OCEAN CITY — Two of the big box trailers used by Ocean City’s Public Works Department to transport decorations and other materials to special events will soon be replaced after resort officials this week approved funding.
Public Works Director Hal Adkins said two of the trailers stored at the city’s storage area off Keyser Point Road in West Ocean City needed to be replaced.
“As you may or may not know, we keep a fleet of these trailers to maximize our mobility on different events such as Winterfest, Sunfest and Springfest and things of that sort,” he said. “A couple of the trailers, due to age and the fact their frames are rusting, did not pass inspection and need to be replaced. We’re looking at an expenditure of around $18,000.”
When asked where the estimated $18,000 would come from, Adkins explained it wasn’t budgeted, but that he would work with Budget Manager Jenny Knapp on finding the funding from an appropriate source.
“I believe we’ll be able to fund this through the admissions tax,” Knapp said. “The first quarter of the admissions tax revenue came in higher than what I budgeted and I believe that would be a safe place to take it from.”
Adkins’ presentation included an aerial photo of the storage facility in West Ocean City showing rows and rows of the big box trailers. Councilman Dennis Dare said it was time to consider moving those trailers out of harm’s way in the event of future storms.
“When I looked at that drone shot of the storage area, something else came to mind not related to the purchase of these trailers,” he said. “The concept of loading these trailers with special events materials is a good one. We don’t have to handle them four times per event. During strategic planning, we talked about moving this storage area inland out of flood plains and strong wind fields. Just imagine those trailers being hit with 130 mph winds. It would be a real mess over there.”
The council voted 6-0, with Councilman Wayne Hartman absent, to approve the purchase.
When asked why the purchase wasn’t put out through the competitive bidding process, Adkins explained the city has a long history with the company and there weren’t many other purveyors of the big box trailers available. Nonetheless, he agreed to have his staff work with the procurement department to come up with three competitive bids.
