Dear Friends,Night in Venice is Saturday, and I hope you all get a chance to enjoy our 65th annual boat parade and the fireworks afterwards. I also want to urge all motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians to use extreme caution on streets and sidewalks that are sure to be crowded. As always, the Ocean City Police Department will be highly visible along the parade route and streets surrounding the area. In addition, police will patrol the lagoons and surrounding streets during the day.In recent years, large groups have congregated in the lagoons on rafts and other floats during the hours leading up to the parade. Residents and visitors in the area have advised police that the groups consist of many under the age of 21 drinking alcohol and trespassing on private property. Parents, guardians and homeowners will be held responsible for allowing underage drinking.Our police department shares the concerns of many that this increasingly popular activity creates an unsafe environment for all involved. Police are advising all residents and guests that there will be increased enforcement in the area during the day to curtail illegal activities, specifically underage drinking and adults with open containers of alcohol.
Police have requested mutual aid from numerous law enforcement agencies in the area. That mutual aid will include numerous Police Marine Unit vessels and additional vehicle, bicycle and foot patrol officers patrolling the sidewalk and streets leading to the lagoons. The administration will continue to compel our waste management contractor to catch up on trash and recycling pickup and to ensure that there are no further delays after the busy Night in Venice weekend. See more information in my mayor’s update from yesterday. I want to let everybody know in advance that Atlantic City Electric plans a load transfer that will lead to a service interruption up to 30 minutes long in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, July 17. The outage will occur sometime between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.If it rains the interruption would be pushed back to the same time the next day (July 18). It will affect homes and businesses in the downtown area between 8th Street and 11th Street, and at the very northern end of the island (see maps of the affected areas).Warm regards, Mayor Jay A. Gillian
