Mayor's Message: April 17

Dear Friends,

I want to thank everyone who attended our town hall meeting last Saturday. We provided updates on all major initiatives underway and planned for the next year, and we answered questions on a variety of topics. You can see complete video of the meeting here.

Our OCNJ.US YouTube channel includes video of city events like the town hall meeting, weekly “Inside City Hall” videos, all City Council meetings and other events. You can sign up for my weekly updates on Ocean City news by visiting ocnj.us/alerts. At the same place you can also sign up for email notifications about meeting agendas, projects, emergency flooding and weather alerts and more.

On our city website at ocnj.us/meetings, you can get schedules of public meetings, and each meeting page includes agendas, supporting documentation and City Council meeting videos as they become available. All of our budgets, audits and financial documents are also available at ocnj.us/finance. You can track the progress of ongoing projects at ocnj.us/projects. These are just a few of the ways that make it easy to stay in the know.

I was happy to announce last week that Ocean City will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation this summer with a weekly patriotic drone show over the beach and boardwalk south of Sixth Street.

The “America 250: Lights Over Ocean City” show will feature hundreds of drones lighting up the sky and creating animations that salute America. The 15-minute shows will be held after dusk on seven Monday evenings from July 6 through August 17.

The weekly event is made possible through a $25,000 grant from the Cape May County Board of Commissioners, sponsorships from Boardwalk merchants and city funding. The commissioners are offering matching grants to all towns in the county that will host 250th anniversary celebrations.

I want to thank Bobby Barr and all the commissioners, the Boardwalk Merchants, and the city team for all their support in making this happen. It will be a great way to celebrate this important milestone for America.

We will also have a drone show as part of a free outdoor patriotic Ocean City Pops concert at Carey Stadium on Sixth Street on July 2. A second free Pops concert on July 4 will be followed by our spectacular fireworks display.

Mummers Nights will return on Tuesday and Thursday evenings this summer with string bands strolling the boards from Sixth Street to 14th Street. Family Nights return on Wednesday nights.

Representatives of the new Citizens Looking to Assist Merchants (CLAMS) group met with the Boardwalk Merchants Association, the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce and the city team this week.

The group agreed that these events – along with special events on the beach at Sixth Street like our family Sand Sculpting Contests, the Pamper Scamper, the Miss Crustacean Pageant and Hermit Crab Races, Fun Runs, a full schedule of recreational activities on the beach, sports camps and games at Carey Stadium, and Civic Center activities and events – will help draw guests to the north end of the Boardwalk and allow CLAMS more time to plan for assisting merchants next summer. I want to thank this citizens group for stepping up and working toward a constructive solution.

Construction crews are working hard to wrap up projects before Memorial Day and the start of the summer season.

• On Roosevelt Boulevard, Cape May County’s contractor will be removing the concrete barrier today and Monday with traffic expected to switch back to a normal pattern on Tuesday. Work will continue on the shoulder areas after that.
• On Ninth Street, the state Department of Transportation continues work to install ADA-compliant sidewalks and crosswalks. At our request, they will try to keep all lanes open on the Route 52 causeway and Ninth Street Bridge for the remainder of the project. The one exception will be between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Tuesday, when they will pour concrete from the right lane of Ninth Street inbound. We will have an police officer stationed at the intersection to assist with traffic flow.
• In the Gardens, New Jersey American Water continues to replace old and failing water and sewer lines. Some of these are old terra cotta pipes close to 100 years old. I understand that this work has been an inconvenience, but the work is necessary to ensure that homes continue to have water and sewer service. All pipe and service work on Battersea, Wesley and West Atlantic is complete. Work on West Inlet, West Surf and all neighborhood streets will be complete by the first week of May. The trenches will be restored and the roadways will be milled and paved from curb to curb with a two-inch surface before Memorial Day. Final paving will be after the summer, once the trenches have time to settle. Residents can use the emergency contact number 1-800-272-1325 to report any issues.
• Final paving and striping of the new parking area adjacent to the Ocean City Free Public Library is complete, and work continues to place sod on the rest of that city block of open space.
• Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority work to repair a sinkhole on 46th Street will begin on Monday. Underground work to replace a failed sewer main on West Avenue at 31st Street is expected to be complete by May 1 with final road restoration by May 15.
• The new downtown parking area at the corner of Ninth Street and Central Avenue is expected to be paved next week.
• Crews are making great progress on reinforcing and redecking the Boardwalk between 12th Street and 14th Street. The project is nearly complete, but they will return to the small section at the end of 12th Street next week. Portions of that area will be closed but pedestrians and bicycles will be allowed to pass at all times. Work will then begin on the ramps down to the beach.

The Senior Center will be closed on Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, for an in-house painting project. It will reopen on a normal schedule on Monday, April 20.

I’m incredibly sad to report on the sudden passing of Mitchell Gurwicz at age 55. Mitchell was a lawyer and an integral part of his family’s businesses. I worked with him on the board at Shore Medical Center, and he was involved in many other community and charitable organizations. I hope you’ll join me and Michele in extending deepest condolences to Mitchell’s family and many friends and associates.

The weather looks mild for tomorrow, and I hope you get a chance to come out for our annual Doo Dah Parade.

The parade starts at noon and travels Asbury Avenue from Sixth Street to 12th Street, then turns up to the Boardwalk and finishes on the boards at Sixth Street.

Flyers great Mark Howe will be grand marshal, and he’ll be available for autographs and photos after the parade at the Ocean City Music Pier.

Next weekend, our annual Sports Memorabilia Show at the Music Pier will welcome Phillies and Flyers legends Larry Bowa and John LeClair, along with current Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell. More information is available here.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Warm regards,

Mayor Jay A. Gillian