read more »

BERLIN – The County Commissioners’ clandestine decision Friday morning to no longer pursue a waiver of Maryland’s minimum school funding levels does not mean that the county school system will be assigned minimum funding, also known as Maintenance of Effort. The commissioners met on Friday morning in an emergency meeting, ostensibly open to the public… Read more »

BERLIN – On a windy, cool morning, Stephen Decatur Middle School science teacher Doug Romano points proudly to an unassuming pole topped with a gently spinning wind turbine, the first school-based wind turbine in Maryland.The wind turbine, after months of planning, is ready to take up its place as part of a school initiative to… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – The “budgetkeeper” says that regardless of how things on a global or national level play out, Ocean City’s economic recovery is about three years away.Councilman Jim Hall called City Manager Dennis Dare the “budgetkeeper” on Tuesday, as Dare’s main responsibilities is the budget. What was interesting, however, was Dare’s reply to another… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – Five percent may not seem like much, but for some Boardwalk merchants, it was enough to make them feel like the town was not trying to restrict the way they do business.The City Council unanimously moved the new outdoor display guidelines through the first reading on Monday, but increased the amount of… Read more »

SNOW HILL – Approximately $6.2 million needs to be cut from Worcester County budget requests to stay in line with projected revenue for fiscal year 2010 (FY10).After months of estimations and uncertainties, it was revealed this week that the county’s revenue for FY10 is estimated to be about $175.6 million, while budget requests of $181.8… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – Before taxpayers get up in arms over the possibility of the city raising the tax rate for the FY 2010 budget, the numbers seem to show that City Manager Dennis Dare’s hands were essentially tied and he was virtually left with no other choice.Dare presented the proposed budget for the next fiscal… Read more »