By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – A federal grant will bring seven multifamily buildings above the level of future floods.
On May 27, City Council approved a $3 million bond that will cover the cost of raising the 52 units of the Ocean Aire Condominiums, a block of seven two-story buildings on West Avenue starting at 43rd Street.
The condos include two-bedroom and three-bedroom units. According to city Finance Director Frank Donato, all of the units are categorized as severe repetitive loss structures. That means the Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund the cost of flood protection work at the site, including lifting all seven buildings above the flood elevation.
Donato said the city has aggressively gone after these kinds of grants since Superstorm Sandy.
During Sandy, he said, the ground floor units each had about two feet of water. That qualifies for FEMA funding.
But that funding will only come once the project is completed. The bond ordinance will allow the city to loan the money for the project, with the assurance it will be repaid once the work is completed. He said it would be nearly impossible for a condo association to get a loan for this kind of work otherwise.
“Obviously, you can realize the difficulty of dealing with 52 separate loans on a project like this” he said.
The ordinance is set for a public hearing and final vote on May 27. A loan agreement will come before council at a future meeting for a vote, Donato said.
“So we’re going to give them the money, and we’re going to get reimbursed by FEMA,” said Councilwoman Karen Bergman.
“This is an example of multiple levels of government working together to make something good happen,” said Council President Bob Barr.
He said condo residents have had water coming in their windows on a couple of occasions.
