SNOW HILL, MD - After nearly two years of troubled waters, the Town of Snow Hill rewarded Henry Wright for the purchase and removal of the Black-Eyed Susan tonight.
The Snow Hill council voted unanimously to award the bid to Wright for $75,000, following some hesitation from Councilwoman Diana Walsh to second the motion to vote on Wright's award.
The three bids the Town received for the paddle boat were made public on the Town’s website. Bay Coastal Contracting, based in Berlin, MD, submitted a bid of $20,000 for the purchase and removal. The company proposed a tugboat to be sent to Snow Hill to remove the Black Eyed Susan from the dock.
A second bid, submitted by Slaughter Creek Marina LLC. of Taylors Island, MD, proposed a purchase and removal price of $24,800. An assessment of the boat’s engines would then be conducted to determine if a tugboat is required.
The final bid was submitted by Henry Wright, who recently purchased the nearby bed and breakfast River House Inn on Market Street in Snow Hill. Wright’s bid comes in at $75,000 for the purchase of the Black Eyed Susan and a proposal to move it to the bulkhead at the River House, on the other side of the drawbridge.
Wright’s proposal also says a new pier is being built at the property on Market Street, and the Black Eyed Susan may have to remain at the city dock for up to 8 months during construction.
All three bids are available to view here in full.
Wright will be given seven days from the award to provide a deposit no less than 5% of the base bid, according to the proposal form.
As WBOC’s Kyle Orens previously reported, now that a bid has been selected, the town will have to create an ordinance that will be revisited in a second hearing with public input after 30 days.
The Town of Snow Hill first purchased the Black Eyed Susan in 2020 to provide scenic river cruises along the Pocomoke River. Various issues with the boat and inspections revealed over $600,000 in needed repairs, an additional cost the Town was not prepared to pay.
In all, the original purchase price of the Black Eyed Susan was $400,000, which was provided in full through a loan from Worcester County. The County expects Snow Hill to pay at least $300,000 of that back.
