Page 20 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch October 18, 2013 Five Firms Lined Up For Showell Work By TRAVIS BROWN STAFF WRITER BERLIN – A feasibility study for Showell Elementary School (SES) took another step this week when the Worcester County Board of Education approved a list of five finalists to design the school and agreed to begin interviewing the firms in November. Joe Price, facilities planner for Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS), sent out a Request For Proposal (RFP) over the summer to 25 architectural firms and reported to the school board this week that a majority of them were interested. “I sent out 25 RPFs, we got 16 responses. We have reviewed them and graded them and sorted them, and our recommendation is that the following five firms move on to the interview phase of the selection process,” he said. The finalists include Becker Mor- gan Group from Salisbury, Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates from Baltimore, Gilbert Architects from Owings Mills, Hord Coplan Macht from Baltimore and Smolen Emr Ilkovitch from Rockville. The board immediately noticed that only one of the five finalists, Becker Morgan Group, is from this side of the bridge. “Is there a local content here with these architectural firms that we look for?” asked board member John Cook. That is a consideration, according to Price. In a memo he wrote to the school board, Price outlined exactly what is looked for in an architectural firm that would be trusted with designing a school. “The submissions were reviewed for compliance with the RFP requirements and were rated on a number of criteria, including size of the firm, experience in Maryland and Eastern Shore school construc- tion and knowledge of the State of Maryland Public School Construction Program (PSCP) rules and regulations,” he said. Becker Morgan has by far the most experience with WCPS, having designed Pocomoke High School, Snow Hill High School and Stephen Decatur Middle School. However, Price stressed that all five finalists will go through an extensive interview. “We’ll have the firms come in and we’re going to give them 20 minutes to make a presentation, and then we’ll have 25 minutes for questions from the committee,” he said. Price also pointed out that even if a local firm is selected, they will almost certainly subcontract a lot of the civil, structural and mechanical work so any firm that is chosen will probably be bringing in help from across the bridge. The board approved the list of finalists for interviews, which will be conducted in early November. Man Pretended To Act As Sheriff By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR SNOW HILL – A Girdletree man has been charged with impersonating an officer after allegedly pretending to be Worcester County Sheriff Reggie Mason in an email dispute over the sale of dogs on Craig’s List. Michael Sponseller, 43, of Girdletree, had placed an ad on Craig’s List in an attempt to sell dogs. Sponseller then engaged in an argument with another individual through email over the legality of selling dogs through the popular website. MICHAEL Through an email SPONSELLER exchange, Sponseller allegedly identified himself as Sheriff Reggie Mason and threatened to arrest the other individual for harassing him about the advertisement on Craig’s List. Detectives obtained the email exchanges including the indication that Sponseller was portraying himself as Mason and the threats of arrest over the ad placement. Meanwhile, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office is reminding the community that Mason does not utilize Craig’s List to sell animals or other items and has not engaged in email exchanges with anyone over Craig’s List. Wine Specials Every Night TUESDAY $12.99 Lobster Special HAPPY HOUR Monday-Friday 2-6 p.m. $2 Miller/Coors $4 House Wines Absolute Drinks Sailor Jerry Drinks Slushies 1/2 Price Wings Bada Bing Shrimp Buck A Shuck Ropewalk Liberties Open Daily 11 a.m.-1 a.m. We never close early! 700 Coastal Hwy., Fenwick Island 302-581-0153 ropewalktavern.com