Abandoned Getty and BP gas stations greet visitors coming over the Ninth Street Bridge into Ocean City. Across the street is a vacant former Exxon Station.
City Council on Thursday will consider an ordinance that would allow the city to take control of abandoned properties that become a nuisance to the community.
Council passed the first reading of the ordinance in a 6-0 vote on April 23, and the second and potentially final reading is scheduled for council's public meeting 7 p.m. May 14 at City Hall.
The proposed ordinance would authorize the mayor to assign an officer to create an abandoned properties list based on a variety of criteria (see full documentation in PDF below). The city would then have the right to take control of properties, borrow money to rehabilitate them, then recover costs through liens on sale of properties.
Read more: Council moves to take control of eyesore gas stations and other nuisance properties.
Other items on Thursday's agenda that might be of interest include:
- Honoring Don and Susan Doll: Council will pass a resolution honoring the Dolls, who were recently honored as recipients of the Ocean City Exchange Club's 50th Book of Golden Deeds Award.
- Racquet Court Facilities: Council will consider a resolution to advertise for bids on improvements to "various racquet court facilities." The agenda packet does not specify which facilities, but a growing group of Pickleball devotees has been lobbying for dedicated courts, and the city has budgeted money to accommodate them.
- 10th Street Bulkhead: City Council will vote on awarding a $254,545 to Walters Marine Construction of Ocean View to replace the bulk on the bayfront at 10th Street and to install a 40-by-40-foot fishing pier (the pier is structured as a $101,840 alternate bid).
- Boardwalk Reconstruction: City Council will vote on awarding another contract to Walters Marine Construction of Ocean View — to rebuild the boardwalk between Plaza Place (just north of Seventh Street) and Eighth Street. Walters underbid the contractor for the first two phases of a multiyear boardwalk reconstruction project, Fred M. Schiavone Construction, and eight other companies with a winning bid of $1,888,347. The project will include adding two more access points for the disabled. (In a separate resolution, Council will vote on approving a change order to Schiavone's most recent contract — the project came in almost $34,000 under budget.)
- Shuffleboard and Basketball Courts: Council will vote to pay the contractor rebuilding the track at Carey Stadium an extra $66,000 to rehabilitate 16 shuffleboard courts at Fifth Street and to overlay and restripe the basketball courts at the Sixth Street Civic Center.
- Dredging Spoils Agreement: The City of Wildwood lowered its price to accept Ocean City's dredge spoils from $14 to $10 per cubic yard. Ocean City had found another site that offered a better deal. Council will vote on a new shared services agreement with Wildwood.
[gview file="https://accessglobal.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/siteimports/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/5-14-2015_Agenda_Packet-2.pdf"]
