Ocean City Live Cam

Celebrate this special weekend with the Easter Bunny. Complimentary photos of your children will be taken. Have Easter Brunch in our beautiful Palmetto Ballroom featuring a salad bar, fresh fruit and cheese, omelettes, waffles, choice of entrees, carving station, desserts and an Easter Basket loaded with goodies. Special weekend package rates available. Don't delay making your Easter reservation.

We will treat Mom royally, greeting her with a fresh flower and a glass of champagne. With the ambience of a Royale suite, she'll know she's someone special. E-mail or call about "Mothers" special rate on her day.

The Princess Royale is the only place to be this weekend. From Friday through Monday there are activities for the entire family and live entertainment nightly. Enjoy our breakfast buffets and our famous Prime Rib Buffet. It's a "must reserve" weekend.

Start your summer off with a bang! Every day will be packed with fun and excitement. Watch the colorful fireworks from our rooftop lounge. Enjoy beach parties, buffets and live entertainment daily.

Celebrate summer's end at Ocean City's finest resort. Friday through Monday, every day will be packed with fun and excitement. Starting with a complimentary drink upon arrival, there's an abundance of activities. There will be buffets, beach parties and live entertainment with games and prizes for everyone. Reserve early!

Ring in the New Year royally and choose from a wide variety of fabulous party packages.

Whether your next meeting is a small intimate get-together or a major convention, Ocean City is where you want to be. With 30,000 square feet of meeting, exhibition and banquet facilities for groups of up to 700 people, the Princess Royale is the obvious choice.

Your next function could be a breakfast on the sundeck as the sun rises over the ocean, a lavishly appointed dinner in our ballroom or a poolside banquet in our magnificent Atrium overlooking the ocean. Just imagine an intimate gathering at Cafe on the Green where you can watch the waves breaking on our white sandy beach. Visualize a romantic wedding in our enclosed four-story glass Atrium. Our Master Chef can create a culinary masterpiece for any function, to please any palate.

The Princess Royale's staff is trained and dedicated to cater to each guest's needs with impeccable service. Hotel facilities include: 30,000 square feet of meeting, exhibition and banquet facilities, holding groups of up to 700 people; Five Palmetto Rooms on the lobby level. These combine forming a ballroom accommodating 400; Five Caribe level ballrooms combine to accommodate 400 guests; Our exhibit hall has over 8000 square feet to host your next show; Our four-story glass atrium seats up to 600 guests overlooking the ocean.

Water and Sewer Rates

The Mayor and City Council of Ocean City authorized a rate study for the water and wastewater utilities. The study addressed policy issues, capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, usage, and to identify rate design alternatives. The study was performed by the Municipal and Financial Services Group, an affiliate of Reznick Fedder & Silverman, and by O'Brien & Gere Engineers, Inc. The first public hearing about the rates and the systems was held.

A preliminary report was issued to the Mayor and Council which recommended increases in rates over five years and a substantial change in the allocation methodology for fixed costs. The Mayor and Council reviewed the proposals at several work sessions and evaluated suggested options to minimize the rate increases. A second public hearing was held and the rate change ordinance was passed on March 18, 1996, with an effective date of April 1, 1996.

The new method for charging for water availability and use was reflected in bills. The quarterly minimum rate for water is based on the number of fixtures in each home, condominium unit, or business at $2.05 per equivalent fixture. This is billed to the home or unit owner and is coded WF for water flat rate on the bill. Water usage is charged from the first gallon metered at a rate of $1.80 per 1,000 gallons and is coded WA for water service on the bill. Unless they have common area fixtures, condominium associations are billed for usage only based on the number of gallons metered. Individual units are billed for fixture charges (WF) on the same postcard bill they receive for wastewater service (WW). Vacant lots are charged a water availability fee of $22.55 per quarter.

The wastewater (sewer) service billing has two changes. The previous charge of $0.80 per front foot has been eliminated. The charge for wastewater treatment and discharge availability and service which is coded WW on the bill is a flat rate of $4.80 per equivalent fixture per quarter for each home, unit, or business property. Vacant lots are charged a wastewater service availability fee of $17.25 per quarter.

The rates have been designed to fairly allocate costs between all utility users and to provide enough revenue to pay for both the capital costs of the plants and equipment and the operating costs of labor, electricity, maintenance and chemicals for treatment. Both the water and wastewater departments are funded only by user charges as property taxes are not used to fund these services.

Ocean City operates three water treatment plants with a maximum daily capacity of 17.7 million gallons and maintains over 125 miles of water lines throughout the city. The wastewater system with the treatment plant at 64th Street is rated by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to treat 14 million gallons per day. All water and wastewater treatment processes are strictly monitored by Class 4 and Class 5-SA certified operators to meet MDE and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. Primary sludge is incinerated on site, secondary sludge is land applied and secondary treated effluent is discharged through the ocean outfall approximately one mile off-shore into the Atlantic Ocean. The revenues from the water and wastewater rates enable Ocean City to continue to have sufficient, clean drinking water and to continue to treat its wastewater in a way that maintains the quality of our ocean and bays.

Visitors and residents will see quite a bit of construction activity in Ocean City this year. Several projects are underway or have received approval in the "hotel row" section of Baltimore Avenue. The largest is the reconstruction of the Stowaway Hotel on 21st Street. The old building was razed and a new, modern 250 unit hotel with amenities will take its place. Also under construction along "hotel row" is a 40 unit addition to The Flamingo Motel on 30th Street, and a 35 unit addition to the Quality Inn on 33rd Street. Plans have also been approved for the reconstruction of The Commander Hotel with 103 units and amenities on 14th Street and the Boardwalk. These projects, along with the planned construction of Baltimore Avenue from 15th Street to 33rd Street by the City, should combine to make this popular area even more attractive.

In the southern Downtown and Boardwalk area, Tony's Pizza at North Division Street and the Boardwalk is being reconstructed. Plans have recently been approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission for a 58 unit hotel at 9th Street on the Boardwalk, above the recently redeveloped Alaska Stand and retail shops that were destroyed by fire last year. The Driftwood Motel on 2nd Street and St. Louis Avenue has received approval to build a new 68 unit motel with a restaurant and lounge, and a new retail building is under construction at 2nd Street and Baltimore Avenue. The restaurant known last year as Amazon Bay, on South Division Street at the southern end of Philadelphia Avenue, is being renovated.

Two popular restaurants, the Embers on 23rd Street and the Bonfire on 70th Street, are undergoing expansion to provide more dining and entertainment space. A retail "market" has been approved on 71st Street west of Coastal Highway. On the entertainment and recreation scene, a golf driving range is planned at the westerly end of 67th Street on the bay; an expansion to the Planet Maze indoor/outdoor children's play facility is under construction; and an expansion to the fishing pier at the southern end of Philadelphia Avenue and the Inlet is planned.

Finally, several new townhouse and condominium projects are being built or expanded, primarily on the bayside, to offer prospective residents and investors new residential opportunities. Obviously, private development continues to be strong in Ocean City. New choices in lodging, restaurants, shopping and recreation are available every year, and is no exception.