Mayor's Message: July 2

Dear Friends, For the eighth straight year, New Jersey residents have picked Ocean City as their “Favorite Beach.” Representatives of the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium announced the winners of their annual contest in a ceremony today at the Music Pier. I’d like to thank all of the residents, businesses, organizations and volunteers who help make Ocean City such a great destination. It's a great honor as we head into the holiday weekend, and I want to wish everybody a happy Fourth of July. I hope you all get to enjoy the celebration with friends and family. There are a lot of great events throughout the weekend, and I encourage you to check out the many great restaurants and shops on the boardwalk, downtown and throughout Ocean City. Sunday’s festivities will be capped off with a fireworks display that will begin at 9 p.m., and I hope you all get a chance to check out the free patriotic Ocean City Pops concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Carey Stadium. If you have never heard the Pops, this is a great chance to see what a wonderful local orchestra we have here in town. Look for updates on all weekend events by downloading the official Ocean City Vacation app (look for the blue OCNJ icon). I want to congratulate Bobby Barr on his re-election as City Council president and Mike DeVlieger as vice president. I also want to let everybody know that the city is moving forward with bathymetric surveys to measure the depth of our bayfront and lagoon waters. This is the first step in our annual maintenance program and determines where we need to dredge in the fall. I’m happy to see our successful dredging program continue to move forward. Before the end of the summer, I will hold a town hall meeting to share information on the entire program. There are already a lot of people in town for the holiday weekend, so I’d like to remind you all to honor the laws that keep everybody safe. Drivers must stop for pedestrians at crosswalks, and just as importantly, I want to remind pedestrians to make eye contact with drivers before walking out into any street. Bicyclists should heed all stop signs and red lights, and follow the same rules as cars. With so many people sharing the streets, these rules are extremely important. Please respect the power of the ocean and swim only at beaches protected by the Ocean City Beach Patrol. The patrol has begun its extended hours program with lifeguard protection at Brighton Place, Eighth Street, Ninth Street, 12th Street and 34th Street from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily for the month of July. For a list of all other guarded beaches, visit www.ocnj.us/ocbp. Warm regards, Mayor Jay A. Gillian