Ocean City Targets Federal Funds for Capital Projects

DWitt

Mayor Jay Gillian, left, and City Business Administrator George Savastano take questions from Council about the capital projects.

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Ocean City hopes to take advantage of the federal government’s massive, $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill to help pay for a series of “shovel ready” capital projects this year, including a new public safety building for the police and fire departments. Mayor Jay Gillian and senior members of his administration stressed the importance of federal funding while unveiling the city’s proposed five-year, $141.2 million capital plan Thursday night during a City Council meeting. Although the capital plan serves as a broad blueprint for road construction, flood-mitigation projects, dredging work and other infrastructure improvements from 2021 to 2025, the city is heavily focused on this year to position itself to obtain federal funding. “With the trillion dollars of infrastructure and all the things we do here in Ocean City and how aggressive we want to be, it makes sense for us to be ready,” Gillian said in remarks to Council. Gillian and other officials in his administration said it will be crucial to have “shovel ready” projects lined up for this year to take advantage of the vast pool of money from the infrastructure bill. “We are going to put an emphasis on items that we can do sooner than later,” Frank Donato, the city’s chief financial officer, said during a presentation on the capital plan. Vince Bekier, the city’s director of Engineering and Operations, has been researching the infrastructure bill to pinpoint millions of dollars in federal funding that could possibly come Ocean City’s way. “Hopefully, we can have some funds flowing back to Ocean City,” said Bekier, who joined with Donato in outlining the capital plan to Council. Bekier emphasized to Council that the city will be “laser-focused on the federal money that becomes available.”

Mayor Jay Gillian, left, and City Business Administrator George Savastano take questions from Council about the capital projects. A copy of the capital plan presentation is available here. The Gillian administration plans to return to Council in two weeks for approval of a bond ordinance representing the local funds for capital projects this year. Gillian said that even if the city, for some reason, did not receive federal infrastructure funds to help pay for the capital plan, it would still be able to finance the projects by itself. “We know we can handle all these things, and it’s the right thing to do. But we always want to try to do it cheaper and more cost-efficient. But if we don’t get any money, we know we can still handle it,” Gillian said. Donato explained that there would only be a slight increase in local taxes to pay the bonding costs of the capital plan if the city did not obtain any federal infrastructure funding or outside grants. Under that scenario, the capital plan would translate into an estimated increase in local taxes of about one-third of a penny to one-half of a penny per year for Ocean City homeowners over the next seven years, he said. For a home assessed at $500,000 that would mean about an extra $25 per year in local taxes – a figure Donato described as “definitely affordable and manageable.” By far, 2021 will be the year for the heaviest spending in the five-year capital plan. Altogether, the plan calls for $78.5 million in proposed projects for 2021. The idea is to have those projects ready to go now to position the city to grab a share of the federal infrastructure funds. “We want to be ready if this money drops,” Gillian said. “If we start talking to our federal senators and our state senators and all of our congressmen, we’re ready to go.”

An architectural rendering depicts the front of the proposed public safety building overlooking Asbury Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets. (Courtesy of City of Ocean City) Topping the list of this year’s projects is the proposed $42 million public safety building. Gillian previously announced plans to combine Ocean City’s police, fire, emergency management and municipal court operations in one complex. The fire department’s existing downtown headquarters at 550 Asbury Avenue would be demolished to make room for the new public safety building. The antiquated police station and municipal court building at Eighth Street and Central Avenue would also be torn down, but the space would be used for more parking in the downtown business district. The police station, a former school, is more than 100 years old. Gillian told Council that the city still needs to complete its cost analysis of the public safety building. He said the city plans to use the construction of the $40 million high school, which opened in 2004, as a model for the public safety building. The high school’s funding included $11 million in outside grants, Gillian noted. Other big-ticket items in the capital plan include road construction and flood-mitigation projects. For 2021, the plan proposes a total of $16 million in paving, drainage and flood-mitigation work throughout town. Projects would include roadwork and drainage improvements on West Avenue between 18th and 26th streets, West Avenue between 26th and 34th streets and Asbury Avenue between 36th and 39th streets. Flood-mitigation projects are slated from Ninth Street to 18th Street on West Avenue to the bay and on West 17th Street – areas that are vulnerable to stormwater. Another major project scheduled for 2021 is the continuation of the city’s multi-year dredging program to remove sediment from shallow lagoons and channels along the back bays. According to the capital plan, $2 million in dredging is scheduled this year for Carnival Bayou, Venetian Bayou, Sunny Harbor and South Harbor.