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MAY 9, 2014
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Proposed amenity at 64th Street no closer to fruition
State’s first large wind farm to be off OC coastline
Property snafu delaying new boat ramp project
Network looking to connect partners with developers
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Katelyn Tingle, an AGH technician, takes the blood pressure of Justin Money during Tuesday’s Community Health Fair at the Ocean City convention center.
Health fair attracts more than 400 to convention ctr. Annual community event gives guests opportunity to have on-site screenings
By Phil Jacobs Editor (May 9, 2014) More than 400 people came to the Roland E. Powell Convention Center as early as 7 a.m. Tuesday for the town’s 28th annual Community Health Fair. There, health consumers could have their blood pressure taken, talk to a health professional on any topic
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By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (May 9, 2014) Two years after funding was first approved for the project, the city’s proposed new public boat ramp at 64th Street is still no closer to fruition due to a land acquisition battle. City Engineer Terry McGean was able to give scant details about the issue this week, given that efforts to acquire the property are currently under negotiation. McGean had previously told City Council that he would be providing them an update on the deal in a closed-session meeting. However, McGean did say that the new ramp’s design, completed last year, revealed that the project would need more space than would fit on the city’s land adjacent to the 64th Street wastewater treatment plant. “Most of it is on city property, but there is a piece we need to get…that is essentially an underwater property,” McGean said. Apparently, the city’s design calls for the ramp to extend into an area of water that is outside of the town’s parcel, and which it may not even have been aware was landed property given that the area is almost completely submerged beneath the bay. “In order to do a two-lane ramp, which is what we think we need, there is basically a piece of submerged land that we are trying to acquire the rights to,” McGean said. Until the city has the land, McGean cannot begin the lengthy state and federal permitting processes required for construction in a marine wetland. “You get permits from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers,” McGean said. “But there are probably another 10 agencies involved in the review. You get two acSee BOAT Page 5
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ranging from hearing impairment to skin cancer. There was even a paramedic with a CPR booth, who offered lessons in resuscitating not just people, but also their pets. The event was sponsored by Atlantic General Hospital’s Healthy Happenings, the Town of Ocean City and AARP Chapter 1917. Dr. Melvin Friedman, who coordinated the fair, has worked to make the event successful for the past eight years. He even worked an informational booth on the use of cochlear See HEALTH Page 12
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By Clara Vaughn Staff Writer (May 9, 2014) With Ocean City poised to be the site of Maryland’s first large-scale, offshore wind farm, the Business Network for Maryland Offshore Wind is working to connect potential business partners with wind farm developers. The Network launched its supply chain portal — a listing of businesses from logistics companies to landbased contractors —a month ago, but 75 companies have already signed up for the free service, said Liz Burdock, executive director of the group. “It’s helpful for the developer,” she said. “Say they wanted a marine diving company to do some work. They would call me, and I could give them the name of the marine diving companies that were interested in the offshore wind project. “They would have that information instead of trying to put something out to create awareness of the company.” Businesses from Maryland to Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine have listed their names with the Network. That should help with the 80,000-acre project planned off Ocean City’s shore, but also with wind farm development farther afield, such as Cape Wind off the Nantucket Sound in Cape Cod or projects in the works in Virginia and Rhode Island, Burdock said. But the biggest impact will be locally, where operations and maintenance will be staged once the project gets off the ground. At about 30 percent of the total wind farm project cost — estimated at $1 billion or more — O&M should bring $300 million into the local economy, Burdock said. “That’s a very large portion of the project costs and they all need to be local jobs,” she said. “You can’t have See WIND Page 13
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