Works Director Hal Adkins ex-
plained the 94th Street water
tower is slated for renovation
and painting this fall, and ques-
tioned if the Mayor and City
Council wanted a logo to be
placed on the tower as has been
done to others in town.
could be covered by the Water
Enterprise Fund.
had the vintage Ocean City logo
on them, but Adkins was in-
structed to do away with the lo-
go as the towers were repaint-
ed.
agreed to allow the Dew Tour to
place a large logo on the Wor-
cester Street tower downtown,
which is still there today.
summer of 2012's marketing
strategy, and "Welcome to
Ocean City" and "Thank You for
Visiting" logo was added to the
64th Street water tower, follow-
ed by the 136th Street water
tower, because both are in a
good visual position. Adkins
pointed out the 94th Street wa-
ter tower sits substantially west
of Coastal Highway and has a
limited impact on motorists.
be a good opportunity for the Art
League of Ocean City to take on
as it recently opened the new
Center for the Arts down the
road. Knight made a motion for
the town to pursue the Art
League to add a logo to the 94th
Street water tower and the
council voted unanimously to
approve.
nounced it had filed a petition in
the Maryland Court of Special
Appeals on behalf of several
Maryland waterkeeper groups
challenging the court's ruling in
May that permanently prevents
public access to agricultural pol-
lution control information.
in a rather controversial case in-
volving the public's right to ac-
cess information on agricultural
pollution control. The Environ-
mental Integrity Project, a pri-
vate sector advocacy group, last
week filed a petition challenging
the Court of Special Appeals'
ruling on several fronts including
the need for transparency from
government.
from EIP reads. "A recent Mary-
land court ruling undermines
hours a day for over a month now,
its allowance to keep the bar open
at the facility until 4 a.m. created
through compromise legislation dur-
ing the 2013 General Assembly ses-
sion begins next week on July 1.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming Con-
trol Agency to remain open 24 hours
a day, seven days a week through-
out the summer season until Sept.
30 and the facility has been open
around the clock ever since. Until
now, however, the casino on Route
589 near Ocean Pines has been
closing its bar operation at 2 a.m.
just as all other liquor license hold-
which are concentrated in and a-
round Ocean City, because it would
create an uneven playing field for
the bars and restaurants that would
still be held to the firm 2 a.m. clos-
ing time.
the form of an earlier disconnect
date from the county's Department
of Liquor Control wholesale opera-
tion. As part of the legislation that
dissolved the old Liquor Control
Board (LCB) and created the coun-
ty-run DLC, the licensees were re-
quired to continue to purchase
wholesale liquor from the county un-
til July 1, 2016, at which point they
would be able to opt out and pur-
chase spirits on the open market if
they so desired.
Downs is allowed to keep its bar
operation up and running until 4
a.m. The Casino at Ocean Downs
earlier this year attempted to gain
approval for 24-hour bar operation,
but during the Maryland General
Assembly session this year, a com-
promise was reached on proposed
legislation connected to the coun-
ty's Department of Liquor Control
(DLC) and its relationship with the li-
censees in Worcester.
could be attached to a bill in the
General Assembly addressing other
issues related to Worcester Coun-
ty's liquor laws that would have al-
lowed the Casino at Ocean Downs
to serve alcohol 24 hours a day.
closed as the EOD team prepared to
detonate the second batch of ord-
nance. Around 6 p.m. on Tuesday,
the second detonation at the site pro-
ceeded as planned without incident.
the ordnance was discovered and
later detonated remained closed
although much of the rest of the bar-
rier island had returned to normal
somewhat.
putting up fences and deploying
personnel to keep people out of the
area where the ordnance was
found," said Rachelle Daigneault,
chief of Interpretation and Educa-
tion. "We know Assateague was us-
ed as a testing range during World
War II and this stuff is still out there.
Most of the items are not danger-
ous, but there is always a potential
that some are and we're acting with
an abundance of caution."
eral Army Corps of Engineers to
come in to further investigate the
discovery of such a large cache of
old ordnance on the barrier island.
The scope of the Army Corps' inves-
tigation was uncertain, but Daig-
neault said on Wednesday officials
would likely sweep the beach in the
discovery area to ensure nothing
was left unturned.
have other methods and technology
for handling these situations," she
said. "This is what they do and they
have a ton of expertise at handling
situations just like this one."
munitions to be discovered on Assa-
teague, which was used as a testing
range during and following the war.
However, finding over 100 pieces of
ordnance in the same area at the
same time on Monday was reason
for alarm. She said the term "unex-
ploded ordnance" was used to
numerous other pieces of shells and
armaments.
discovered on Monday were not
active or dangerous, but the National
Park Service has specific protocols
to follow with the discovery of unex-
ploded ordnance or mu-nitions of any
kind. "The things that were uncov-
ered and found are inert, meaning
they are not active and not danger-
ous, but we have to follow the proto-
cols," she said. "Everything is being
handled and treated as if it were live
ammunition and ordnance."
round Assateague during the World
War II era and was just recently un-
covered by tides, winds or other nat-
ural phenomena. She said it was
unlikely the material washed a-
shore. Instead it was likely uncov-
ered during the natural shifting and
migrating of the barrier island.
tive, or inert," she said. "It happens
from time to time, but certainly not
often. The area off Assateague was
used as a target range and test
range during World War II and some
of this stuff is still around. It could
have been miles off the coast at dif-
ferent times over the years because
the island naturally migrates and the
shoreline is ever-changing."
nance was found and later detonat-
ed remained closed late this week
and likely will remain closed until the
Army Corps completes its assess-
ment. Daigneault said vast beach,
parking and camping areas along
with the OSV areas are open as
well as Assateague State Park.
thousands of visitors heading to As-
sateague next week for the Fourth
of July holiday and we are making
every effort to ensure their visit is an
enjoyable one, along with a safe
one," she said.
from shells and rockets to pieces of
debris under the same umbrella.
every precaution and following our
protocol to the letter," said Daigneault.
"It is not unusual to find a piece or a
couple of pieces over the years, but
this was a very large cache, probably
the largest we've ever found."
not uncommon. In 1988, for example,
Army and Navy EOD teams were de-
ployed to Assateague at the request
of the National Park Service when
ordnance washed ashore in the same
North Ocean Beach area where the
ordnance and debris was found on
Monday and later detonated.
still had a rocket engine attached. The
next day, another five-inch rocket was
found and it was determined the ord-
nance was washing ashore from a
hole about 15 yards offshore that was
once probably on the shore before the
barrier island migrated over the years.
hole was likely a burial trench for
expended shells and other muni-
tions after clearing the test range.
Once the hole, or burial trench, was
discovered, a total of seven rocket
motors were found, one of which
was not expended; six five-inch
tional Seashore Tuesday.