By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – Mayor Jay Gillian told City Council members on Thursday that an independent investigator will look into allegations of misconduct in the Ocean City Beach Patrol, as lifeguards brought out the stands for a new season.
Allegations of sexual misconduct made headlines earlier this year as they became public on an Instagram page. Last month, the city announced the hiring of Vanessa E. James of the law firm Barker, Gelfand, James and Sarvas to launch an internal probe of the anonymous allegations, which ranged from senior guards making sexual remarks to minors to allegations of sexual assault, with incidents spanning years.
The investigation will seek to establish the facts behind the allegations, Gillian said.
“All substantiated violations of city policies will be fully investigated and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken,” Gillian said.
The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office has also launched an investigation. Gillian announced that training for returning guards has been revamped and other measures taken.
“We have created new positions within the beach patrol, to be known as resource and training officers,” Gillian said. “The RTOs will rotate between the four zones of the beach and build relationships with the guards.”
He said the city has chosen an individual to oversee the patrol this season.
Agreement on affordable housing units
City Council on Thursday approved two new agreements with the Ocean City Housing Authority, part of the city’s agreement to provide affordable housing under its fair-share plan.
That will include the demolition of the housing units in Peck’s Beach Village North. The current buildings date from the 1960s and are in a flood-prone area. Under the approved agreement, 40 new units will be built at the site, meeting current flood standards. Under the proposal, the city will put $9.37 million into the project, to be managed by the city’s Housing Authority. That is in addition to funding the authority will gather from grants. Eventually there will 60 new units at the Peck’s Beach Village site on either side of Fourth Street.
The residents of the north side of Peck’s Beach Village are to be moved into the building at Bayview Manor on West Avenue, where a project for new affordable senior housing is underway.
Another resolution approved an agreement to construct 10 new duplexes as affordable housing, to be spread throughout the city. The Housing Authority received a $2 million grant to offset the cost of that work.
The expansion of affordable housing was part of an agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center dating from 2018, which established that the city is meeting its constitutional obligation to provide affordable housing.
Cannabis added to no-smoking rules
Ocean City has already approved zoning changes that will keep cannabis shops out of town. On May 27, City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that will ban smoking or vaping marijuana or hashish on the beach, boardwalk and in recreation areas.
The city adopted a smoke-free ordinance in 2013, which was amended in 2014 to prohibit smoking on the boardwalk and again in 2018 to keep smoking off the beach, city attorney Dottie McCrosson reported at the meeting. The latest ordinance specifically includes marijuana in the prohibition.
“At the time, the ordinance was focused on tobacco. This update would make it clear that ‘smoking’ in this ordinance includes tobacco products, marijuana, hashish and cannabis. And it does include vaping,” McCrosson said when the ordinance was introduced.
It will also include public events, roads, waterways and outside dining.
The state law approved earlier this year drew a distinction between marijuana, which remains a banned substance albeit a decriminalized one, and cannabis, which is the same plant but purchased from a licensed dispensary.
Dumpster clarification
Last year, there was extensive discussion over whether dumpsters needed to be covered, which McCrosson told City Council stemmed from confusion in the existing ordinance. A portion related to refuse containers, such as trash cans, which must have a cover under city ordinance, and large-scale construction waste containers known as dumpsters.
At McCrosson’s suggestion, City Council amended the ordinance to clarify the issue, and to streamline some of the language.
They also must be covered when not in use, she said, if there is anything inside.
“If they’re not empty they must be covered,” she said when the ordinance was introduced May 13.
She said the street must be protected and a permit is needed to put a dumpster on the street. A new element of the ordinance would prevent dumpsters from being placed on the street in the downtown zone during the summer. Councilman Jody Levchuk confirmed that a dumpster can be on private property in the downtown.
Barr questions ACT spending
Barr has made no secret of his feelings about ACT Engineers, a firm the city has used on multiple major projects, including dredging of the back bays and on drainage projects. In April, a majority on City Council rejected a recommendation to use ACT Engineers of Robbinsville for a drainage project in Merion Park.
At that time, Barr said he would not support using the firm for any future contract.
On May 13, Barr questioned a $15,000 payment to the firm for the Merion Park design included in the bill list.
While he voted for the payment, he asked that the contract be terminated by June 1, and that no additional payments be made. He said the neighbors and the majority of the City Council do not want the project.
“Work has stopped as of a week or two ago,” said George Savastano, the city business administrator. “This bill was for previous work that was completed.”
He said the city has been in negotiation with ACT to end the contract.
“I don’t know if this is the final payment, but I can tell you that work has stopped,” Savastano said at the meeting.