OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
MAY 29, 2020
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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Reel Escape crew releases the first white marlin of the Ocean City fishing season – Page 22
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Outdoor dining allowed Trends favorable for move into Phase 2 by next week
JOSH KIM/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Busy, but not elbow-to-elbow, is how the Boardwalk crowd in Ocean City appeared Saturday. Still, social-distancing guidelines were not observed by many of the groups on the boards over the holiday.
Busier, but no big bang weekend Memorial Day holiday beset by cool, wet weather along with covid-19 restrictions By Josh Kim Staff Writer (May 29, 2020) Memorial Day weekend, the informal start date of Ocean City’s summer season, foreshadowed how the rest of this season could be as the city continued to wrestle with covid-19 and its effect on the resort community. Friday, Sunday and Monday were marked by cloudy skies and cool tem-
peratures, making it difficult to know which had the greater effect on crowd size — the weather or concern about covid-19. Saturday, however, defied early weather predictions. With the sun shining and 80-degree weather, guests flocked to the resort’s Boardwalk and downtown beach area for the second weekend in a row. By 1 p.m. on Saturday, parking in the area was scarce, and traffic on Coastal Highway almost resembled a normal spring day in Ocean City — operative word almost. The Boardwalk became crowded at
times, with few wearing facemasks and social distancing questionable. Facemasks are not required in outdoor spaces, but are encouraged. Beachgoers, however, largely followed social distancing and gathering guidelines, Ocean City Beach Patrol Capt. Butch Arbin said. Arbin added that all 75 stands had a lifeguard on duty, and more than 100 guards total were out on the beach patrolling. Lifeguards made roughly 50 rescues last weekend, but Arbin said that was not necessarily abnormal, as resSee GLIMPSE Page 2
By Josh Kim Staff Writer (May 29, 2020) Gov. Larry Hogan announced on Wednesday an expansion of phase one activities. “Effective Friday, May 29, at 5 p.m., restaurants, as well as social organizations, such as American Legions, VFWs or Elks Clubs etc., will be able to begin safely reopening for outdoor dining following strict public health requirements consistent with the CDC, FDA and the National Restaurant Association,” Hogan said. Tables must be properly socially distanced and may not have more than six people seated at a time. Single-use disposable paper menus must be used, or reusable menus that are sanitized after each use. See FIGHT Page 3
County plan will help restaurants get their permits By Elizabeth Bonin Staff Writer (May 29, 2020) With outdoor seating at restaurants being opened at 5 p.m. today, Worcester County government and the Worcester County Health Department are ahead of the curve with a streamlined application for restaurants to apply for outdoor seating on a temporary basis if they do not already have permission. See PERMIT Page 4
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Ocean City Today
MAY 29, 2020
ELIZABETH BONIN/OCEAN CITY TODAY
The Ocean City Boardwalk welcomed in some of the first summer visitors on Saturday, May 23. Most were not wearing masks and social distancing was difficult at times due to the high volume of people.
Glimpse of resort’s ‘new normal’ Continued from Page 1 cues largely depend on water conditions, rather than other external factors. As per usual, beach patrol will be on duty 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days a week until Sept. 27. While Saturday proved fruitful for some, one day of good weather was not enough for a resort that usually sees crowds double, if not triple the size in normal circumstances. “This weekend obviously wasn’t like a typical Memorial Day weekend,” said Anna Bushnell, owner of Dolle’s Candyland on the Boardwalk. “I would imagine that we did about a third of what we normally do.” Shenanigan’s Pub owner Greg Shockley reported similar sales, and said this past weekend was incomparable to years previous. “With the restrictions of being carryout only, it’s about 20 percent of what we can do,” Shockley said. “It was a very, very difficult weekend as far as financially, and it’s been that way since April. My sales for April were zero.” Bushnell attributed this to two factors: first, the bad weather overall and second, the lack of amusements open for business on the Boardwalk. The pandemic, and the business restrictions that have come with it, has harmed local businesses so much that some felt it necessary to wade in gray legal waters. “We did have a weekend where some of our businesses were pushing the limits of what they were and were not allowed to do, and we did have some outright violations of the governor’s order,” City Manager Doug Miller said at Tuesday’s council work session. “The police department was very much on this.” This past weekend proved difficult for the local lodging industry, as well. “While a handful of folks sold out,
it was just that, only a handful,” said Susan Jones, Ocean City Hotel-MotelRestaurant Association executive director. “Some of the “full” parking lots … could have resulted in 60-70 percent occupancy. It was by no means a busy weekend.” Jones also said some hotels and motels could not even open on Memorial Day, while others who did had incredibly low bookings and took a loss for even being open. Generally speaking, she said, properties on the Boardwalk and franchise hotels fared better than others. “Surprisingly, the last two weekends were great,” said Jill Douglas, general manager of the 109-room Commander Hotel on 14th Street. “Friday we saw 70 percent occupancy, and by Saturday and Sunday we were at 100 percent.” One issue that remains a thorn for almost all local businesses is staffing, as the status of J-1 students remains unknown this summer. Bushnell, like many others, has had to rely on family members to help run her shop. “It was a whole family affair,” she said. “We appreciate everybody’s patience, as our staffing is quite lean right now.” While adherence to social distancing on the Boardwalk could be debated, business owners said the majority of customers followed all safety guidelines within and around their respective stores. The only issue that persists somewhat is facemasks usage, as some customers refuse to wear the face covering, despite it being ordered by the state in indoor retail spaces, as well as public transit. Nonetheless, the safety measures taken by local businesses have been noted and appreciated. “A lot of the parents who were nervous to send their kids down to
work with us, a lot of the feedback that they got is that Telescope Pictures is really looking out for our safety,” Jonathan Cameron, owner of the Telescope Pictures, said. Bushnell expressed similar sentiments. “We had a lot of great people just excited for us, excited that we were open, excited that we survived — it really was a good weekend of positivity,” she said. Nonetheless, businesses need more than positivity to survive the pandemic. “We need guidelines for this, and we have absolutely no guidelines. They need to be fairly specific, instead of just — we have no clue,” Shockley said. While the Ocean City Hotel-MotelRestaurant Association has provided its own guidelines, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] has its own, Shockley said local restaurant owners needed clear-cut, official, state issued directive. “How are we going to be able to serve? Are we going to be able to do plates and silverware, or is that going to by the wayside for plastic? Obviously we’ve thought about all of this stuff, and we’re prepared, I guess, to do what they tell us, but it would be nice to have some guidelines,” he said. Hogan announced on Wednesday the reopening of outdoor dining effective this Friday at 5 p.m., with socially distanced tables and limited seating among other safety guidelines. Shockley said on Tuesday, however, as have other business owners, a mid-week announcement would not be enough time to properly prepare. “They claim to understand us and help us, and I appreciate that, but you can’t tell a restaurant on a Wednesday or Thursday that you can open up and expect us to have food, [and other supplies],” he said.
MAY 29, 2020
Ocean City Today
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Fight against virus not over, Gov. Hogan says Continued from Page 1 Restaurants must also conduct daily temperature checks of all staff, and employees must wear masks or face coverings when interacting with other employees or patrons. “We are also strongly encouraging local leaders to find innovative ways to support our restaurant businesses,” Hogan said. On Thursday morning, the city announced in a press release a no fee, temporary building permit application for businesses wishing to add outdoor seating. Restaurants with pre-existing outdoor seating do not need to submit the city’s permit unless they are expanding beyond a pre-approved site plan area, Bill Neville, Ocean City Planning and Community Development director, said. However, Neville said the Worcester County Health Department, which has been working closely with the city’s planning department, would require all restaurants, with or without existing outdoor seating, to submit a permit to the county to ensure social distancing and health guidelines were being met. The county’s permit should be available online sometime Thursday. “We know our restaurant community is anxious to reopen and we wanted to create an easy yet effective way for them to do so safely,” Neville said in a press re-
lease. “Any business or organization that wishes to expand beyond their existing site plan approval must complete the application online, receive approval from review agencies, and follow the state and CDC guidelines.” The temporary permit for outdoor seating does not allow use of public ways, such as sidewalks, the Boardwalk, streets or the beach. For more information, and to submit an application, visit https://oceancitymd.gov/oc/coronavirus-information/ Hogan also cleared the way for more youth sports and day camp activities, which may resume with social distancing, capacity and sanitation measures. No out-of-state or overnight visitors will be permitted at camps, and camp employees and attendees must wear masks, according to the new directive. Outdoor pools may also reopen with strict safety guidelines that include a 25 percent capacity limitation and a sign-in sheets for patrons. Drive-in movies may also reopen. The move comes after weeks of trends the Hogan Administration found promising. The state’s “positivity rate,” a compilation of data on testing, hospitalizations, fatalities and other metrics being tracked by the administration, was at its worst 41 days ago on April 17, and has improved more than 50 percent — from 26.9 per-
cent to 12.8 percent as of Tuesday. Average daily death rate has also dropped by more than 50 percent since April 29, the peak. Total hospitalizations are down 22 percent since the peak on April 30, and down 17 percent in the last 14 days alone. Finally, ICU stays have been on steady plateau since April 29, Hogan said. “Our coronavirus recovery team will continue to watch all of the data very closely, and if these encouraging trends continue into next week, we would then be in a position to begin entering stage two of our recovery, which would mean a lifting of the order and allowing other nonessential businesses to begin reopening.” Hogan also mentioned Ocean City. “I was a little bit shocked to see some of the photographs or the video of people on the Boardwalk in Ocean City with some of those crowds, which didn’t appear too safe to me,” Hogan said. Hogan said resort officials were addressing those concerns, and stressed that most people have been responsible and following safety guidelines. “While we are moving to safely reopen our economy and put more people back to work, we want to continue to strongly stress the need to follow CDC guidelines,” Hogan said. “The fight against this virus is by no means over. We must all continue to remain vigilant, particularly as we begin to come into
contact with more people. Lower risk does not mean no risk, and safer does not mean safe.” For a full list of guidelines, visit https://open.maryland.gov/backtobusiness/
Ocean City Today Calendar ..........................47 Classifieds ........................33 Commentary ....................42 Crossword Puzzle ..............46 Horoscopes ......................44 Obituaries ........................45 Public Notices ..................36 Service Directory ..............35 Editor: sdobson@oceancitytoday.net News: editor@oceancitytoday.net Sales: sales@oceancitytoday.net Classifieds: classifieds@oceancitytoday.net Phone: 410-723-6397 www.oceancitytoday.com and at Facebook/Ocean City Today Published Fridays by FLAG Publications, Inc. 8200 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, Md. 21842 P.O. Box 3500, Ocean City, Md. 21843 Available by subscription at $150 a year.
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Ocean City Today
MAY 29, 2020
Permit will allow temporary seating Continued from Page 1 All Maryland restaurants and bars have been allowed to operate for carryout or delivery only under Gov. Larry Hogan’s emergency declaration on March 16 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The idea for the streamlined application came up during the Worcester County Commissioners emergency meeting on May 14, when they also asked the health department to draft outdoor seating guidelines that could be included in a letter Ed Tudor asking Hogan to relax restaurant restrictions. The commissioners thought that if a restaurant could provide temporary outdoor seating in a parking lot, for example, it should be allowed to do so via a permit. They sent the letter to Hogan the next day urging him to open outdoor seating at restaurants by Memorial Day Weekend. Similarly, Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-38) and Delegate Wayne Hartman (R-38 C) also asked Hogan to open outdoor restaurant seating, argu-
ing that it would be safer than eating in public areas outside and that restaurants needed ample time to prepare. Hogan, however, stuck to the reopening protocols he and his advisors developed. Ed Tudor, director of review and permitting, said his department, the department of environmental programs, the county fire marshal’s office and the county health department have been working on the streamlined application for the past two-and-a-half weeks. “We’ll have to make some adjustments in our process depending on what he [Hogan] announces, but we will be ready when he comes out with his announcement,” Tudor said, hours before the announcement. He added that the application package would be available on the Worcester County website as soon as staff tweaks it to match Hogan’s guidelines. It will be available in a fillable PDF that restaurants can complete online and email to the county. Any supplementary information can be scanned and emailed. Tudor hopes each permit can be approved in just a couple days. “We are going to try to make this as fast as we can, but it’s like the old adage
– the better information we get, the quicker we’ll be able to turn it around,” Tudor said. He advised restaurants to complete the application electronically, as it will be approved faster. Worcester County will have one permit application for unincorporated areas, and the county health department will have a separate one for the municipalities, according to Tudor. He said the applications would be mostly the same, but that the health department application might have a few more health-related questions than the county application. According to Hogan’s guidelines announced during a press conference on Wednesday, restaurants may seat no more than six people to tables that are socially distanced. Restaurants must provide disposable silverware and menus. Restaurants must conduct daily health screenings for employees, including temperature checks. Employees must wear face masks. Tudor advised restaurant operators to check on the county website to stay updated with the permit. Visit http://www.co.worcester.md.us.
City working on coronavirus paid leave, workman’s comp By Josh Kim Staff Writer (May 29, 2020) Concerned with part-time employee’s possible exposure to covid-19 — particularly beach patrol during its many rescues — Ocean City government will work on plans for coronavirus paid-sick leave and/or worker’s compensation benefits for its part-time employees. The agreement to pursue some kind of solution came after City Councilman Dennis Dare pushed for the additional protection. “If a part-time employee contracts covid-19, coronavirus, what’s the town’s position for care for that parttime employee? Is it deemed to be a workman’s compensation claim?” Dare asked. Dare said he had asked how many rescues the Ocean City Beach Patrol had performed over Memorial Day weekend, and learned the number was roughly 50. “That’s a potential exposure to 50 lifeguards from somebody requiring rescues that coughing and choking and spitting,” Dare said. “What’s their protection? What are we as their employer going to do for them?” Beach patrol Capt. Butch Arbin told Ocean City Today previously that the organization had taken extra steps to ensure lifeguard safety, including additional personal protective equipment. Beach patrol lifeguards also may use
paid-sick leave, accrued at a rate of one hour of leave per 30 hours of work, in the event he or she contracts covid-19. However, the city does not offer coronavirus-related paid-sick leave or compensation. City Manager Doug Miller said employees would be eligible for workman’s compensation if there was evidence he or she had contracted the virus while on duty. Dare said while it was easy to prove a police officer broke his or her ankle in the line of duty, the same could not be said for the virus, as it is essentially “invisible.” “We’ve expressed concern about being able to recruit part-time people … I think there are probably some issues in retaining part-time people,” Dare said. “For a successful season, we need these part-time people and I think they need to be protected.” “Let me get back with a couple of proposals,” Miller said. “We can either do it as a reaction to a cause or relationship, or we could do a blanket policy that would take care of anybody, and we don’t have to prove that [the contraction of] covid-19 was caused on the job.” Councilman Matt James said he had received similar questions from a constituent about the beach patrol members, and seemed to be more geared toward a more specific approach. “Not all of our part-time employees
JOSH KIM/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Ocean City part-time employees, such as Ocean City Beach Patrol Crew Chief Greg Gordon, may see special coronavirus-related paid-sick leave or worker’s compensation, after Councilman Dennis Dare asked his peers on Tuesday what the city was doing to protect its workforce.
are at risk as maybe our beach patrol,” James said. “I think the masks, the gloves and the social distancing that many of the employees, or the parttime employees can take, is not applicable to a beach patrol surf rescue technician, who is going into the water and physically grabbing somebody else.” Office of the City Solicitor Heather Stansbury said the matter was a legal one, and would require analysis of the federal CARES Act, as well as other federal care packages, and the city’s Human Resource Department.
MAY 29, 2020
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Ocean City Today
Tape, plywood to be removed from OC Boardwalk benches By Josh Kim Staff Writer (May 29, 2020) After a strenuous debate on Tuesday, the Ocean City Council voted to remove the caution tape and boards from the city’s Boardwalk benches. Mayor Rick Meehan had disapproved of the use of caution tape and plywood in favor of moving the benches, and asked the council last week to further discuss the issue. In response, City Public Works Director Hal Adkins explained to City Rick Meehan Manager Doug Miller in an email why moving the benches might not be the right approach. “Physical distancing is not achievable even on a single bench,” he said. Matt James “Short of a verbal fight between users, nothing stops one couple from sitting next to another couple, per se.” Additionally, many of the benches, according to Adkins, were dedicated benches and were owned by individual purchasers. “The locations of each dedicated bench is of extreme importance to the purchaser and is tied to, in most cases, family memories of the loved one(s) and where they would normally sit when visiting Ocean City,” he said. “In a typical year, if we shift, remove or slightly relocate a bench, we get blasting emails from the owner for it to be returned to its dedicated location.” Adkins also asked city officials to
think about the act of relocating the benches, because tram paths, private property and even the slope of some areas were all obstacles that would have to be overcome. In light of these issues, as well as others addressed in Adkins’ email, staff recommended that all boards and caution tape be removed immediately, and that no benches be removed or relocated. Several council members favored the recommendation, and noted that from their perspective, guests were voluntarily social distancing and wearing facemasks. “I’ve been open every day through all of this, and 99 percent of the people are social distancing by themselves [and] they are wearing masks,” said Council President Lloyd Martin, who owns 7-Eleven convenience stores. Mayor Rick Meehan strongly opposed the recommendation. “I couldn’t disagree more with the action that’s being taken by the council,” Meehan said. Meehan said during his walks on the Boardwalk, he had never seen anyone fight over the benches or overcrowd them, and echoed Martin’s opinion that people were voluntarily social distancing. But he also said, “I see a lack of foresight here, a lack of vision. I think we took the easy way, which is not the Ocean City way,” Meehan said. “If you look at all of our business, they have to adhere to restrictions, they’re investing money, they’re doing things to try to create social distancing and adhere to restrictions ... and here we are, the Town of Ocean City, and we’re not following that same roadmap. We should be leading by See SOME Page 6
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