By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
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.
Voting 7-0 at its meeting Thursday night, City Council awarded a nearly $1.5 million construction contact to Charles Marrandino LLC, of Milmay, N.J. Marrandino submitted the lowest bid among seven companies that competed for the contract.
Michael Allegretto, aide to Mayor Jay Gillian, said a preconstruction meeting will be held next week with the contractor. Afterward, the city will announce the schedule for starting and completing the project.
During a community forum held with residents of West 17th Street last November, city representatives said at that time they hoped to begin construction by February or March and have the project substantially completed by Memorial Day.
City Business Administrator George Savastano told Council that the West 17th Street project is part of Ocean City’s broader strategy to protect flood-prone neighborhoods that are “most in need.”
“It’s consistent with our capital plan, and it’s consistent with our overall flood-mitigation master plan that we’ve developed,” he said.
City Council also voted Thursday to advertise for construction bids to rebuild the roads in other flood-prone neighborhoods. They include 13th Street and 14th Street in the Haven Avenue area, 20th Street to 21st Street and Haven Avenue from 26th Street to 28th Street. Flood-mitigation measures for those areas are in the design phase, Savastano said.
Meanwhile, the centerpiece of the project for West 17th Street will be a stormwater pumping station to clear flooding from the neighborhood much faster than waiting for the water to recede by itself back into the bay.
Other parts of the project include road construction, drainage improvements, new pipes and a new outfall pipe to flush floodwater into the bay.
Landscaping improvements are also planned to dress up the neighborhood after so much construction is done.
Residents of West 17th Street who attended the November community forum emphasized at that time that they have been waiting for about 10 years for the city to build flood-mitigation measures to protect their bayfront homes.
Also this year, the New Jersey American Water company is planning a $3 million modernization of its water and sewer system on West 17th Street. The current water and sewer system dates to the 1950s.
Adam Kane, a senior project engineer for New Jersey American Water, said during the community forum that the company plans to begin construction in the spring and should have the work done by the end of 2022.
The city and New Jersey American Water will coordinate their projects to reduce construction disruptions in the neighborhood.
In other business at the Council meeting, Savastano reported that the city is planning to begin construction March 7 on two new public restrooms on the Boardwalk at 10th Street and 11th Street. He said the restrooms should be completed by Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer tourism season.
“We’re going to have bathrooms operational at both street ends by Memorial Day,” he said.
The completion date previously had been uncertain because of setbacks with the project, including the city’s decision to reject an earlier set of construction bids for the bathrooms because they were too high.
At one time, the city was tentatively shooting to have the bathrooms completed by April, so that they would be ready for Easter weekend April 15-17.
In a series of sharp questions directed at Savastano, Councilman Jody Levchuk asked whether building the restrooms in May would cause any disruptions for Boardwalk merchants as they accept deliveries for their stores and prepare for the summer season.
“I have a concern,” Levchuk said, noting that about 25 merchants are located near the proposed bathrooms and might have their operations interrupted by construction work.
Levchuk is co-owner of his family’s Jilly’s stores and amusement arcade on the Boardwalk.
Savastano, though, assured Levchuk and the other Council members that the bathroom project will be done without causing any “stress or disorganization.”
“It’s going to be a good project, and it’s going to be done before the summer season,” Savastano said.
The public will have an opportunity to see the city’s plans for the two restrooms in greater detail during the March 2 Planning Board meeting. The city will make a presentation on the restrooms at the meeting, but will not need the Planning Board’s formal approval for the project.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said the city’s presentation will simply be a “courtesy review” for the Planning Board.
“It can’t be turned down,” McCrosson told Council of the Planning Board’s review of the bathrooms.
Endorsing the idea of a presentation before the Planning Board, Levchuk said it is important for the public to have a chance to see the city’s plans for the restrooms before construction actually begins.
In another matter, Levchuk had some pointed remarks and questions for Savastano and Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato about the city’s plan to explore the possibility of building a public parking garage.
Levchuk, who serves as chairman of Council’s parking and transportation committee, first urged the city in December to consider building a parking garage to help relieve the shortage of parking throughout town during the bustling summer season.
Mayor Gillian’s administration has since received proposals from two nationally known design and engineering companies to analyze the feasibility of building a garage, including where it could be built, how much it would cost and how much revenue it would generate, Donato said.
Donato told Levchuk that the city administration will share more information about the proposals with Council’s parking and transportation committee.
Levchuk, however, questioned why the administration did not let him know earlier about the proposals. He said he originally requested more information about the parking garage plans several weeks ago.
“I don’t understand what the holdup is,” he said to Donato and Savastano.
Savastano responded that the administration was not trying to withhold any information. He said that the city was still in the process of conducting its “due diligence” for the parking garage analysis and is looking forward to meeting with Levchuk’s committee to discuss things in more detail.
