The following is Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian’s weekly update to citizens, posted on Friday, March 21.
Dear Friends:
There have been some recent reports in the media about the city’s reconstruction of the housing units at Peck’s Beach Village following Hurricane Sandy, and the Housing Authority’s need to repay the city for the work.
The Housing Authority has the funds from flood insurance and FEMA payments, so it is obviously the administration’s expectation that the city will be repaid the funding that was advanced for the work. We will work with the Authority to resolve any open issues so that repayment can be made. The funds will be placed in our Affordable Housing Trust Fund, so that they are available for future construction or rehabilitation of housing units for low and moderate income residents and senior citizens.
At next week’s City Council meeting, the administration will recommend the award of a $517,000 contract for the replacement of the roofs on the senior housing portion of Peck’s Beach Village, using Community Development Block Grant funds. We were in the process of replacing the roofs on the family units using grant funds when Sandy struck. That work has since been completed.
Earlier this week Ocean City received the New Jersey Tourism Excellence Award for our 2013 marketing campaign: “We’re Ready for Your Stay!” This multi-media marketing campaign was a joint effort of the City, the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Development Commission. The aggressive and professional campaign was particularly essential last year to inform our guests that Ocean City had recovered from Hurricane Sandy. The award was presented at the New Jersey Conference on Tourism in Atlantic City.
I thank and congratulate the Chamber, the Tourism Development Commission and the City team members who were involved. It’s amazing what we accomplish here in Ocean City when we all work together!
Have a great weekend.
Warm regards,
Jay A. Gillian
Mayor
