Pocomoke City~ Exciting and Successful !

Wonderful article written in Delmarva Now about Pocomoke City!

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Written by
Elaine Bean
POCOMOKE CITY — The state of the city is “successful and exciting,” according to an end-of-the-year report issued by Pocomoke City manager Russell Blake.

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Highlights of the year in Pocomoke included the opening of a new waterfront restaurant downtown and new headquarters for the police department, and the appointment of a new police chief.

“Pocomoke residents can take pride in the fact that our community continues to improve and provide necessary services, events and activities for all of our residents,” said Mayor Bruce Morrison.

The merchants in town are seeing an upward turn in their businesses and in activity in the town in general.

“(The state of the city) is probably the best it’s been in 20 years, said Marc Scher, long-time owner of Scher’s Bridal Shop in downtown Pocomoke. “We’ve got the restaurant. The Mar-Va Theater — 10 years ago it was falling apart — is thriving with movies and shows, and is very much self-sustaining.
“We’ve got some new businesses in town and more coming. It’s definitely on the upswing.”

Several new businesses opened their doors in Pocomoke in 2012, including Lin’s Asian Restaurant, C.J.’s Country Corner Antiques, A Second Time Around and Aurora Agronomy, as well as a new liquor store and laundromat.

In July, the city celebrated the opening of the Riverside Grill on the banks of the Pocomoke River, next door to the Delmarva Discovery Center. The restaurant was built by the city for $1 million, with 80 percent covered by grants.



The town received Maryland Community Legacy Grants to fund a new DVD projector at the Mar-Va Theater, a new back-up generator at the Discovery Center, and roof and window repairs at the Sturgis One-Room School.

The downtown revitalization grant is “the biggest of all of those,” said Blake, and will be used to encourage continued upgrades to properties in the downtown area. With $50,000 in funds available, the grant is a 50/50 matching, deferred loan program that can be used by property owners to renovate their buildings or by new business owners for start-up costs.

In June, the police department vacated its out-of-date home in the old armory building and relocated into a remodeled commercial building at 1500 Market St. The $1 million project was financed by the USDA, and includes state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for the 16-person force.

Another major change for the police department was the installation of Kelvin Sewell as police chief. A former Baltimore homicide detective and author of the book “Why Do We Kill,” Sewell’s walk-the-beat techniques significantly lowered crime in Pocomoke, with murders decreasing 200 percent and theft and larcenies down 87 percent.

In October, the city celebrated the 75th anniversary of its City Hall building, built in 1937 by the federal government’s Works Progress Administration.

Other major projects completed by the city in 2012 were improvements to Cypress Park equipment and its nature trail system; new stop signs and street repairs; and the annexation of the Pocomoke Animal Hospital and Hertrich Ford businesses. The city also built a new mini-park and gazebo on Market Street.

In 2012, the city made capital improvement purchases of a new ambulance, a new trash collection truck, a mower, a generator and two new police vehicles.


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