Ocean City Councilman DeVlieger Stepping Down

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Ocean City Councilman Michael DeVlieger announced Thursday night that he will step down from the governing body in August to focus on his family and professional career. DeVlieger was first elected as the First Ward councilman in 2012 and won re-election in 2016 and 2020 without facing any opposition. For the past two years, he has served as Council’s vice president. Surprising his fellow Council members, he told them that the Aug. 12 meeting will be his last on the seven-member body. “I don’t want to get too sappy. I just want to say it has been a great honor,” DeVlieger said of his time on Council while becoming emotional. Noting his multitude of responsibilities as an elected official, business executive and family man, he said he wanted to avoid being overwhelmed by his workload. He stressed that his family and health are paramount. “I have been running this hard for 30 years. What I’m realizing now is that I want to spend more time with my family and getting back in shape,” he said in an interview after the Council meeting. A summer resident of Ocean City for his entire childhood and early adulthood, the 54-year-old DeVlieger has been a full-time resident for 22 years. His wife, Jennifer, is a kindergarten teacher in Ocean City. They have two children, a son, Flynn, and a daughter, Reagan. DeVlieger has worked in executive search since 1991. For his full-time job, he works as a Talent Acquisition Partner for a major consulting organization. The Council members thanked DeVlieger for his contributions to the city and said they supported his decision to step down. “I’m shocked,” Council President Bob Barr said. “I don’t know what to say. I want to talk you into staying, but that’s not what’s best for you and your family, clearly.” Members of the public also expressed their thanks to DeVlieger for his service as an elected official. They said he would be missed as a Council member. “It’s a huge loss for the city,” said Suzanne Hornick, founder of the Ocean City Flooding Committee, a local group dedicated to protecting the island from flooding. Donna Moore, an Ocean City environmental advocate, told DeVlieger she appreciated his support in her efforts to promote the use of pesticide-free, organic landscaping on the city’s playgrounds, athletic fields and other public grounds. In the interview, DeVlieger said he will miss the interaction he has had with his constituents. “I do get some pleasure from solving problems for people,” he said. His term on Council does not expire until 2024. It will be up to Council to appoint a successor to fill his unexpired term. DeVlieger said he plans to recommend a short list of “solid” candidate recommendations for Council’s consideration. “I would like to think that my opinion weighs some on their vote,” he said of Council’s selection of his successor. During his time on Council, DeVlieger was one of the chief proponents of the city’s skateboard park built in 2015. Lately, he has been Council’s most outspoken opponent of a wind energy farm proposed 15 miles off the coast between Atlantic City and Stone Harbor. He has raised concerns about the wind farm’s possible negative impact on the coastal region's environment, tourism industry and commercial fishing operations. Overflowing dumpsters such as this one in front of a home at 52nd Street are a concern of city officials. In other business Thursday, city officials promised a get-tough policy on construction contractors and others who violate a local ordinance that requires them to cover their dumpsters when not in use. City Business Administrator George Savastano told Council that the city has handed out 90 warnings and summonses in recent weeks for violations. “Believe me, we’re going to get much better compliance by going through this process. We have attacked it,” Savastano said. “It has been successful in the past and we believe it will be successful going forward.” Savastano explained to Council that the city’s policy is to usually give two warnings before a summons is issued. Council, however, suggested that the city should instead hand out summonses without the warnings as a “strong message” that violations will not be tolerated. “If they don’t think we’re enforcing it then they’re not going to adhere to the law or the rule,” Councilwoman Karen Bergman told Savastano. Offenders face fines of up to $100 for dumpster violations. Savastano said that related violations could boost the fines up to $1,250. “We’re seeing improvements already. I think we’ll see much more. There’s going to be monetary fines,” Savastano said of the crackdown on dumpster violations. Under the ordinance, dumpsters must be covered up when they are not in use to prevent construction debris and trash from blowing out and littering the city. Dumpsters also are not allowed to be placed in yellow zones on the local streets to prevent them from becoming a traffic hazard. “What really irks me is when they’re in the yellow, because if one person dies over that stupidity, that’s just wrong,” DeVlieger said. DeVlieger explained that when dumpsters encroach in the yellow zones, they can obscure the view of the road for drivers, creating a traffic hazard. Some of the Council members expressed their support for making the dumpster ordinance even tougher, including increasing the fines for each violation. Councilman Keith Hartzell suggested that the city should maximize the fines to deliver “a strong, strong statement from us that this will no longer continue.” “I want to see you guys come back with something that’s got a ton of teeth in it,” Hartzell told Savastano about having the city administration present a stricter dumpster ordinance to Council for its consideration. In another matter, Council approved an indemnity agreement that is a key part of funding plans to elevate the seven-building Ocean Aire condominium complex above flood levels. The 52-unit condo, located at 43rd Street and West Avenue in the south end of the island, will be lifted up on massive cinder blocks to protect it from chronic flooding that seeps out of the surrounding marshlands and bay. Flooding at the Ocean Aire condos is so bad at times that stormwater literally surges as high as the windows on the first floor, residents have told the city. A $3 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund Ocean Aire’s elevation above flood levels. The city has approved $3 million in bonds as an upfront payment for the project. FEMA, in turn, will reimburse the city. Council went into closed session to discuss the terms of the indemnity agreement. It voted 5-2 to approve the agreement after reconvening in public session. DeVlieger and Councilman Tom Rotondi cast the dissenting votes. Both of them expressed concerns about possible risks to the city’s finances from the project. DeVlieger said Ocean Aire’s condo owners should take out insurance to guarantee they will pay back the city “every penny.” City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson and Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato explained to Council that the indemnity agreement will protect the city’s finances and ensures that the city will have ultimate control over the project. “Controlling the money – in essence, controlling the job,” is how Donato described it. Under the indemnity agreement, the Ocean Aire condo owners would have to pay any interest costs, legal fees or other out-of-pocket expenses above the $3 million FEMA grant, McCrosson said. If there are any cost overruns with the project, the city would apply to FEMA for more funding. Ocean Aire would be responsible for paying the cost overruns if FEMA did not kick in more funding, McCrosson said. The flood-prone Ocean Aire condominiums will be lifted to protect them from stormwater.