Ocean City Air Show terms approved

At a work session Tuesday, council members signed off on the proposed terms of a working three-year agreement with the organizers of the Ocean City Air Show after working out some sticking points.

“I think we have a great operator, a great promoter we’ve all worked together, it’s been a big success,” Mayor Rick Meehan said of the show during discussions. “It’s become a signature event and certainly something I think we want to continue.”

Last week, council members viewed and discussed the first draft of the contract terms, which is basically a pre-cursor to the final agreement. The terms map out everything from cost share details, which are new and require $1 of every ticket sold for the show to go to the city, to how the livestream is broadcast.

Last week, Meehan and the council got hung up on language involving the required headliners and the organizer’s co-existence with the designated beach stand franchisees, which were addressed along with some other details in the final draft on Tuesday.

The document states that the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, U.S. Navy Blue Angels, Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, or two or more U.S. Military single ship jet demonstrations are required to perform as the headliner during the annual shows.

In the revision, it was confirmed that the show organizer has agreed to request both the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds each year, as Meehan and several council members pointed out the importance of having the American teams in the shows.

For 2023, Director of Tourism and Business Development Tom Perlozzo said the Thunderbirds are already booked, and that the promoter will know in December whether they can get the Blue Angels for the 2024 show. Perlozzo added that he and his staff will assist with any roadblocks to make that happen. He also pointed out that the U.S. Department of Defense gets final say in the scheduling of both teams.

On the beach franchise agreement, a line requiring the show organizer and franchisee execute a mutually agreeable contract was added.

Concerns were brought up at the meeting last week about the show organizer essentially stepping on the toes of the beach stand operator, which has a contract and basically a monopoly to provide umbrellas and chairs across the resort.

Before the discussion on Tuesday, Pat McLaughlin, a representative of A&P Beach Rentals, shared his concerns as the franchisee. He said he would prefer if when someone plans an event on the beach, that they be required to check with him or his partner, as they essentially have first dibs on the rentals.

“It’s a big deal and we’re paying a lot of money for these contracts and we just want to be considered when it comes to what we do, and that’s rent beach equipment,” he said.

City Solicitor Heather Stansbury said that she took a deeper dive into the franchise agreement and what it states in relation to city events after last week’s meeting. She said she determined that a “gray area” exists that allows event promoters to set up on the beach.

For this year, Stansbury encouraged the air show organizer to work out an agreement with the franchisee. Meehan also went one further and suggested adding a requirement that the show promoter recognize that the beach vendor has sole exclusive rights to lease beach equipment.

Council members agreed with the addition and approved it as part of the terms.

Other minor changes included specifying that the event dates — which right now are June 10 and 11 next year, June 15 and 16 in 2024, and June 14 and 15 in 2025 — could change based on availability of the flying teams. The terms also state that the city’s in-kind contributions do not have a cap but will be tracked. If the amount exceeds what is normally allocated for similar events, there may be a cost to the organizer, along with other details.

Frank Miller, the city’s director of special events, pointed out Tuesday that the air show contract is the first “true agreement” with an event producer that the city has developed. Stansbury explained that staff members opted for a multi-year contract instead of a yearly memorandum of understanding to prevent having to re-negotiate terms annually.

This story appears in the July 1, 2022 print edition of the OC Today.