OCEAN CITY — While all systems are not yet a go to replace the terminal building at the municipal airport, the city has begun its preflight checklist.
City Council awarded a $38,150 contract Dec. 7 to TranSystems Corp. to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration to construct the building at the Ocean City Municipal Airport.
The city had previously appointed Pennsylvania-based TranSystems as engineering consultant. The largest portion of the contract, $20,518, is earmarked for environmental coordination, according to the resolution authorizing the award.
A second contact awarded to TranSystems for $33,789 covers specifications, bidding assistance and construction management for the project.
City Council bonded $700,000 in September for engineering and design of the terminal.
In December 2022, Leon K. Grisbaum, owner of Berger Realty, and Mayor Jay Gillian announced that Grisbaum would donate $3 million toward construction of a new terminal.
A pilot who keeps his plane at the airport and is a past president of the Ocean City Airport Association, Grisbaum said at the time of the donation announcement, “I’ve been flying here since 1948, and I want to see it continue on.”
The donation is contingent on the city picking up the rest of the cost of the project, which would include an updated terminal and communications center; second-story restaurant with views of the runway, wetlands and bay; and a better facility for pilots. It also would house a pro shop for the Ocean City Municipal Golf Course, which is adjacent to the airport on Bay Avenue.
The new facility will be named the “Leon and Elizabeth Grisbaum Airport Terminal.” If the city does not complete the project, the money would be returned to Grisbaum.
The building is included in Ocean City’s five-year capital plan for $5 million. Combined with Grisbaum’s donation, the budget for the building is $8 million, according to Ocean City Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato. He said at the time that the city was actively seeking a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to offset some of the city’s cost.
The current terminal building was constructed in the 1960s. The airport opened in the 1930s and is the only airport located on a New Jersey barrier island.
In other business, City Council approved the $365,880 budget for the special improvement district.
City Council also awarded a $66,900 noncompetitive contract to Michael Baker International for conceptual design of a flood mitigation project from 18th to 26th streets, between Wesley and Bay avenues.
“As a resident of the nearby Merion Park neighborhood in Ocean City, my team and I are dedicated to expediting the process by leveraging data, design and lessons learned from adjacent work so that the project can be efficiently advanced to design and construction,” Michael Baker International Vice President Joseph Danyo stated in a letter to Business Administrator George Savastano.
The engineering firm has extensive experience working in the city.
“Over the last decade, the city of Ocean City as invested millions of dollars to study and mitigate flooding on the barrier island. Projections from state and federal scientists indicate increases in sunny day flooding along coastal New Jersey due to rising seas and subsiding land. This is exacerbated by undersized, deteriorating infrastructure. We understand that the city has a comprehensive plan to minimize nuisance flooding for its constituents. Based on our previous and recent construction contracts addressing similar flood mitigation within Ocean City of similar magnitude, we know what to expect when putting a shovel in the ground and how to plan for it in the conceptual stage,” Danyo stated.
The firm will prepare a report to recommend a strategy to improve mitigation of the flooding conditions within the project area, which involves collecting flow that is being redirected toward West Avenue from outfalls to the east and conveying it to drainage systems west of West Avenue. Elimination of outfalls between 21st and 25th streets will be assessed.
A $108,000 contract was awarded to Creative Artists Agency and Diva Worldwide Touring for the city’s First Night celebration and a performance with the Ocean Cit Pops orchestra on Sept. 15.
City Council also approved advertising for bids for phase II of Merion Park drainage improvements. Bid opening is scheduled for Jan. 9 and a contract is expected to be awarded Jan. 25.
Also approved was advertising for bids for HVAC work at the Ocean City Community Center. Bid opening is scheduled for Jan. 9 and a contract is expected to be awarded Jan. 25.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff