December 20th, 2016

Good things continue to happen in Crisfield. Here is the latest:

• City Manager Rick Pollitt said the City has “several” new expressions of interest in Carvel Hall. The new due date for a proposal to buy or lease the property is January 27. It will be wonderful to have the property put to good use again! For more details, see: cityofcrisfield-md.gov
• The City Council voted to put up for sale the Charter/bank building at 328 West Main Street  near Jay Tawes’ Laundromat. The announcement says interested parties should submit a sealed bid to the offices of City Hall located at 319 W. Main Street, Crisfield, Maryland 21817, c/o City Manager, Rick Pollitt, on or before 4:00 p.m. Monday, January 9, 2017. The minimum bid is $3000, and the buyer must agree to complete the redevelopment in 18 months. All bids should be clearly marked as “Sealed Bid for 328 W Main Street” and shall be signed by the prospective purchaser.  See: cityofcrisfield-md.gov
• The City is also selling a residential lot at 329 Cove Street at a minimum bid of $2,500.  The lot already has a water and sewer hookup. Again, interested parties should submit a sealed bid to the offices of City Hall located at 319 W. Main Street, Crisfield, Maryland 21817, c/o City Manager, Rick Pollitt, on or before 4:00 p.m. Monday, January 9, 2017. All bids should be clearly marked as “Sealed Bid for 329 Cove Street” and shall be signed by the prospective purchaser.  See: cityofcrisfield-md.gov​

There is no deposit requirement for either property. All Sealed Bids shall be opened at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, January 9, 2017 at the offices of the City, at which time and place the names of the prospective purchasers will be read aloud. The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids.
Notice of acceptance or rejection of any bids shall be announced at the January 11, 2017 meeting of the Mayor and Council. Settlement shall occur within sixty (60) days of the acceptance of the bid.

• The County Commissioners have put the former Captain’s Galley restaurant up for sale, a property for which $149,000+ is owed in back taxes. The deadline for sealed bids is December 27 at 1:00 pm. Adjacent to the Crisfield City Dock, the property is 5371 sq. ft. and includes a boat slip, parking spaces, and waterfront views of the spectacular sunsets Crisfield is known for. There will be an Open House on December 21 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm for interested buyers. There is no reserve, but a deposit of 10% must accompany the bid. For more details, call the Commissioners’ Office at 410-651-0320. The bid and the award will be announced at the January 10 Commissioners’ meeting. This is another prime opportunity for the right person who sees the potential of Crisfield and wants to be part of its rebirth.

• There have been considerable improvements made to the exterior of the Captain’s Galley Condominiums, which are still ongoing. Next door, Captain’s Quarters Condominiums also has completed a number of exterior improvements in 2016. Thousands of dollars have been spent thus far on facelifts on these two properties, which is good for the condo owners and for the surrounding commercial district next to the City Dock, Crisfield’s focal point.

• At last Wednesday’s Council meeting, Rick Pollitt said Salisbury attorney Kirk Widdowson is expected to hold the first of 3 meetings with the Crisfield Ethics Commission the week after Christmas. The City solicitor confirmed that the Ethics Commission will be responding to an “inquiry,” not a “complaint.”

• The new date for the turbine commissioning is January 9. There was “a last minute glitch with a necessary part for the fiber-optic communications box,” according to City Manager Rick Pollitt.

• As most of you know, Crisfield is the birthplace of the world famous Ward Brothers who made decoy carving into an art form. At an auction last month at the Easton Waterfowl Festival, “the top decoy in the sale was a museum quality ‘humpback’ style pintail hen by the Ward Brothers that sold for $201,250, a world auction record for the Ward Brothers.”See http://www.dorchesterbanner.com/leisure/new-world-auction-record-201250-ward-brothers-decoy/  for the full story. The Ward Brothers are truly another major asset that Crisfield can proudly promote as part of our tourism campaign.

• The Crisfield Heritage Foundation is raising funds for a $50,000 renovation to the Ward Brothers workshop on Sackertown Road in Crisfield in order to preserve their heritage and promote these internationally-known hometown carvers as part of Crisfield’s tourism industry. The foundation is also sponsoring a decoy carving class for Road Scholars again in February 2017 entitled, “Carving Like the Masters.”

I love that there are opportunities for buyers of key properties in Crisfield – Carvel Hall, Captain’s Galley, the Charter/bank building – at a time when there are signs of momentum in Crisfield. Watch for more breaking news in early January. Hope is *alive*!