City Council on Thursday will vote on spending $5 million to dredge lagoons and bayside channels that are too shallow for boat traffic.
Council will consider the first reading of a bond ordinance that also authorizes the borrowing of $4.75 million of the $5 million. Council meets 7 p.m. Jan. 22 at City Hall in Ocean City (see full agenda).
The ordinance is part of an effort to relaunch dredging operations that were interrupted by lack of a place to dump the dredge spoils. An approved site near the 34th Street causeway was filled to capacity before an outside contractor could complete a 2012 job between 15th and 34th streets. All dredging has been at a standstill since then.
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For many property owners who pay handsomely for backyard access to bay or lagoon, the shallow waters often are impassable to boat traffic in the hours near low tide. Mayor Jay Gillian’s administration has committed funding to dredging operations but has been stymied by regulations governing where dredged material can be deposited.
The bond ordinance authorizes the “preparation and emptying of one or more confined disposal facility sites” in addition to “permitting, engineering and dredging of lagoons and bayfront areas.”
The ordinance includes not detail on times or places for dredging. The permitting window opens on July 1.
City Council in December approved a shared services agreement that would allow Ocean City to truck material from an existing spoils site to Wildwood to help cap a landfill. Ocean City would have to pay to truck the material, then pay Wildwood $14 a cubic yard to accept the material.
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Some other items of interest on the agenda include:
- Honoring an Eagle Scout: City Council will recognize the achievement of Bradari Philip Altman of Ocean City’s Troop 32.
- Changes to Hospitality Zone: City Council will consider the first reading of an amended ordinance that makes minor changes to the sections related to one-family and two-family residences. (See agenda packet below for full text and documentation.)
- Ice-Cream Vendors: City Council will consider an ordinance that would: reduce the number of bicycle-cart licenses from 20 to 12; allow one vendor to bid on all 12 licenses; change hours of operation to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; raise minimum bids from truck vendors from $1,500 to $2,000; and prohibit more than one vendor from selling at the same street end at the same time.
- No Jumping From Bridges: Council will consider creating an ordinance making it unlawful to jump from any bridge within the city limits (a tool Ocean City police currently do not have). Another amendment would allow police to claim as abandoned any bicycle left unmoved on public property for more than 7 days.
- Resurface Track at Carey Stadium: Council will vote to approve a $577,350 contract with All Surface Asphalt Paving of Point Pleasant to improve drainage and resurface the track at Carey Field adjacent to Ocean City High School. A plan to install an artificial turf field has been temporarily abandoned.
- Newest Road Improvements: City Council will vote to seek bids on another phase of road improvements, including: 10th Street (from Bay Avenue to the bay), Palen Avenue (from 10th Street to the little feeder road next to the Ninth Street Bridge); West Inlet Road (from Battersea to Crescent); East Inlet Road (from Gardens Parkway to East Atlantic Blvd.); West Atlantic Boulevard (from West Inlet Road to Gardens Parkway); Bridge Boulevard (from West Atlantic to Gardens Parkway); Crescent Road (from West Inlet Road to Gardens Parkway); Landing Road (from Crescent to the bay); West Surf Road (from West Inlet to Wesley Road); and East Surf Road (from Wesley Road to E. Atlantic Blvd.). Read more: New Pavement and New Routes on the North End.
See full documentation on all agenda items in the PDF below.
