Romaine and Warren Reiner watch as their daughter, Kim Lasinski, points to flooding damage to their home on West 17th Street.
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Now 89 years old, Warren Reiner has lived in Ocean City’s West 17th Street neighborhood since 1952 and is a local authority on the chronic flooding that occurs in the bayfront community.
So much so that the retired mechanical engineer wrote a community newsletter for 10 years to keep his neighbors informed of the tidal flooding that swamps the low-lying area.
He stopped writing the newsletter last year, but was happy to hear the news from Ocean City officials Saturday that plans are moving ahead for a long-awaited, flood-mitigation project that is expected to be completed on West 17th Street by next Memorial Day.
“We’ve looked forward to this meeting for 10 years,” Reiner told city officials during a community forum on the project. “The discussion we’ve had today is terrific.”
The centerpiece of the estimated $1 million to $1.5 million project will be a pumping station to clear flooding from the neighborhood much faster than waiting for the water to recede by itself back into the bay.
Other parts of the project include road construction, drainage improvements, new pipes and a new outfall pipe to flush floodwater into the bay.
Residents attending the community forum listen to the presentation about the flood-mitigation project for West 17th Street.
Joe Danyo, chief engineer for Michael Baker International, explained that the pumping station should channel floodwater off West 17th Street in just a few hours, compared to the much longer time it takes for the streets to clear off now.
Michael Baker International is serving as the city’s engineering consultant for the project. Danyo told the approximately 25 homeowners who attended the public meeting that the city and Michael Baker International will do “the best we can” to reduce the flooding.
He added that they won’t be able to stop the flooding completely, even with the pumping station and other facets of the project.
“I’m not going to lie to you. We’re going to have flooding,” Danyo said.
Reiner and other West 17th Street residents attending the community forum, though, seemed relieved that something is finally planned to ease the flooding.
“I think we’re moving forward. We have a terrific team,” Reiner said in an interview afterward.
The city plans to begin construction next February or March and have “substantial completion” of the project by Memorial Day weekend, Danyo said
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGg7OW3p4ZQ
Video of West 17th Street meeting and presentation. (Courtesy of Ocean City)
City Business Administrator George Savastano, left, and Joe Danyo, chief engineer of Michael Baker International, describe the project.
West 17th Street is an enclave of upscale bayfront homes accessible by crossing a tiny bridge leading to the neighborhood. The neighborhood, essentially a narrow island jutting out into the back bay, is vulnerable to flooding because of its location and the low-lying topography.
“We’ve got a unique situation. We’ve got an island within an island,” Ron Gifford, a resident of West 17th Street, said of the neighborhood’s location on the barrier island of Ocean City.
Gifford, one of the residents who spoke during the community forum, emphasized that the flood-mitigation project must blend in with West 17th Street’s “unique area.”
He pressed Savastano and Danyo for details of the city’s landscaping plan to spruce up the neighborhood and hide the new infrastructure. Gifford stressed that he wants the landscaping to look good.
“We’re not looking to put an eyesore in the middle of your island,” Danyo assured Gifford.
Gifford, in turn, expressed confidence that the city would do its best to enhance the neighborhood.
Savastano said the city has committed to a “robust” landscaping plan for West 17th Street. He noted that the city will partner with New Jersey American Water on the landscaping improvements. He also said the city and New Jersey American Water will not do landscaping work until they meet with residents for their input.
“We want to make it as attractive as possible and buffer the structures as much as possible,” Savastano said.
Ron Gifford, a resident of West 17th Street, wants the project's landscaping plan to complement the neighborhood's "unique" character.
According to Reiner, the city’s flood-mitigation plan is finally starting to coalesce after about 10 years of study. He credited his daughter, Kim Lasinski, for being one of the driving forces in the neighborhood to push for flood-control measures.
Lasinski lives in and owns the home on West 17th Street once owned by her parents, Warren and Romaine Reiner. The Reiners live in Morristown, N.J., but spend their summers in Ocean City with their daughter.
After Saturday’s community forum, the Reiners and Lasinski spoke about the damage suffered by their family home over the years from flooding. At times, floodwaters invade their yard, their garage and seep under their deck overlooking the bay, they said.
“Gradually, it builds up and there’s a big pond here,” Warren Reiner said of the flooding that swamps the road in front of the house.
Lasinski and Romaine Reiner pointed out that the flooding can get so bad that access to the street is impossible. Sometimes, the only way residents can get home during the flooding is to hop from deck to deck at each neighbor’s home, they said.
“We’ve had people who have gone out to dinner and can’t get back home later that night,” Romaine Reiner said of the fast-rising floodwaters. “I think everyone on this island has been trapped at one time or another.”
From left, Kim Lasinski, her husband, Mark, and her parents, Warren and Romaine Reiner, stand on the deck of their West 17th Street home while discussing the flooding they have seen over the years.
