Police Chief Jay Prettyman and I have posted an invitation to a town hall meeting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 22 at the Ocean City Tabernacle. I encourage everybody to attend to learn more about new recreational marijuana laws and the strict guidelines on how they can be enforced. The chief’s presentation also will outline our plans to address all related issues.
Over 70 local teens and their families participated in a bicycle skills and safety event on Wednesday in the Ocean City Civic Center parking lot at Fifth Street and the Boardwalk. The event was open to Ocean City youth and included a safety presentation from the Community Policing Unit along with a skills competition featuring wheelies and freestyle, with prizes provided by local merchants.
In a random drawing, Jane Heng won a $1,000 SE Monster Ripper 29” bicycle donated by the Tuckahoe Bike Shop. She donated the prize to her older brother, Joseph Heng.
The city team and a group of parents worked together to plan the event and promote safe riding. As a reminder, bicyclists must follow the same rules as motorists, such as riding on the right side of the road, and stopping at stop signs.
The County MUA project on Bay Ave. is finishing up. Street paving will be completed next week.
The three road projects encompassing the north end of the island and Atlantic Ave. between 5th Street and North Street are wrapping up. I want to thank everyone for their patience during these much needed road and drainage upgrades.
Work will be starting next Tuesday, May 18, at the 5th Street tennis courts on the lighting replacement project. The project includes the replacement of both the poles and lighting. The work should take approximately two weeks.
The pre-season seasonal beach tag discount continues for two more weeks. Tags cost $20 until May 31. Starting June 1 the price increases to $25.
All voters in Ocean City's Fourth Ward will now use the same polling place: the American Legion Morvay-Miley-Cruice Post 524 at 4556 West Avenue. Voters in Districts 1 through 5 will use this location to cast ballots in future elections.
The Fourth Ward includes all addresses from the south side of 26th Street through 59th Street (and also the Ocean Reef community off Tennessee Avenue). The next in-person voting is the Primary on June 8.
For the June 8 primary, all of the Third Ward polling places will be held at the Community Center. Voting for Ward 3, District 1 had to be relocated there for this election.
Our paper-shredding event on May 1 was a great success. Residents filled two trucks with approximately 30,000 pounds of paper. That makes 15 tons of material that is now not in a landfill. I want to thank all who participated.
Some of you may have noticed this week that we have a few friends back in town for the season. I’m happy to report that East Coast Falcons started work today in the third season of our gull-abatement program.
Six falcons, four Harris’s hawks and two Eurasian eagle-owls will patrol on weekends through the remainder of the month and begin seven days a week after Memorial Day. These birds have done a great job of making the boardwalk and beach experience safer and much more pleasant without harming the local gull population.
Warm regards,
Mayor Jay A. Gillian
