Mayor Jay Gillian: Info on Post-Storm Cleanup

Dear Friends, I’d like to thank everybody again for their cooperation during the last weekend’s flooding in Ocean City. I’d also like to recognize the hard work of our entire city team, including the Police, Fire and Public Works departments before, during and after the storm. Their dedication helped to keep everybody in town safe and to get the town back up and running quickly. The weekend forecast calls for sunny weather, and if you’ll be out cleaning up, please take any storm debris and bulk trash to the curb for pickup. The city has added trucks for additional pickups to assist everybody. For more information, visit our post-storm cleanup page. Property owners can get information on flood-relief assistance at a special workshop in Sea Isle City on Thursday (Feb. 4). Representatives of various state agencies will answer questions about what help is available. The workshop is from 11:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Thursday at the Sea Isle City Library at 4800 Central Avenue. If you have any questions about any aspect of the cleanup, don’t hesitate to call the city at 609-399-6111 and we’ll direct your call to get you the information you need. On Monday, our engineering consultant made a presentation at a Town Hall Meeting about the immense scope and potential cost of dredging our lagoons and bays. The current system of hauling dredged material away by truck is not sustainable over the long term. On Thursday, City Council approved the hiring of Tonio Burgos and Associates to help lobby state and federal regulators for relief on the many obstacles to creating an ongoing dredging program. The action is part of our efforts to explore every avenue to get the job done in a way that is responsible to taxpayers. Dredging is just one part of my ongoing commitment to maintaining every part of Ocean City from roads to beach to bay. Thank you in advance for your patience as we work to complete these many improvements. I’d like to remind everybody that all of our plans and presentations are available on our capital projects page. Please check back with this resource as we continue our work throughout the year. Warm regards, Jay A. Gillian Mayor