News

 BERLIN/OCEAN PINES – Representatives from Berlin government and the Ocean Pines Association are providing relief in their own way to areas devastated two weeks ago by Hurricane Sandy. According to Tony Carson, town administrator of Berlin, Public Works Director Mike Gibbons led a team to Crisfield, about an hour away from town, on Thursday and Friday. Crisfield, on the Chesapeake side of Somerset County, was hit much harder by the storm than the Berlin area. "The entire town was about 3 feet underwater. It was a disaster," said Rick Lord, foreman at the Public Works department of Crisfield. Lord said Berlin, along with other municipalities, helped repair a major drainage issue. Once that was fixed, workers stayed for hours picking up debris from the streets such as boards and tree limbs. "We didn't expect it, they just came," said Lord, who mentioned multiple institutions – including the Eastern Correctional Institution – are hel...

BERLIN – The Berlin Farmers Market has cut its connection with the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and is now under the guidance of the Main Street Berlin program. The move comes as discussion continues about a long-term strategy for the market and how it might relocate elsewhere in the town’s center. "We … are looking forward now to a new partnership with the Main Street Berlin program, while maintaining the character and high quality of our downtown Berlin Farmers Market," said Paul Wood, owner of A & W Farms and a member of the local farmers market in a press release sent Monday, Nov. 5. Main Street Berlin, managed by Berlin Economic & Community Development Director Michael Day, is in the middle of setting up an official advisory board for the market. This board will feature Day, Berlin Councilmember Lisa Hall, two market vendors, two representatives of the Berlin business community, two Berlin community members and a “market master̶...

OCEAN PINES – Construction for the new Ocean Pines Yacht Club is expected to begin within the next two months, now that the Worcester County Planning Commission has approved the facility's site plan. "We were able to significantly decrease the adjustment they were seeking," county Planning Director Ed Tudor said of the commission’s Nov. 1 approval. In early October, the original site plan for the new Ocean Pines Yacht Club was rejected by the commission because it failed to provide the required number of parking spaces. A few days after that meeting, Ocean Pines Association representatives met with Tudor to request an adjustment that would allow them to provide fewer spaces than what the zoning code requires. Although county code says there must be one parking space for every 125 square feet of surface in a commercial lot, part of that code allows Tudor to make significant changes to its regulations. Depending on the scenario, the county can reduce by ...

BERLIN/OCEAN PINES – Despite heavy winds and rainfall from Hurricane Sandy throughout Monday evening, Ocean Pines and Berlin officials say there were no reports of significant structural damage or injury as a result of the storm. "We dodged a bullet on this one," said Mike Gibbons, public works director of Berlin, who reported that his department worked overnight to ensure roads were clear of debris for emergency vehicles. As of Tuesday morning, Berlin Public Works employees picked up the last remaining fallen limbs and trees, and Gibbons said no properties or commercial buildings were severely damaged. The same goes for Ocean Pines, as Eddie Wells, director of Ocean Pines Public Works, said he heard of no serious wind damage or fallen debris at residential properties or association facilities. Ocean Pines Public Works employees also worked overnight to clear debris and about six trees that fell over Ocean Parkway. Wells said all roads have been clear...

    BERLIN – In order to gain the estimated $8.3 million needed to fix Berlin's stormwater drainage problems, representatives of the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center recommended to the mayor and Town Council on Monday the creation of a stormwater utility fund. The recommendation came after the center’s year-long stormwater management study. "You have been my favorite community to work with in my region," center Director Joanne Throwe said. Throwe, who was joined by Program Manager Monica Billig, showed a PowerPoint compilation that explained how the center arrived at its conclusions. The Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland is one of 10 university-based centers in the country that performs studies to assist communities with environmental problems. The study used extensive data gathering to identify the volume and quality of stormwater that floods the town. Overall, the goal of any such study i...

BERLIN – The Berlin Farmers' Market won’t be moving any time soon or at least until the end of December, following a great outcry Monday night from supporters and vendors who opposed the town’s attempt to relocate the market to the edge of town. When the subject was broached at the Town Council meeting, it was met by a huge gathering of farmers market supporters, who lambasted the Chamber of Commerce for, or so they thought, coming up with the idea of moving the market to Stephen Decatur Park and Dr. William Henry Park next to Route 113. The chamber, however, was just the messenger in this affair, having been asked by the mayor and council to take the lead on what officials have determined is a downtown parking problem caused by the market’s presence in the parking lot it operates on, off North Main Street. The market, which has existed in downtown Berlin for 19 years, occupies that lot every Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the offseason, along wit...

OCEAN PINES/BERLIN — Continuing a tradition going as far back as 1995, the Ocean Pines Association Recreation and Parks Department will once again hold its annual Halloween Fall Festival at White Horse Park on Saturday, October 27. From 1-4 p.m., a multitude of free, family friendly activities will be on premise while Doug Rupple, better known as DJ Rupe, provides musical entertainment throughout the day. Among the free activities are carnival games, face painting, arts & crafts and a children's costume contest. Categories are separated into ages of 0-2, 3-5, 6-9 and 10 and older. While there is no specific maximum cut-off age, Eric Armstrong, recreation supervisor of the Recreation and Parks Department, asks for adult costume-wearers to watch the contest from the sidelines. "While we don't have a cut-off age, the contest is for the children," Armstrong said. Prizes will be a giveaway bag filled with candy bars, games, stickers and more. Al...

BISHOPVILLE — A Bishopville woman is mounting a campaign to elicit stronger punishments for dog owners who allow their pets trespass on private properties, after two great danes owned by a neighbor entered her property and killed her dog earlier this month. “The attack just left us with such a loss,” said Carla Canakis, who lost her 6-year-old papillion, Boo, on Oct. 1. “I’m hoping to get the laws changed so people take better care of the animals.” Canakis said that morning, she let Boo out to run in her Cedar Creek Road yard that is protected by an electric fence, as she routinely does every day. A man who was working at a property across the street later stopped by to inform the owner he saw her dog being attacked and dragged away by two dogs that entered her property. “He asked if I had a furry dog. After I replied yes, the man told me he was gone.” “Did he escape out of the fence?” she asked. “No,...

OCEAN PINES – Discussion of two major projects dominated last Wednesday’s town hall meeting, when Ocean Pines Association General Manager Bob Thompson gave residents an opportunity to ask him questions about the future of the community. Thompson began with a report on the two meetings the OPA had with Worcester County officials earlier in the month to approve construction of the new Ocean Pines Yacht Club. The Worcester County Planning Commission denied the OPA's request to begin work on the new facility, citing issues with the number of parking spaces provided for guests. Under the county's code, the proposed design of the Yacht Club parking lot does not meet the required minimum number of parking spaces. One suggested solution was to reduce the 10 feet-wide spaces to 9.6 feet wide so more spaces could fit in the area. Despite the parking issue, Thompson said the county is comfortable with all other components of the project and it meets code standards. He a...

BERLIN –Planning and organizational responsibilities of the town's annual Christmas parade are being handed to Berlin administration this year, who are working in concert with the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and other downtown establishments to stage the event. To be held Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., a press release from Town Hall announced Berlin's involvement with the 42nd annual parade, which signifies that the previous organizer, the Berlin Lions Club, is no longer in charge. "The town of Berlin has assumed control of the parade this year," said Michael Day, economic & community development director of Berlin, when asked to confirm the town's involvement.   When the event began in the 1970s, it was originally managed by Berlin, but the Berlin Lions Club gained control for about 25 years until handing it back over to the town this year.             Rick Holland of Berlin Lion's Club t...