Five Things to Know About City Council's Thursday Agenda

City Council has a full agenda for its public meeting 7 p.m. Thursday (April 11) at the Ocean City Free Public Library. Council will consider an ordinance that would eliminate the local Ocean City Ethics Board, but here are five other things that might be of interest:

• Lawsuits against the city: City Council will vote to go into a closed executive session to disuss litigation in several cases: ; , ; ; and Oliver Muzslay v. Ocean City Lifeguard Pension Board. Executive session discussions sometimes indicate that council is considering settlement agreements to avoid potentially costly trials and judgments.
• Budget that exceeds cap: City Council will vote on a resolution to introduce the 2013 municipal budget. Council also will vote on the first reading of an ordinance allowing the city to exceed the 2 percent cap on budget increases. The city's proposed budget of approximately $71 million represents a roughly 3.5 percent increase over last year's $68.7 million budget. Because the city was well under the cap in the two previous years, it can apply some of the savings to the new budget. And because projected local revenue (largely from parking, construction code and Aquatics and Fitness Center fees) increases by $2 million, the draft budget increases the tax levy ($43.7 million for 2013) by under $500,000.
• Flood damage prevention ordinance: In order to remain in good standing with the National Flood Insurance Program and maintain community discount levels, the city must adopt a revised flood damage prevention ordinance. City Council will vote on the first reading of an updated ordinance. (See attached PDF for full text of the ordinance.)
• Post-Sandy zoning relief: City Council will vote on its second revised zoning ordinance of 2013 to make it easier for property owners to elevate, rebuild and repair in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The ordinance that council will consider addresses 10 sections, including decks (existing, nonconforming decks can be elevated where they are within one foot of adjacent habitable space), pergolas (open rafters or trellis work will not be considered roofs) and crawlspaces (extended limitations on use of them as storage space). (See attached PDF for full text of the ordinance.)
• Credit-card parking meters: City Council will vote to approve a contract with IPS Group of San Diego, CA, to provide credit-card parking meters for spots near the beach and boardwalk. The same company provided solar-powered, wireless meter heads for a successful experiment in 2012. The city will pay the company $1.05 per meter per day — part of a calculation that could bring the city an additional $250,000 in revenue when considering approved rate increases for the credit-card-enabled meters.