Donald Wittkowski

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.”

Groups of rowdy teenagers turned parts of the Jersey Shore last summer into their own personal playground for bad behavior. Outbursts of foul language, underage drinking, vandalism and theft by juveniles disrupted shore towns during the bustling summer tourism season – and in some cases, police were virtually powerless to stop it. Hoping to avoid a replay of last summer, Cape May County representatives and state lawmakers are considering a series of preemptive measures ranging from new local ordinances to new state legislation to curb unruly behavior.

City Council met behind closed doors Thursday night to discuss the controversial proposed offshore wind energy farm, just one week after the project’s developer filed for state approval to run an underground transmission line through Ocean City.

It appears that Ocean City’s chief financial officer will be temporarily helping out in Sea Isle City after all. Sea Isle’s City Council is expected to approve a resolution at its meeting Tuesday formally appointing Frank Donato as the interim CFO until March 7. The move comes less than two weeks after Ocean City’s Council rejected a proposed shared services agreement with Sea Isle that would have allowed Donato to serve as Sea Isle’s interim CFO, in addition to performing his duties in Ocean City.

Twenty-eight years ago, Eric W. Jones showed up at the Somers Point Fire Department Company 1 headquarters and asked how he could become a volunteer firefighter. Fire Chief Michael Sweeney recalled that Jones was soft-spoken and a bit shy at that time. Sweeney also remembered that Jones quietly confided something about himself – he had only one leg. Jones, who grew up in Ocean City, had his right leg amputated as a boy when he had cancer, but he was still determined to become a firefighter. And he did, overcoming a disability that likely would have prevented virtually anyone else from becoming a firefighter, friends and family members noted. Family members, friends, loved ones and firefighters throughout South Jersey spoke of Eric Jones’ perseverance, courage and heroism during the funeral service Saturday for a man affectionately known as “Jonesey.”

The Cape May County agency that operates the Corsons Inlet Bridge has received all of the permits that are needed to move ahead with the rehabilitation of the 75-year-old structure. Also planned is a patching job to fill in the potholes that have pockmarked the bridge’s concrete decking.

Ocean City is unwilling to share its “rock star” chief financial officer with another town – even on a temporary basis. City Council on Thursday night shot down a proposed shared services agreement that would have allowed Ocean City CFO Frank Donato to temporarily help out Sea Isle City with its finances following the retirement of Sea Isle’s CFO Paula Doll.

Mayor Jay Gillian touted his accomplishments ranging from Ocean City’s recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy to the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic while launching his re-election bid Sunday for a fourth term. In what is a major theme of his campaign leading up to the May 10 municipal election, he focused on the city’s extensive infrastructure program to improve the beaches, Boardwalk, roads and drainage systems during his 11 years in office.

The Cape May County Bridge Commission, emphasizing the need for more revenue to maintain its network of aging bridges, approved a three-stage toll increase Thursday that will double the fare from what motorists pay now. Tolls will increase by 50 cents in 2022, 50 cents in 2023 and 50 cents in 2024. The current toll of $1.50 for cars will double to $3 once the increase is fully implemented by 2024.

Hoping to protect traffic from floodwaters seeping out of the marshlands, Cape May County has plans to elevate a vital roadway that links Ocean City and the Marmora section of Upper Township. Bob Church, the county engineer, said the project for the Roosevelt Boulevard-34th Street corridor is currently in the conceptual phase.