Five Things to Know About City Council's Thursday Agenda

City Council has a full agenda for its public meeting 7 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 11) in Council Chambers on third floor of City Hall, but here are five things that might be of special interest. (See attached PDF for supporting documentation on all agenda items.)

• City Council will vote on the second and potentially final reading of an amended ordinance that requires irrigation system workers to be "properly licensed." The local ordinance mimics a state regulation but gives Ocean City the teeth to enforce it. Violations will be punishable by a $250 fine for a first offense and subsequent $500 fines.
• City Council will vote on the second and potentially final reading of an ordinance that appropriates $165,000 to pay for the continued demolition of the Bellevue Hotel. Firefighters responded to a massive fire at the century-old building the day after City Council passed the first reading (Sept. 27). The money comes from an existing fund for capital projects. The city will have the first lien on the property and hopes to reimburse its capital fund when the vacant property sells.
• City Council will vote to apply for a $100,000 state transportation grant to install a user-activated traffic signal to help bicyclists cross Ninth Street on their way to and from the new Route 52 causeway. The signal and crossing would be located near the Haven Avenue intersection. It would also provide a Ninth Street crossing for bicycles traveling the length of Ocean City on a proposed safe bicycle corridor.
• City Council will vote to apply for a $106,000 state transportation grant to build a bikeway behind the Ocean City Primary School. The path would add an important link to a proposed bicycle corridor from the Ocean City-Longport Bridge to the Corson's Inlet Bridge.
• City Council will vote to apply for state transportation aid to reconstruct Asbury Avenue between 39th and 42nd streets and to reconstruct 42nd Street between Central and West avenues.