By Donald Wittkowski
City Council introduced an $18.5 million funding package Thursday night to finance a series of dredging projects, road improvements and drainage upgrades that are a major part of Mayor Jay Gillian’s capital plan this year.
A public hearing and final vote on the bond ordinance are scheduled for May 23. Assuming the ordinance is approved, Council will next have to vote on individual projects before the money is actually spent.
“It’s a very public thing that we do,” Councilman Keith Hartzell said, referring to the level of scrutiny each project will receive when it is considered for funding.
The lion’s share of the funding, or $9.7 million, would go toward road, alley, drainage and bulkhead construction throughout town. Another $6.5 million is targeted for dredging projects in the shallow lagoons and back bays.
City officials, along with dredging consultant ACT Engineering, plan to hold a town hall meeting on June 3 at the Ocean City Tabernacle to explain which areas of the bayfront will be dredged this year.
“There are several projects on the radar that will be starting as early as this fall,” Frank Donato, the city’s finance director, said of the dredging program.
The rest of the funding in the bond ordinance would be for an array of smaller projects, including parking improvements, upgrades to the beaches, a dune maintenance program and repairs to City Hall.
The city will also use the money to buy a 100-foot ladder truck for the fire department. Also included in the funding package are communications and IT upgrades citywide, including the fire department, Donato said in a presentation to Council.
In February, Council authorized $12 million in bonds as another major source of funding for the mayor’s capital plan, the largest in city history. Combined with the bond package introduced Thursday night, the city has approved more than $31 million in capital funding this year, Donato noted.
Gillian has placed a heavy emphasis on road construction, drainage upgrades, dredging projects and the Boardwalk’s ongoing rehabilitation to help overhaul parts of the city’s infrastructure that are decades old.
Also Thursday, Council voted to advertise for construction bids for new bulkheads in a number of bayfront neighborhoods. The bids would be opened in July and awarded Aug. 22, according to documents attached to the Council agenda.
In addition to building new bulkheads, the city will also reconstruct the adjacent roads and drainage systems.
Phase I of the project would include:
- Alder Lane bayfront in Merion Park.
- Tennessee Avenue bayfront.
- Caymen Harbor lagoon bulkhead on Tennessee Avenue
Phase II would include:
- 21st Street lagoon on Marcus Harbor.
- Marcus Harbor lagoon bulkhead on Pine Road.
- Tonga Harbor lagoon bulkhead on Pine Road.
Phase III would include:
- 18th Street lagoon bulkhead.
- 18th Street bayfront bulkhead.
- And Second Street Marina bayfront bulkhead repairs.
