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Thursday, January 09, 2020

Officials Explain Why Sunfest Pushed Back To October

OCEAN CITY — One of the most significant changes from the closed session meetings addressing an unsanctioned motorized event is moving the signature Sunfest event to the first weekend in October this fall.

Following a spirited Mayor and Council meeting after another troublesome unsanctioned motorized special event last September, resort officials promised everything was on the table in terms of possible solutions to the reckless activity and embarked on a series of closed session meetings throughout much of the fall and early winter to explore remedies.

In the months since the unsanctioned H2O International (H2Oi) event wreaked havoc in Ocean City again, law enforcement officials and the Mayor and Council have been working in earnest, albeit behind closed doors, to explore and any all alternatives to curtail some of the behavior associated with the event.

For the record, the official H2Oi event, featuring tricked-out Volkswagens and Audis, for example, has been held for the last few years in Atlantic City. However, in the years since the official event moved from its venue in northern Worcester County to Atlantic City, hundreds of enthusiasts continue to show up in Ocean City during the last weekend in September and the outcome has not changed, but rather has gotten worse.

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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

OC bud drivers APPRECIATE the extra work.Keep it coming!

Anonymous said...

Temporary speed bumps on Baltimore, Philadelphia, St Louis Ave, and Coastal Highway. They either won't attempt or get stuck. Win/win.

Anonymous said...

"One of the most significant changes from the closed session meetings addressing an unsanctioned motorized event..."

Was this closed meeting legal?? Doesn't sound like it.

Anonymous said...

so they spent all winter in a closed door session and all they came up with was to allow an illegal function to continue while they moved the date of a legal function so that it doesn`t coincide with an illegal function? really? is that the best they could do? lol. so basically a bunch of illegal thugs TOLD the town of O.C. when they could have their sunfest? wow, that feels like the tax payers are being fucked by paying taxes to pay the salaries of the town clowns who decided that they are going to let the thugs dictate what the taxpayers have to endure and pay for??

Anonymous said...

Moving a sanctioned event (Sunfest) due to an unsanctioned one (H2Oi) ? That's stupid.
So now the H2Oi people could decide to change dates again and leave Ocean City with nothing going on that weekend and they would lose boatloads of money.

Anonymous said...

Spoiler - the h20 people will probably reschedule too

Frankie said...

I predict the following:

1. By moving the Sunfest event, the inlet parking lot is now freed up and can be contained. This will allow for an impound lot for violations of current motor vehicle law.

2. Mobilization of resources - one of the main issues during this event is the display that is put on by event attendees, both in the cars and on the sidewalk. I would imagine that this will be taken away, and could see two of the three lanes closed. This allows one lane for emergency vehicles, one for law enforcement, and one for traffic. I would expect that the travel lanes would be closest to the median and would be partially obstructed from view by the LE presence.

3. I don't expect the speed limit to be changed as I have yet to hear anything out of Annapolis regarding any legislation changes. I would anticipate mobile speed bumps throughout areas that have been trouble spots.

4. I expect LE and allied agencies to have a much better grip on the situation.


In short, I think the town officials have finally come to their senses and are ready to tackle this. They have talked tough and really done nothing, as I am sure there was a fear of reducing the all important revenue to the town. I would anticipate that this will be a very different weekend event, with plenty of warning. I would also expect complete gridlock in ocean city on purpose. By simply taking the crowd out of it, keeping it at gridlock, and impounding vehicles in violation, it will just be a zero fun event. I would anticipate that if the above thoughts take place, it will be a 'Nothingburger". It really requires no additional legislation, and pretty much makes it impossible for the H2oi folks to show off and have 'fun'.


We'll see

Frankie

Steve said...

The extra tall speed bump idea is GENIUS! No need to move any dates around! Those little low riders will be running aground on those bumps while Sunfesters have a good time. And the h20i kids won't be back!

Anonymous said...

They're coming baaaaaack, just like I said. Like it or not. OC can't ban the humans they don't like from the city. It is stupid for those who think they can. And guess what? They can't call out the national guard to keep them out either. Hahahahahaha!