OCEAN CITY — Ocean City officials this week approved a plan to increase trash collection on the south end of the Boardwalk during the season, but had to find a creative way to fund the new vehicle and crew to accomplish it.
On Tuesday, Procurement Manager Catrice Parsons explained to the Mayor and Council the pending sale of certain heavy equipment utilized by the Public Works Department would result in roughly $100,000 in unexpected revenue. Parsons along with Public Works officials requested the elected officials authorize utilizing the unexpected windfall to purchase three new vehicles, including an electric “green” truck which would be dedicated to stepping up trash collection on the busy south end of the Boardwalk during the busy summer season.
The proposed electric vehicle would be utilized by a second trash collection crew to more frequently empty the trash barrels on the south end of the Boardwalk. Purchasing the extended cab truck would allow Public Works to run two crews nightly during the summer with one working the concrete section of the Boardwalk from 4th Street south to the Inlet. The second crew would continue to empty the trash barrels from 4th Street north to 27th Street with the original 4×4 truck working from the beach as it traditionally has.
The Public Works Maintenance Division’s nightly operation currently includes emptying the 280 trash barrels in the Boardwalk area multiple times each night. However, the crews can’t keep up with the volume of trash generated in the downtown area and adding the new electric vehicle to operate in the south end along the concrete section of the Boardwalk shared with the tram would increase the number of pick-ups each night during the summer.
“Additional trash collections are required due to the improved economy and the increased business activities, including Public Works’ support of all of the town’s special events held along the Boardwalk,” said Parsons. “It’s clear to be more effective, changes to the overall operation itself are necessary.”
With increased traffic on the south end of the Boardwalk, along with almost nightly special events, the familiar light blue trash barrels are filling up more frequently, necessitating an increase in the number of times they are emptied. The current single crew operating the beach with a 4×4 each night frequently empties the barrels they can access from the beach, but Public Works has found the current system is not keeping up with the increased volume.
“After reviewing various equipment, it was agreed the Public Works Maintenance Division’s nightly Boardwalk trash operation would be greatly improved with the purchase of a vehicle that would be conducive to collecting trash on the Boardwalk as its current operation is limited,” said Parsons. “After research into alternative trash collection vehicles, we found a green vehicle that would achieve our goal for improving the frequency of collections and overall efficiency of the whole operation.”
With the $100,000 available from the sale of certain heavy equipment, $24,000 could be dedicated to the purchase of the electric vehicle to expand the trash collection operation on the Boardwalk. Another $30,500 would be dedicated to the purchase of a new vehicle for the city manager, along with a new vehicle at $44,000 for the EMS division, bringing the total for the three vehicles to $98,500, or just under the $100,000 realized from the equipment sale.
However, the purchases were not included in the current budget, necessitating an approval from the Mayor and Council to follow through with the purchases. The council was amenable to the sale of equipment and the purchase of the new “green” vehicle to improve trash collection on the Boardwalk.
“I agree with the need to empty the cans more frequently,” said Councilman Wayne Hartman. “If you walk the Boardwalk in the summer, it’s clear more frequent collections are needed.”
Public Works Deputy Director John Van Fossen told the Mayor and Council the purchase of the truck and the addition of a second crew were not included in the current budget, but the windfall from the equipment sale would make expanding the trash collection operation along the Boardwalk possible.
“The new vehicle would be used from the Inlet to 4th Street even if a second crew was not approved in the budget,” he said. “Part of the issue is, we know we have a need for more cans south of 4th Street. With the proliferation of special events, it is not practical to operate from the beach with the 4×4.”
Van Fossen said reaching the trash cans on the Boardwalk south of 4th Street was no longer practical with the 4×4 operating from the beach because of the special events, and the larger truck couldn’t operate on the concrete portion of the Boardwalk in that area because of increased pedestrian traffic and the tram operation. After considerable debate, the Council approved the purchase of the new electric vehicle and the addition of a second crew providing the cost did not exceed the revenue from the sale of the public works heavy equipment.
