Mayor's Message: June 21

Dear Friends, I have received many inquiries about the rental service at Ninth Street Beach setting up beach chairs and umbrellas before they are rented. I want you all to know that I have reached out to the owners to set up a meeting. I hope to reach a compromise that protects the rights of both the public and the private owner. Preserving public access to the beach is absolutely essential to every resident, guest and business in town. Our Public Works team has added handicapped-accessible mats with sitting areas to beaches at Surf Road and 59th Street, and I’ve asked them to add 14th Street. The extended mats were placed at 34th Street a few weeks ago. These mats create a hard surface on the beach that allows wheelchairs and those with limited mobility to travel across the soft sand and enjoy the beach. New handicapped-accessible mats with sitting areas have been added to the beaches at Surf Road and 59th Street. (Photos courtesy of City of Ocean City) This program is new and experimental. We will study issues related to effectiveness, usage, maintenance, and protecting the equipment from storms as we continue to work on making Ocean City more accessible to all. I want to let you all know about an innovative new program from the Ocean City Intermediate School. With the help of shop and STEM teacher Stu Lichtenstein, students have constructed food donation boxes where renters and guests can drop off leftover non-perishable foods before they return home from vacation. The donation boxes will sit outside the Ocean City Intermediate School at 1801 Bay Avenue. All collected food will be donated local and regional food banks. Building Supervisor Todd Lauer returned from a recent vacation with the idea to turn leftovers into a positive. I hope you all will spread the word about the new boxes and help feed the hungry. Food donation boxes will sit outside the Ocean City Intermediate School at 1801 Bay Avenue. Once again, I remind you not to place your recyclables in plastic bags. To save your taxpayer dollars and to help save the environment, please place cans, bottles and other recyclables directly into your recycling container. An excess of plastic bags in our single stream recycling flow causes entire truckloads to be rejected – with all the material then ending up in a landfill at a cost to taxpayers. It looks like we have another great weather forecast for the weekend. I hope you get a chance to check out the new Bayside Family Day. The event is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday in the bayside park at Second Street and Bay Avenue. The lineup will include free kayak and stand-up paddleboard demonstrations, mini Pirate Voyages and mini back-bay cruises for small fees, fishing and crabbing demonstrations with rods for kids to use and a knot-tying station, Ocean City Sailing Foundation displays and information, U.S. Coast Guard demonstrations, food vendors, music and more. Warm regards, Mayor Jay A. Gillian