City Council will vote Thursday on awarding a $44,720 contract to Michael Baker International Company to come up with a plan to address drainage problems in one of Ocean City’s most flood-prone neighborhoods.
At a public meeting March 12 at City Hall, the council will consider a resolution authorizing a professional services contract for an engineering review of the low-elevation area bounded by 26th and 34th streets, West Avenue and Bay Avenue.
Baker is the same firm that met with neighbors, conducted a study and made recommendations for improvements in the nearby Merion Park neighborhood, where a comprehensive drainage project that included pumping stations was recently completed.
The new project area sits in a low-lying corridor that includes Haven and Simpson avenues and routinely floods — not only in storms and tidal events, but in heavy rain and even on sunny days (with tidal waters flowing backwards through the storm drain system). Many property owners there are part of a new group advocating for expedited street flooding remediation throughout Ocean City.
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The proposal from Baker includes field visits, a review of existing conditions, preparation of a report (including estimated costs, design schedules, permitting requirements), presentation of recommendations to the public and project management. (See attached PDF for full detail.)
The project is part of the first year of a five-year capital improvement plan, and the recommendations from Baker would be complete in the spring.
