any new appropriation for this
group," he said. "This would leave
us with $14,333 in our budget with
no appropriation for the funds."
other cuts the council had made to
close the budget gap. "This sum-
mer ... we have advanced book-
ing more than we did in July and
August of last year so we are up,
and this year is going to be a piv-
otal year for us where we will have
a lot of new visitors. Something
like painting a solid waste truck for
$20,000 gives people the opinion
and the idea that Ocean City is
flourishing and doing well, but
when I look at this list, you just
can't say we have $14,000, let's
put it here. We have to make a
decision," she said.
committee and conducting a study.
"If I was a betting woman, I would
bet right now the skate park is going
to be open, but we will be able to at
least substantiate that," she said.
and the reduction in the skate
park's operation is going to direct-
ly affect the kids.
advocacy center that takes care of
neglected and abused children,"
helps put away and prosecute
cases of child abuse. Thirty-nine
percent of the cases prosecuted in
the county come from Ocean City,
and you want to take that away."
ing for the Ocean Bowl's normal
hours of operation in the proposed
budget, have the committee meet
over the summer and conduct a
study on the year-long usage of
the skate park, and return to the
council with a recommendation.
to agree they would have more faith
in government if it was left in and
then discussed rather than taken
out and discussed," he said. "So I
would support putting it in but not at
the expense of the Cricket Center."
get to have the Ocean Bowl oper-
ate its normal hours during the off-
season and continue with the for-
mation of skate park committee to
conduct a study. The council voted
5-0 to approve with Councilman
Dennis Dare and Knight abstain-
ing, reasoning they would rather
wait until after the proposed bud-
get was presented a few items
down on the agenda.
on first reading. There was no mo-
tion made to remove the appropri-
ated funds for the Cricket Center.