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SEPTEMBER 2, 2022
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‘You should have come to us first’ Zoning code amendments offered by planning com. irk City Council members
GREG WEHNER/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Worcester County Public Schools teachers gather in the Performing Arts Center of the convention center on 40th Street in Ocean City on Tuesday morning for a kickoff party filled with inspiring talks from Superintendent Lou Taylor and Happiness Coach Kim Strobel, topped off with a short dance party.
Back to school: so it begins By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Sept. 2, 2022) Nobody ever wants to be the bearer of bad news, so, kids, if you’re reading, it’s time to look away. Parents on the other hand, get ready for next week because you’re about to get that time back into your lives.
A total of 6,851 students will be returning to Worcester County’s 14 public schools on Tuesday, Sept. 6, which will mark the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. Lou Taylor, the superintendent of Worcester County Public Schools, met with all the district teachers at the Performing Arts
Center in the convention center on 40th Street in Ocean City on Tuesday morning, where the district held its annual teacher kick-off party. During his talk, Taylor gave the faculty encouraging words to get through the school year while also See SUMMER’S Page 6
By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (Sept. 2, 2022) Two proposed zoning code amendments to protect the parking supply and commercial development across the resort died a quick, but possibly temporary, death at the hands of Ocean City Council members this week. “I know that the record is pretty thorough in here with the transcript and I know I’ve reviewed it thoroughly, as I suspect everyone else has. Just to streamline this, not a single person showed up in support for either of these code amendments,” Councilman Peter Buas said during a work session Tuesday before moving to reject the proposed amendments brought to them by the Ocean City Planning Commission and planning department staff. The commission and staff spent several weeks refining the proposed changes, which they believe would See ZONING Page 10
Baltimore Ave. makeover project price doubles Timetable for work expands from two to four years, but council will stick with plan By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (Sept. 2, 2022) Long-running plans to bury utility lines along Baltimore Avenue are still on, but both the cost and timeline have doubled since
the project’s inception. At a work session Tuesday, Ocean City Council members learned that the original $20 million price tag to complete all aspects of moving the power, cable and phone lines between 15th and North Division streets underground is now nearly $40 million, and that the two-year timeline has been phased out to four years. And despite one councilman’s ob-
jection to the higher cost, they agreed to give staff members the green light to advance the project. “I said it before and I’ll say it again, I think this is the most important project this town will do in decades,” Councilman Peter Baus said Tuesday before voting to complete the design, approve the revised schedule, and continue obtaining rights-of-way abandonment for the project.
“I trust [City Manager Terry McGean] and the team, they have a strong history of finding grants, and I trust them to make it affordable,” Buas continued. Introduced several years ago, the project aims to bolster the power and communications grid against powerful storms that take down utility poles and power lines, and create a more See ADDITION Page 4