OC Boat Ramp Project To Begin

OCEAN CITY – The Mayor and City Council unanimously voted across the board this week, with Council President Lloyd Martin and Councilman Joe Mitrecic absent, to approve a list of business items during Monday evening’s legislative session.

Parking Laws Amended

Last week Public Works Director Hal Adkins brought to the Mayor and City Council’s attention confusion regarding dates of paid parking enforcement.

Adkins explained historically, the town would commence paid parking on April 1 of each year and end in October but by resolution the dates were removed and replaced with “specific weekends" to allow the town the ability to maximize our potential revenues due to the fluctuation in the date of Easter and the growing calendar of special events,

The ordinance’s intent was to create a situation in which the Cale machine, the city’s parking meter system, would not be in effect during certain weekdays in the shoulder seasons to enhance the attractiveness of visitors into the downtown area without having to pay to park but reinstated “date sensitive” enforcement.

This week the issue returned to the Mayor and City Council in legislative session to have an amendment made to the law in first reading.

The amendment states, “$1.50 per hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday starting the first Saturday in April or Good Friday, whichever occurs first, through the Sunday prior to Memorial Day weekend, except that said charge shall also be in effect on the Thursday before each weekend of Springfest and Car Cruizing, with all other days in said time period without charge.”

Also, “$1.50 per hour from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day”, and “$1.50 per hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from the Friday after Labor Day through the third Sunday of October, except that said charge shall also be in effect on Thursday before each weekend of Bike Week, Sunfest and Car Cruizing, with all other days in said time period without charge.”

Company Chosen For
Water Tower Demolition

According to Adkins, Public Works has solicited bids for the demolition of the 66th Street Elevated Water Storage Tank, which holds 400,000 gallons. The water tower was replaced by the 64th Street Elevated Water Storage Tank, which holds one million gallons.

The department had initially tried to sell the water tank on govdeals.com but no interested parties prevailed, and a bid process for demolition took place through Adkins’ office.

Two firms made inquiries. They were Iseler Demolition Inc. and Pittsburg Tank & Tower Company.

As of 3 p.m. on Monday, Adkins received one sealed bid, and recommended to the Mayor and City Council to proceed with Iseler Demolition Inc, in the amount of $41,600. The budgeted amount is $50,000. Iseler is one of the largest demolition companies in the country and specializes in this sort of project.

Bid Approved For
Wastewater Project

Senior Project Manager Dean Dashiell requested the Mayor and City Council give bid award authorization for the Wastewater Treatment Plant to Bearing Construction, Inc. in the amount of $505,200.

The funding for the project was covered in a recent Bond Issuance and budgeted under the Project Code- WGEST in the amount of $560,000.

The Mayor and City Council approved the recommendation with a 5-0 vote.

Contract Awarded For
64th Street Boat Ramp

The last item on the table was presented by City Engineer Terry McGean to approve the recommendation to award the contract to David Bowen & Freidel (DBF) for engineering and design services for the 64th St. Boat Ramp in the amount of $66,400.

According to McGean, seven proposals for engineering services and the design of the new boat ramp were received and evaluated by the staff. DBF had the strongest proposal and has completed numerous projects of a similar nature.

Funding is from a combination of State grants from the Waterway Improvement Fund and City bond proceeds.