Ocean City Officials Weigh Berm as Flood Prevention

OCEAN CITY – It’s been about a year since reeds and trees were cut along a drainage ditch on 52nd Street. Some advocates want to know when, exactly, the trees will be replanted.
City Councilman Robert “Bob” Barr said neighbors could see replanting in 2019 but added that any replanting would be part of a sweeping plan for drainage improvements in that neighborhood.
With drainage improvements in Merion Park complete, the pumping stations operational on a 4th Ward drainage project and drainage work in the north end nearing completion, this south end neighborhood could be the next focus for city drainage work, according to city spokesman Doug Bergen.
“Ocean City is one of the few towns that is actually investing in solutions to coastal flooding and sea level rise, and if it’s successful, this project could be groundbreaking,” said Bergen.
At the Dec. 13 City Council meeting, officials unanimously approved a resolution to study the creation of a berm to protect south end neighborhoods from rising tidal water. While there are bulkheads along the bay in much of the city, in some areas, the roads and alleys are just a little higher than the surrounding marsh, allowing high tides to wash into town.
City council voted to approve a $45,000 contract with ACT Engineering, a firm that has worked closely with the city on back bay dredging and drainage projects, to study the use of an embankment left along the edge of the marsh from the former railroad for use in flood protection.
At the same meeting, Barr indicated that more street and drainage work is due for the neighborhood.
In December 2017, crews removed the thicket of phragmites, cedars and other growth along a split-rail fence in the residential area of 52nd Street.
At the time, city officials described it as routine maintenance that was too-long delayed, but some neighbors were outraged, describing the cutting as unsightly and damaging to flood protection.
At the most recent meeting, resident Donna Moore was back in front of council, still criticizing the cutting and asking when the trees would be replaced.
“Will any council member or administration member please answer when the destroyed, living shoreline barrier that was such great storm and floodwater protection for the 52nd street area…be restored?” she asked.
She argued that cedar trees absorb a great deal of water each day, although city officials have denied the trees and other plants offered significant protection against rising water.
Mayor Jay Gillian said any future replanting would be part of an overall plan for the neighborhood.
“I’m still talking to Carol Beske of ACT engineering to find out what exactly is the right thing to do because we are looking at that berm,” he said. Beske is the founder of the firm and director of public involvement.
Gillian said he wanted to be careful about any comments on the matter, saying after nine years he had become very careful about answering anything off the top of his head.
He said he has always emphasized the importance of facts.
“It seems like, when I speak in public, like right now, it’ll be reported or said…what they thought I said or what they thought they heard,” he said.
When the city has a more detailed plan, he suggested holding a ward meeting to keep the neighbors informed.
Barr described the approved study as “another step in the process” for 52nd Street.
Responding to Moore, he said he met with city Administrator George Savastano to discuss the topic at length.
“We have to be very careful, because that is an area that is subject to a very large study, and hopefully, a very large drainage project in the future, so we want to make sure that what we do is in concert with that,” Barr said. He suggested some replanting could take place in the New Year.
Along 52nd Street, the area where the phragmites reeds and cedars were removed, a drainage ditch runs along the side of the road and along a long-abandoned railroad to the open water of Crook Horn Creek, about 1,300 feet from the end of the street.
That ditch typically has standing water, which rises and ebbs with the tides.
The railroad has been out of use since the 1980s, but in many places the raised area remains in place, keeping water from neighborhoods in storms.
“This part of town provides a different sort of challenge, because there are no bulkheads, and tidal waters can just flow unimpeded across the marshes and into the low-elevation neighborhoods at the south end,” Bergen wrote in an emailed response to a request for comment. “The idea is to shore up the existing berm, which is completely breached at several spots, to hold back the storm tides and other exceptionally high tides.”
The difficulty will be in keeping tidal water out while allowing rainwater to drain away. There are also areas of wetlands inside the berm that the city will not be able to cut off. The study will also look for ways to avoid impacting other plants and wildlife, including marine life, and protect views for homeowners.
While some cedars were removed, there remains a dense stretch of the evergreen trees and other plants along the length of the former railroad in this neighborhood.
Near the split rail fence, a fresh growth of phragmites has returned, standing tall along the edge of the water.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.