POCOMOKE CITY, Md. -- At a council meeting on Monday night, discussions about resolving a wetlands violation at the Pocomoke City fairgrounds took off. A few months back, the fair committee built a horse arena on a wetlands designated area, violating Maryland's environmental code.
MDE provided WBOC with the following explanation, which waspulled from the department's wetlands inspection report.
The following is a violation of Title 5 of the Maryland Environmental Article:
1. Unauthorized fill within Nontidal Wetlands and associated 25-foot buffer.
In an effort to achieve compliance, the following corrective actions should be taken immediately:
1. Obtain authorization from the Department for all unauthorized impacts to Nontidal Wetlands and
associated 25-foot buffer. Otherwise, submit a Restoration Plan to the Department and restore all
unauthorized impacts to Nontidal Wetland and associated 25-foot buffer per that plan once it is
approved by the Department.
MDE said it is still awaiting a proposal from the city.
Fair committee member Sara Chapman told WBOC that the committee does take responsibility for the current situation. In retrospect, Chapman said they should have gone through the proper channels before building the arena.
However, the committee is now focused on putting this behind them, a mindset city officials said they support.
As for the direction moving forward, the city has two options:
- Return the property to the way it was.
- Let the horse arena stay, and build out the wetlands somewhere else.
Interim City Manager Brandy Matthews said officials are leaning towards option B.
"We're going to review any other city properties to see if they can be mitigated, that is the ultimate goal right now," said Matthews.
It's also Chapman's preferred route.
"What everyone's goal here is, is for the fairgrounds to be utilized more than ithas been in the past," said Chapman.
In the past few months, Chapman said the arena has opened the door for several events. She mentioned a concert that took place less than a month ago that filled the fairground bleachers. Once the music wrapped up, the crowd flocked to nearby businesses.
"I can tell you that my bowling alley was packed, I can tell you that Cypress Roots, which is the brewery downtown, they were packed," said Chapman.
Matthew's could not provide a price tag for either option, telling us it was too early in the process.
There is also no timeline for when the problem will be resolved. Matthew's said the city is not in danger of any MDE fines, but staff want to fix this quickly.
She said progress is being made, and officials are working with city engineers to visit and evaluate several locations that could help rebuild the wetlands.