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Donald Wittkowski

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Homeowners in Bayside Neighborhood Demand Changes in Construction Project

Frustrated homeowners in a bayside Ocean City neighborhood vented their anger over a series of projects that have turned their community into an active construction zone, but were assured by Mayor Jay Gillian that “we’re going to fix it.” Gillian and other Ocean City officials listened to some harsh criticism during an hour-long meeting Saturday morning with about 60 homeowners on West 17th Street, although the tone became more conciliatory by the end.

B.L. England Plant Comes Down in Implosion

It took only seconds for the former B.L. England power plant to come down in a thunderous implosion. Onlookers lined the banks of the Great Egg Harbor Bay on the Somers Point and Upper Township sides to watch the spectacle unfold Friday morning.

State Approves $4 Million in Funding for Ocean City Housing Project

Ocean City’s public housing agency has secured a major piece of funding for a nearly $25 million project that will provide affordable housing for local families. The New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency has approved $4 million in funding for the proposed 60-unit project that will replace the aging Pecks Beach Village housing complex on Fourth Street in the north end of town.

Flood-Control Project to Protect Ocean City’s Merion Park Area

Michael and Marta Bravoco quickly found out just how vulnerable their Merion Park neighborhood is to flooding when they bought their Ocean City home last year. “We moved in last September and we’ve had four flooding incidents that came up to the first steps of our property,” Marta said of the couple’s Victoria Lane home in the heart of Merion Park. Hoping for some relief from the flooding, the Bravocos and about 40 other residents attended a community meeting Saturday organized by Councilman Bob Barr to hear details about a long-awaited drainage project that would protect the bayside Merion Park neighborhood.

Ocean City to Restrict Location of Cellphone Towers, Antennas

Ocean City will control where cellphone towers and antennas are built in the future by restricting them to city property and on utility poles. Voting 7-0, City Council introduced a new zoning ordinance Thursday night that would prohibit wireless towers and antennas from being built on private property. The ordinance is up for a public hearing and final vote at the May 11 Council meeting.

Ocean City Raises Parking Fees

Ocean City’s parking fees will be going up this summer at the meters and the municipal lots. Voting 7-0, City Council approved an ordinance Thursday night to raise parking fees for the first time since 2015.

Proposed 60-Unit Housing Project Advances in Ocean City

Ocean City Housing Authority officials Wednesday unveiled architectural renderings for a proposed 60-unit affordable housing complex that is expected to blend in with the surrounding neighborhoods in the north end of town. The design of the estimated $22 million to $23 million project will feature 15 duplex-style buildings containing four units each for the families living there, according to a presentation made before the Ocean City Planning Board.

Ocean City Homeowners Oppose Plan for Cellphone Antennas

Emotions are running high among Ocean City homeowners in the neighborhood of 33rd Street and 34th Street along Haven and Simpson avenues. They fear that a proposal by Verizon Wireless to install new cellphone antennas on the roof of a commercial building close to their homes will disrupt their neighborhood. The controversy may come to a head when Verizon’s application to install the antennas at 3337-39 Haven Ave. will be considered for approval by Ocean City’s Planning Board at its meeting 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

Dead Whale Found on Ocean City Beach

The badly decomposed remains of a pygmy sperm whale, possibly dead for months, washed ashore Friday on the 49th Street beach in Ocean City. The nearly 9-foot whale was a little more than “a skeleton with some skin on it,” said Sheila Dean, executive director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

Ocean City Parking Fees to Increase in 2023 Municipal Budget

Parking fees would go up this summer as part of Ocean City’s proposed $98.9 million municipal budget unveiled Thursday night at a City Council meeting. In a related development with the budget, about 40 police officers stood in the back of the Council chambers in a show of unity amid their contract negotiations with the city. The officers did not speak during the meeting and quietly filed out of the room after the budget presentation.