Despite Millions Spent, Neighbors Say Flooding Worsens

OCEAN CITY – Neighbors near the bay around Second and Third street say they understand that flooding takes place throughout this barrier island community.
They also understand that the city has ramped up its flood protection projects in recent years, Pete Sokolowski told City Council at its Nov. 8 meeting.
Still, he said, flooding seems to be getting worse.
He and other neighbors who attended the meeting pointed the finger at a gap in the bulkhead at a Bay Avenue business; one they say was damaged in Hurricane Sandy and never repaired.
In recent years, Ocean City has taken on massive road and drainage projects, with administration officials saying they are trying to make up for lost time after years of neglect.
The city plans to spend $7.75 million on road and drainage work this year, adding up to $32 million over the next five years.
That’s meant detours and inconvenience in the off season, with promises of improvements in the long term.
Sokolowski and his neighbors fall within the North End Pumping Station project, a large-scale work to install a network of drainage pipes from First to Eighth street between West Avenue and the bay.
Plans call for the installation of three pump stations to help move water out of neighborhoods, with an expected completion in December, according to the city website.
The total cost is $8 million, cushioned by a $5 million FEMA grant, said to be the largest the city has ever received.
But according to Sokolowski and the other neighbors who spoke at the meeting, that work will not help them much if the water can wash in from the bay.
“What I really don’t understand is why the city would spend literally millions of dollars on paving, pumping stations and so forth, which aren’t going to do any good in our particular situation if that bulkhead isn’t fixed,” he said.
There was no response to the neighbors’ comments, and Mayor Jay Gillian was absent. But in his weekly message to residents, Gillian addressed the issue, stating the city is working with the property owner to make repairs.
“First, I want everybody to know that the project corrects many other failures in our aging storm drainage system that contributes to flooding in the neighborhood,” Gillian wrote in comments posted to the city website Nov. 10.
“Second, the project includes new street elevations that will help prevent tidal waters from breaching Bay Avenue. But most importantly, we are working with owners to make sure a continuous bulkhead is put in place along that section of bayfront.”
Houses line the east side of Bay Avenue in the Third Street neighborhood in Ocean City, with a strip of businesses along the bay, including Jet Ski, kayak and boat rentals.
As neighbors have pointed out, the property owner in question has piled sandbags near the sidewalk to take the place of the bulkheads.
Ocean City has seen several days of flooding this fall, including the flooding in the last weekend of October. Officials had predicted high water that day, and suggested visitors and residents move cars to high ground, but the water continued to climb, closing bridges and leaving many streets impassible.
Sokolowski described the flooding as among the worst his neighborhood has experienced since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.