OCEAN CITY — More parking will be available downtown next summer.
City Council approved a $75,500 professional services contract with Engineering Design Associates on Nov. 20 for redesign and reconstruction of the parking lot at Eighth Street and Central Avenue.
“When it’s done, the downtown will have more than 60 spots that were not there a couple of years ago,” Mayor Jay Gillian said.
He said the city is putting together final parking statistics from the summer and soon would provide the information.
City Council approved purchasing the building at 846 Central Ave. on Aug. 7, giving the city nearly an entire block of space just a block east of Asbury Avenue.
Council approved a bond ordinance to spend $960,000 to acquire the building at the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Ninth Street.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said the lease for the restaurant downstairs, Maria’s Cafe, expires at the end of the year and a tenant lease upstairs expired.
The city has a public lot across from the police station on Central Avenue and behind City Hall. The city purchased the private lots on Central that had been part of the former Crown Bank building property at 801 Asbury Ave., then purchased the small former frame shop next to the restaurant.
With the acquisition and later demolition of those last two buildings, the city would have public lots virtually from Eighth to Ninth streets on Central.
The contract with Engineering Design Associates also will include specifications for demolition of the public safety building across Central Avenue. The city has budgeted $30 million in its current capital plan to replace the police station on Central Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets. The building is a century old and at one time served as a school. It now houses the police station and municipal court, but is badly outdated.
Municipal airport
City Council approved a $398,000 contract with Erect-A-Tube Inc. to supply and deliver materials for the construction of an eight-unit T-hangar at the Ocean City Municipal Airport. According to documents, the total cost of this phase of the project, including aviation engineer costs, is $446,379.
“This will provide a new revenue stream and hangar rentals and an opportunity to attract more pilots,” Mayor Jay Gillian said, noting that 95 percent of the cost would be covered by a grant, with taxpayers picking up the other 5 percent, or about $22,319.
In December 2022, Leon K. Grisbaum, owner of Berger Realty, and Mayor Jay Gillian announced that Grisbaum would donate $3 million to the city toward the 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; 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 city’s five-year capital plan includes $5 million for the project. Combined with Grisbaum’s donation, the budget for the building is $8 million, according to Ocean City Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato. He said the city is 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, Gillian also said the city is continuing work to improve the reliability of trash and recycling pickup.
“We’ve created a response team that will travel our trash and recycling on pickup days to monitor the contractor, notify residents of improperly placed trash and recycling and try to help with anything that was missed,” he said.
The mayor said work to clear the former Chevy dealership lot continues. The city acquired the land through condemnation in May 2020 to create a stretch of open space from the Ocean City Free Public Library to the Emil Palmer Field on the north side of 16th Street.
“The area for expanded library parking has been milled and elevated. Concrete is being poured for sidewalks and for parking next to Palmer Field. The rest of the block will be cleared and landscaped,” Gillian said.
Work remains on scheduled to finish by the end of the year.
“Installation of the sod with be weather-dependent,” he said, noting the library plans to use the open space for programs next summer.
City Council approved two contracts to continue dredging parts of the back bay. One will pay Resilientseas LLC $1.46 million to dredge South Harbor, Venetian Bayou, Carnival Bayou, the 14th Street outfall and the Bayside Center. The other, a $125,000 contract, was for ACT Engineers to provide construction management and inspection services related to dredging.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff