Council Agrees To Delay Downtown Public Works Project

OCEAN CITY — It was decided this week the proposed new public works facility at 2nd Street at St. Louis Avenue will take a little longer than expected to come to fruition, but there are benefits in terms of parking revenue to be realized by delaying the project.

Public Works Director Hal Adkins presented an update on the proposed new facility at 2nd Street and St. Louis Avenue to the Mayor and Council on Tuesday. The new facility will eventually replace the town’s existing downtown public works complex at South First Street, which is nearing the end of its useful life.

The new facility at 2nd Street will eventually serve, among other things, as the new staging and maintenance area for the Boardwalk trams. It will also house the beach cleaning operation along with other public works functions in the downtown area. It will be built on a property the town acquired last year for around $2 million along St. Louis Avenue between 2nd and 3rd streets.

Adkins explained the design was largely complete and the project was just about ready to be put out to bid. However, a review of the proposed timeline of the project now has a completion date of sometime in November of 2018.

“I want to segue into an issue that I hope was brought to the council’s attention today,” he said. “As we put the design together, we had initial goal of starting construction this fall, but that didn’t occur. We got into some design issues and we are finally ready and able to go to bid. In fact, a pre-bid meeting is set for tomorrow.”

Adkins explained adjusting the time line somewhat would still meet the desired completion date of spring 2019 while allowing the existing municipal parking lot at 2nd Street to remain fully operational and revenue-earning during the summer of 2018.

“When we looked at the scope of the project, the building could be ready for occupancy next fall. At that point, we need to pause for a second and ask why do we need construction completion next fall when we don’t need occupancy until the following spring? I can adjust the schedule so I still meet my occupancy goal of May 2019 while still capturing the parking revenue at 2nd Street next summer. That would also likely take care of the Program Open Space issues with the tennis court.”

Adkins presented two options for the timeline for the project, the second of which calls for slowing down the process to allow the 2nd Street property to remain a municipal lot next summer with construction of the new facility beginning in September.

“If I were asked tonight what my recommendation was, it would be option two,” he said.

Councilman Wayne Hartman agreed slowing down the process would still meet the target end date for the project for the spring of 2019 while not having the 2nd Street lot, and the old Whiteside lot for that matter, under various phases of construction in the coming summer season.

“I agree wholeheartedly with slowing it down,” he said. “We would have two lots tied up including the Whiteside lot and the lot at 2nd Street. If we had them tied up during the summer, we would lose around $44,000 in parking revenue. To me, it only makes sense to put the brakes on it.”

Adkins said slowing the project down would also allow the town to take advantage of an improving construction market.

“The construction market that has lied dormant for a number of years is suddenly red hot again with stuff sprouting out of the ground all over the place,” he said. “By putting the bid date out a little further, I think we’ll attract more bidders. I would envision still proceeding by late spring of this year. That will give them to get their submittals together and they could then hit the ground running in September.”

The council voted 7-0 to approve the amended schedule for the project, which will allow to town to continue capturing the parking revenue at 2nd Street.

“You’ll still get the parking revenue at 2nd Street this summer, but it won’t be at the same level,” he said. “That revenue number was through the month of October. I would like to take this lot over in September.”

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.