Council Roundup: City to Spend Almost $1 Million to Dredge Snug Harbor

Low tide at Snug Harbor on Thursday, Aug. 27, the day City Council approved spending more than $937,000 to make it six feet deeper. City Council on Thursday awarded a $937,900 contract to Wickberg Marine Contracting of Belford, N.J. to dredge Snug Harbor, a lagoon between Eighth and Ninth streets that has no water at low tide. A shelf of mud sits at the mouth of Snug Harbor and along much of Ocean City's bay side. The dredging will clear only a 150-foot-wide path to the channel. The resolution passed unanimously, and Mayor's Assistant Mike Dattilo said work likely will begin mid- to late-September and be complete this fall. An estimated 14,000 cubic yards of material will be removed to make Snug Harbor six feet deeper from the Bay Avenue bulkhead to a 150-square-foot box outside the mouth of the lagoon (leading to the channel). The project area will not include private slips, but owners may be able (at their own expense) to piggyback on the project. The material will be removed mechanically (not pumped with water through a pipeline) and transported by barge across the channel to the nearby disposal site. Because the site has only 8,600 cubic yards of capacity, the contractor will haul material away by truck to the Wildwood landfill to make room to complete the project. The contractor will be required to dig twice to remove material that fills in immediately. Read more: A Costly Quest to Unclog Ocean City Lagoons and Bayside. In other business at the meeting:

• Yoga Studios in the Neighborhood Business Zone: Council unanimously approved (Councilman Mike Allegretto was not present) the first reading of an ordinance that would permit yoga and dance studios in the Neighborhood Business (NB) Zone. The zone includes parts of West Avenue (between Second and Fourth streets), 55th Street and other small pockets on the island. City Solicitor Dottie McCrosson said the idea behind the ordinance is to "spur some development to preserve business districts." The meeting included no discussion of any particular yoga studio applicant interested in the zone. A second reading is scheduled for Sept. 24 after a Planning Board consistency review.
• Parking Fee Changes: Council approved the first reading of changes to the ordinance that governs parking fees. The impetus of the amendments was to create new public parking (about 13 spots) in the lot on Sixth Street at the Ocean City Fire Department. But the city made minor revisions to the entire ordinance at the same time. A complete list of the proposed changes (marked in red) are included in the PDF below. The ordinance will designate 51 parking spaces at the parking lot adjacent to the new skateboard park (on the other side of the Fire Department). Councilman Mike DeVlieger said 20 new spots will be available adjacent to Ocean City Primary School during the summer. Eight other spots are dedicated for the Clothes Closet, and three more will be available to the public (which were formerly reserved for the temporary City Clerk's Office).
• Elimination of Community Operations Department: Without discussion or public comment, City Council passed the second reading of an ordinance restructuring city departments to eliminate the new Department of Community Operations. Councilman Pete Guinosso abstained, and the measure passed 5-0. Read more: Ocean City May Eliminate New Community Operations Department.
• Skate Park Fence: City Council approved spending an extra $15,000 for a nicer fence around the new skateboard park under construction. The new fence would include black aluminum pickets.

For complete text of all agenda items and supporting documentation, see the PDF below. [gview file="https://accessglobal.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/siteimports/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/8-27-2015_Agenda_Packet.pdf"]