OCEAN CITY, Md. - Ocean City town leaders voted Monday night to move forward with a contract for this year's Fourth of July fireworks. Though the resort town has not yet made a decision on whether the annual event is still a go, some say they have their reservations about the idea.
According to town officials, the contract for the two firework shows includes contingency dates, like Labor Day weekend or New Year's Eve, if the town decides to not to have the fireworks on the Fourth of July.
"Safety is going to be the number one priority and obviously, when people come to Ocean City, it's a safe place for them but they really look forward to a lot of these signature events and the Fourth of July is certainly one of those," Jessica Waters, OC's communication manager, says. "So we hope to be able to celebrate on Independence Day like we do traditionally, but moving forward with the contract allowed us to guarantee that sometime in 2020 we'll be able to celebrate not only the independence of our nation, but hopefully the end of this health crisis."
Councilman Dennis Dare says he was the only council member to vote against signing a contract right now. Part of that, Dare says, stems from budget concerns. Voting to sign the contract means putting down a more than $13,000 deposit on the fireworks displays. Dare says he worries about extra spending during a time of uncertainty for the resort town. The other part of his decision stems from safety concerns.
"As we witnessed this past weekend on the boardwalk, many people weren't supportive of physical distancing or of wearing masks while on the boardwalk so it would be naive for us to think that tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people would physically distance during this day of fireworks on the Fourth of July," Dare says.
He adds that enforcing social distancing would also be difficult. Dare worries OC would become a hot spot for COVID-19 cases.
"We don't know what the future holds. We're on the beginning of hopefully returning to normal and if we're irresponsible and encourage gatherings and have a resurgence of COVID-19, that could ruin the entire season for Ocean City and frankly the state of Maryland and others."
We asked viewers their thoughts on still having fireworks on July 4th. Many were split. While some tell WBOC it should be canceled, like so many other towns across the East Coast have done. Others say they want the show to go on, claiming that people can stay home if they don't feel comfortable.
Waters says town leaders are working closely alongside the Governor's road to recovery plan and keeping a close eye on the pandemic as it evolves.
"One way or another, although it might not be in July, we're going to celebrate independence day in Ocean City," Waters says.
Again, town leaders have not yet made a decision about whether the July 4th fireworks displays are a go. They say they'll make a decision as the holiday nears. The debate regarding fireworks started because of the timeline for contract. Dare says it needed to be addressed and signed now so that the contractor has time to order the equipment and the proper permits have time to be processed.
