Donald Wittkowski

City Councilman Tom Rotondi submitted his nominating petitions Monday, joining five other candidates in a crowded field vying for three at-large Council seats in Ocean City’s May 10 municipal election. He was joined by his wife, Stephanie, and their children, Tommy, 8, Celeste, 4, and Joey, 2, while turning in his petitions to City Clerk Melissa Rasner. Rotondi, 43, currently serves as the Second Ward councilman, but will now seek an at-large seat representing the entire city on the governing body. He was elected to his first term on Council in 2020. “I’m proud of the work we, as Council, have been able to do in the less than two years since I have been elected to serve this community. Although the needs of my family have changed, my passion and commitment to this town has not. I am seeking the at-large seat so that I can continue to lead and be able to have the flexibility to meet the housing needs of my growing family,” he said in a statement. He noted that he was joined by his wife and children while turning in his nominating petitions to underscore his commitment as a public service to “putting Ocean City’s families first.” For their petitions, candidates must collect at least 97 valid signatures, a number that reflects the required 1 percent of the city’s 9,654 registered voters...

Supply-chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, rising fuel costs and the growing expense to own a boat are making it more complicated for people who want to get out on the water. But there is an affordable alternative to boat ownership – “boating without owning.” Now entering its fourth season at the shore, Carefree Boat Club of South Jersey gives its members all of the pleasures of being out on the water without the hassles and expense of actually owning a boat. Carefree Boat Club is expanding at the shore this summer by opening up in the Ocean City market at the All Seasons Marina at the base of the 34th Street Bridge on the Marmora side.

Ocean City resident Donna Moore regularly attends City Council meetings as a member of the public, often speaking to the governing body about her concerns for the environment. Touting her credentials as an environmental advocate, Moore now wants to join Council as a new member. She filed her nominating petitions Friday for the May 10 municipal election, when three at-large Council seats will be up for grabs.

It might be a stretch to consider them attractions in their own right, but two new public bathrooms coming to the Ocean City Boardwalk this summer will no doubt be popular places to, ahem, go. During a brief presentation to the planning board on Wednesday night, city representatives unveiled designs for restrooms that will be built at 10th Street and 11th Street in a busy part of the Boardwalk’s retail and amusements area.

Dubbing themselves “The Big 3,” City Council incumbents Karen Bergman and Pete Madden and running mate John “Tony P” Polcini invited the public to a casual get-together Sunday that doubled as a political campaign rally pointing toward the May 10 municipal election.

Ocean City will be adding a chaplain to the police department, a volunteer position to provide comfort and counseling “in times of need.” Voting 7-0 at its meeting Thursday night, City Council approved an ordinance to create the chaplain’s position at the request of Police Chief Jay Prettyman.

Since the early 1900s, a modest building has been a fixture at the corner of Ninth Street and Atlantic Avenue, just one block from the Boardwalk. Spadafora’s Restaurant & Clam Bar has occupied the building for the last 40 years, but the iconic casual seafood place will not be back this summer and the structure itself will soon fade into Ocean City history. Thomas Spadafora, the restaurant owner, has requested that his lease for the city-owned building be terminated, city officials said. The city, in turn, plans to demolish the building to make room for an expansion of the adjacent municipal parking lot on Ninth Street.

West 17th Street is an enclave of upscale bayfront homes accessible by crossing a tiny bridge leading to the neighborhood. The neighborhood, essentially a narrow island jutting out into the back bay, is vulnerable to tidal flooding because of its location and the low-lying topography. In long-awaited action, Ocean City took a major step toward protecting the West 17th Street area from stormwater in the future by selecting a construction company to build a flood-mitigation project.

Motorists using the Cape May County toll bridges should get those extra quarters ready or make sure their E-ZPass accounts are replenished. The Cape May County Bridge Commission is scheduled to begin the first of what will be a series of toll increases over the next three years on March 13.

The person who will fill a new position in the Ocean City Police Department will be given no rank or salary. But they will play a critical role, nonetheless. Ocean City will soon have a police chaplain, a volunteer position to help members of the police department and the public “in times of need.”