More than 100 property owners gathered at the Ocean City Community Center on Tuesday evening to hear an engineering firm deliver a report on how best to drain water from one of Ocean City’s most flood-prone neighborhoods.
Representatives of Michael Baker International, the same company that designed a road and drainage plan for the low-lying Merion Park neighborhood in Ocean City, made a presentation on its $45,000 study of the area bounded by 26th Street and 34th Street, West Avenue and Bay Avenue.
Residents of the area tell stories of wading through 35-degree water to return home after moving a car to high ground during storms, of watching small waves crash onto the sides of their houses as trucks “barrel-ass” through floodwaters, and of picking up the mess when it all recedes — railroad ties, cigarette butts, garden mulch from six blocks away and all manner of unidentifiable muck.
The engineering firm outlined potential fixes that could cost more than $12.5 million. But Mayor Jay Gillian promised to take action immediately on portions of the project, and he confirmed a commitment to doing what it takes to complete the job.
In a session open to comments and inquiries, the public had many questions about specific aspects of the study and specific areas, but they seemed generally satisfied with the thoroughness of the presentation and with the idea that work is moving forward.
“On behalf of the O.C. Flooding Committee, we’re very pleased that this is finally coming to be,” said Suzanne Hornick, leader of a citizen group advocating for flooding remediation island-wide.
THE STUDY
The firm said it studied the entire drainage system from beach dunes to bay, including many blocks outside the project area.
It essentially followed the path of rain and floodwaters into and out of the project area.
The study area amounted to about 250 acres, much of it impervious ground.
THE PROBLEMS
Many of the outfall pipes that drain the project area are under water — and not just at high tide, the firm reported.
When check valves that prevent tidal water from flowing backwards through the drain system are working, rainwater cannot escape.
Many of the 40- to 50-year-old storm drains and pipes are filled and blocked by silt. Other pipes don’t have bottoms, and soil fills in and blocks them.
Certain areas are in need of drains. And roads are not always graded properly to assure drainage flow.
Because the area is lower than the beachfront blocks and Bay Avenue, “it’s kind of like a bathtub,” said Craig Wenger, a deputy project manager for Baker.
THE SOLUTIONS
- Mechanical: The city can install pumping stations near the bayfront outfall pipes to help water drain faster.
- Infrastructure: The city can replace pipes and drains. It can reroute drainage in a more efficient way. And it can slightly elevate and regrade roads to optimize water flow. A complete project would need 32,000 feet of pipe, 314 drainage structures, 110 additional routing points and 73,000 feet of overflow paths.
- Green Solutions: The city has had some success with drainage wells on the higher beachfront stretches of Wesley Avenue. The “infiltration technology” allows water to drain into the sand beneath the roadway. Even though the area is not part of the project zone, it could prevent some water from flowing that way. Individual residents could help by using rain barrels and creating rain gardens.
COSTS
Three recommended pumping stations would cost an estimated $2,250,000. Roadway and drainage network improvement could cost as much as another $9,755,000. Other improvements could add $520,000.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Gillian said that in the past drainage projects always stopped when the high cost estimates came in.
“I’m telling you, those days are over,” he said. “We’re going to do something. I want to see some action just like you guys do.”
“Throughout the final design process, residents will be engaged to develop the final design elements of the project,” the Baker representatives assured the meeting attendees.
The city has already appropriated funding for some improvements to the area and will spend $7.9 million on road and drainage projects island-wide in 2015.
City Council would have to OK appropriations for individual elements of the Baker plan.
“Our ratables are going back up,” Gillian said of Ocean City’s increasing tax base. “I promise you we’re going to use those ratables for infrastructure.”
SEE THE COMPLETE PRESENTATION
26th Street to 34th Street, West Avenue to Bay Avenue, Flood Mitigation Study
