When reached after the council meeting, Hal Adkins, Public Works director, said during the summer of 2006 there were about 10 complaints. He declined to cite the taxi drivers or their companies.

"I didn't want to unfairly label all taxicabs as being abusers so it's only two of them," he said, explaining that 10 complaints warrants emergency legislation.

"You look at the fact that we have a very focused visitor to the airport, " he said, adding those visitors tend to be pilots and golfers. "Word of mouth travels very fast in those communities so to speak."

Adkins said ultimately the last straw was an incident where two golfers tried to get a taxi to Eagle's Landing to play golf. They were asked by a cabbie to pay $12 a piece to go around the corner, Adkins said, noting their fare should have been $8.24. Adkins said those two golfers decided to walk. The high percentage of golfers that fly into the resort and seek a taxi to travel to their destination was noted by Ayres.

"Right now, fall is a big month for golfers and the first taste they get is an outrageous fare from a taxi; it kind of spoils the trip," he said.

Two taxi drivers were present at the work session. Christy Freeman, of Classic Taxi, said she agreed the ordinance was needed.

"I support the emergency ordinance. I do think it was one of the things we neglected to address in our meter proposal," she said.

The mayor also asked if the city can limit taxis that pick up at the airport to only those licensed by Ocean City. Ayres said he would prefer to try the ordinance first before having to take further action. He did mention the next step if the ordinance is ineffective would be to look into franchising taxis.

"If it doesn't work we'll try shuttle or franchising operations out there," Ayres said.

The emergency ordinance is effective immediately; Adkins said signs should be placed around the airport today.

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