Ocean City Informs Residents on Major Projects

OCEAN CITY – This resort’s administration offered another program in a series of initiatives to inform residents and solicit input for major infrastructure projects. 
At the Senior Center Aug. 30, consultants Michael Baker International from Hamilton briefed several hundred including Mayor Jay Gillian and representatives of his administrative team, on the latest regarding the city’s flood remediation efforts in neighborhoods from 26th to 34th streets and from West to Bay avenues.
Ocean City has a $642,420 contract with consultants to survey those areas and develop a drainage improvement project to remedy the persistent flooding that plagues streets and homes in that district.
Flood waters have been so high as to cause consistent water damage to property and residences.
The municipality has allocated $34 million from its 2016 Capital Improvement Plan for paving and dredging projects over the next five years including $17.4 million specifically dedicated for paving and drainage this year 2016 alone.
The Federal Emergency Management Administration gave the city a $4.9 million grant to help pay for proposed pumping stations.
Highlights of the master plan include installing main drainage pipe in the center of affected main roadways at their highest point which would permit better water flow to outfalls and four proposed pump stations to assist gravity-based pipe systems.
Gillian has stated he wants to be “aggressive” in dealing with flooding issues noting that “no design will prevent all flooding at low elevations in our island community, but these new projects will make a significant positive difference in the quality of life for our residents. We want these projects done right and done quickly, and we are committed to having that happen.”
Baker Consultants’ representative noted that there is an exhaustive and ongoing permitting process that dictates the final schedule for the improvement projects.
At this town hall-style gathering, property owners heard a street-by-street description of how drainage improvement efforts will directly affect them.
Different strategies were presented that would improve so-called “one-year events” or “10-year events” that refer to the amount of rain received in a given period.
For example, a “10-year event” produces five inches of rain in a 24-hour period or 34 million gallons of water while a “one-year event” produces 8 million gallons, and in reality, occurs much more frequently than every one year as its name implies.
During this project, 7,000 tons of asphalt will be used to re-mill streets and four pump stations located at strategic outfall positions to draw out accumulated rainwater, with the most egregious at 30th Street and Haven Avenue.
Questions from the participants centered on asking for more details as to the practical effect the City’s efforts will have on the notorious flooding that on occasion inconveniences property owners and residents.
“We cannot, of course, prevent all flooding since Ocean City is on a barrier island but this project will be making a dramatic difference,” Gillian said.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.