OC Today-Dispaatch APRIL 26, 2024
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Sign up now for our new, Monday-Friday newsletter. — Page 8
PRICELESS
High, but not mighty Under watchful eye of OC police, marjiuana users tested buzzed driving skills on 4/20
PHOTO COURTESY BRIAN PLIMACK
WEEKEND SIGN-OFF Sunday’s sky from downtown Ocean City was one to remember as Mother Nature showed off her color wheel in dazzling fashion.
Officials go to bat for bar When Saltwater 75 appeared before the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners, it had some unusual support: a city councilman, a state delegate and a state senator. — PAGE 14
“Green Lab” allowed police to see how cannabis-impaired drivers reacted to different circumstances, while giving users the opportunity to see if they are in control as they think they are when they’re high. — PAGE 20
Your Community
CHARLENE SHARPE/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Proposed layout changes for the Saltwater 75 bar and restaurant, previously home to BJ’s on the Water, were reviewed last week in Snow Hill.
KITE FESTIVAL: The Maryland International Kite Exposition will take place on the beach this weekend. Beginning on Friday, the high-flying fesitival will feature three days of kite aerobatics, all sorts of kite designs and configurations and other attractions. Plans are, according to organizers, decidedly up in the air. — Page 38
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OC Today-Dispatch
APRIL 26, 2024
APRIL 26, 2024
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OC Today-Dispatch
OC council talks muncipal airport projects, funding Longer runway, restaurant space, new hangars listed in planned improvements By Bethany Hooper Associate Editor (April 26, 2024) Future projects at the Ocean City airport and the funding needed to achieve them highlighted a recent discussion between elected officials and city staff. As a result of earlier budget discussions, Airport Manager Jaime Giandomenico and Public Works Director Hal Adkins came before the mayor and council earlier this month to present the airport’s master planning document and discuss potential projects in the coming years. Adkins said the phased projects range from a runway extension to new commercial space that could potentially house a restaurant or other non-aeronautical activities. “Some of them deal with taxiway reconstruction, some deal with apron expansion for airplane parking, some deal with aircraft hangar buildings and then – only because it had been brought up in the previous meeting – there is a building shown that is located east of the terminal that was identified in our long-range planning as a potential restaurant or an alternative facility that is not aeronautical based.” During an April 8 meeting with the town’s airport manager, members of the council asked about plans to add hangars and potential restaurant space at the airport. During the master plan presentation, Adkins presented the council with a layout plan that included several aeronautical and non-aeronautical projects in the coming years. “This is what we work on exhaustively with our consultants for land planning at the airport,” he said. Adkins noted the plan calls for additional hangars to be built on the property, as well as a building that could hold a restaurant. He noted, however, that they are not included in the coming year’s budget and would not be eligible for grant funding should the town move forward with such projects. Staff also pointed out the master plan’s inclusion of a master runway extension. While the current runway is slightly more than 4,000 feet, Adkins said the goal is to bring it to 4,400 feet. “The ultimate buildout is for a little over 4,400 feet and would include a 385-foot extension toward [Route] 611 but does not impact 611, and 611 stays where it currently is,” Adkins said. Council President Matt James questioned if the extension would allow for larger aircraft to take off and
land at the airport. Giandomenico said the airport would ideally need 5,000 feet for larger aircraft, but it was constrained by its location. “So 5000 feet, like so many other things, is driven by insurance,” he explained. “That’s the magic number for our critical airplanes which are midsize, super midsize business jets. Anything less than that you have to start sacrificing range and payload. We can’t get there because we are constrained by the ocean and 611.” Adkins reminded the council that the town in prior years had spent roughly $900,000 completing a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) study to move Route 611 westward and expand the runway to 5,000 feet. He noted, however, that the plan did not get the support it needed at the county level. “It resulted in a FONSI, a finding of no significant impact, and an RO, which is a record of decision,” he explained. “Unfortunately, because of other players involved at the county level, the whole thing was scrapped.” When asked if it was a project worth revisiting, Adkins reminded the council that the town would need to include the county commissioners in its discussion. “Your airport is not within your corporate limits,” he said. “Your airport is in the county, and the commissioners become part of the scenario.” With the exception of leased aircraft hangars, officials noted that such aviation-based projects would be eligible for federal and state grants. Adkins noted that the town’s attempts to move Route 611 and expand the runway to 5,000 feet would have been 95% federally funded, with a 2.5% county and municipal match. “The goal then was to try and build a 5,000-foot runway for economical reasons and to benefit tourism, so people can fly in and not fly to Salisbury …,” he said. “But it didn’t happen.” Returning to the topic of the airport hangars, Giandomenico told the council that such projects were expensive and were not eligible for grant money. When asked if the airport was charging the rents it needed to cover the cost of constructing the existing hangars, Adkins said it wasn’t. “I can say no airport I know of across the United States does,” he replied. “But you do get a return on investment from those businesses being based there, buying fuel from you.” While Giandomenico noted that hangars were expensive to construct and maintain, it did bring in additional businesses, which in turn supported fuel sales and other operations. Officials noted there is currently a waiting list for hangar rentals at the airport.
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