OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
AUGUST 19, 2022
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
ARTX
FEST THIS WEEKEND
Old and new elements and activities collide for 2022 event at Northside Park – Page 26
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PHOTO COURTESY DON HARRIS
HEADING TO PORT
A line of boats make their way back to the docks after a day of offshore fishing for the crews aboard them. Many of these vessels carried teams participating in the 49th annual White Marlin Open fishing tournament. The event drew 408 boats with a payout of $8.6 million to the winners. See story on page 67.
Sunfest gets more than new date Merger with OCtoberfest adds more events, along with shift to free concerts By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (Aug. 19, 2022) The new late October date is not the only thing changing for this year’s Sunfest. Over the winter, resort tourism of-
ficials teased some modifications to the longtime end-of-summer festival, which was edged out of the late September date it held for the last nearly five decades by the inaugural Oceans Calling music festival. Now slated for Oct. 20-23, Sunfest is coming in hot this year with changes that include all free concerts, a new setup for vendor tents, and incorporation with OCtoberfest.
“This event started out as an endof-season special event for people to come to just say thanks for a great season. This event still is going to be that,” Special Events Director Frank Miller said of the annual festival during a City Council meeting Monday. Miller and Tom Perlozzo, the city’s director of tourism and business development, presented the details of See SUNFEST’S Page 4
Riddle Farm’s troubled wastewaters Defective part has county taking loads for treatment elsewhere, rebuild ahead By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Aug. 19, 2022) Something stinks at the Riddle Farm Waste-
water Treatment Plant along Grays Corner Road in Berlin, other than the effluent being hauled off premises multiple times per week because of a faulty system. Membranes used in the filtering process at the plant have proven to be faulty, limiting the operations of the plant, and now the Worcester
County Commissioners are poised to spend well over $1 million to redesign and construct a system that works as intended. “This plant just keeps getting better,” County Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said sarcastically at the beginning of a discussion about the See FAULTY Page 3
Council acts fast as B’walk lumber cost normalizes Volatility in market means buying now smartest move By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (Aug. 19, 2022) Thanks to a slight drop in lumber prices, resort officials may be able to launch the second phase of the Boardwalk re-decking project at or under budget. Ocean City officials opened bids Monday from three companies vying to supply lumber to replace the boards from the pier to 15th Street. The first phase of the overall re-decking project, the replacement of the boards from 27th to 15th Street and the inlet to the pier, was finished last fall. The bids opened Monday included pricing for several different types of wood, some more expensive than others. And while two of the compaSee PRICE Page 6