Weekly Update

Police Activities

• The YMCA reported the theft of a John Deere Riding mower valued at $1800.00. The key had been left in the mower.
• Phillip Ballard was charged with Second Degree Assault following an incident which occurred at Bel-Art Inc. located on Broad Street.
• Officers responded to Outten Brothers furniture to assist the Worcester County Sheriff's Office with two false alarms.
• The resident of 400 Laurel Street reported the theft of two televisions and a DVD player from her home. No forcible entry. The investigation continues.
• Justine Brown was located in the city and arrested on a warrant from the Worcester County Sheriff's Office.
• Albert Marshall was located in the city and arrested on a warrant from the Worcester County Sheriff's Office.

Public Works

• Crews dug up and repaired a damaged storm water pipe at the intersection of Cedar and Eighth Streets.
• The new street sweeper received an internal coating to protect the holding drum. It will see operation next week.

Golf Course

• Crews have been over seeding with rye grass. They have also been aerating the Tee Boxes and seeding the rough areas of the course.

City Code

• I have been trying to get the City Code posted on-line for easy access. Updates are being done by the City Clerk and the code should be available in the next two weeks.

New Business

• On Thursday, Nuevo Leon, our newest Mexican restaurant, opened for business on Newtowne Blvd. (next to Dominos Pizza).

Planning and Zoning Commission

The Commission will meet on Tuesday, October 23rd. The agenda will be as follows:

• Review of the recreational area for Fairground Meadows;
• Consideration of an annexation request from Mr. Kenny Lankford at 1519 Ocean Hwy.;
• Discuss density issues for Drawbridge Villas;
• Review of Cypress Center Business Park plans located on Ocean Hwy. being presented by Mr. Harold Scriminger.

Downtown Business

• The Downtown Loan Committee will meet at 3pm on Wednesday the 24th to review new loans for downtown facade improvements.

New Street Sweeper Cranks Up

City ManagerBlake is always trying to buy "used" in order to save the city money...but his latest idea for using this 1940's era street sweeper was just too much for the council to handle (just kidding).

Our new sweeper is coming on line today. You will probably see our Public Works personnel driving through your neighborhood in the very near future!

EMS Director Resigns

Sadly, I have to report that our Director of Emergency Services, Barrie Contee, has tendered his resgination effective in thirty days. Director Barrie Contee has only been with the city since June of this year. He cited personal reasons for the departure. Based upon convesations with Director Contee, his attempt to live in Pocomoke City during the week and commute home on the weekends to the western shore was taking a toll on him and had a direct impact on his decision.

Director Contee is a career long paramedic who served as a director of paramedic services for Prince George County as a Batallion Chief prior to his retirement last year.

The search will begin immediately to hire a new Director of EMS.

A New Home For The Police Department?

As progress moves forward with the new Fire Station (and what a great building!), the city has begun to turn attention to the building that has housed the Fire Company for many years. Structurely, the building is sound and a rennovation project is more than feasible.

At the same time, the city is interested in providing a new location for the Police Department which will serve the needs of the city in the coming decades. Previous Councils and the City Manager have felt the Fire Department building could be designed and rehabilitated to meet the current and future needs of the police department.

The old National Guard Armory building was gifted to the city by the State of Maryland when they relocated the unit that once called Pocomoke City "home". While it was never designed as a police department, it has undergone numerous adaptations over the years to accomodate the ever increasing needs of the police department. It has also served as a home to various civic groups and organizations over the years. The Salvation Army and Save The Youth programs continue to utilize the gym which makes up most of the first floor of the building.

The Armory Building is not very serviceable and is very costly to maintain. So, the question that we face is what to do with two buildings that are old and need to be completely rennovated? We have only a few choices:

• Keep the police department at the current location and rennovate the building;


• Move the police department to the old fire house following a rennovation of that building;


• Find another location for the police department in existing or new construction.

I would prefer a new building, but the city did not plan for this in the past and land may not be available in a location that would make the most sense.

The current location of the department is geographically a poor choice. There is also limited parking and little room for expansion as the building is also accomodating other community uses.

The old fire house is being abandoned for good reason by the Fire Company. A full rennovation of the building would be required. The location is good and parking is superior. Also, the city already owns the building and it may be in our best interest to rehabilitate it to our best use.

Rennovating the current location would probably be the least expensive, but it would continue to limit future growth of the department and the parking situation would remain poor.

Rennovating the old fire house would not cost less than one million dollars, but the results would meet the needs of the city for decades to come and would make good use of a city property.

Aquiring the land for a new build along with the costs of the building would, most likely, exceed one million dollars. The city would also be left with two properties which may be difficult to sell or otherwise utilize.

These are some of the questions and decisions the City Council must make in the near future. While some preliminary work has been performed to garner the appropriate knowledge to make an informed decision, no decision has been made at this time. The city has applied for a Legacy Grant from the State of Maryland to be used in the event we decide to move forward with rehabilitation of an existing building. There is no grant money available for new construction, although low interest loans could be an option.

This issue should be on the November 5th agenda for the Mayor and Council to be discussed.