OCEAN CITY — News of a successful bond sale totaling over $25 million for various capital projects last week was tempered somewhat by the pending retirement of long-time Finance Administrator Martha Bennett and the announcement of in-house her replacement.
The town of Ocean City last week sold $25,795,000 in general obligation bonds to fund three major capital projects in the resort including the latest expansion of the Roland E. Powell Convention Center, a major renovation of the town’s vast Public Works complex at 65th Street into a new campus and transit improvements at 2nd Street. A total of 11 bidders made offers on the town’s bond sale, resulting in a low interest rate of just 2.83 percent.
Kevin Quinn of the town’s financial advisor Wye River presented the results of the bond sale to the Mayor and Council on Tuesday. Quinn said the town’s solid credit ratings, coupled with prudent financial stewardship and conservative spending habits resulted in the favorable conditions for the town’s bond sale.
“The city’s strong credit ratings were reaffirmed by each of the three major credit rating agencies and attracted 11 bond bidders,” he said. “The outcome of the financing and credit ratings reflects well on the city’s prudent financial stewardship and strong economy and business environment.”
Quinn said the town of Ocean City was able to sell its bonds at a time when interest rates on general obligation municipal bonds appear to be on the upswing.
“Everybody has the sense interest rates are starting to climb,” he said. “All three credit ratings reaffirmed the town’s rate at just below AAA, which is not a lot of room for improvement.”
The $25,795,000 in bond sales will help finance the town’s share in a handful of significant capital improvement projects. For example, the bond sale will cover the town’s $14 million share of the latest expansion of the Roland E. Powell Convention Center.
In terms of the third phase of the convention center expansion, the total estimated cost of the project is $28 million, which will be split evenly between the town and the state through its agreement with the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA). The MSA contribution is $14 million and the town’s contribution is $14 million, which will be funded through the proposed bond sale.
An additional $11 million of the bond sale will pay the town’s share of a vast $25 million upgrade and expansion of the town’s vast public works campus and transit facilities along the bayside at 65th Street. The town’s sole contribution to the project is $11 million, which would be funded through the bond sale. The additional $14 million will be funded by the federal government with pass-through funds from various state transportation agencies.
Another significant project expected to be funded through the $28 million bond sale approved on first reading on Monday is a new public works facility on property recently purchased by the town at 2nd Street and St. Louis Avenue. The town’s share of the project is roughly $3 million, which is included in the proposed bond sale.
The $25 million-plus bond sale was likely the last major accomplishment for Bennett, who has overseen countless similar transactions in her decades of service as Finance Administrator. It was no surprise really, but City Manager Doug Miller announced Bennett’s official retirement during Tuesday’s meeting.
“This is somewhat of a bittersweet announcement,” he said. “The bitter side is, after many, many years of watching over our finances, Martha Bennett will retire at the end of the month.”
Miller said an exhaustive search for Bennett’s replacement turned up a candidate already in the building.
“We did have a competitive recruitment process to try to replace Martha, which is going to be extremely difficult,” he said. “After a series of interviews, our strongest candidate was also our internal candidate. Chuck Bireley is currently our assistant finance administrator and he was definitely our strongest candidate. I brought his name before the council last week for confirmation and there was unanimous consent.”
For his part, Bireley accepted the position and thanked the Mayor and Council for the opportunity. Bireley, who has a strong background in the private sector as well as the land development sector and the healthcare sector, also had high praise for his predecessor.
“I knew it was competitive and I’m absolutely grateful for the opportunity,” he said. “I appreciate your support. Last, but certainly not least, Martha took a chance on me and it has worked out well.”
Council President Lloyd Martin said Bireley had big shoes to fill in replacing Bennett and hoped for a seamless transition.
“You have big footsteps to fill in Martha’s footsteps,” he said. “We want to continue that conservative ride Martha has taken us on.”
