Mayor calls it political and says Ocean City Council has always supposed the programs
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – Ocean City Council President Bob Barr attacked Mayor Jay Gillian’s record on flood mitigation in a letter dated Aug. 30 and sent to the media the following day. The mayor called the attack political and said everything that has been done of the issue has had unanimous support of council over the years.
Days after Barr and other council members said they wouldn’t support the $42 million Public Safety Building and wanted more money put into quality-of-life issues such as more flood prevention in the five-year capital plan, Barr used Sunday’s storm to claim the mayor has had “no sense of urgency” on flood mitigation work.
“Despite being mayor of Ocean City for over 11 years and repeated claims that flood mitigation is a top priority, we all unfortunately witnessed this past weekend what happens when a mayor loses focus on important capital improvements such as flood control,” Barr wrote in the opening of his letter. Since Gillian has been in office since 2019, Barr said he has managed to complete only three major flood control projects during that time “leaving the majority of the western part of the island with no significant flood relief.”
He added that “precious time and valuable taxpayer dollars were dated doing used studies instead of placing shovels in the ground. The sole focus of the Mayor Gillian (administration) should be installing drainage pipes, designing pump stations and paving roads, instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on reports that state the obvious.”
Barr said residents in Merion Park and Ocean City Homes have been waiting for promised flood control for “far too long” and those in the 18th Street to 28th Street area are “literally years away from suitable flood mitigation work.”
The remedy, Barr writes, is for City Council to “exercise a greater degree of oversight to insurance work is being performed in an effective manner.”
In a statement released by the mayor Wednesday afternoon, Gillian wrote, “Ocean City’s comprehensive flood mitigation program has received the unanimous support of City Council through my entire tenure as mayor, and it serves as a model for other towns throughout the state.”
Pointing out the city was in the middle of preparing to for storms heading northeast after being cause by Hurricane Ira in Louisiana over the weekend, Gillian added, “It saddens me to see this blatantly political statement, particularly as the remnants of a hurricane approach our island. The only delays in our plans to address flooding in all parts of Ocean City have been created by City Council itself within the past year as the election approaches. It reminds me of everything that’s wrong with Washington, D.C., and it’s beneath Council President Barr and Councilman (Keith) Hartzell.”
The council president also hit the Gillian Administration on the proposed tax hikes in the five-year capital plan for 2021 to 2025 that council approved last Thursday evening. The plan, presented at council by Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato, proposes to spend $141 million over the five years and, after bonding, would raise the tax rate under a half-penny each year for capital improvements for the next 10 years.
“Mayor Gillian is proposing a capital plan that will increase taxes every year for the next 10 years, but if it rains too hard you cannot get out of your house,” Barr wrote. “That is unacceptable ….”
Barr said the priority must be changing the capital plan to focus on projects to minimize flooding, “to place a far greater emphasis on drainage and paving projects.” He added there must also be a “real comprehensive flood management plan” to let residents know which areas will get priority and a timeline to give people confidence their flooding concerns “will be addressed in a timely manner.”
He also called on finding professionals who specialize in drainage work and have “a proven track record of success with designing large-scale flood mitigation projects.”
Gillian said he will not let Barr’s statement “get in the way of working with them both to keep all of our flood relief projects on track. Our taxpayers, residents and guests should never suffer from anybody’s political aspirations.”
Projects completed
In an article in the Sentinel a year ago, city officials said they had spent $37 million on drainage projects and and road improvements over seven years.
That included an $8 million installation of new storm pipes and pump stations between First and Eighth streets, $5.6 million for new check valves and draining reconfiguring roads from 29th to 34th Street. In 2017 project completed road work throughout town and in 2018 there were drainage improvements in the south end and work in the mid-town.
Last week, projects approved in an $18.4 million bond ordinance presented by Donato and approved by City Council include $5.5 million for storm water drainage systems, $2 million for back-bay dredging and $5.5 million for road and alley work, all for fiscal 2021.