November 22, 2013 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch Page 43 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FROM PAGE 42 Ocean City. This event has become an important part of the Christmas celebration for many including the homeless, unemployed, underemployed, shut-in, and those who are alone. Noel provides gifts and toys to many who attend. All items are free and all are welcome. Last year, the Noel Community volunteers served over 1,400 meals including sit-down dinners and carry-outs. Meals were delivered to those who could not leave their homes, to the police, fire departments, and others who serve our community on Christmas Day. Thanks to your overwhelming response, the Noel Community has expanded our outreach to provide food and companionship throughout the year including lunch every Saturday. This year, we will serve over 7,000 meals/sandwiches throughout the year. We hope to do the same again next year. Checks made payable to the Noel Community can be mailed to 302 North Baltimore Ave., Ocean City, Md., 21842. Your financial support to purchase items is appreciated. Donations of non-perishable food and toiletries from individuals or organizations will be collected on Dec. 23 and Dec. 24 from 10 a.m.noon at St. Paul's by-the-Sea. The Noel Community with the generosity from Ocean City, Ocean Pines, Berlin, Fenwick, Bishopville, Selbyville and the surrounding neighborhoods is able to make the Christmas celebration special for many in our community. The Noel Community appreciates the support and hopes you will consider their request again this year. If you have any questions, please call 410-289-3453. The Noel Community Disappointed By Md. Editor: I speak on behalf of all those who are passionate about the health of the Chesapeake Bay today, when I say I am furious. It seems like with every passing week, there is another story about dead zones, or fisheries in decline, or harbor businesses struggling, but no mention of meaningful attempts to restore the Bay. The crazy thing is – we have the solutions to clean up the bay – we’ve known what we need to do to bring our states most idyllic waterway back to its former glory. We’ve known, but have come up against a brick wall time after time. There was supposed to be a hearing today to determine whether or not the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) should delay implementing the Phosphorous Management Tool on farms. This tool has been proven to reduce phosphorous runoff and better control the use of manure on farm fields; a critical solution to our pollution problem. After all, most of the pollution that goes into our streams, rivers and ultimately, the Bay, are due to excessive phosphorus. But the hearing was cancelled. Why? Corporate agribusinesses want to delay the tools implementation, because their internal agendas are of higher priority than the health of the Chesapeake Bay and everyone who is affected by it. We, the people of Maryland, are serious about protecting our treasured waterway, and are tired of being disappointed. We need the MDA to stop dragging their feet and ensure the timely implementation of this indispensable tool. Talya Tavor (The writer is a field organizer for Environment Maryland.) Between The Lines By Publisher/Editor Steve Green The petition effort, if you can actually call it that, to stop the performing arts center’s bond was abandoned this week. In a letter, petition organizer Tony Christ said the petition process was “discontinued” because the city is withholding information from the public about the impact the performing arts center will have on future bookings at the convention center. The fact is the petition was not widely embraced by the community at large. Petitioners were simply not having a lot of success, as they did while working last summer’s parking meter petition effort, which easily exceeded the minimum threshold, thanks to former Councilman and petition guru Vince Gisriel, who did not collect signatures in the most recent drive. The smoke-and-mirrors approach by petitioners that the city was not coughing up requested information is transparent. There simply were not enough signatures garnered, and the public generally supports the performing arts center. These are sad days for the Worcester County Humane Society. The no-kill shelter located off Route 611 in West Ocean City has found itself in a hotbed of controversy this month over the alleged forced resignation of long-time director and founder Kenille Davies. Up until this week, Davies had been mum on the events that led up to her resignation, but she removed her self-imposed gag order this week in an interview. She made it clear she was being removed against her will and read excerpts from a letter she was given by the board. The most disturbing part of the letter was when she was asked to not impact the shelter in any way prior to departing as well as the animals it boards. “In the interest of all of the shelter’s constituents, we hope the transition can be done smoothly and without the need for formal action or court intervention,” the letter reads. “In particular, we demand that you do not destroy or remove any shelter property including the animals, or retaliate against or attempt to intimidate any of the shelter volunteers, board of directors, employees or members or harm any of the animals.” Whether the board had legitimate reasons to seek Davies’ dismissal will be debated vigorously in the community, but it was wrong to intimate that Davies would in any way do harm to the shelter she founded and particularly its animals. No matter the merits of the board seeking a change, it’s clear that part of the process was mishandled, disrespectful and unnecessary. For the last several weeks, I, like many others, have been watching in amazement at the utility pole project along Coastal Highway in Ocean City. The poles are so incredibly high and wide in diameter that they make me laugh when I drive along the highway, for some strange reason. It’s just looks like extreme overkill. I have been wondering if any public official was going to address what many in the community have been wondering about – why are they so incredibly high? To its credit, Delmarva Power has been extremely thorough in its presentation of this project, and there can be no allegation that the utility company was not clear about this project. It’s been in the works for a couple years and Ocean City was first broached about it back in 2012 with rendering images presented. However, it’s something altogether different when you actually see the work taking place. Currently, the highway looks terrible, but I am holding out hope that once the old poles and power lines are removed and added to the new, taller behemoths the overall appearance will approve. The reality is a glass half-full mentality is the only way to approach this situation because the poles are here to stay. This is a multi-million investment aimed at stabilizing the transmission system in Ocean City, and it’s not going to be stopped at this point, no matter the level of public outcry. It’s unfortunate, but all indications are the proposed beach music festival is not going to happen in Ocean City next summer. Although country music is not my thing, I do hope that’s not the case because it could be a nice revenue generator and a valuable addition to the city’s special event calendar. It’s tough at this point to come to any other conclusion, particularly after the promoter could not keep a planned appearance before the Mayor and Council this week. The promoter’s intentions seem sound and he appears to have been quite straightforward with the city on some levels, but it’s typically not a good sign when communication issues start to surface. This proposed festival has had a tough go of it, and I think the main issue that has led to it stumbling out of the gate and possibly never taking place is competition from similar events in the region, namely the Firefly Music Festival in Dover. When the event was first proposed a few years ago, Firefly was in the planning stage, but there was no official announcement that it was coming to Dover. When that was decided, it essentially doomed Ocean City’s event because it was nearly the same time in the summer and the Dover event had major headliners. Last year’s event reportedly attracted about 80,000 attendees during its multi-day festival. To completely contradict myself from the above view on the utility pole work, I think a glass half-empty approach might be wise in this case. That way a pleasant surprise will be in store if it actually does occur. Quotable Quotes “They wanted me to stand up and say I was just retiring. Well, I’m not retiring. I am being forced out. The reason I am being forced out is because I didn’t want to see all of the people involved hurt by threats of lawsuits and intimidation and court orders and losing money.” WORCESTER COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY DIRECTOR KENILLE DAVIES DESCRIBING RECENT EVENTS WITH THE SHELTER’S BOARD “We would hope that after Nov. 30, Ms. Davies discontinues carrying on a public diatribe about the many transgressions that led to her resignation. It only hurts the animals and the shelter she professes to love.” WORCESTER COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN A STATEMENT THROUGH AN ATTORNEY “I know over the years you have taken these things and have chucked them over your shoulder or airplanes into baskets. Please don’t do that with this report. We are so behind the curb quite frankly it’s embarrassing, particularly with the County Executive’s position.” ERNIE COLBURN, A MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE THAT STUDIED COUNTY SALARIES, TO THE WICOMICO COUNTY COUNCIL “These poles, some of them tower two to three stories above the buildings that were allowed to be built along Coastal Highway … they are forever changing the look of the Town of Ocean City.” OCEAN CITY COUNCIL JOE MITRECIC ON CONCERNS WITH THE ONGOING UTILITY PROJECT IN OCEAN CITY “It is almost scary to look up and see all those poles and lines. They are huge. To me it looks horrendous.” OCEAN CITY COUNCILMAN BRENT ASHLEY AGREEING WITH MITRECIC “[Route] 113, if you look at it, it precisely separates the communities, whites on one side and blacks on the other. And we’re paying dearly today for that.” RESIDENT GABE PURNELL DURING A MEETING ON ROUTE 113