Dear Friends,
I want to encourage you all to attend the mayor’s town hall meeting at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning (Saturday, May 22) at the Ocean City Tabernacle.
I have invited Police Chief Jay Prettyman to make a presentation about the new recreational marijuana laws and the strict guidelines on how they can be enforced. Video of the meeting and a copy of the presentation will be posted at
www.ocnj.us after the event.
With Memorial Day Weekend fast approaching, a number of capital projects are finishing up. We’re getting ready for another busy summer.
We have completed installation of a new flagpole in front of the Music Pier, and the city is working in partnership with our local veterans groups and the water park to continue the daily boardwalk flag-raising ceremony there.
The program will start on Saturday, May 29 and continue daily through Sept. 11.
I’m proud to maintain this patriotic summer tradition, and looking forward to releasing more details in the coming days.
The travel and bike lanes on Bay Avenue from Eighth Street to 31st Street are fully paved, and the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority’s wastewater main repair project is near completion.
In the future, the county will make systematic improvements to upgrade public sidewalk access and resurface the shoulder areas of the county roadway. I want to thank everybody for their patience and understanding during this long but necessary project.
Paving and drainage improvements to neighborhoods on both sides of Gardens Parkway and along Atlantic Avenue from North Street to Fifth Street should be complete by Wednesday. Preparation for improvements to West Avenue from 26th Street to 34th Street have begun, and the project will resume in the fall.
Surfacing and fencing improvements to our Pickleball courts are complete, and the new HVAC system at the Ocean City Music Pier is ready to go. Tickets for a grand reopening concert by the Ocean City Pops will go on sale next Friday (May 28) at
www.ocnj.us/boxoffice.
Because capacity at the Music Pier will be limited, there will be two 45-minute shows at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 11.
Tickets will also be on sale for two “Hollywood Hits” performances by the Pops on July 18.
Effective Monday (May 24), all city buildings will be fully accessible to the public. Wearing masks is required indoors, as per the governor’s latest orders.
Earlier this week, our Traffic Safety Unit switched a handful of intersection lights from flashing mode to a regular cycle. Please be aware of this change at 34th and Central, 40th and West, 46th and West, 52nd and West, 18th and Wesley and 24th and Bay.
Registration for the popular OCNJ Labor Day Run (Sept. 6) and OCNJ Half Marathon (Sept. 26) is now open. Visit ocnj.us/race-events for more information.
The Ocean City High School Key Club is co-sponsoring a Scholarship Walk tomorrow (May 22) along the Route 52 causeway. The walk begins at 10:30 a.m. and registration opens at 9:45 a.m. More information on the event is available here.
The 500 blocks of Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Avenue in front of Ocean City High School will be closed on Saturday evening (May 22) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
A red carpet will be rolled out for students arriving at their prom, which will be held at the high school. This red-carpet event has become a tradition at the school, and I’m excited for students to be able to participate after a year in which everybody made so many sacrifices.
The weather forecast for the weekend looks great, and I hope you all have a chance to get out and enjoy everything that Ocean City has to offer.
Warm regards,
Mayor Jay A. Gillian
