Page 30 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch June 7, 2013 Regional Digest Fireworks Plan Altered OCEAN CITY – Beach erosion has led city officials to make adjustments to how the 4th of July fireworks will be launched downtown. According to Recreation and Parks Commission Chair and Councilman Joe Mitrecic, Special Events Director Frank Miller reported that the fireworks contractor has recommended a onethird offset launch eastward toward the ocean for the downtown beach display to accommodate an acceptable safety zone. “Because the beach has eroded somewhat, we cannot get an acceptable distance from the Boardwalk to fire the six-inch shells straight up in the air, so we have to fire them at what is called a one-third offset, which is at a slight angle and shoots them out over the water … it was pointed out the beach grows throughout the season and we are going to keep a close track of it to see where we are, and if we have to we will shoot them off at a one-third offset in order to have the same show downtown as we have in past years,” Mitrecic said. Fire Chief David Hartley agreed with the one-third offset launch provided that all six-inch and five-inch shells are launched in this manner. The committee agreed to direct staff to plan for a 4th of July show using a maximum shell as noted in the contract and use the one-third offset launch method for the fireworks display on the beach, if necessary. Service Road Dedicated Members of Pfc. Samuel R. “Smokey” Bowen’s family, including his enthusiastic, young grandson, Zaire, and fellow U.S. Army National Guard’s 216th Engineer Battalion members joined the Worcester County Commissioners on Memorial Day to dedicate a road named in honor of their fallen friend and comrade who died July 7, 2004, serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first phase of Samuel Bowen Boulevard is complete and runs three quarters of a mile from its intersection at Holly Grove Road in a westerly direction. Once the second phase is complete, Samuel Bowen Boulevard will parallel Route 50 from Holly Grove Road to Seahawk Road, helping to ease traffic on the major thoroughfare. Submitted Photo City Eyes $26K Transfer To Cover Legal Overage By TRAVIS BROWN STAFF WRITER Salisbury Makes List SALISBURY – The city of Salisbury this week was added to a list of “under-the-radar” second-home vacation markets by ERA Real Estate. ERA Real Estate this week released its list of some of the hottest vacation home markets in the country with its theme of “from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam,” borrowed from “God Bless America.” Filling in the “to the oceans” slot was Salisbury, which was recognized for its close proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, Ocean City and Assateague Island National Seashore. Salisbury, the largest town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, won the prestigious “All American City” award in 2010. According to ERA Martin Associates broker/owner Bill Martin, sales activity in the Salisbury market is up 23 percent over last year with an average sales price of $158,000. “A regional airport in Salisbury makes getting here by plane very convenient, and a two- to three-hour drive gets you to major cities including Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Norfolk and Philadelphia, making this market attractive to retirees from these densely populated areas,” he SEE NEXT PAGE SALISBURY – The Salisbury City Council voted this week preliminarily to transfer an additional $26,000 into the city’s legal fund to cover attorney expenses. Keith Cordrey, director of Internal Services, explained to the city Monday that it has become apparent the funding originally set aside to cover legal expenses will come up short this year. “Projections indicate that an increase of $26,000 is needed in the FY13 appropriations for the city attorney in order to meet the projected requirements for the legal fees for the remainder of FY2013,” he said. The year-end total for attorney fees comes to about $225,000, added Cordrey. Each month averaged $20,029 for the nine months reviewed. The $26,000 would be enough to cover any spill over beyond the established budget and would set aside $4,740 to cover legal fees through June until the new fiscal year starts July 1. Designating less than $5,000 for the month of June considering the averages was pragmatic, said Council President Jake Day. “So that’s all that we would be allowing to be spent for all of the remainder of the fiscal year,” he said. “And with an average of $20,000 that’s a significant reduction in our legal expenses for the month of June … I think what we’re funding through this action, not only recognizing that we’ve gone over budget, but I think we’re funding the bare minimum we can expect to continue to operate and function as a city through June.” The council was split on the state of the legal fees. “I just want to say that I don’t see anything out of the ordinary … pret- ty common to what we’ve seen every month since we’ve had an attorney, which would mean ever,” said Councilman Tim Spies. Councilwoman Shanie Shields was more hesitant to approve adding $26,000 to the fund. Her impression was that only the $4,740 that will cover June was needed to balance the account. Day explained that the $4,740 would only be for June and that the remaining nearly $22,000 had to be added to cover the city for legal help it has already used. “The work has already been done … We’ve already been overbudget,” said Day. “We’ve already used those services.” Any bills that have been accumulated need to be cleared, said Councilwoman Laura Mitchell. But like Shields, she was unhappy with having to put more money into the fund. Additionally, Mitchell was unhappy with how long it took for the city to actually review their bills to learn that they were over budget. Bills for the most recent months were submitted just Monday hours before their meeting, she reminded the council. “That’s not enough time to review … certainly we should have had these bills to review before we went over budget, before we already had expended the money and now it’s a bill that we owe,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, we have to pay the bills for the services that we’ve used in the amounts that have incurred but this shouldn’t have happened, period.” Shields added that she has yet to properly review the bills and wasn’t comfortable paying for anything that she has not carefully gone over. “You do not pay bills unless you see the bills. And I have not seen the attorney bills,” she said. Councilwoman Terry Cohen did not comment on the punctuality of the bills but did side with Spies in saying that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “There’s items in there where [City Attorney Mark Tilghman] has been addressing issues that have been going on with the city for 14 years so I’m not surprised to see certain additional things on there,” she said. “And there were political things that he was put in the middle of which would increase his attorney fees. Like Mr. Spies, I looked at the bills and we might want to do some things differently in the future but it wasn’t because the attorney did something wrong.” Some of the costs included in the fees were unexpected, admitted Day, but they were all clearly explained. “It’s clear that there were several specific items that led to greater than expected, greater than anticipated expenses over the last few months,” he said, “and he anticipated those being significantly reduced in the coming months.” Things like the recent city election and filling the fire chief position were a few of the costs that ballooned this fiscal year. Whatever one’s opinion, Cohen pointed out that if no funding is added to the legal account the city will not be covered by an attorney through June. “I mean, otherwise we go without attorney services for the protection of the city,” she said. Because adding money to the fund would be a budget amendment, it required a 4-1 vote to advance to a second reading. Initially, both Shields and Mitchell opposed the amendment. However, Mitchell changed her vote so that the measure could at least advance to second reading where it will again be voted on. She explained that she will be reviewing the bills between this week and the second reading Monday and will make her final decision then.