Donald Wittkowski

Ocean City is not giving up its fight against a proposed offshore wind energy farm seeking state permission to run an underground transmission line through town to connect with the land-based power grid, Mayor Jay Gillian told local residents Saturday. “We still have a long way to go with this,” Gillian said during a discussion of the project during a public meeting organized by City Council President Bob Barr for residents of his Fourth Ward district. Barr said he is beginning to sense that the project’s developer, the Danish energy company Orsted, may be growing concerned about the money it will ultimately have to spend to build the wind farm.

For his full-time job, John Walton is a real estate broker in Ocean City. But he also has a part-time gig this time of year as the irrepressible hype-master for one of the zaniest traditions in the beach resort’s summer entertainment lineup. Known as the Business Persons Plunge, the spectacle serves as an unorthodox good luck charm at the start of the Memorial Day weekend to usher in a strong tourism season for the business community. On May 27, Walton will lead a contingent of high-stepping, nattily attired businessmen and women down the beach and straight into the ocean amid the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” played by the Ocean City High School Marching Band.

City Council held off voting on the 2022 municipal budget Thursday night while negotiations continue on a trash collection contract that could impact the proposed $88.8 million spending plan. The decision to postpone a budget vote until the May 26 meeting came after Council went into executive session for an hour and 20 minutes to discuss the trash contract and possible litigation against its waste-hauling company, Gold Medal Environmental.

Mayor Jay Gillian won re-election to a fourth term Tuesday night, defeating challenger Keith Hartzell in a showdown pitting two high-profile, veteran Ocean City politicians. In the race for three City Council at-large seats, incumbents Karen Bergman and Pete Madden won re-election and were joined by their running mate and political newcomer, Tony Polcini.

Ocean City’s waste-hauling company has agreed to “fully honor” its trash and recycling contract while negotiations continue to resolve a financial dispute. Gold Medal Environmental issued a news release April 29 stating that it would cease recycling pickups in Ocean City as of Monday, May 2, because it had been unable to reach an agreement with the city. However, the company resumed recycling pickups Tuesday while both sides continue negotiations, city spokesman Doug Bergen said in a statement.

Todd Chamberlain recalled the times that he’s carried his children through water. Not through a stream or a pond or even in the ocean. It was on his street – Waterway Road. “I’ve waded through the water. I’ve carried my kids through the water when it was too deep to drive through,” said Chamberlain, who has lived on Waterway Road in Ocean City for more than 20 years. But Mayor Jay Gillian and other Ocean City officials assured Chamberlain and other residents of Waterway Road of plans to greatly reduce the flooding in their neighborhood by elevating the road and making a series of drainage improvements.

Ocean City has become embroiled in a contract dispute with its waste-hauling company, but Mayor Jay Gillian assured residents that recycling and trash collection will continue without any disruptions or delays. “There will be no disruption in service. All services will continue on time,” Gillian said in an interview Saturday. Gold Medal Environmental, or GME, has been under contract to provide trash and recycling pickups for Ocean City for the past four years at about $1.5 million annually. With less than a year remaining on a five-year contract, Gold Medal demanded that Ocean City pay an additional $1.4 million for the balance of 2022, the city said in a statement.

Mayor Jay Gillian and challenger Keith Hartzell engaged each other in what was more of a gentlemanly sparring match than a contentious showdown Monday night, but there were sharp differences between them on some key issues facing Ocean City.

Ocean City will introduce new jitney service this summer that will offer two routes serving the Boardwalk and the Asbury Avenue downtown shopping district. Mayor Jay Gillian and officials of his administration announced during a City Council meeting Thursday night that the fare will be $2.

The Ocean City Housing Authority has completed the demolition of 21 tiny homes dating to the 1960s that were once part of its Pecks Beach Village affordable housing complex on Fourth Street. The site will eventually be redeveloped for 60 new units of affordable housing, but the project is still only in the preliminary stages. Construction is not expected to begin until sometime in 2023. In the meantime, the housing authority wants to create an attractive parcel of green space that will blend in with the surrounding neighborhood.