Ocean City News In Brief

OCEAN CITY – This week’s Mayor and City Council meeting’s agenda was light but the following items were discussed.

The 31st Annual Mid-Atlantic Classic Chevy Festival will commence June 11-12, 2011. The total cost to the town is $140, due to Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) costs. The festival is free to the general public. There has been no charity determined yet for proceeds generated.

Mason Dixon Classic Chevy Club member Robert K. Bowie was present to request the Mayor and City Council approve the Boardwalk cruise. The cruise will start on 27th Street and move towards the Inlet, finishing on North Division Street. The expected number of participants is 75 to 125.

Councilwoman Margaret Pillas was against the cruise due to the condition of the Boardwalk. She felt it is unsafe to have the Boardwalk hold the weight of the Chevy cruisers. Fellow council member Brent Ashley supported Pillas’s notion but felt the council should go ahead and approve the Chevy cruise, but no others after.

Council member Joe Hall suggested a report on the Boardwalk’s condition so the Mayor and City Council could review the issues to give members more information for future cruise requests.

Ocean City’s Christmas parade will be held on Dec. 4. The parade consists of bands, school floats, and marching units. The parade is professionally judged and trophies will handed out after the parade. The parade moves from 100th Street to 115th Street and ends at the Gold Coast Mall where different festivities will be held.

Pillas was concerned over the costs to the town for the parade, which totals close to $10,000. The heaviest portion of that total is due to OCPD costs. Event coordinators request OCPD at every intersection on the parade route to direct traffic.

The parade requires 24 officers and five supervisors. Councilman Doug Cymek asserted that there are that many officers and supervisors scheduled that Saturday anyway, so it doesn’t really make a difference on much the town is spending on OCPD costs for the parade.

The sale of the Public Works Department’s surplus property passed in second reading. The equipment for sale is no longer needed for municipal operations, and the majority of the equipment is unique for specific use. Such unique equipment will probably not generate enough interest to produce its fair market value at the municipal public auction, city staff reported.

The list of equipment consists of utility trucks, trash trucks, transfer trailers, Boardwalk benches, recycling bins and aluminum bleachers.

Proposed selling methods are public auction, private negotiated sale, Internet bidding or any other sale to obtain the highest price.

Pillas asked about the sales of the Boardwalk benches and if the public would have access to that sale. The council agreed that the Ocean City public may be interested in buying the old Boardwalk benches so they set aside 50 benches, out of the 150 benches, to give the public access to purchasing those items.