AUGUST 24, 2023
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BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
Charges dismissed, state files for appeal Judge says district court, not circuit, has jurisdiction in Mailloux hit-and-run case
HUNTER HINE/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
FIRE SCARE
A two-alarm fire at the Exxon station on Grays Corner Road left an estimated $350,000 in damages on Tuesday. Over 50 firefighters from Berlin Volunteer Fire Company and 13 other fire stations worked for nearly four hours to extinguish the flames. The cause is still under investigation.
New suitor for Heron Park? Another development plan for parcel expected to be offered at end of month By Cindy Hoffman Staff Writer (Aug. 24, 2023) Berlin Councilmember Jay Knerr reported Monday night after the mayor and council meeting that another developer wants to present the town with a mixed used plan and price for the Heron Park properties. During a discussion about the location of a skatepark on Parcel 410 at Heron Park, Knerr observed that another person might be coming in with a proposal and suggested keeping the location of the skatepark “more generic” so changes a second pro-
posal might want to incorporate could be accommodated. “He currently has an architect working on the project which he hopes to present to the mayor and council by the end of the month,” Knerr said. “His plan would incorporate a skatepark. At this time, no details have been shared with the mayor and council regarding this plan.” If it comes about, this proposal would compete with one offered by Palmer Gillis of Coastal Ventures Properties. His plan, Gillis has said, visualizes “a vibrant and lively multi-use commercial building(s) providing a home for a plethora of businesses, events, and community to exist here. Our goal is to create a stronger public use
by providing a new roadway from Old Ocean City Boulevard directly to the entrance of Heron Park. Not only do we want the community to continue the use of the park and lagoons, we want to help foster this use and provide greater amenities for the public.” It goes on to identify some of the potential uses for the land, including a public amphitheater, restaurants and eateries, garden center, multiuse fields, bike racks and offices. The timeline for a decision on the future of Heron Park is limited because of the need to use a $500,000 grant provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help cover the demolition of the old poultry plant buildings still on the property. See DEMOLITION Page 4
By Hunter Hine Staff Writer (Aug. 24, 2023) Dorchester County Circuit Judge Brett W. Wilson granted a motion to dismiss all charges filed against Tyler Mailloux, 23, of Berlin, who was charged as the driver in a hit-and-run that killed 14year-old Ocean Pines resident Gavin Knupp last summer. The judgement came during a hearing at Worcester County Circuit Court in Snow Hill Friday morning on numerous motions filed by the prosecution and defense in the Mailloux case in which the defendant faced 17 charges in connection to leaving the scene of the incident. The accident took place on Grays Corner Road around 10:30 p.m. on July 11, 2022, when Knupp was crossing the road and was struck by a vehicle. He was pronounced dead that night at Atlantic General Hospital. The judge agreed with Mailloux’s attorney, George Psoras Jr., of Rice Murtha & Psoras LLC, in Lutherville, that Worcester County District Court had “exclusive original jurisdiction” over the first eight counts because they were traffic related, meaning prosecutors should have filed the charges in district court first instead of going to circuit court. State’s Attorney Kristin Heiser said in a text after the ruling that the prosecution is disputing the decision in the Appellate Court of Maryland. “We have already filed an appeal See STATE Page 3
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